Club Discussion - Friday, March 6, 2009

Today, in Inventor's Club, our sponsor, Mr. Bergandine, suggested that not only will we be encountering issues with our current design of the substrate, but that we also need to design a tool to use to remove the biomass from the substrate. The question is how we are going to scrape both sides of the netting/mesh that we currently have hanging down from the PVC pipes. We should try to make this a very automatic process. We would like to only have to go in one direction when harvesting. At the moment, our idea of scraping the biomass off into the boat with a scraper of some sort attached to the boat can only remove the biomass from one side at a time, requiring a second run through. Ideally, we would like to find a solution that requires little hands-on work.

In order to address the issue, we have split up into two groups, one focusing on the substrate design while the other would begin working on the harvesting tool design. Everybody should make sure they communicate with the other group members, preferably on the blog, in order to ensure that both groups are working in the same direction.

We also discussed possible testing plans. We have fish tanks available, but placing the testing materials in ponds would be preferable for two reasons:

1. In the fish tanks, a lot of the algae would probably grow on the glass instead of the substrate.
2. Ponds would create a better simulation of the natural enviroment and the light exposure.

E. Russell and E. Fritzsche mentioned easy access to ponds. We would probably want to begin testing soon. Mr. Smith mentioned that this time of year may be the best time to test due to the lack of tree leaves that would block out the sun, ensuring similar growing conditions as those in Belize. Also, there is little movement in the water and not too much rainfall. Our goal is to have some test results by the end of spring break.

InvenTeams is also an option. Applications submitted by March 20th will be given early feedback. The initial application deadline is April 24th. If we are to do this, we will have to work very quickly. More information is available at their website.