The Kapawi Electric Boat System: Insight on Community-Partnered Senior Capstone Projects

Juliette Rose Dignum; Marissa H. Forbes; Odesma Onika Dalrymple

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Conference: 2024 ASEE PSW Conference
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Publication Date: April 18, 2024
Start Date: April 18, 2024
End Date: April 20, 2024
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--46067
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/46067

Marissa Forbes, PhD is an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of San Diego. She is co-creator and co-leader of the Water Justice Exchange, a cross-campus, inter-community initiative fostering synergistic research, teaching and solutions for water challenges in the San Diego/Tijuana region. Dr. Forbes earned her MS and PhD from the University of Colorado Boulder in Civil (environmental) Engineering, and conducts research that aims to advance water justice and sustainability, as well as sociotechnical engineering education research. She previously served as the project manager and lead editor of the NSF-funded TeachEngineering digital library (TeachEngineering.org, a free library of K-12 engineering curriculum), during which she mentored NSF GK-12 Fellows and NSF Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) participants on the creation and publication of their original engineering curriculum. Dr. Forbes is a former high school physics and engineering teacher and a former NSF GK-12 Fellow.

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Odesma Onika Dalrymple University of San Diego

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Dr. Odesma Dalrymple is an Associate Professor and Faculty Lead for the Engineering Exchange for Social Justice, in the Shiley Marcos School of Engineering at University of San Diego. Her professional pursuits are focused on transforming engineering educ

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Abstract

The Achuar people, occupying nearly two million acres of land in the remote regions of Eastern Ecuador, have lived in harmony with their environment for generations. The Kapawi Ecolodge offers tourists an opportunity to engage in authentic cultural experiences with the people of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Given their relative isolation within the rainforest, the Achuar people have historically relied on people-powered canoes for transportation around the river. In recent years, the Kapawi Ecolodge has turned to fuel based Peque Peque motors to power their boats due to their accessibility and increased efficiency. However, this use of fuel-based motors has brought many challenges to the environment and users such as pollution and excessive noise. Consequently, the Ecolodge and neighboring Indigenous communities express interest in exploring alternatives for sustainable river transportation.

Our project centers on identifying a viable electric alternative for the Kapawi Ecolodge’s boats that will be more environmentally friendly. Ultimately, the presentation will discuss the ways in which our community-partnered Capstone Project functioned within a curriculum structured for industry-sponsored teams. We will discuss how requirements for other teams did not necessarily fit the needs of the Achuar community, and how our group was able to adapt our project while maintaining high standards of work. Our team will travel to Ecuador in January 2024 for a weeklong immersive experience to learn about and from the community. Throughout the evolution of our project we hope to foster an engaging relationship with community members and create a design based on their input.

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Dignum, J. R., & Forbes, M. H., & Dalrymple, O. O. (2024, April), The Kapawi Electric Boat System: Insight on Community-Partnered Senior Capstone Projects Paper presented at 2024 ASEE PSW Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada. 10.18260/1-2--46067