Challenges

Click on the Challenge partner name to access the Challenge. Teacher Resources are available in each Challenge but they are password protected. Teachers may contact pbl.projects@nebhe.org using their school email account to obtain the passwords for the resources and for the protected Challenge sections.

If you don’t see a Challenge in this list that meets your course objectives, why not try making one of your own? Instructions and examples from PBL Projects participants can be found here.

Challenge	The Problem	STEM concepts
Boston University	A team of graduate students need to determine the starting exposure time for a DNA microarray fabricator	Reflective imaging systems, Transmissive and reflective losses, Photochemistry, Lens systems, Maskless photolithography, Math with percents
Cal Poly Pomona	Does a 26 watt fluorescent has the same light output as a 100 watt incandescent?	Spectral output of light sources, Optical power measurements, Radiometry and photometry, Area under a curve
Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association	Can technology be used to make a cranberry bog more energy efficient?	Irrigation technology, Biological effects of: –Pesticides and fertilizer on plant growth and water resources, –Heat and cold on plant growth, –Drought and flooding on plant growth,
CIRTEC Medical Systems	CIRTEC needs to ramp up production of power packs for an implantable medical device from 300 per year to 5000 per year.	Manufacturing process flow, Lean manufacturing principles
UPDATE! City of Tucson	The City of Tucson, AZ wants to put solar panels on an old warehouse that has a low weight limit	Solar energy, solar panel systems
NEW! Coherent	Coherent needs to design a new slope efficiency test bench because their results haven't been matching a customer's.	Optical fiber test and measurement
NEW! Convergent Photonics	Convergent needs to find a way to test the complete length of a spool of active fiber for flaws	Active optical fiber flaw testing
FastCAP Systems (now Nanoramic Laboratories)	FastCAP’s carbon nanotubes need a uniform thin film layer for even growth,  but the sputtered coating is bunching into clusters.	Energy storage, Nanotechnology, Thin film sputtering, Surface chemistry
UPDATE! FloDesign	In this Challenge you're part of a team developing a new way to extract energy from a novel small wind turbine.	Energy conservation, Faraday's Law
Hypertherm	Hypertherm is experiencing too many defects in its wave solder process. How can the data be analyzed to make recommendations for improvement?	Wave soldering, Printed circuit board manufacturing, Lean manufacturing – Pareto Diagrams, Cause and Effect Diagram
IBM (now Global Foundaries)	IBM has a problem with a thin film etching process causing an area at the edge of the wafer to be under-etched	Semiconductor fabrication, Photolithography, Fasteners, Torque
International Laser Display Association (Laser safety)	What dangers does a pilot face when an aircraft is targeted by a laser pointer?	Laser divergence, Irradiance, Maximum permissible exposure, Laser safety, Trigonometry
IPG Photonics - 2007 (Burn-in testing)	IPG Photonics needs a way to run 100-hour unattended burn-in tests on a 2-kw laser.	Fiber lasers, Laser beam output parameters, Optical system design, Laser power measurement, Laser spectral output measurement, Laser safety
IPG Photonics – 2015 (Laser surface cleaning)	A customer requests a system to rapidly laser clean aluminum surfaces prior to welding in an automotive application.	Fiber lasers, Laser beam output parameters, Optical system design, Laser materials processing, Energy density determination, Surface tension
NEW! IPG Apps Lab -2019	How can IPG help a customer weld metal trusses with less spatter and decreased cycle time?	Fiber lasers, power, irradiance, welding
Johnson & Johnson	A J&J team needs to develop a new treatment for eczema using plant-derived active ingredients.	Chemistry, Skin biology, Cosmetic design
NEW! MIT Kimerling Group	A graduate student is designing a waveguide methane gas sensor using photolithography techniques	Sensors, waveguides, evanescent waves, light absorption
UPDATE! Penn State Electro Optic Center	Two boys are lost in the woods. Can technology help find them?	Electromagnetic spectrum, digital imaging principles
Photomachining	A customer needs to have the coating stripped from 50 micron wire.	Excimer & CO2 lasers, Laser beam output parameters, Optical system design, Laser materials processing, Energy density determination
RSL Fiber Systems	RSLF is designing an ergonomic and energy efficient lighting system for submarines.	Biological effects of lighting, Circadian rhythms, Illumination sources, Fiber optics, Unit Conversions, Decibels, Percent
Sound Manufacturing	Can metal be cut and bent beyond existing metal and machine standards without increasing the failure rate?	Sheet metal fabrication, Properties of Metals, Root cause analysis, Tolerancing
TTF Watershed Partnership	Can the problem of urban stormwater be addressed by local communities without investing in huge infrastructure projects?	Area and volume, Unit conversion, Stormwater management
UPenn McKay Orthopedic Research Lab	A research team needs a non-contact method to measure mechanical properties of mouse tendons.	Geometric optics, CCD linear arrays, MATLAB modeling of volume from area “slices”

Challenges

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