Group 4 Design Technology

Arham Khan

Group 4 project is a part of the Diploma Programme. It is a collaborative project which enlightens us on practicality of a real life situation. The crucial skills which will be required later in our lives of how to start a project, working together and then tackling with little little problems. This year’s project was to create an environmentally sustainable green house. The entire cohort was divided into different groups of sciences and humanities subjects. I was in Design Technology group. Where we had to create a prototype of the greenhouse. This year’s group 4 project was intended to be a proposal for our school to change and rebuild the current green house, to make it green and sustainable for a longer duration. The existing green house is in a bad shape; it is made of cloth which was not the best material to use. Since the school is located in an area where the chances of rain are high. 

On our first day of the project we started by having a presentation about what the group 4 project is and discussed this years group 4 topic which was to “create a low cost, energy efficient greenhouse.” To begin with we had the pleasure to have Mr. Manish Gupta with us as our guest speaker for the presentation. We started by talking about what a greenhouse is and its purpose and effectiveness, we even looked at some studies that have been performed, like the study performed by NASA and the government of India. Another important thing we talked about was vertical gardening which has become a new innovation which has really helped a lot. I feel that the presentation was helpful and informative as we got to know new facts which helped us by giving a direction to our research. 

To start off the process, we prototype had to be 5 by 4 by 3 feet. We looked at a plethora of options which would help construct the basic structure of the greenhouse. We weighed out a glass structure as an option, and while that’s an ideal aesthetically pleasing option; it often lacks energy efficiency and can be costly. Glass does not permit for the diffusion of light, and for that we would’ve have to choose another method. With the removal of this option from the list, we ended up with three major categories of materials to look at. 

Polycarbonate: A group of thermoplastic polymers that contain carbonate groups in their chemical structures. When used in engineering they have proven to be strong, tough materials, and some grades are optically transparent. Can be easily worked with, moulded, and thermoformed. As per the usage of them in a greenhouse, they are cheaper and more versatile than most glass greenhouses. These greenhouses most commonly come with a single-wall or twin-wall polycarbonate sheet. Aluminum is another material which we had looked into. It is a silvery-white, soft, nonmagnetic and ductile metal. It acts as a very low-maintenance material, it doesn’t rust or break down from exposure to the elements such as high temperature and water. However, it is not very strong and when used for a greenhouse frame, the supporting members must either be made from heavy gauge pieces or doubled up for strength. 

Galvanized steel is a type of steel that has been treated with an application of protective zinc coating to help prevent it from rusting. It provides for durability at a low cost. Due to the steel being strong, the greenhouse will require fewer framing members. Most steel frames are designed to be used with polyethylene film, rather than solid glass or polycarbonate panels. Also, a big negative for galvanized steel is that the galvanizing will eventually wear off, and the steel will begin to rust.PVC plastic is a plastic and the polymer of vinyl chloride monomer. Polycarbonate is a type of plastic. PVC plastic polycarbonate are low cost, portable, and very easy to assemble. polycarbonate provides a greenhouse with better insulation properties than a regular, glass greenhouse. Plastic has better heat retention properties than glass, and less heat is lost through polycarbonate material than glass.Acrylic isa transparent thermoplastic often used in sheet form as a lightweight or shatter-resistant alternative to glass. It is extremely light weight, as compared to a glass panel. The final materials were decided after the physics and chemistry groups had experimented with all the materials. 

I worked as a helping hand for my peers. My group leaders assigned me tasks such as cutting of PVC plastic, bolting in the screws, sharpening of aluminum, designing different shapes of greenhouses and so forth. 

Group 4 project has been an incredible experience for me. To start it off with, interaction between all different sciences was quite an enriching experience. I learnt how every science plays a major role. They are all independent to each other. I learnt many skills from my leaders and peers. Communication and collaboration were main skills that made it successful with of course logical thinking. Our group managed to deliver the prototype we had imagined successful.