UMass Lowell Students Help Haitian Communities, Conduct Research in Renewable Power
Image by Courtesy
11/23/2020
Contacts for media: Christine Gillette, 978-758-4664 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu and Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu
LOWELL, Mass. – Inspired by their work in UMass Lowell courses in renewable energy, students are getting involved in hands-on projects that put their knowledge to the test in real-world conditions.
The UMass Lowell Honors College seminar “The Science of Energy” is teaching students the costs and benefits of various energy sources and policies in the context of global warming. Developed by Physics Prof. Robert Giles, the course was first offered last spring and has proved so transformative, several students elected to help conduct energy-related research projects in the lab and to benefit communities in Haiti.
Business administration major Brendon Aylaian of Lowell and environmental engineering major Joshua Walsh of Merrimac are developing projects as research interns with UMass Lowell’s Haiti Development Studies Center. Founded by Giles, who lives in Upton, the center engages UMass Lowell’s science and engineering faculty and students in philanthropic work focused on solving life-threatening issues faced by people in developing nations. The students hope to travel with Giles to Haiti as soon as possible to install renewable energy systems that benefit people in the country.
“We’re learning about different sources of energy – fossil, biomass, solar, hydro and nuclear – and we’re going through and analyzing the viability of each source,” Walsh said. “The holy grail of renewable energy right now is figuring out how to store solar energy efficiently.”
Walsh is working on a handful projects for a nonprofit children’s center in Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince. For the first project, he is designing a large drinking water filtration system the center could use for its own facility and to help fund its health and mentoring programs by selling the extra potable water to people in the community.
He acknowledged his first design for the system, devised last spring, would not work because of its cost and need for a UV lamp to be replaced that would have to be shipped from the United States.
“One of the major aspects of Prof. Giles’ class is the sustainability of a project. If it’s too complicated or expensive, then eventually it will break down and not be used,” Walsh said.
But, he kept innovating. Over the summer, Walsh designed a roof-mounted, slow sand filtration system that can clean 700 or more gallons of water a day. He also agreed to take the lead on designing two related projects: a solar hot water heater and a small solar-power system to run the center’s water pump and a refrigerator for medicines and food, along with a couple of cellphones or computers.
Aylaian is putting his business skills to good use researching the needs and costs behind installing a small solar farm, or “micro-grid,” in the rural community of Simone, Haiti, which currently has no electricity.
“There are a lot of people in the world who don’t have access to even the most basic levels of electricity, or if they do, it’s extremely erratic,” Aylaian said. “Being part of a team that is focused on delivering energy to people who don’t have it just seems like a really good thing to do.”
Another Honors College student, Anne Souza, a physics major from Leominster, was inspired to work with Giles after taking another UMass Lowell course he teaches that explores advancements in science and technology in developing countries. As a result, she is helping with a science course Giles is leading remotely for a college in Les Cayes, Haiti, a city not far from Simone. A senior who plans to teach science or math after graduation, Souza is an instructor for online labs in electronics, which include instruction on how to make basic repairs to solar panels.
Student research to support wind energy is also underway. Honors College student Michele Woodland, a physics major from Shirley, is working in Giles’ lab, using radar to scan commercial windmill blades for invisible flaws in the fiberglass filaments.
“Windmills are very expensive to install and lots of times, the blades fracture within a day of the windmill starting up,” she said. “We want to work with manufacturers to find those flaws before that happens.”
The research will become part of her Honors College capstone project and is influencing her decision to pursue a career in radio astronomy, which uses radar to image things in space, according to Woodland.
“This is super interesting to me,” she said.
UMass Lowell is a national research university offering its more than 18,000 students bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be leaders in their communities and around the globe. www.uml.edu