Open Student Projects

The main goal of this project is to conduct a comprehensive life cycle analysis (LCA) of three biogas digester models: the Sistema.bio and HomeBiogas plastic biogas digesters, and a cement digester constructed in-country by local masons. The LCA will estimate the carbon footprint of the products and materials used in these digesters and determine the duration of operation required to offset the carbon emissions associated with their production and construction.

In the course of the project, the student will be responsible for: - Identify all parts of the biogas digesters, including the materials they are made from and the locations where they are manufactured and assembled. - Calculate the carbon footprint of the plastic biogas digesters shipped to a country they are being implemented in and compare it to a cement biogas digester made in the same country. This includes emissions from material extraction, manufacturing, assembly, and transportation. - Estimate the amount of carbon a biogas digester can save per year for an average household in the implementing country households. This will involve analyzing typical usage patterns and potential reductions in traditional fuel use (e.g., wood or charcoal). - Calculate the duration of operation required for the biogas digesters to offset their initial construction and material-related carbon emissions. This involves comparing the annual carbon savings to the total carbon footprint of the digesters. - Assess the implications of the findings for the overall effectiveness of biogas projects in carbon offsetting. This includes evaluating how the initial carbon debt impacts long-term carbon savings and considering the potential need for policy adjustments or additional measures to enhance carbon offset effectiveness. - Produce an open source code that can be adjusted if new information is obtained that will impact these LCA calculations.

Interested students are invited to contact Dr. Natalie Boyd Williams (nboydwilliams@ethz.ch).

The goal of this project is to develop a business plan for sustainable waste collection, work on marketing campaigns and stakeholder engagement. A preliminary model of costs and stakeholder willingness-to-pay has been developed and needs to be implemented (Abgottspon, 2024).

In the course of the project, the student will be responsible for: - Implementing developed preliminary model of costs and stakeholder willingness-to-pay for waste management in the town of Cape Maclear. - Preparing and signing the Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) between the main coordinating organization (Sustainable Cape Maclear) and customers of waste management system. - Preparing advertising material for the waste management system and spreading awareness about it. - Preparing the data management strategy. - Preparing and supervising the accounting management strategy.

This research looks for a master-level student from the Department of Management, Technology, and Economics (D-MTEC) or others (D-USYS, D-MAVT, etc.) with skills in complex stakeholder interactions and experience in developing business plans. Interested and qualified candidates are invited to contact Dr. Jakub Tkaczuk (jtkaczuk@ethz.ch).

The aim of this thesis is to characterize wastewater from washing plastics during the recycling process in Blantyre, Malawi and propose context-specific treatment options.

In the course of the project, the student will be responsible for: - Analyzing wastewater from plastic recycling (e.g. pH, COD, TDS, turbidity, etc.). - Comparing cost and cleaning efficiency from different washing methods. - Thinking independently but working collaboratively (industry, NGO, and academia).

This research looks for a master-level environmental engineering student who wants to complete 3 months of field work in Blantyre, Malawi and has experience with water sampling and analysis. Interested and qualified students are invited to contact Dr. Jakub Tkaczuk (jtkaczuk@ethz.ch).

The project is supported by funding by Prof. Tilley and would involve significant time spent working with hardware and software, either at the GHE offices or ETH Student Project House. This project requires knowledge (which is not needed at the outset) in communications systems, wireless sensor networks, among other aspects related to electronics.

Over the course of the project, the student will be responsible for: 1. Designing the communication network (see LoRa IOT ecosystem). 2. Prototyping the communication network, including: - Installing a subset of the sensors at the GHE office, - Validating their measurements, - Wirelessly sending and storing these measurements, and - Presenting them on a web interface with live or nearly-live updates.

Interested and qualified students are invited to apply. To do so, please contact Dr. Jakub Tkaczuk (jtkaczuk@ethz.ch).

The project is supported by funding by Prof. Tilley and will be conducted with collaborators in Colombia from Universidad del Norte. This thesis would involve 3-4 months of field work in Colombia, during which the student would be based at Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla with several visits to the rural community of Tezhumke near Valledupar. Some level of verbal Spanish comprehension and Spanish speaking is desired but not required. Interested and qualified students are invited to apply.

Over the course of the project, the student will be responsible for: - Evaluating the state of the physical prototype completed by the previous student team and familiarizing themself with the prototype’s function. - Devise a set of control schemes given the healthcare specific context. - Test the control schemes on the prototype for various operating conditions.

Interested and qualified students are invited to apply. To do so, please contact Dr. Jakub Tkaczuk (jtkaczuk@ethz.ch).

