Two Oregon Tech Mechanical Engineering students presented research at the International Conference on Science, Technology, and Applications of Additive Manufacturing (ISTA-AM) 2024 in Bali, Indonesia, in January. The conference provided a platform for undergraduate and graduate students to present their research and to network and learn about advancements and applications in additive manufacturing.
Mechanical Engineering undergraduate students Laci Landon and Brody Miller represented Oregon Tech and the Oregon Renewable Energy Center (OREC) at the conference. Assistant Professor and OREC Director Arief Budiman, Ph.D., attended as keynote speaker and served as committee chair of the event.
Landon said it is beneficial for Oregon Tech students to attend conferences because it gives them an opportunity to communicate their research and learn more about their field of study. “We learn how research can be done on similar topics but in completely different ways and how differently it can be communicated,” Landon said. “Learning to communicate your science is important because science is useless if it isn't recorded and shared. This gives us a chance to grow as researchers and engineers.”
Landon presented two projects at the conference: The first was on an agricultural dome made with composite solar cells manufactured by students. The dome aims to provide more sunlight to plants while also storing solar energy for use in automated irrigation systems, grow lights for low-light periods, and other automated agricultural systems to increase renewable energy use in the U.S. and share agricultural land with solar arrays.
As student research assistants in OREC, Landon and Miller each worked on half of the second project that was presented. The project used additive manufacturing techniques for battery anode design for a longer lasting battery that charges faster.
Miller won second in Best Student Paper for his portion of the battery anode and structural chassis project. Budiman said many projects in the competition were created by graduate students from all over the world and that Miller was the only undergraduate winner.
“Both students presented their work exceptionally well before the international conference audience, which included research, industry, and academia experts from all over the world,” Budiman said. “Both students have shared that additive manufacturing research enriches and enhances their education and training as mechanical engineers at Oregon Tech.”
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