AEST Equipment

The Department of Applied Engineering, Safety & Technology is fundraising toward a goal of $10,000 for updated equipment that will provide hands-on experiences which are essential for students’ future success.

The Department is in need of $4,500 for an Epson Printer to be used in several courses by graphics, printing and packaging majors.

An Epson 9900 wide-format inkjet printer is needed to replace outdated instructional technology. It can be used by students in both the Graphic Communication Technology option as well as the Packaging Engineering Technology major. This will enable students to create digital print products and graphics for packaging structure prototypes such as cartons and boxes. Students will use this industry-level technology for realistic hands-on experiences to learn the techniques and processes used in the printing and packaging industries.

The Department is in need of $4,000 for an Indoor Air Quality Monitor to be used to perform industrial air quality investigations and industrial hygiene surveys in our two industrial hygiene courses and our Environmental Health course.

The Q-Trak Indoor Air Quality Monitor will provide our students with the tool they need to gain experience with the most current methods necessary for success in careers involving fields of Environmental and Occupational Health.  

Understanding how to interpret and manipulate large data sets is increasingly important for undergraduate students. The equipment will expand the educational opportunities of OSEH students in the implementation of a project-based learning experience by using portable air sensors for the real-time measurement of Air Pollutants. This provides students with data sets to design their own research questions and then independently carry out relevant air sampling to collect and interpret data which gives them a valuable experiential learning opportunity.  

The Department is in need of at least $1,500 for Variable Frequency Drives that will serve multiple courses in our robotics and automation areas.

VFD's are the standard hardware used to control motors in the manufacturing industry.  We currently have three vfd's that are aging and non-industry standard. This type of equipment is important to support a state-of the art automation & controls lab. Upwards of 50% of all the electricity produced for the U.S. manufacturing sector is used by electric motors. Consequently, understanding how to control motors efficiently is significant to the economic and environmental sustainability of our nation. Because of this, understanding, designing, and analyzing motor control technologies is a major experience for students in the Applied Engineering, Safety & Technology (AEST) department.  

One state-of-the-art motor control technology that students are exposed to is variable frequency motor drives (VFDs). These VFDs are the industry standard means to efficiently control motors, however, the AEST Automation and Controls Lab currently only has three such VFDs with which to provide students the ability to gain this technical experience. Therefore, having more motor control technologies available in the Automation and Controls Lab will allow more students to experience state-of-the-art techniques to efficiently consume electric energy, thereby directing impacting the carbon footprint of the manufacturing sector.