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[CART WHEELS RATTLING]
The idea for this class was born when
Professor Olsen in Chemical Engineering gave me a call
and said, hey, I think we can actually
have a meaningful impact on this particular problem.
But I need an environmental engineer to help me out.
I was on a flight actually when I was on sabbatical from Brazil
to Hong Kong, which is a particular form of misery.
That's two intercontinental flights.
So that's tough.
And there was just-- it generated
an awful lot of trash.
Is there going to be like a puppy here?
Is an animal--
I was also impressed that the airline has
an exceptional amount of control because they control
what's brought on board.
And they control, to some degree, how it goes off board.
There's probably a reason they gave us--
This is the type of class that going into MIT I imagined
and really dreamed about because it's super hands-on.
And it's solving a real-world problem.
So we talked maybe a little bit about conceptual boundaries--
Airlines are faced with a challenge
of having to lightweight everything that's on board so
that they can minimize their greenhouse gas equivalent
emissions.
[INAUDIBLE]
In order to do that, it helps if their food service equipment
is made out of plastic.
Polymers are lightweight, cheap, robust.
The disadvantage, of course, is that we tend to only use
our plastic service goods once.
The other thing that you might want
to consider in your designs is the casing material.
So we had this idea, could we work with the airline industry
in this highly controlled environment
to try to develop new approaches to sustainability?
This one should probably just come together really well.
The really exciting part is that it's
revolved around a partnership with Delta.
And what they're looking for is a reusable cup that they
can use on flights that is ultimately recyclable,
but most importantly is reusable so
that we don't have so much single-use plastic waste.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
One of the things about capstone classes
that's kind of a requirement is that the technology
has to be sufficiently far along that you could design or scope
a real implementable solution.
As a senior that's studying chemical engineering,
I have a lot of theoretical background.
But since I plan on going into industry,
I really wanted to have that more industrial side of things.
Of course, you have to understand the science
behind the product you're making.
And then you have to understand how to do design.
And design of a lot of these products
is a very human aspect.
And then you have to understand, of course, end of life,
and waste, and environmental considerations.
And these expertises have traditionally been separate.
And so we're really lucky to have so many people coming
together, contributing their own knowledge,
trying to produce a holistic experience for the students.
That's why we have a bunch of guest lectures.
To production use and end of life, where they kind of map,
each of these new spaces on here.
So--
We want to train experts that have deep expertise.
But we also want to cross-train them to talk to each other
because that's where the tractable solutions are born.
The use, and discard, and collection of--
I actually partnered with a mechanical engineering student.
And that's been another really cool aspect of the class,
getting that interdisciplinary work,
since I'm learning a lot about what she has learned
in her classes and how our different competencies really
fit together on this project.
The course actually is organized in two parts.
There's the first semester, where
we do the learn the theory, do the design,
and the work-shopping.
It's a lot of interviewing of customers,
trying to discover what their needs are, and make sure
that the design is kind of ready for them.
So you want to stand here so you have easy access.
So we're going to have what we're calling pitch days.
And so if you could connect to Zoom and--
Team Delta, can you hear me?
We're assembling a panel of judges
that includes some professors, some airline industry
experts, procurement people, food waste
disposal and management people at airport hubs.
So that integrated panel of judges
will actually select a winner for this design competition.
These little wings on the bottom here--
So the cleaning agents, they--
--reusable cup--
In the space-constrained cabin--
Where is the cost of washing?
That spillage or potential spillage--
An affordable, reliable commodity plastic--
Disposable cups are in the other categories.
There's so many, so many problems to solve--
We present Renew.
--that need people thinking about them
and coming up with solutions.
From production, to onboard use and wash, and finally,
to its end of life.
So it's been amazing to be able to learn about them,
and figure out which ones I'm most passionate about,
and which mesh most well with what I want out of my future.
Thank you all for your time.
We'd be happy to take questions.
[APPLAUSE]
[INAUDIBLE]
OK, so at this point in time, Professor Olsen and I
are going to deliberate.
And we'll be right back.
So if folks want to hang out to find out the winners,
we'll be downloading the feedback that we just got.
And we'll wait a couple minutes to make sure
that all the entries are in.
But their--
We'll review that quickly--
That's one of the key learnings--
--and then come back in to announce the winning teams.
OK, so the runner up, it's Molly and Danielle.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
[POPS]
Oh, wow.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
This is rice paper sustainable confetti.
Yeah, the $1,000 prize.
What?
Damn.
Whoo.
That's wild.
And the $2,000 winning design is going to go to Team Renew.
Congratulations.
Whoo!
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
[POPS]
[CHUCKLES] OK.
The second semester is optional.
That's where the students are using our new sustainable
polymer systems lab to actually make the stuff that they
designed in semester one.
People spend their life experimenting and discovering.
And it's important we do that in our education, too.
So I think this is viewed as an experiment.
And if it can be successful, it points a way forward
for how we can provide students with relevant knowledge
and training, and do problem-solving in the future.
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