The project is supported by funding by Prof. Tilley. This thesis would involve 3-4 months of fieldwork in Malawi.

Over the course of the project, the student will be responsible for: - Visiting many facilities (of varying sizes) throughout southern Malawi. - Designing the data collection protocol for the device inventory, including metrics such as functionality of the device, nameplate energy characteristics, power consumption profile when plugged in, device protections in case of brownout or blackout, etc. - Publishing the data in an open source format following the protocols put forth by the GHE team.

Interested and qualified students are invited to apply. To do so, please contact Dr. Jakub Tkaczuk (jtkaczuk@ethz.ch).

The project is supported by funding by Prof. Tilley and will be undertaken with a partner startup company based in Nairobi, Kenya. If done within a Master's thesis, it will involve a 3-4 month stay in Kenya, if done within a Bachelor's thesis, it will be done fully in Zurich. Familiarity with human-centered design and prototyping techniques are useful for this work.

Over the course of the project, the student will be responsible for: - Following a human-centered design approach, verify that an RFID solution is best suited to meet the company’s needs. - Iteratively designing and prototyping the identified solution with locally available materials. - Verifying that the systems accurately tracks battery charging. - Validating that the devised solution meets user needs.

Interested and qualified students are invited to apply. To do so, please contact Dr. Jakub Tkaczuk (jtkaczuk@ethz.ch).

In the course of the project, the student will be responsible for: - Building a lighting setup to optimize mycelium growth detection. - Write code to 1) detect and 2) measure mycelium growth over time. - Write up learnings of this pilot project and outline steps forward.

Create and test an automated setup to detect and measure mycelium growth using a Raspberry Pi 5 and open-source software.

This research looks for a master/bachelor-level student with strong programming skills (ideally Python), a passion for open-source software development and a strong interest in how mushrooms could help in sanitation of human waste. Interested and qualified students are invited to apply. To do so, please contact Dr. Jakub Tkaczuk (jtkaczuk@ethz.ch).

The project is supported by funding by Prof. Tilley. This thesis would involve 3-4 months of fieldwork in Malawi.

Over the course of the project, the student will be responsible for: - Visiting electrified health facilities (of varying sizes) throughout southern Malawi and documenting their primary (and secondary, if appropriate) energy sources and whether they have an established plan to reduce their loads if not all demand can be met. - Installing nLine sensors to track power quality and reliability and ensuring their functionality throughout the duration of their installation. - Conducting an analysis of the data to determine if there are any predictable patterns of brownouts or blackouts, how long they last, how often they occur, where they occur. - Publishing the data in an open source format following the protocols put forth by the GHE team.

Interested and qualified students are invited to apply. To do so, please contact Dr. Jakub Tkaczuk (jtkaczuk@ethz.ch).

In the course of the project, the student will be responsible for: - Setting up the test setup in the fume hood for biogas flow measurements. - Measuring the flow of biogas (humid CH4 and CO2 mixture) with five commercial biogas meters. - Analysing the measurements against the ground truth data from accurate mass flow controllers.

The goal of this project is to test five biogas flow meters, connected in series, downstream the accurate mass flow controllers for a complete range of biogas flows and methane/carbon dioxide concentrations. This work will be fully done at the GHE’s laboratory.

This research looks for a bachelor-level or semester project mechanical engineering student with skills in Python programming, willing to perform experimental measurements in the laboratory. The student is skilled/willing to learn Labview for hardware interfacing will be highly appreciated. Interested and qualified students are invited to apply. To do so, please contact Dr. Jakub Tkaczuk (jtkaczuk@ethz.ch).

The goal of this thesis is twofold. First, the functional state of the incinerator at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre has to be assessed. Broken, non-functional or missing parts need to be fixed or replaced. Standard Operating Procedures must be written, and local representatives and responsible waste management personnel have to be trained. Second, system parameters have to be monitored 24h/7 over an extended period. They include waste volume, incineration temperature, fume gas volumetric flow rate, particulate matter production, black carbon production, and ash-to-waste ratio.

In the course of the project, the student will be responsible for: - Repairing the existing but not used incinerator in Blantyre, Malawi. - Proposing changes to the incineration cycle to improve its performance and decrease toxic gas production. - Measuring system parameters over an extended period of time. - Comparing the particulate matter production of incinerated waste to open waste burning.

This research looks for a master-level mechanical engineering/environmental engineering student with skills in process engineering, communication and teamwork, resourcefulness, innovative design, tinkering, and DIY. This thesis includes a 2 month-long stay in Blantyre, Malawi. Interested and qualified candidates are invited to contact Dr. Jakub Tkaczuk (jtkaczuk@ethz.ch).

