Introduction to Biosystems Engineering

The final project in this class was to work in a group to design, build, and test an Algae Photobioreactor. As someone in my first semester at Auburn, this was challenging for many reasons, the first one being I had no idea what an Algae Photobioreactor was, much less how to build one. It was also one of the first times I had worked with a random group in an engineering context, which navigating proved to be a bigger challenge than our actual project. Facing the challenges that this project presented prepared me for classes and projects to come, providing me with patience, problem-solving, and communication skills.​​​​

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​Another one of our biggest challenges was the lack of time for trial and error. Having completed many projects in the past, I am used to being given the time and ability for my project to be tested and improved before presenting our final, but unfortunately for this project, we only got one try. ​​​Because of this constraint, we did not have the chance to catch some of the reasons that our photobioreactor was inefficient at growing algae before our final test. However, after our testing period, my group was able to identify areas of improvement, so the idea of trial and error was not lost. ​

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This project was our first experience with real engineering at Auburn. That includes designing and building, but it also entails working in groups (that you may or may not work well with), research, time management, writing proposals and reports, and presenting findings.