Students in the Introduction to Engineering class at Oregon Institute of Technology will work in teams to plan, design, and construct passive solar chicken coops as part of a class project for the Winter 2012 term.
The Civil Engineering and Electrical Engineering and Renewable Energy Departments at Oregon Tech are seeking donations to support these projects. In addition to providing financial support, donors will have the opportunity to interact with the engineering students during the term.
The students are tasked with designing and constructing small, portable, passive solar chicken coops to accommodate four average size laying hens. By the end of the term, these coops will have been constructed and a week of temperature data will have been taken and analyzed to determine the coops’ thermal performance.
A public showcase of the coops will take place on Wednesday, March 21, 2012 from 8:00 a.m.to 10:00 a.m. at the Oregon Tech, Klamath Falls Campus. The coops will be judged by attendees for best overall coop, most passive, most sustainable, most high-tech, among other superlatives.
The chicken coops will then be made available for sale with priority given to donors. The engineering departments are seeking ten donations of $200 each with additional donations of any amount to be used to support future introduction to engineering course activities. Inquiries should be directed to C.J. Riley in the Civil Engineering Department, who can provide donation instructions:charles.riley@oit.edu 541-885-1922.
About Oregon Tech
Founded in Klamath Falls in 1947, Oregon Institute of Technology is one of seven institutions in the Oregon University System, and the only public institute of technology in the Pacific Northwest. Oregon Tech provides degree programs in engineering and health technologies, management, communications and applied sciences that prepare students to be effective participants in their professional, public and international communities through hands-on learning. Oregon Tech’s main campus is in Klamath Falls; other sites are located in Portland, Salem, La Grande and Seattle. Visit www.oit.edu to learn more about Oregon Institute of Technology.
