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Smith College Engineers Helping Local
Bakery Clear the Air
Editor's note: Digitized photos are available by contacting
Marti Hobbes at mhobbes@smith.edu or (413) 585-2190.
NORTHAMPTON, Mass --
Smith College's new engineering program may be attracting
national attention, but a group of students and faculty
are keeping their focus local.
Students in "Engineering and Global Development," an
advanced engineering course taught by Professor Donna Riley,
are collaborating with a grassroots organization in Holyoke,
Mass., to improve local air quality.
Nuestras Raices is an organization promoting economic and
community development in Holyoke through agricultural initiatives.
One of their enterprises is El Jardin Bakery, which produces
organic artisan bread for distribution to local markets and
restaurants. Working with Nuestras Raices representatives,
the Smith engineering students are designing a modification
to the bakery's current chimney structure and exploring improvements
to the oven's combustion process and building ventilation
system. The goal of this design project is to reduce overall
emissions from the bakery's wood-fired brick oven and divert
them away from neighboring buildings, including the Nuestras
Raices community center.
In keeping with the course's emphasis on appropriate development,
the students are working on-site toward a small-scale, low-tech
redesign that is informed by the needs of the community.
On April 29, the class will present a proposed solution,
which El Jardin hopes to implement this summer.
Established in 1999, Smith's Picker Engineering Program
is focused on developing broadly educated, well-rounded engineers
capable of assuming leadership roles in corporations, non-profit
organizations and technology-related fields. The first class
of engineering majors will graduate in May, earning bachelor's
degrees in engineering science.
Smith College is consistently ranked among the nation's
foremost liberal arts colleges. Enrolling 2,800 students
from every state and 60 other countries, Smith is the largest
undergraduate women's college in the country.
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Office of College
Relations
Smith College
Garrison Hall
Northampton, Massachusetts 01063 |
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Marti
Hobbes
News Assistant
T (413) 585-2190
F (413) 585-2174
mhobbes@email.smith.edu
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