Hydraulics: What size of pump is needed to maintain optimal flow rate? What diameter of pipe will optimize water flow and reduce pump power? What is the best pipe design and connections to move water from one tank to another?
System Design: What are the optimal ratios between fish tank volume and grow area volume? What is the optimal drop in water level between components to utilize the gravity system?
Engineering Economy: What is the rate of return on the system, based on local cost of labor and electricity? Is it profitable? If so, for which markets? (US, Central America, South America)
Data Collection and Monitoring: What type of system is cost-efficient to collect data from the sensors and make the data available for remote monitoring through the internet?
The undergraduate engineering projects could be part of senior capstone courses or other design courses. The scope of each project could be adjusted for a one- or two-semester project.
5. Discussion and conclusion
A small aquaponics system presents opportunities for undergraduate engineering design and analysis projects. The diverse aspects of aquaponics components can be tailored to specific engineering departments or interdisciplinary teams. There is great opportunity for design in these projects, which may satisfy the design requirements for accreditation. For example, ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) requires design content in Mechanical Engineering curricula, and some courses may use aquaponics for their design projects.
In addition to the benefits to engineering pedagogy, aquaponics is a topic that has broad interest among many young people because of its benefits to more sustainable societies. The millennial generation (born 1982 to 2005), which comprises the current traditional university students, tend to be interested in projects that integrate technical solutions to solve social problems while accounting for economics and the environment. According to Howe and Strauss (2007), the millennial generation favors community building and civic-minded projects, and as such, aquaponics projects would most likely be received positively among millennial students. One societal benefit of aquaponics is that some families would be able to grow their own