2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

At Western Kentucky University, senior design projects provide a valuable opportunity for mechanical engineering students to apply their classroom knowledge to practical design, teamwork, and professional skills. This paper outlines how student teams designed and prototyped a small-scale system that converts wind energy into usable thermal energy. This focuses mainly on greenhouse heating, and the idea also has larger benefits for sustainability and off-grid energy solutions.
For this project, students were asked to apply principles from thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, systems engineering, and machine design to build a system. By following a systematic design process, students established performance goals, researched relevant standards, and used Pugh matrices to compare different ideas. They developed subsystems, including a turbine, a frame, and a heater, for thermal management. The final prototype includes turbine blades, a rotating magnet system, and a heat sink that captures, converts, and measures thermal output. The SolidWorks software package was utilized for modeling, stress analysis, and performance testing, which were critical for confirming and refining the design, while staying within budget and manufacturing constraints. The project fostered a step-by-step approach to problem-solving and encouraged students to foresee applications of renewable energy.
Key lessons learned include the importance of making design decisions early, finding a balance between ideal performance and real-world limitations, and the benefits of using simulations in conjunction with actual tests. The project successfully developed a working prototype that converts wind energy into heat, demonstrating how project-based learning prepares students for careers in the engineering field. By integrating technical skills with a focus on sustainability, this capstone experience illustrates how renewable energy projects can inspire and engage students while addressing significant engineering and environmental challenges.