A team of students from Rensselaer and Denmark Technical University (DTU) has made it to the semi-finals of the 2010 Dell Social Innovation Competition. The team, OroClean, proposes to eliminate up to 30% of the world’s mercury pollution with an innovative mining method for artisanal miners.
OroClean team members include three Rensselaer undergraduates: Sydney Crump ’10 Management, Carl Liebfried ’11 and Kyle Weichold ’11 Mechanical Engineering, and four DTU graduate students: Trine Duelund, Jakob Filippson Parslov, JeanneLønstrup, and Lærke Holstebroe.
The core of their solution is a small scale, hand powered centrifuge that builds on proven technology for separating gold from silt. “Of all the environmental problems we face today, one of the most important is mercury pollution; it travels the atmosphere, gets into the food chain, and is the most toxic non-radioactive material that exists,” said Crump.
The students have been working on the project with support from Burt Swersey, a lecturer in Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering and a member of Rensselaer’s Product Design and Innovation (PDI) faculty.
More than 500 students from 30 countries participated in the competition, with solutions to address poverty, healthcare, access to potable water, and a host of important social issues. Three Finalist teams will be invited to present their proposal to a panel of judges for the chance to win the $50,0000 grand prize to turn their ideas into a new business or nonprofit with a mission to change lives for the better. Read more.