The Chair's Corner High-Tech Melon Thumper Developed by Student

UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE High-Tech Melon Thumper Developed by Student Designers by Ginger Pinholster reprinted with permission from The University of Delaware Messenger, Vol. 8 No. 4/1999 orget thumping watermelons to check for ripeness. Unripened watermelons—a Fserious economic threat to farmers and a disappointment for consumers—may be quickly and automatically rejected by a new machine invented by four former University of Delaware engineering students. mechanıcal The UD watermelon ripeness sensor was developed by Matt Behr of Towson, Md., Dave Bartoski of Camp Hill, Md., Allan Cohen of Wyckoff, N.J., and Jason Firko of Claymont, Del., as part of a senior design class focusing on real industry problems engıneerıng and customers. All are members of the class of ’99. Winter 2000 Managing Editor “But, the technology isn’t simply a student project,” says UD faculty member James Nathan Cloud NEWSCopy Editor & Glancey, who helps supervise student design teams, with colleague Michael Keefe Contributing Writer and class coordinator Dick Wilkins. Diane S. Kukich “These students have come up with a technology that’s absolutely viable,” says Glancey, an associate professor of bioresources engineering and mechanical engi- The Chair’s Corner neering at UD. “It would be very useful to growers.” by Dr. Tsu Wei-Chou The computer-controlled ripeness sensor ultimately could result in huge savings for the global watermelon industry, according to Ed Kee, a UD extension specialist, and t has been a very eventful year in the William J. Watson, executive director of the National Watermelon Association, based IMechanical Engineering Department in Orlando, Fla. as well as the College of Engineering. A prototype version of the UD device cranks out a ripeness reading in just 12 sec- First, Dr. Eric W. Kaler was appointed onds. It’s also durable, easy to use, weighs about 18 pounds and costs less than Dean of the College last August. For $1,100. the past four years, Eric was Chair of the Chemical Engineering Department. “This is the first generation of a very promising new machine,” Kee says. “Down the Dr. Andras Szeri, who served as the road, we envision a hand-held microprocessor to replace the laptop computer we’re Interim Dean for the past two years, has currently using with the device. Such a device could prove essential for farmers,” he returned to Mechanical Engineering. says, “and it might be handy for consumers, too.” We are all thankful for his service and “Watermelon growers need an automatic ripeness sensor,” Kee says, because “it’s not contribution to the College. After at all unusual for a 40,000-pound truckload of watermelons to be rejected at the mar- serving as Acting Chair for a year, I was ketplace. An entire load can be rejected if 10 melons are green,” he explains. recently appointed Chair of Mechanical Engineering. I appreciate very much How does the UD machine work? Its central feature is a platform where the water- the support of the faculty during the tions for the Department. Nate retired melon rests. Sandwiched between the platform and the melon, a piece of foam past year, and I am excited about the from DuPont Company two years ago rubber holds the fruit steady. A mallet attached to a metal arm protrudes from the opportunity to work with the faculty, and has been a very active contributor right side of the staff, and alumni to continue our effort to our Senior Design program. Nate machine, while a in building a strong department. will work closely with the departmental microphone sits close Alumni Relations Steering Committee to the melon, on the We are also very excited to welcome our left. new faculty member, John E. Novotny. and me and with Wanda Mock, the new Dr. Novotny received a bachelor of sci- College Development Officer. Nate has When Behr swings ence degree in mechanical engineering also taken over the responsibility of the metal arm, the from Yale University in 1989. He then Managing Editor of this Newsletter. mallet strikes the served as a research fellow for one year This fall semester we welcome the forty- melon. The micro- at the Wilhelm Schultess Klinik in six students of the class of 2004, which phone picks up the Zurich, Switzerland, performing studies include eleven women, and fifteen in sound and transfers it on the human spine. After moving to the Honors Program. Also, this fall we via electric signal to a the University of Vermont, he received a welcome sixteen new graduate students. laptop computer. The master of science degree in biomedical The department has fifty-three graduate voltage signal is then engineering in 1992 and a doctoral students, thirty-one of whom are converted into digital degree in mechanical engineering in pursing the Ph.D. degree. There are information, which is analyzed. 