Safety Engineering Q
Uploaded by donnampainter on 2025-12-03.
When we got to class on the day of the safety assignment, we were met with quite the surprise… some “radioactive popcorn kernels” were in the classroom and needed disposing of! Assigned to random teams, we were each tasked with finding a way to, using an odd assortment of materials, move the kernels from their current container to the larger “decontamination chamber” next to it, all while staying far enough away so as not to be affected by the radiation, and without spilling the kernels to avoid a meltdown (spoiler alert: we died many times that class period… oops).
My team decided to use teamwork to accomplish this goal, as can be seen in the video, and were successful in decontaminating the popcorn!
In this assignment, we learning the value of prototyping and testing, and also making sure the materials you are testing with are accurate to the actual situation. We were each given a replica cup filled with “normal” kernels to practice with while designing our prototype, which was very helpful for practicing our technique and making sure our design was structurally sound. Unfortunately, this replica was not perfect, and was considerably less heavy than the actual cup, causing some groups designs to not work with the additional weight, including one of our alternate designs that we tried afterward. This highlights the importance knowing all the details of the situation has on safety.