Approach and Methods 1. Literature Review (Comprehensive review of existing studies on emission inventories focusing on similar contexts, review to identify sources of emissions in Blantyre). 2. Data Collection (Industries: Identify and list all industries in Blantyre, document their production levels, and map industry types to specific pollutants. Vehicles: Collect vehicle data including type of fuel, production year, etc from the Blantyre Road Transport authority. Solid Biofuels: Use literature data to estimate the extent and amount of solid biofuels used. Waste Burning: Use IPCC guidelines to estimate emissions from waste burning. Emission Factors: Gather emission factors from existing literature to apply to collected data). 3. Data Analysis (Calculate emissions for each source using the gathered data). 4. Modeling and Documentation (Create a detailed emission inventory, documenting the methodology, sources of information, and calculation processes). Deliverables 1. Emission Inventory Report: Comprehensive report detailing the emissions from various sources in Blantyre. Documentation of data sources, emission factors, calculation methods, and results. 2. Pollutant Emissions Data: Quantified emissions for PM10, PM2.5, BC, SO2, NOx, and CO. 3. Github Repository: Repository containing all codes, data, and documentation used in the study for transparency and reproducibility.

The goal of this study is to answer the following research questions: 1. What are Blantyre's primary sources of air pollution, and what are their respective contributions to overall emissions? 2. How can emissions from industries, vehicles, solid biofuel use, and waste burning be accurately quantified and documented? 3. How do the emission levels of different pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, Black Carbon, SO2, NOx, CO) vary across different sources in Blantyre?

This research looks for a master-level mechanical/environmental engineering student proficient in data analysis in Python or R, willing to spend three months in Blantyre, Malawi visiting industrial areas, engaging with local authorities, and collecting data. Interested and qualified candidates are should concatct Dr. Jakub Tkaczuk (jtkaczuk@ethz.ch).

This job is for you if: - you are enrolled in an MSc programme at ETH Zurich and planning to take a holiday term. - you care about data and code being reusable. - you have been taught standard data science tools (e.g. Git, GitHub, R, Python, RStudio IDE, VS Code, etc.). - you can clean, visualize, and communicate data using R, and ideally, the collection of R tidyverse packages. - you are looking for some hands-on data science experience.

Everyone is welcome here, just as they are. Our collegial and respectful interaction creates a pleasant working atmosphere and room for new ideas. In addition to a central work location in Zurich with plenty of room and sun in your office, you can work occasionally from home. The employment conditions follow the university guidelines. They include, for example, five weeks vacation per year and a salary of 3000 CHF per month at 100%.

Interested and qualified candidates are invited to email lschoebitz@ethz.ch with an updated CV and a link to an online portfolio of previous work that shows the programming code for a data analysis project. If no public portfolio exists, a script with programming code can be submitted with the application package. Read an experience report of a completed internship here: https://openwashdata.org/pages/blog/posts/2024-06-20-internship-report-02/ **Dates** 2025-01-15: due date for submission of application 2025-01-17: notification about passing first selection round (two selected candidates) 2025-01-20 & 2025-01-21: a personal and a technical interview 2025-01-23: final notification about selection 2025-02-17: flexible, but ideal start date of 4 to 6 months internship

The goal of this project is to develop a proof of concept of a simple technical solution that allows HDPE to be separated from PET. Plastic chips have to be first mechanically separated by size and, later through a chosen mechanism, separated by type to the highest achievable purity. The purity limits will be determined by other master's students throughout the project.

In the course of the project, the student will be responsible for: - Developing a simple mechanism based on a sieve to separate plastic chips by size. - Designing and developing of a mechanism of choice to separate plastic chips of one size by type (HDPE, PET). - Testing the setup for purity of the final, sorted product.

This research looks for a master-level mechanical engineering student with skills in mechanical design and construction, prototyping, experimental measurements, and interests in plastic recycling. Interested and qualified candidates are invited to contact Dr. Jakub Tkaczuk (jtkaczuk@ethz.ch).

The goal of this project is to build a mock-up of the pasteurizer (at scale) and test its capability of fecal sludge disinfection based on the measurements of E.coli reduction. The technical solution will be tested at ETH.

In the course of the project, the student will be responsible for: - Optimizing the thermodynamic processes of the pasteurization cycle. - Constructing the pasteurizer mock-up in the workshop. - Testing the pasteurization efficiency in the laboratory with cow manure spiked with E.coli.

This research looks for a master-level mechanical engineering student with skills in mechanical design, thermodynamic optimization, and prototyping. Interested and qualified candidates are invited to contact Dr. Jakub Tkaczuk (jtkaczuk@ethz.ch).