1997. Dr. Novotny also spent three also eight postdoctoral fellows, visiting Because the hollow thunk of a ripe melon echoes, it produces an acoustical signal years as a post-doctoral associate with scholars, and research associates. the Department of Orthopedics and that shows up as a peak on the computer screen, which dies down gradually. On Rehabilitation at the University of In last fall’s newsletter, I reported the melons tested thus far, the frequency of the signal, when normalized using volume, Vermont. Dr. Novotny’s research inter- visit by a team from the Accreditation has shown a promising correlation to the actual sugar content of the melon, ests include orthopedic and sports bio- Board of Engineering and Technology according to Kee. (The size of the watermelon influences the frequency of its signal mechanics of the shoulder, spine, and (ABET) to the College of Engineering and, therefore, is taken into knee. Other recent work has focused on and the evaluation of our undergraduate account during analysis, Behr both experimental and analytical Mechanical Engineering program. I notes.) methods to study tissue and cellular was very pleased to receive the ABET Melon characteristic frequen- mechanics within ligaments, tendons, evaluation report in September and the cies have ranged from 100 to and cartilage. The arrival of Dr. wonderful news that we have been 250 hertz, corresponding to Novotny further strengthens our bio- accredited for a full six-year term. The the desired sugar content of 8 medical engineering program. faculty are now preparing for a strategic to 12 percent. These findings planning meeting, to be held in the were put to the test this We have also initiated the search for two Winter Session. I hope to report to you new faculty members in the solid summer, as researchers inves- in the next issue of ME News our vision tigated more melons. mechanics and fluid mechanics areas. of the future of the department. These are positions vacated by Delaware’s watermelon har- Professors Anthony Wexler and John I would urge you to continue to be an vest for 1997 came to 64.6 Lambros, who left Delaware for the active member of the department’s Testing the tester million pounds, making it the University of California-Davis and alumni community. Please keep us nation’s 12th largest water- University of Illinois-Urbana, respec- apprised of your own activities (e-mail: melon-growing state, just behind Maryland, U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics tively. You may recall that Dr. Wexler [email protected]) and log on to show. initiated ME News six years ago and has http://www.udel.edu/alumni/alumad- made a wonderful effort in strength- dress.html to update your contact Other top watermelon states include California, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, ening our tie with alumni. We wish information. Finally, on behalf of the Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Worldwide, the Drs. Wexler and Lambros all the best in students and faculty of Mechanical United States ranks fourth in global watermelon production, behind China, Turkey, their new jobs. It is our plan to conduct Engineering, I want to express our sin- and Iran. cere appreciation of the support and several faculty searches in the coming Editor’s Note: years in order to increase the total encouragement from our many alumni number of faculty from the current during the past year and wish you all the The seeds of this Senior Design project have helped fertilize a ripe future for the tech- 19 to 23 by 2004. best for the New Year! nology of automating the science of fruit and vegetable growing and harvesting. The National Watermelon Promotion Board (NWPB) has budgeted funds for a two-year I am very pleased to report that Mr. project with the University of Delaware to develop a commercially viable version of Nathan Cloud (64EG, 70M/EG) has the ripeness sensor. If the project is approved, work would begin in January 2001. agreed to be coordinator of alumni rela- Class Notes William H. Just 63BME of Atlanta, Lee Ahlstrom 89BME, 91MME of DOUBLE DELS NEW ADDITIONS CEO of Total Association Management Houston, joined the consulting firm of Linda (Scarborough) Craven 72AS is Julia Nicole, born Dec. 6, 1998 to Pattie Services, Inc., has been appointed to the McKinsey & Co. there as an energy spe- president of Studio Graphics Inc., in and Lee Ahlsltrom 89BME, 91MME of international board of directors of the cialist on the upstream side of the petro- Lexington Park, Md. and Thomas E. Houston. Convention Liaison Council (CLC) for a leum practice. Craven 70BME, 83MME is a mechan- two-year term. He also is one of six pro- ical engineer working for the U.S. Navy. Alyssa Lauren, born Jan. 12, 1999, to fessionals to be recognized by the CLC Robert W.

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