Sheldon Manufacturing, a leading manufacturer of laboratory equipment, and senior engineering students at OSU have been collaborating to create new, innovative equipment, blending education and industry.

As their OSU senior project design curriculum, students from the School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering ( http://mime.oregonstate.edu/ ) work with Sheldon Manufacturing's engineering and design team in a setting that mirrors the standard design process Sheldon uses with actual industrial design firms to develop new lab equipment. Sheldon Mfg. Inc. produces laboratory incubators and ovens for use in science and research. These are meant to control environmental conditions, such as temperature and humidity, and are vital for researching virus strains, sensitivity to antiviral compounds and the development of vaccines.

The students follow a very structured, formulaic process that has all the expected steps, giving them a real world application to their studies. They are graded every step of the way and have a built-in accountability for their work. "This collaboration with Sheldon has been a wonderful opportunity for the students involved to both use the technical training they have received and to also gain new skills in effectively interacting with manufacturing personnel and industrial vendors," reports Professor John Parmigiani, Ph.D., P.E., OSU School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering, and overall project manager and technical consultant.

For Sheldon Manufacturing, great concepts come out these projects and are viewed as a launching point for their engineers to take and implement into the equipment. The collaboration came about through the OSU alumni association and Sheldon Manufacturing's President Dan Sheldon (OSU alum), "In our experience with senior project design projects, the products are far more innovative than the conventional design counterparts," says Sheldon, "We also see intrinsic value in the collaboration. This is part of Sheldon giving back to the science/technology and local education communities."

Thus far, the joint effort has developed a green technology incubator, a hands-free, automated door opener for shaking incubators, and a heated door design for large CO2 incubators. As an added benefit, the incubator(s) will be used by the OSU Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics once the project is complete.

Source: Sheldon Manufacturing