What did you do for your senior capstone project in college? Probably wasn't as useful as the one this year done by
Michigan Technological University engineering seniors.
They applied their knowledge to a real-world problem for Menominee company
R. W. Fernstrum & Company, which designs and manufactures cooling systems for ships.
Fernstrum was trying to solve a problem with fatigue-related failures of cooling systems on the keels of heavy-duty ships, and thought outside of the box to do so, putting the Tech students on the case.
It helps that Sean Fernstrum, VP of operations, is a Michigan Tech grad, along with others at the company. This year's senior capstone project is actually just one of several such that the company has asked Tech engineering students to solve, with financial support from the company.
"It's a cost-effective and manpower-efficient way to conduct research and development work," says Fernstrum. "We were able to conduct research with a specific goal without having to dedicate our own personnel and facilities for extended periods. "
The senior capstone student team working on the fatigue problem was Shawn Bretting, Matthew Carey, Kane Johnson, Jake Mohan and Kayla Tobias, advised by mechanical engineering professor Chuck Van Karsen.
The solution to the problem ended up being more flexible support straps underneath the cooling system in that case. Fernstrum also supported two other senior capstone team projects this year, solving problems of barnacle growth on exterior-mounted products, and improving heat transfer while reducing backpressure in cooling tubes.
The barnacle team, of Ben Ranta, Will Prins, Dave Arnold, Karl Warsinski and Max Lent, advised by Mike LaCourt, solved the issue with an epoxy-based coating.
The third team designed a straight fin for the internal surface of the cooling tubes to improve pressure and heat transfer, and was made up of Logan Janka, Mario Bonvini, Brad Gillen, In Kyoung Kim and Tyler Lung, advised by Charles Margraves.
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Sean Fernstrum, R.W. Fernstrum & Company
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