1. Moringa Leaf
Dryer
Shawn Brown
Jeremy Gemberling
Lopa Nath
Mark Steiner
Carlos Tirado

2. Our task

3. Designing prototype dryer
We did some
research on
other solar
dryers
We used
SolidWorks to
draw up the
design.

4. Building the dryer
Purchased MDO
board from Lezzer
Lumber
Utilized the Penn State
Learning Factory to
build the final product

5. • Beginning of
Research the
semester
• Middle of
Development the
semester
• Currently
Building in this
phase

6. Research
We had access to plenty
of other designs online

7. How it works Rises out of container
Evaporates
exterior
moisture
Heats up
Air enters here

8. Different Designs
We took away the fan
but kept the hole This was our original design.
We moved away from a
few different aspects.
Added another
leg for extra
support

9. Considerations for design
We wanted to minimize
time and work put in and
increase output from
current methods
We put an
emphasis on
empathic design

10. Regular meetings to share
research
We talked about the
We met in the research we found
knowledge commons and our design
every Wednesday

11. Problem: Facilities and
equipment

12. Solution
We also found some information
We got certified at
online about moringa leaves and
the Learning
dehydration to help us understand
Factory to work on
what to build
the project with
their tools

13. Drafting
We started out with this design
but soon realized that we
could improve it
We stressed empathic
design to make our
product better.
These drawings helped
us to figure out what
materials to use.

14. Problem
We really wanted to use
wood-plastic composite to
build our dryer for
maximized durability
outside.
WPC is really expensive!

15. Solution
After talking to Professor
Erdman, we decided to
switch our material to MDO
board
It was a much
cheaper solution to
our problem.

16. Beginning the process of
building
We are trying to utilize as
much of the wood as
possible to minimize waste
We’re spending a lot of time in
the Learning Factory building our
dryer.

17. Problem
Penn State
doesn’t exactly
have a premier
wood shop open
24 hours a day
We have to put our
best effort in to get the
job done because
woodwork is not a
quick thing.

18. Solution
We are still currently working on this one.
As soon as we
have this figured
out, the job will
be complete.

19. What we
learned

20. Collective Intelligence
We had to use a lot of
collective intelligence
to complete the project
Nobody knew
everything but
everybody knew
something

21. Finding information
We weren’t given a
lot of information
about the project so
we took it on
ourselves to find it
There was actually a
fair amount online
about DIY
dehydrators

22. Time management
Time we should have spent
Research Development
Building Testing
Research Development
Building Testing
Too much time developing

23. How to improve motivation
We started out the
semester with
meetings every
Wednesday to
develop and design
our dryer
We utilized scheduling
resources to pick the
perfect time for everybody

24. Group communication
We kept in
touch and
it worked
out great.

25. The future of
the Moringa
Leaf Dryer

26. We loved this project
Moringa is great for
helping out the economy
in the area we send our
dryer to
The dehydrator
is actually a
very neat DIY
project useful
beyond
processing
moringa leaves

27. It has a lot of potential
We know this product will
increase the efficiency of
drying moringa leaves by
making it faster and easier

28. Two paths
We’re at
work on the
dryer now
Not Completed
completed
Plenty of Design
Field Testing
research available

29. Problem
Our design was
and
It would’ve been way too
expensive to ship

30. Solution
We scaled down our model
to be smaller and more
portable
It’s a much more
useful product
now that it’s not a
behemoth

31. Advice to
future groups in
ENGR 493

32. Figure out the problems from
past research as early as
possible.
The problems we
ran into are now
available for future
groups.
It would be wise for
them to try to avoid
the same issues.

33. Use the Gantt chart!
This would have
The Gantt chart can prevented us from
keep your group on spending too much time
time and focused. designing the project.

34. BUILD, BUILD, BUILD
Our group didn’t start New groups should
building until it was pretty get comfortable with
late. building a piece or
two earlier so that
they don’t feel
rushed.

35. The big
picture

36. We’re en route to finishing the
dryer
We’re looking to
have it done by
Tuesday
We’ll be
disassembling it to
be reassembled in
Senegal

37. Final Design