Hello, and welcome to the Costa Rica Project!
We are a team of Harvey Mudd students in the midst of planning the installation of a dam and micro-hydroelectric station in Terciopelo Creek of Firestone Reserve (FCRE) in Baru, Costa Rica. We will install our design over Harvey Mudd's Spring Break 2011. We depart to San Jose, Costa Rica on the evening of March 12th and return to Claremont on March 21st. This is a tight schedule for a big project, so we've been busy designing our project since the end of last semester.
Why are we building a dam and hydroelectric station in Costa Rica? You might guess that we're trying to initiate a trend of renewable energy into Baru, Costa Rica, but that's not the case. In fact, 99% of the electrical energy generated in Costa Rica is from renewable sources, making it the world leader in renewable energy generation. More than 80% of this energy comes from hydroelectric plants, but the problem is these are LARGE scale hydroelectric plants that have huge effects on the surrounding ecosystems. Costa Rica is economically dependent on the revenue brought in from tourists attracted to the breathtaking wildlife and scenery of the island, so destruction of these environments is not a viable consequence of energy production.
Micro-hydroelectric stations, however, are an ideal form of energy production in tropical countries where rainfall is frequent. These small-scale systems can be powered off of streams where small dams are consciously installed to minimally impact the surrounding habitat while still being very energy efficient. For example, our project will run off of the flow at Terciopelo Creek, as seen below, which has a median wet season flow rate of 33.33 liters per second, and given 60% system efficiency will generate on average about 2KW of renewable energy.
We are carefully considering where to build our dam to disrupt the smallest amount of flow possible. This is just one of the many decisions we're currently making to optimize our design, but before we get too in depth, meet the team!
Faculty Advisors:
Adrian Hightower is an Assistant Professor of Engineering at Harvey Mudd College who specializes in the study and design of nanostructured electrodes for fuel cells and rechargeable batteries. Over the past eight years Professor Hightower has been conducting international research and facilitating projects addressing sustainability, renewable energy and the water-energy nexus. He will be joining our team in Costa Rica to supervise the installation process.
Donald McFarlane is a Professor of Biology at Pitzer College and works in the Claremont Joint Science Department. He is also the Director of Research at the Firestone Center where we will be installing the dam and hydroelectric generator. Professor McFarlane will be on-site during the first few days of the project to approve the precise positioning of the dam and provide general logistical guidance and support.
Student Researchers:
(From left to right: Alanna Weisberg, Jinhwa Chun, Abby Korth, Alice Conant, Lisbeth Santana, Spencer Tung and Kristen Warren)
Jinhwa Chun is a junior engineering major at HMC, and is our student project manager. She is a person who likes to take initiative once she sets her mind on a project, which is why she pursued the Costa Rica Project and applied for the funding to make it possible. She has many academic interests such as chemical engineering, project engineering, pharmaceutics, water quality, power plants, renewable energy (especially solar and water!), management, volunteering, mentoring, and the list goes on. She's also a strong believer of technical leadership!
Kristen Warren is a junior engineering major at HMC, and is currently interested in bioengineering. She is particularly committed to the Costa Rica Project because of her emotional attachment to Latin America. Kristen was born in Guatemala and has been looking for the opportunity to work on a project in/for Latin America for a while.
Spencer Tung is a junior engineer and very excited to be working on our project! He is currently concentrating his studies in both mechanical and electrical engineering and is a key member of our dam design group.
Lisbeth Santana is a sophomore math major and her bilingual abilities in both English and Spanish are a crucial asset to our team. She is currently in charge of contacting our project supervisors in Costa Rica as well as universities in Costa Rica to incorporate local students into our design and implementation process. She has also studied engineering at Mudd and is excited to apply her previous studies to the design process.
Abby Korth is a sophomore engineering major who plans on pursuing a career in either civil or environmental engineering. She is very interested in the issue and search for sustainable renewable energy sources and currently is working on a project teaching high school students about solar power through solar canoe building. Abby is also an active member of the school's environmental club, Engineers for a Sustainable World.
Alice Conant is a sophomore mathematical biology major who is specifically interested in securing reliable energy sources in developing countries. She is very excited to learn how to build a dam and hydroelectric station through hands-on experience and looks forward to expanding upon this technical foundation in the future.
Alanna Weisberg is a freshman at HMC. She is helping the team by looking at different types of mini hydroelectric systems that are commercially available for our project. Along with Kristen and Lisbeth, Alanna will be in charge of the electrical aspect of the project.
We are also hoping to collaborate with the following organizations and universities in Costa Rica:
- Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR)
- Asociacion de Amigos de la Naturaleza del Pacifico Central y Sur (ASANA)
- Instituto Tecnologico de Costa Rica (TEC)
