College helps NRC to protect troops

By Jessica Perreault

perr0257@algonquincollege.com

Poppies and yellow ribbons weren’t the only way the troops were being supported this Remembrance Day.
Students in professor Thibodeau’s mechanical engineering class are working on a project in collaboration with the National Research Council, testing the effects of harsh conditions on military equipment.
“Basically, it’s to protect our troops,” said Minhaz Sobhan, one of three third-year students currently working on the project.
Sobhan is joined by Ryan Thomas and Donovan Oberg and have been working on the project which involved the creation of a particle injector into a burner that will test the durability of engines in desert conditions, such as those in Afghanistan.
“[The NCR] is trying to create a virtual environment to ensure that these engines can withstand those conditions,” said Sobhan.
According to Sobhan and Thomas, the combination of the high temperatures of the burner and the particles being injected - in this case aluminum oxide - is to simulate the desert conditions of Afghanistan to show researchers what kind of damage the military equipment can withstand.
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s real world,” said Thomas. “We spend anywhere from 10 to 15 hours per week on it.
“Once we start construction, ordering parts, it could go up to 15 to 25 hours,” he said.
While other projects in the class are to be completed by an April deadline, these students are looking to complete their project by mid-February, a deadline requested by the industry partner so they can commence acceptance testing on the prototype.
But this isn’t the first time the NRC has partnered with Algonquin on the same project. Last year, former mechanical engineering student and Algonquin grad, Aaron Kromm, was the project leader on the very same model.
“It was a challenging task. It was neat to deal with real world problems working with an actual company so to speak,” said Kromm.
The specifications received by the NRC on the project last year were not quite right. When it came time to test the prototype, it was too late for the students to fix the problems.
“The reason the NRC came back is because the criteria had changed,” said Thomas.
Last year, however, the particle injector held about a water bottle’s worth of particles, said Sobhan. The new model will hold closer to five litres.
Thomas added that the method used to push the particle through the injector was not effective for the amount of time researchers wanted the testing to run. The prototype now being completed will allow for longer test runs, using a more durable method.
It’s repeat partnerships such as this project that helps Applied Research and Innovation remain so successful at the college.
“Networking is a pretty key component to the projects,” said Mark Hoddenbagh, director of Applied Research and Innovation. “A lot of companies come back three or four times.”
The hard work of the students can be attributed in part to the desire for industry partners to continue to take part in these opportunities.
“As far as I know [the NRC] were happy and they enjoyed working with us,” said Kromm, who is now working as a mechanical designer at a local firm. “I think that’s the reason they wanted to come back to the college.
“Personally, I’m really happy to be working with NRC,” said Sobhan. “The community knows Algonquin has what it takes.”
Sandra Robertson, Algonquin graduate and the lead industry partner on the project was unavailable for comment as of press time.