By Anna Segota, Staff Writer, Leyla Mercado, Staff Writer
Manhattan College’s chemical engineering department recently hosted students and faculty from Universidad De La Salle in Bogota, Colombia, as part of a cross-cultural engineering program.
Spearheaded by chemical engineering professor Gennaro Maffia, Ph.D., this exchange program is part of a specific project called “Upcycling Cocoa By-Products for Sustainable Production and Circular Economy Strategies: An Integrated Exploration of Sustainable Development”, otherwise known as the Utopia Project. The Utopia Project aims to find ways to improve the process of cocoa production by making it more sustainable.
This project comes after Maffia applied for a grant with the U.S. Colombia Grant Competition for twenty-first century Higher Education Partnerships. Maffia has done similar research all over the world, working to help different communities.
“We have done several projects over the years including the efforts in Haiti, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Ireland, West Bank, and Panama with Widener University,” Maffia wrote in an email to The Quadrangle. “It is very good for the soul and we do get a chance to help with the individual communities.”
A handful of students from Manhattan College were chosen to participate in this project, where they both worked on the scientific aspects, as well as hosted the visiting students and engaged in cross-cultural communication. The MC and Colombian students worked together during the week and went to explore the city and cultivate community in their downtime.
“Obviously there’s a little bit of a language barrier, but eventually we got to explore the city with them, not just do the project,” Patrick Ryan, a junior chemical engineering major said. “We went to the Museum of Natural History, and they were asking me questions in English, and I was trying to answer them in Spanish. It was really fun, and by the end of the day, I knew a lot more Spanish words.”
The Utopia Project helps put into practice the Lasallian values of both schools, as well as encouraging students to do charitable work and use engineering for good.
“I’m really interested in sustainability, this project focuses on these problems that are really big in Colombia,” Elizabeth-Theresa Apolonio, a junior chemical engineering major, said. “It’s rewarding, being able to use our engineering knowledge to solve challenges like this from what we are learning right now.”
The students brainstormed different solutions and methods for improving cocoa production, from developing electrical systems for the combustion of the waste husks of the cocoa to using the husks as a type of animal feed.
“One of the most exciting solutions is the combusting of the husk of the cocoa pod,” Joseph Vera, a senior chemical engineer said. “We can use the heat that’s generated from that combustion to power a steam cycle plant, which can be used to power a turbine to generate electricity. Once the steam has cooled down, you can reheat it by combusting more of the cocoa husk. Since they have so much of an abundance in Colombia, it’d basically be free electricity once the plant pays off for itself.”
The students from Universidad De La Salle came to New York to exchange ideas and take advantage of the engineering equipment available here that does not exist in Colombia. However, in three weeks the participating MC students will travel to Colombia to continue their research with hands-on experiences. Being in Colombia will provide unique opportunities to see the farms they’re working with and how their solutions would be actualized.
“The advantage of being in Colombia is obviously the proximity to the project,” Ryan said. “In Bogota, they have the ability to run tests on all of the samples that they get and they actually have the cocoa farms, they have acres and acres of the actual fruit that’s being planted and harvested.”
The group is excited to continue their work and make their solutions a reality. The students’ hard work and dedication promises a bright future for the cocoa industry.