Sustainability – Peter Zheng (2264255)

As engineers in training, it’s crucial we not only focus on the innovation and functionality of our designs but also carefully consider the sustainability aspect of our projects. Designing our prototype micro mouse offered an invaluable opportunity to weave sustainable development principles into our engineering practice. In this blog post, I will address our plan for recycling the components at their end-of-life and the efficient maintenance of our project website during the assessment period.

A Plan for Recycling Components at End-of-Life

Our micro mouse project, while small in scale, served as a potent reminder of the larger environmental impacts associated with electronic waste. To address this, we adopted a meticulous recycling plan for our prototype’s components once they reached their end-of-life.

1. Component Assessment: At the project’s conclusion, each component was evaluated to determine if it could be reused in future projects, thereby extending its lifecycle and reducing waste.
2. Local Recycling Partnerships: For components that could not be reused, we aimed to partner with local e-waste recycling facilities that adhered to environmentally responsible recycling practices, ensuring materials like plastics, metals, and electronics were properly processed.

Maintaining the Website During the Assessment Period

Our project website was a critical tool for sharing our journey and insights. Ensuring its reliability and relevance throughout the assessment period involved:

1. Regular Content Updates: We uploaded blogs of our project’s progress every month, including milestones achieved and lessons learned, ensure that every team member and visitor could see everyone’s progress.
2. Technical Maintenance: To ensure the website’s optimal performance, we performed routine technical checks to make sure every visitor could access the website and visit any section.
3. Feedback Mechanism: Incorporating a feedback loop, we invited suggestions from visitors, allowing us to improve the website’s content and usability continually.

By focusing on these sustainable and practical measures, we committed to not just the success of our project but also to the broader goals of environmental responsibility and community engagement. Through our actions, we aimed to demonstrate that even small teams could make significant contributions toward sustainable development in engineering.