The College of Engineering

March 14, 2009

Barefoot elders, children off from school and women dressed in their very finest gathered in the community center in the village of Sengalpaddai in the southern part of India when Rowan University came to call this winter.

Their attention riveted on two grain crushers, fairly simple mechanical devices designed and constructed by an engineering professor and her students that may make a difference in the villagers' lives.

One device features an aluminum grain crusher attached to a 26-inch bicycle, which is mounted on a stand. As a rider pedals, the back wheel moves a contact element that turns a pulley that moves plates in the crusher to process food from large to fine pieces suitable for cooking. The other device has pedals attached directly to a grain crusher.

Civil and environmental engineer associate professor Dr. Beena Sukumaran and graduate student Kevin McGarvey first flew for 14 hours to Qatar and then five hours to India before driving close to seven hours to reach the village of 3,000 to 4,000 located about 15 miles from the city of Madurai in the state of Tamil Nadu.

There they provided an overview of the work the team had completed as part of a Rowan College of Engineering clinic project; met with representatives of the India-based Dhan Foundation, which tries to find local partners to help develop innovative projects for the poor in India; demonstrated the grain crushers to the villagers; and sought input from those who might one day use the devices.

In the region for four days, they also toured some of the area, including the Dhan Academy, where Dhan personnel train students in sustainable business practice; visited local suppliers; and spoke with manufacturers of local crushers, who said if Rowan designed a prototype, they could put one together locally.

"At first the villagers didn't know what was going on," Sukumaran said. "But they came because they Dhan Foundation already does work there. They slowly gathered around. The children were out of school, so they came too."


The villagers clustered with the Rowan team, along with Sukumaran's husband, Srinivasan Vanchinathan, in the community center, all barefoot to show respect at the site.  They tried grinding grains common to the southern Asian country from more than a dozen fat tubs, among them ragi, lentils and corn not found in the United States.

Sukumaran, who is of Indian heritage and whose family lives about six hours away from the village by car, was pleased with the engineering side of the trip and so much more.

"The villagers touched me so much, their willingness to give whatever little they have," she said. "As soon as we walked into the village, a woman took us into her home, went into her one bedroom and came out with these incense sticks. She gave me a bunch. These were handmade by her. I know she sells them. She wanted to give some to Kevin, too, but I told her no, that I would share mine with him. They have very little, but they are extremely willing to give."
 
McGarvey agreed. "You get a new level of connection when you actually go there and see the environment you are trying to help.  It definitely motivates you," he said.

Sukumaran, of Washington Township, said the engineering clinic team will spend this semester revising its designs based on input from the villagers. They asked Rowan to scale the crushers up so they can process larger quantities of food. The students also want to make changes, among them reconfiguring the crushers so they can handle a two-stage process, with one element used to de-husk grains and another used to grind them if desired.

The villagers made a few other requests. The women, especially, didn't want to ride a bicycle because of the way in which they dress, so they want to use a crusher they can turn by hand. Others suggested locating the pedals on the bicycle further back for safety and convenience reasons since they often bumped the crusher while on the bicycle. The Rowan group also will add some covers to keep clothing from getting stuck in the gears.

Sukumaran said the same team that worked on the project last year will work to further refine it this spring; on that team are McGarvey, 22, from Williamstown; Jesse Hill, 21, a senior mechanical engineering major from Sewell; Michael Panko, 22, a senior mechanical engineering major from Perkasis, Pa.; and Michael Biggs, 21, a senior mechanical engineering major from Turnersville.  The team plans to refine the design this semester, raise funds to return to India, work with the Dhan Foundation to coordinate efforts in India and solidify plans with an Indian manufacturer to produce a crusher for a pilot study. Eventually, the professor said, the Dhan Foundation, manufacturers or villagers can produce more as a business opportunity.

"The only constraint is price," said Sukumaran, who hopes this project is just the first of its kind in what she termed Engineering Innovators Without Borders, a technical-business take on Doctors Without BordersTM and Engineers Without BordersTM, in which Rowan has been active for several years.


"It feels great to work on this project. Once Mike, Mike, Jesse and I finish the new design, I truly want it to be a success.  I really hope it takes off over there," said McGarvey. "I would love to go back to India, even if I am not a student.  I also would like to remain involved in this project as much as I can after I graduate.  I want to do everything I can to ensure its continuing success."