Appledore Island engineering interns get big responsibilities

Post on: 2011-08-26 By: admin

APPLEDORE ISLAND, Maine — Imagine being an engineering student and given the responsibility at age 20 or 21 to create real-world solutions for a community. No books, no lectures — only work in the field guided by people who believe you have the skills and talent to make change possible.A handful of students throughout the country are given exactly that opportunity each summer at Appledore Island, in a hands-on program that has resulted in some significant sustainable changes there.
Visit www.sml.cornell.edu, go to the "students" tab and go to "summer internships" link. Scroll to bottom of that page to the sustainable engineering internship description.

The sustainable engineering internship was the brainchild of Mike Dalton, retired president and chief operating officer of Unitil Corp. and long a docent on Appledore.The mission of Shoals Marine Laboratory since 1966 has been to provide marine science internships to college students. Jointly run by Cornell University and the University of New Hampshire, the island boasts labs, classrooms buildings, a library, dormitories and a dining hall.And everything, from the electricity to the meals, has to be either produced on site or shipped in.Dalton said he'd been coming to the island as a volunteer since the late '90s. An engineer himself, "I got to thinking what a great place to bring students who haven't seen a complete system, and give them an opportunity to analyze it and suggest changes."The first engineering interns came in 2006, and it has evolved since then into a highly competitive program that attracts applicants nationwide. One is always from Cornell and one from UNH, and typically two to four others are selected each summer.This past summer, 30 students applied, said Dalton.Appledore Island is powered by three sources: generators, solar panels and a windmill. Fossil fuel use for the generators has been cut in half, and the goal is to bring more solar power online in the future to reduce diesel use even more.The engineering interns have been pivotal in shaping the alternative energy use on the island, but over the years they've been involved in other projects as well.Dalton is quite proud, for instance, of the composting toilets that were installed this year — a project designed by interns in the program two years ago and paid for through a grant.Six toilets and two urinals are hooked into the composting system, funneling waste into two composters.Lifting the lid of one, Dalton unveiled a bin of sawdust. "They're telling us we won't have much compost for five years, but after that, we'll have compost for the gardens," he said.But the key is that "we're saving 25,000 gallons of water" from being used.Each summer, the interns are handed a list of assignments — some theoretical, some practical — to complete during the one month they are on the island."I thought we'd be working on one or maybe two assignments, but we worked on all of them," said 21-year-old David Bierman, a mechanical engineering student from Los Angeles who is attending the University of Wisconsin.This is his third internship, and he said the Appledore program "is the most unique engineering — if not all around — experience I've ever had. It can't even compare to the other internships. The technical knowledge is so important."The assignments for this summer's interns included the following:Compare the effectiveness of the 7.5kW wind turbine to the 7.5kW solar array, which combined provide electricity to two dorms and a World War II tower that contains UNH ozone tracking equipment. Conclusion: Solar is more effective and should be used more broadly on the island. The group also determined that some of the solar panels were providing too much electricity for their intended use, so the program director's cottage will be added to the green grid.Find out why the diesel-generated electric load is uneven and low at times. Conclusion: There's more requests for energy than the generator can produce. The students provided a number of solutions.Increase the fresh water supply. Right now, a well provides water and, in dry periods, a reverse osmosis machine is used, but it sucks up a lot of electricity. The students were asked to create a sand filtration system to see if the island's small pond can be used practically to provide water.Determine the optimum speed for high fuel efficiency for the diesel engine running the island research vessel, the John B. Heiser.Install foam pads on the vaulted ceiling of the dining commons, because many people complained it was too noisy. This year's interns were charged with building and installing the panels that a previous year's group had designed.Create plans for a new recycling shed.Bierman said the practical applications of what he learned this summer to his future as a researcher is significant."The sustainability movement is going to be huge in the years to come," he said. "To get in now and to understand what it means is huge. This is the first time I've seen an entire system working."He said there are lessons here for the mainlanders."Every person demands resources — electricity, water, heat. On an island, it's totally apparent. On the mainland, you lose that apparent effect. But the mainland is just like a big island. We need to bring that island mentality there."
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Article original from: http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20110730-NEWS-107300318