Preparing problem-solvers

Ranchers in rural Montana, oncology researchers, and touring rock musicians all have one thing in common-they face problems that an engineer could help solve. Seniors in Engineering Design Projects (ES 100) , the capstone course at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), put their problem-solving prowess to the test to develop creative solutions for these and other real-world challenges. "Assistive Fence Building Machine" Rico Stormer, S.B. '18, mechanical engineering Advisor: Rob Howe , Abbott and James Lawrence Professor of Engineering Building fence line is essential for farmers and ranchers throughout rural North America, but the labor-intensive process is time consuming and expensive, costing between $3,000 and $5,000 per mile. Stormer, who grew up in rural Montana, retrofitted a riding lawn mower with a rack and pinion gear, pulley system, network of torsional springs, and pneumatic post driver to automatically drive fence posts into unprepared soil. The gears and pulley system move the post into place, then the pneumatic driver forces it into the ground. With the post in place, wire unfurls off a roller as the machine drives forward. His $822 system can drive a post and roll fence wire to the next post in a little more than three minutes.