In cooperation with ERZ a method to clean the bio-waste containers directly during the collection tour needs to be investigated and a prototype for such a device should be the outcome of the project.

During the project, the student will be responsible for: - Analyzing the current state in which the containers are placed back to their locations and document possible troubles. - Evaluating available cleaning solutions and their possible implementation for this project. - Developing and prototype suitable design(s) for cleaning the containers (automation desired). - Testing and evaluating the developed design(s) at site with the workers of ERZ. - Making recommendations for ERZ.

We are looking for a Masters-level mechanical engineering student with skills in design, hands-on production, data collection and analysis, as well as an interest in sustainable energy and organic waste management. Interested and qualified candidates are invited to contact Dr. Jakub Tkaczuk (jtkaczuk@ethz.ch).

As part of the master’s thesis, a concept for monitoring the coastal water quality around Mahé and possibly also around other inner islands such as Praslin and La Digue is to be developed. Possible infiltration of pollutants by rivers, surface and groundwater and other sources, as well as seasonally changing current regimes of the coastal sea must be taken into account in order to make reliable statements. Where possible, the spread of pollutant inputs should be modelled on the basis of conceptual considerations and measurements (water flow, direction). The master’s thesis also includes a pilot study on water quality based on the monitoring concept. The water analysis includes, among others, e-coli/total coliforms, oxygen, ammonia, nitrate. The Master’s thesis should inform environmental policy.

The methods for this work include: - literature review; - expert interviews; - conceptualization (modelling); - water testing.

This master’s thesis is open to students from USYS, BAUG, MAVT. The ideal candidate has experience on water sampling/analysis. Teamwork of two master’s students is possible. This master’s thesis is conducted in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment. Interested and qualified candidates are invited to contact Dr. Pius Krütli (pius.kruetli@usys.ethz.ch).

The goal of this work is to develop and prototype a dryer, which can be built locally, is technically simple in operation and maintenance, can rely mainly on reliable energy sources (PV or thermal solar) and ideally is low-cost. The dryer should be able to dry 100-150 kg of fresh larvae per day.

In the course of the project, the student will be responsible for: - Study of scientific literature and study of specifications of available dryers to establish suitable temperature-time functions to specify key parameters of the required drying process. - Compile different dryer options with specifications as well as pros and cons of each solution to aid in the decision-making of the solution to pursue. - Design a larvae dryer according to specifications developed above. - Prototype this larvae dryer and test the drying process with real larvae.

This research looks for a master-level mechanical engineering student with skills in thermal engineering, thermodynamics, heat and mass transfer, food processing, mechanical engineering. This work will be conducted at ETH in collaboration with Eawag. Interested and qualified candidates are invited to contact Dr. Jakub Tkaczuk (jtkaczuk@ethz.ch).

The identified methods for are: 1. Research and Analysis: Conduct an exhaustive review of existing membrane technologies, materials, and production techniques, with a specific focus on the challenges and constraints in low and middle-income areas. 2. Material Innovation and Development: Experiment with new polymers and composite materials that could enhance membrane performance while being cost-effective.This includes synthesizing and testing new materials in a laboratory setting. 3. Production Process Improvement: Refine production processes for better industrial scalability, considering environmental impacts and resource utilization. This involves adapting techniques for larger-scale machinery. 4. Laboratory Testing and Evaluation: Rigorously test the membranes for filtration effectiveness, longevity, and overall performance, encompassing both laboratory experiments and collaborations with external partners for comprehensive assessments. 5. Performance Testing and Optimization: Assess the membranes in real-world scenarios, focusing on their performance in different environmental conditions typical of low and middle-income areas. 6. Industrial Upscaling: Develop and optimize production strategies for industrial-scale manufacturing, maintaining high quality and cost-effectiveness. This includes process refinement and quality control for mass production. 7. Environmental and Economic Impact Assessment: Evaluate the environmental sustainability and economic viability of the new membrane technology, ensuring that it aligns with Openversum's mission and the targeted communities' needs. This master’s thesis presents an opportunity for significant contributions to sustainable water filtration technology, with a focus on addressing the critical needs of underserved populations. It offers a blend of material science, chemistry, mechanical engineering, and practical application in a global health context.

The thesis aims to refine and enhance Openversum's existing membrane technology, focusing on improving its efficiency and cost-effectiveness while tailoring it to the specific requirements of low and middle-income settings. This includes exploring new materials and production methods that are both financially viable and environmentally sustainable. The primary objective is to develop a membrane that not only meets high filtration standards but is also practical for mass production and distribution in the intended regions.

For more information, please contact Dr Olivier Gröninger at o.groeninger@openversum.com