Mason's Fairfax Campus is a hub of construction activity, and a brand new solar workstation designed and built by 10 Volgenau School of Engineering students is arguably the most original product of the activity.
The project started when Nathalia Peixoto, associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering asked some students if they wanted to build something sustainable. Two years later the answer to the question¬—an attractive, sustainable, outdoor workstation—stands in front of University Hall.
"I teach electric circuits to electrical engineering and computer engineering students," said Peixoto. "This is probably the hardest class students take. It is also the first time they are confronted with hands-on projects that involve many aspects of engineering, integrating math and physics."
Sam Steiner (BS '14), and project leader describes the solar table as, "A place where students, faculty, and staff can meet outdoors with the amenities of an indoor conference room. It also showcases renewable energy and sustainability as viable options to help reduce your individual carbon footprint. "
Steiner said, "This project began with the notion of creating an outdoor charging station for computers and other devices. The Green Patriots were negotiating with an outside vendor, Enerfusion for two SolarDok charging stations." Steiner and the other engineering students: Viet Tran (electrical lead), Chris Dolan (civil lead), Shaun Dircks, Akrem Aberra, Robert Roldan, Jimmy Mejia, Mannan Javid, Bryan Steckler, and Stanley Bonta, believed they could build something with more features. The Office of Sustainability agreed to give them the chance.
The finished product includes seating for eight people, a table with six AC outlets, 12 USB ports, an LED television screen, and Wi-Fi, all powered by a massive battery pack stored underneath the table. The solar canopy overhead provides shade on sunny days and is equipped with an auxiliary light fixture for cloudy days.
One of the 10 engineering students to work on the project, Steiner came to Mason by way of the United States Marine Corps, community college, and work as a lab technician for private contracting companies.
"After serving as a Marine, I went to community college for a while, but the math courses intimidated me and I left to work in the industry for a few years. That was when I realized I wasn't going to get where I wanted to be without a degree."
The multi-semester project became popular with the students, and Peixoto believes it will be a great way to show people electrical, computer, and civil engineers can do together, as a team, over several years. Students estimate assembly time for the table at 500 hours and for the total project 14,000 hours. The students used their own time and said finding enough time with the demands of the engineering curriculum was the most challenging aspect of the project.
"We really had to stick together," said Steiner, "but the fact that we were all taking many of the same courses around the same time helped us." Steiner said he wanted to give something back to his classmates and show them, "Just like in their degree work, if you stay dedicated to your goals, do honest, hard work, and embrace teamwork, you can do anything you set out to do. Nothing worthwhile comes easy."
The table's top and benches show how creativity and collaboration enhanced the structure's appearance. The students considered a number of options and finally settled on recycled glass, concrete, and steel. Every Thursday, for several months they collected bottles from local businesses Hard Times Café and Cue Club and Buffalo Wing University, and spent weekends turning the discarded bottles into glass chips.
"We tried every possible way we could think of to break the bottles—throwing them, shaking them in bags, smashing them with rocks," said Steiner. "After we finished we found out that you can retrofit a clothes dryer, poke holes in the drum and do the tumbling with rocks."
Jimmy Mejia's green, gold, black and clear glass mosaic design is patterned after the Mason star. To achieve this effect the students built a concrete form and poured the glass infused concrete into the form. After the concrete set, they polished it and then covered it with layers of epoxy. The table is two inches thick, and if sliced, the glass would be sprinkled throughout (think of a fruitcake). The ultra-sturdy 7x4 foot tabletop weighs nearly 1,000 lbs.
Students are still discovering uses for the table since its completion in early June, but the engineers think it will become popular soon.