Traveling Experimental Engineering Lab

Sponsor: Northrop Grumman
Faculty Coach: Dr. C.O. Ruud
April 29th, 2004

Team B Members (left to right):
Joan Misa, Jason Regas, Diana Legowik, Emily Traynor, Joan Whitney Carroll, Matt Lewis

Two teams, one of which is made up of six Industrial Engineering (IE) students and the other of five Mechanical Engineering (ME) students, from Pennsylvania State University (PSU) collaborated to accomplish an important project for the sponsor, Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC). Northrop Grumman, located in Baltimore, Maryland, is a global defense company providing technologically advanced, innovative products, services and solutions in systems integration, defense electronics, information technology, advanced aircraft, shipbuilding and space technology.  The goal of this project is to create a traveling experimental engineering lab that will excite and inspire students in 5th and 6th grades to pursue a career in science and engineering – a great importance for the future of Northrop Grumman and the country. In conjunction with Northrop Grumman, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) from Baltimore, MD is also involved in this project as consultants in hopes of promoting science and engineering to handicapped students.  The IE and ME teams worked to design a unique lab cart that is mobile, in addition to generating science and engineering related experiments to be accommodated in the cart and performed in the classrooms. 

The project was divided into two main parts: the first part being the design and fabrication of the cart and the second being the formulation and construction of the experiments. The main decision on the cart design was the purchase of a nearly complete and prefabricated cart from a local cabinet supplier who fabricated the cart out of wood at a total cost of $217.76, with a lead time of one week.  The purchase saved time and money.  The other materials needed for the cart were purchased from other local suppliers, such as Lowe’s, and required only one day lead time.  The fact that the teams purchased the prefabricated cart from a local supplier facilitated regular monitoring of the supplier to ensure that the cart was completed on time, as specified.  The next major task for the two teams was to collect experiments which are planned to be included in the cart. Three experiments were selected by the IE team to incorporate into the cart.  These experiments are:  DNA Experiment, Balloon-Rocket Experiment, and Gooey-Ooze Experiment.   The supplies for these experiments were purchased at local stores such as Walmart and Michael’s’ Arts and Crafts.  A user manual was organized and written according to a standard science format, which the teams determined through research of other science manuals.