Autoclave For Zimbabwe, by Way of Kansas

Many power generation manufacturers use an autoclave to help form custom composite materials. So it’s pretty cool to see this project, by a group of college students in Kansas. What was the project? Well, some engineering students designed and also built a solar-powered autoclave.

According to this story in the Beaumont Enterprise, a group of four students worked on the autoclave over the course of their senior year as part of a special design course.

They landed the project because Dougherty and Scott Hoffman, a Honeywell engineer, crossed paths at the right time. Dougherty was looking for class projects and Hoffman was needing assistance to help his friend, Dr. Mark Byler, a medical missionary in Zimbabwe, who was in need of a reliable autoclave.

Hoffman did some research at first, but quickly realized that it would be too time-consuming for him. So, he’s glad the KU students were willing to take on the challenge.

The fact that the students worked with a medical missionary from Zimbabwe is really great. They got to get some essential experience while helping out an ailing nation, even if just a bit. By next May, the students will be done with the autoclave and a community in Zimbabwe will have another autoclave.