2025 Internship Project Overview

Microplastics are a significant source of pollution in our water sources and conventional methods for collecting microplastics are often inefficient. Our research project focused on exploring the efficiency of a floating robotic collector, known as an undulator, designed to remove microplastics from the water’s surface. The undulator utilizes interfacial pumping to reduce the bulk flow. In our experiments, we attempted to characterize the flow around the undulator, using tracer particles ranging from 100 micrometers to 1180 micrometers, which were recorded by a Basler scientific camera. Through experimentation, it was found that local maxima for surface velocity of particles occur at specific frequencies and water heights. It was also found that different particles flow at different velocities, suggesting that the particles do not exhibit tracer-like behavior in the flow. In the future, we hope to gain a deeper understanding of why these effects occur.

ORGANIZATION/RESEARCH GROUP

DiBenedetto Fluids Lab, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University

LOCATION

Princeton, New Jersey

 

Interns

Nicholas Akey ’28
Major: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
"The biggest thing I learned was being able to solve problems with the resources I had available. For example, when a force sensor wasn't working I had to write a program to fix it. I also learned a lot about fluid dynamics. The most interesting part of my research was working with the robot itself—watching the undulator collect microplastic is a surreal experience."
Arjun Shetty ’27
Major: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Minor(s): Computer Science
"I gained a more comprehensive feel for fluid mechanics, focusing on the experimental aspect of the field and not just the theoretical framework I learned in class. This experience gave me exposure into what it is like to be a researcher from an engineering perspective, and I benefited greatly from the insights offered by my lab group. I plan to base my junior independent work on the project, primarily because I really enjoyed getting to visualize/analyze data from an experimental setup I helped make."

Click to view the end-of-project presentation

 

Michelle DiBenedetto
Assistant Director of Science, The Watershed Institute