Our team partnered with the SDFC to ‘harvest’ kinetic energy from cardio and lifting equipment in the gym. The goal was to supply a display highlighting sustainable energy and to use the collected energy in the facility. After initial prototyping and research, we found that the power output of student and faculty exercising was not enough to power the display, let alone store any energy. This surprised our team. Through discussion with the SDFC, we recalibrated our goals and decided to share our surprising findings with all students who visit the SDFC. We are no longer ‘harvesting’ energy from equipment, but we are continuing with the educational display.  The display will show students how much energy they exert during a workout and to compare that to the energy demands of common devices and appliances they use frequently. Our goals are to encourage students to be conscious and mindful of their energy consumption and to motivate them to use less energy

Team Members: 

Andrew Weiss, Junior,  Aerospace Engineering

Luke Macy, Freshman,  Computer Systems Engineering