Engineering Exploration – A New Academic Initiative of Nalla Malla Reddy Engineering College
Engineering Exploration – a new academic initiative of Nalla Malla Reddy Engineering College has been initiated to ignite the engineering mindset in the first year students by exposing them to engineering problems and solutions. Sustainability education plays a crucial role in global development. Awareness about sustainability and the mindset to think critically towards sustainability are the need of the hour. The Sustainability Development Goals listed by the United Nations (SDGs) are taken as the guiding principles for sustainability education through Engineering Exploration.
The Engineering Exploration program at NMREC is oriented towards sustainability and the students are provided opportunities in Engineering Exploration for Sustainability. In this program, the students of first year learn about the SDGs and choose one of the SDGs and propose a solution towards reaching that SDG. The prototypes and models are exhibited in an annual project exhibition. First-year students, through their participation in this expo, gain valuable experience in applying their engineering skills to real-world problems. By working in teams composed of members from various engineering disciplines, they learn the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, mirroring the complex nature of sustainable development challenges.
The Engineering Exploration program at NMREC is oriented towards sustainability and the students are provided opportunities in Engineering Exploration for Sustainability. In this program, the students of first year learn about the SDGs and choose one of the SDGs and propose a solution towards reaching that SDG. The prototypes and models are exhibited in an annual project exhibition. First-year students, through their participation in this expo, gain valuable experience in applying their engineering skills to real-world problems. By working in teams composed of members from various engineering disciplines, they learn the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, mirroring the complex nature of sustainable development challenges.
Dr.Krishna Vedula, Founder and Director, IUCEE (Indo Universal Collaboration for Engineering Education), visited the project exhibition, interacted with the first year students, and gave away the prizes for the best project idea.
The initiative was well appreciated by the expert guests and they were confident that this initiative of Engineering Exploration through sustainability will develop future engineers ready to provide solutions to Global Sustainability Challenges.
Some of the Ideas presented include: Production of paper concrete (Papercrete) using waste paper, Polymerized water purifier, Carbon capture and storage.
Production of paper concrete (Papercrete) using waste paper
Papercrete has application in the delivery of small buildings and even houses. It can be used as a sound and heat insulator or to provide decorative coverings or built structures. Dumped paper can be converted into paper concrete by combining the recycled paper waste in to paper concrete with proper trial mix, which can be used for making sheets, molded forms and can also be used as a building material. Papercrete is a different type of construction material that lowers the dead load on the main structure. It is a practical choice for affordable homes, temporary shelters, and workplaces. Because papercrete won’t burn or catch fire, a house made of it is more secure than one made of wood. Excellent heat and sound insulation is produced by paper fibers. When cured and dried, it can be easily sculpted.
Polymerized water purifier
Rapid industrialization is continuously degrading the quality of water due to addition of large amounts of pollutants into the water bodies. Water pollutants have appeared as threats to entire biosphere, so their removal has become essential. It is needed to produce safe drinking water in emergencies during war and travel. Water passes through membrane, trapping contaminants and hollow fiber membrane, which filters out bacteria and parasites, which require no batteries and chemicals. The polymers are used as the membrane active layer and porous support in reverse osmosis (RO), Nano filtration (NF), ultrafiltration (UF), microfiltration (MF) processes.
Carbon capture and storage
Carbon capture and storage contributes in reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and thus mitigates climate change for sustainable environmental conditions for future generation to survive. It is a three step process involving capturing the carbon oxide produced by power generation/ industrial activity transporting it; and then storing it deep underground. Carbon capture and storage technologies can be applied to a range of power and industrial emission sources. CCS is currently in a pre-commercial stage for many of these applications, such as power, and in pilot stage for several others, including iron, steel, and cement. For some industries, such as natural gas processing, CCS is already operating at full commercial scale.