Beyond Survival: Examining Innovation and Continuous Improvement in the Humanitarian Sector

To keep up with the ever-changing world, one must innovate and continuously improve. This is particularly difficult to embrace in the humanitarian sector. Medair, a global humanitarian aid organization, aims to place themselves at the forefront of innovation in the sector. Our team researched, observed, and interviewed many within the organization and at other NGOs to create recommendations for how Medair should focus innovation and continuous improvement efforts for the future. We found that Medair has a culture of innovation, but there are opportunities to combine innovation and continuous improvement efforts and improve processes throughout the organization. We recommend that Medair continues and strengthens communication and collaboration and encouraged them to streamline their processes and continue to cultivate organization-wide excitement around innovation and continuous improvement. We hope our research can be utilized to provide validation and prioritization for innovation and continuous improvement at Medair

Food Sustainability in Singapore

The National University of Singapore (NUS) is committed to promoting sustainability on its campus as food insecurity is on the rise in Singapore. Our sponsor, Professor Veera Sekaran from the Regenerative Agritech Centre, tasked us with decreasing the food consumption carbon footprint by reducing food waste at the source to address food sustainability on campus. Through data collection and analysis, we identified findings that posed barriers and benefits to our goal. To address this concern, we developed and proposed behavior interventions to combat food waste on campus. Our recommendations include rice bowl portion displays, eco-friendly labels on menus, food samples of eco-friendly foods, and launching an educational poster campaign to bolster our recommended behavior interventions. These recommendations will serve NUS to reduce food waste and the carbon footprint, ultimately contributing to an overall improved campus food sustainability

Moral Judge - A narrative adventure game

Moral Judge is a narrative adventure game designed for computer environments, compatible with both Windows and MacOS. Based on mythical Japanese monsters (yokai) and the world setting of fables, Moral Judge can provide players with easy-to-understand relevant knowledge. Moral Judge is an adventure game and the project goal is to explore immersion design techniques in narrative games. The story is about exploring a special village, gathering information and clues as power and fighting with the “evil power”. Developed over a span of three months, Moral Judge brings a fun experience in a fantasy world

Ultrasound-Guided Needle Insertion Device for PCNL

This project is a continuation of a proposed system that aligns the needle with the ultrasound image to improve the accuracy of Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy (PCNL) procedure. The device consists of an ultrasound probe, probe holder, acoustic reflector attachment, and optimal materials. Through image processing and analysis, 3% agarose was selected as the filling and stainless steel was selected as the optimal reflector as a replacement for glass mirrors. The attachment design was redesigned to a vertical position to improve the handling of the device and components were designed for manufacturability. These design changes proved successful during mock phantom and needle visualization testing done on the final version of the device. Finally, a set of improvements was recommended for future groups working on this device

Machine Learning for System Identification and Parameter Estimation

Incorporating a priori physics knowledge into machine learning leads to more robust and interpretable algorithms. In this work, we combine deep learning techniques with numerical methods to solve two problems in dynamical systems theory: dynamics discovery and parameter estimation. We present numerical results of applying these proposed approaches to highly oscillatory and chaotic problems. Finally, we compare the performance of various numerical schemes, such as Runge-Kutta and linear multistep families of methods, in predicting system dynamics and estimating physical parameters for these problems

Visible Light Functionalization and Degradation of Plastics

Functionalization of polymers normally requires high heat and strong reagents, which uses lots of energy and produces hazardous waste. By using a photocatalytic cycle developed by the Musacchio Group, which uses visible light and iridium ligand complexes to generate radicals, the same organic reactions can be performed at much milder conditions without the use of high temperatures and strong reagents

St Gobain 24 VSM

Saint-Gobain Abrasives, situated in Worcester, Massachusetts, is renowned for delivering advanced abrasive solutions across many markets. Saint-Gobain’s bond plant specializes in producing intricate abrasives and bonds for standard and customer-modified grinding wheels worldwide. Our partnership allowed us to provide engineering-driven insights and solutions to the bond plant through meticulous observation and analysis with Saint-Gobain's personnel. The primary objective of this project was to enhance the operational efficiency of the bond plant and ultimately ensure the timely delivery of finished bonds to clients. The rationale for this project is to optimize the production process by streamlining workflows and improving Saint-Gobain’s strong market position. To meet this overarching objective, we narrowed the scope of the project into multiple achievable parts. First, we comprehensively assessed the production process, using value stream mapping techniques to identify and quantify the characteristics of various process steps as well as the bottlenecks within them. Secondly, we focused on optimizing physical workspace organization by utilizing the principles of the 5S methods. On top of this, our efforts were directed towards physically documenting the primary steps in the bond creation process to act as a guide for those unfamiliar with the process. Lastly, we completed a Time Value of Money (TVM) analysis to better understand how our efforts would yield returns. The conclusions were a projected decrease in non-value-added time, increased workspace organization and capacity, and a documented and streamlined process for Saint-Gobain to use in the future. Our TVM analysis projected an approximate 10% return rate within the initial year. A 5s process improvement can often yield an elevated rate of return relative to a small investment in equipment and labor

A Digital Solution to Prepare Children for Earthquakes

Considering the significant occurrence of earthquakes in Romania and the need to create resources for Romanian children, the goal of this project was to work with Code for Romania to develop content for a digital platform that teaches children about earthquake safety. We researched what content and delivery formats would be best suited for our purpose and what design process should be implemented based on existing disaster education platforms and interviews with experts. To visualize designs and outline recommendations, we created a low-fidelity prototype and a detailed outline of content and delivery formats that should be used in the final product

Creating pollinator-friendly spaces on the WPI campus

The premise of this project is to increase pollinator populations, starting on a small scale, as well as educate the WPI campus community about pollinators and their importance. Through our project, we delved into the concepts of pollinators and pollinator gardens, their contemporary significance, factors contributing to pollinator decline, historical perspectives, and previous WPI student projects, as we build upon these foundations by providing a template for the creation of a pollinator garden on the WPI campus

Forging the Mythical

This Major Qualifying Project explores the process of creating figurines and miniatures of fictional creatures and characters using 3D printing technology. The project begins with a brief history of figure creation and then delves into the modern process of 3D printing. The report details the step-by-step process of modeling the figures using a combination of digital and traditional sculpting techniques. It also covers the 3D printing process, including adding keys, supports, and decimation. Finally, the report discusses the painting process and showcases the progress of the tabletop figures. This project serves as a small guide for anyone interested in creating their own figurines and miniatures