Mechanical Engineering and Agronomy Departments at BYU-Idaho team up to help third world countries

As part of a class project this semester, mechanical engineering students from Brigham Young University-Idaho collaborated with the university's Agronomy Department to design irrigation pumps to help farmers and gardeners in third world countries water crops.

Blake Willis, a faculty member in the Agronomy Department, discovered the need for irrigation pumps while educating farmers in Mozambique.  Willis and Greg Roach, a member of the Mechanical Engineering Department faculty, decided to give students a service-learning opportunity and develop the pumps in a mechanical engineering design course.

"The course focuses on the product development process," Roach said.  "The students determine the needs, solve any problems and test their products.  Students learn that mechanical engineering is designing products and services that benefit humanity."

Students were assigned to one of four competitive teams and could not use any modern manufacturing processes except welding to ensure the pumps could be reconstructed in third world countries.  "My group all came together with different ideas and meshed them together into a pump," said Adrienne Bee, a BYU-Idaho senior and one of the team leaders. 

The four student-designed pumps had to meet two criteria: pump at least five gallons per minute and lift water at least ten feet.  The pumps were tested last week.  "All four pumps met the criteria and would work very nicely," Willis said.  "These pumps could irrigate one acre of ground every 20 minutes. These students learned to design something with limited resources."

Students were given hands-on experience in design and in group work while serving others around the world.  "This was the best project ever," Bee said.  "I learned more doing this project then I ever would have reading about it in a textbook.  Everyone in my group helped and participated."

The pump concepts will be refined and further tested.  Roach and Willis both hope to be able to take the concepts to Mozambique and other third world countries to help simplify crop production.  "Students involved in designing the pumps were given an opportunity to apply engineering skills while benefiting others," Roach said.  "Next semester's students will also have a service-learning opportunity as they develop durable, inexpensive wheelchairs to be used for sports."

Both Willis and Roach appreciated working collectively to help students learn and to bless lives around the world.  "It has been satisfying to work with two different departments and two different colleges," Willis said.  "I did not have the knowledge or resources that mechanical engineering had to solve this problem."