Mechanical engineering students at Penn State Scranton conduct solar panel study for local organization

Six mechanical engineering students at Penn State Scranton received experience solving a real-world issue.

The Monroe County Conservation District (MCCD) in Stroudsburg was having issues with power interruptions threatening its educational programming and support services. Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Farhang Daneshmand had put out a call to organizations in the area that could provide student engineering projects, and MCCD jumped on the opportunity.

“The partnership was motivated by a desire to move beyond purely hypothetical design problems and provide students with an authentic, real-world engineering experience,” Daneshmand said. “The Monroe County Conservation District presented a meaningful and timely challenge — energy reliability and resilience — which allowed students to work on a problem with clear technical, economic and community impact.”

Six third-year students enrolled in Daneshmand’s ME 340: Design Methodology class – Emily Beemer, Ethan Lee, Joshua MacLunny, Clera O’Boyle, Eric Pisack and Vance Weimer – completed the project. They were all organized into specialized teams based on their backgrounds, experience and interests, and worked with MCCD to figure out if a solar energy backup system could improve power reliability. The students also consulted with industry professionals.

In the end, the students helped prepare a proposal for a solar energy resilience system that could run the MCCD building during a power outage. The proposed system was also tailored to the building’s space constraints. The system isn’t being installed yet, but MCCD said it’s analyzing its budget and looking for grant opportunities to bring the project to life.

Daneshmand said the project reflected the core goals of Penn State Scranton’s mechanical engineering program: combining technical theory with hands-on application.