After many weeks of research and needs finding, we’ve finally started getting into the design process of sieve bed regeneration. Thinking about problem statements, design criteria, and Pugh matrices makes me reminiscent of Freshman engineering design class. Work at the Poly is flexible, much more than I’ve ever experienced in high school or college. It’s an interesting change of pace from the strict and timely schedule that’s the norm in most workplaces in the state.

Previous sieve bed regeneration teams have mainly focused on the research behind how zeolite and/or molecular sieves. From the start of hearing about this project, my team knew we wanted to design a device using the research from the previous team. From the brainstorming phase, we thought of several parts that could deliver heat to the zeolite. Our project centers around two elements: a heating element and an element that can push air. One thing I have definitely mastered is the art of sketching cubes, over and over and over again in an attempt to arrange tubes and light bulbs in a way that would deliver the most amount to heated air as possible to the sieve beds.

 

 

 

 

 

This Friday was also Republic Day! We took advantage of the long three-day weekend by taking a trip to Lake Malawi. We spent some time at the beaches at Cape Maclear and ate some local fish called chambo.