IEEE awards Rowan engineering students humanitarian award

August 25, 2009

IEEE has selected Rowan University College of Engineering graduate student Kevin McGarvey’s entry, Engineering Innovators Without Borders: Human-Powered Grain Crusher, as one of the top prize winners in the inaugural IEEE Presidents’ Change the World Competition.

The international engineering organization, originally known as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., presented McGarvey, of Williamstown, and his fellow teammates with a $2,500 prize and the title “Exceptional Student Humanitarian.” McGarvey received the award at the IEEE Honors Ceremony in Los Angeles this summer.

IEEE established the competition to recognize students who “develop unique solutions to real-world problems using engineering, science, computing and leadership skills to benefit their community and/or humanity,” according to the organization, which is the largest technical professional association. Rowan’s entry was one of close to 200 in the competition.

McGarvey was part of a team that worked under civil and environmental engineering associate professor Dr. Beena Sukumaran, of Washington Township, on developing a grain crusher for use in developing countries. He traveled with Sukumaran last winter to India to gather input from villagers in tiny Sengalpaddai in the southern part of India and to work with the Dahn Foundation, which tries to find local partners to help develop innovative projects for the poor in India.

During the last two years, Rowan engineering teams have developed several variations of people-powered grain crushers that could process food from large to fine pieces suitable for cooking, including one that is operated by someone pedaling a bicycle. The latest team, which was honored along with McGarvey, included Jesse Hill, a 2009 mechanical engineering graduate from Sewell; Michael Panko, a 2009 mechanical engineering major from Perkasie, Pa.; and Michael Biggs, a 2009 mechanical engineering graduate from Turnersville.  The award also honored Nicole Bacher, a rising senior civil engineering major from Washington Township.
   
The Rowan College of Engineering clinic team spent the last semester revising its designs based on input from the villagers, including requests to scale the crushers up so they can process larger quantities of food.

The team plans to 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, Sukumaran said, the Dhan Foundation, manufacturers or villagers can produce more as a business opportunity. Currently, the grain crusher is being piloted in The Gambia, Africa, through the Peace Corps.

“The recognition received by the students is a testament to their hard work and commitment to use their engineering skills to better the lives of people living in less fortunate circumstances than they do,” Sukumaran said.


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