Many small farmers use mobile chicken coops called field pens or chicken tractors that require daily repositioning to provide chickens with fresh grass, soil, and air. The system spreads nitrogen-rich droppings that naturally fertilize the land. Continue reading
Author Archives: tranth
Protecting grapes from birds
Birds such as robins and starlings enjoy grapes as much as humans do, which tends to cause endless headaches for Willamette Valley growers. Winemakers Dick and Gretchen Evans sponsored mechanical engineering majors Robert Elgin, Peter Cathcart, and Greg Meshnik to develop a solution that would mitigate crop damage by birds before and during the grape harvest season. Continue reading
Reclaiming wastewater nutrients
The City of Corvallis wants to harvest and recycle nutrients from landfill leachate to create a revenue stream for the city while cleaning up its wastewater. Last year, a College of Engineering senior project team worked with Multiform Harvest, Inc. and the City of Corvallis Wastewater Reclamation Plant to make a fertilizer called struvite from landfill runoff at the Coffin Butte Landfill. However, the 2011 team discovered that excess calcium was interfering with the reclamation process, so this year’s team addressed that issue. Continue reading
Improving compostable utensils
A Corvallis-based, award-winning startup called EcNow Tech provides compostable cutlery to the Oregon State University dining center and several local restaurants. The cutlery breaks down like green waste and therefore avoids the landfill. The company invited chemical engineering majors Chad Thomsen, Meaghan Jones, and Sean Crawford to investigate which locally sourced materials might serve as superior filler to augment the base from which their cutlery is currently derived.
“It’s really cool from the sustainability standpoint,” said Thomsen, “they’re looking to incorporate locally sourced products and benefiting local businesses.” Continue reading
Ireland earns scholarship from Homeland Security
Sabrina Ireland was one of three undergraduate students in nuclear engineering who was selected for the Nuclear Forensics Undergraduate Scholarship Program sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security. Continue reading