Over the course of six months, Grace Morgan learned all about SolidWorks modeling, finite element analysis testing, the design failure mode and effects analysis process, and more.
All while designing an off-grid refrigeration unit.
She collaborated with professional engineers and University of Wisconsin-Madison student teammates who created thermal models and others who built out the functional hardware for a prototype of the unit and an app for remote monitoring.
And even though it was all on top of her usual mechanical engineering coursework, the payoff was worth it.
“It’s kind of a preview of what I hope will be the real world,” says Morgan, a junior who’s one of the leaders of the UW-Madison chapter of the Society of Women Engineers’ (SWE) Boeing Tech Team.
If gaining that real-world experience wasn’t reward enough, the UW-Madison engineering team added a more tangible prize: It took first place in the national Team Tech competition, sponsored by Boeing, at the 2023 SWE conference in late October in Los Angeles.
The competition, which draws teams from colleges and universities across the country, challenges student groups to partner with a company on a design project. The UW-Madison team worked with Trane Technologies, a global HVAC and refrigerator manufacturer, to create an off-grid food storage unit that low-income farmers could use to get their produce to market.
“It was eye-opening to be able to work with so many intelligent, dedicated engineers,” says team lead Mary Laudon, a fifth-year biomedical engineering major.
The students met with Trane representatives weekly to stay on point while developing a one-third scale model of a refrigeration unit with a modular interior design that farmers could customize to their needs. The group also consulted with several local farmers.
And, because the competition requires teams to have students from at least three engineering disciplines, all the group members got exposed to new concepts and skills.
“There are a lot of mechanical engineering terms, a lot of design terms that I would not have heard had I just been doing my electrical and computer engineering classes,” says Yuvakshi Kalra, a senior majoring in computer engineering who led the team’s hardware and software system efforts. “Working in a cross-functional unit is something I really appreciate about Boeing Tech Team.”
The team has provided Trane with all of its design models and data for potential consideration moving forward.
SWE Boeing Tech Team during a Trane site visit. Submitted photos.