Prof. Brace, Will Rice, Sarah Ryan, Thomas Gregory, Ella McKee, and AC Oeser at Sunflower Farm Creamery in Cumberland, Maine.
All human-centered engineering majors at Boston College complete a two-semester Senior Impact Project (similar to senior design or capstone at other institutions) to apply their four years of engineering knowledge to a project with potential to make a positive impact on the common good. It was my pleasure to connect this group of students - Will, Sarah, Thomas, Ella, and AC - with one of my favorite places: Sunflower Farm Creamery in Cumberland, Maine. You can read a BC News Article about the experience here.
In short, I reached out to owners Hope and Chris Hall, whose farm I have had the pleasure of visiting many times as a guest at their AirBnB and enthusiastic participant in goat yoga. I asked if they might have a project engineering students could tackle and Hope immediately said yes.
Feeding goats isn't always easy - they are social creatures, like to eat together, climb in their feed buckets, which are open to contamination from goat hooves and weather events alike. Loss of feed is a significant economic loss for small farms operating on slim margins. Over the course of two semesters, with meetings and feedback from Hope and Chris on the needs of the goats and the farm, and feedback from me on their engineering designs, the students brainstormed, designed, and prototyped multiple feeding solutions. In April, we all made our second visit to the farm to test out the prototypes. It was definitely an interesting experience for all of us, understanding how to meet the needs of the farmers and the goats themselves.
A brave goat being the first to test out the winning prototype. When the goat steps on the platform, the panel swings forward to allow them to eat from the grain bin.
