Self-Stirring Coffee Cup Earns a Top Spot in Student Design Competition

While pouring a cup of coffee one evening, Nolan Alexander, a mechanical engineering freshman student at Embry-Riddle's Daytona Beach Campus, had a problem: He had no spoon with which to stir sugar into his steaming cup of java.

That dilemma sparked Alexander’s idea to create a self-stirring travel mug for an engineering fundamentals design competition with teammates David Roquebert and Matthew Pendleton.

The project, designed in the CATIA computer-aided design (CAD) program, won Most Creative Design Award during the third annual EGR120 Poster Competition, held Dec. 9, 2016.

By replicating the heat-trapping capabilities of a YETI^® tumbler cup and integrating a self-stirring element with a friendly interface, the students designed a mug that would keep beverages hot or cold for hours and eliminate the need for a spoon. By simply pressing an outside button on the mug, a battery-operated motor and mixing blade would kick into gear and stir the drink.

“As a freshman, this was my first time doing a project that was this in-depth,” Alexander said. “It was fun to come up with an idea and take it where you wanted. Our next step is to make a 3-D print of the mug.”

Engineering Professor Lulu Sun encourages students to use their interests to design a real-world product - and make it better than what is already available on the market.

“The goal is to improve students’ study skills to prepare them to be the next generation of engineering professionals,” Sun said. “The expected outcomes are increased and improved innovative thinking, communication and teamwork skills result, while helping students develop their critical entrepreneurial mindset and skills.”

She said several students plan to conduct further research and development on their projects to take them to the next level.  

More than 200 students participated in the competition, including 60 who presented their projects. Judges included: Marc Compere, associate professor of mechanical engineering; Hongyun Chen, assistant professor of civil engineering; Sally Blomstrom, digital studio director and associate professor of communication; Kaloki Nabutola, a mechanical engineering doctoral student; Matt Clark, an aerospace engineering graduate student; Dean White, a mechanical engineering graduate student; and Jaclyn Wiley, a digital studio student assistant.

Other winning projects

Best Presentation

• Longboard Breaks by Santiago Mujica, Samuel Feldman and Alexis Smith
• Alarm_U by Shane Leyden and Kurt Wiest

Most Sophisticated Design

• Contra-Rotating Propeller Drive Mechanism by Colin Nix and James Bennett
  

The People’s Choice

• Riddle Rocket by Ayotunde Gibert, Lezlee Roopchand and Joseph Zabbatin
  

The Best Poster Design Award

• KEG Engineering by Adam Eveleth, Andrew Guggenheim and Brittany Kinman
  

 The Most Sustainable Design Award

• Balisong by Ruel Murant, Cole Simpkins and Austin Cassels
  

The Best of the Best Award

• Self-Performing Earphones (SPE) by Wanjiku Kanjumba and Alyssa Crystal