Roasted - Coffee Drying Table for Guatemala
Roasted - Coffee Drying Table for Guatemala from Taylor Geick
Roasted - Coffee Drying Table for Guatemala

Coffee production is one of Guatemala's main sources of national income. With the increasing pressure of modern technology growing among competitors, a new method is needed to help modernize their industry, while preserving their traditional process. Our group developed a design concept idea in the form of a coffee drying table to help speed up the drying process, and give Guatemala an edge in the industry.

This project was done following curriculum set forth by ME270, and was a group effort from the following team members: Taylor Geick, Timothy Kookier, Tyler Jones, Yang Li, and Sam Linde. Together, we got the chance to take part in a simulated design process that gave us a taste of what goes on in industry.

This project required analyzing customer needs to determine the most realistic design considering aspects such as economic resources, traditional practices, and competing products. By brainstorming ideas for each function of the table, the best combination could be selected. The format of laying out the options in this manner helped us to visualize how different combinations of design features could work together to create a functioning system that would be useful to the consumer.
After analyzing customer needs and the options we had to work with, sketches were made of several of the prominent ideas. Each selected design had different benefits and functioned in sometimes radically different manners. With these concepts, we were able to use several concept selection methods to narrow down our ideas to the best one for the given situation. This process not only provided experience with the design process, but also demonstrated how the needs of consumers vary drastically between cultures. The amount of technology and resources available in different areas effect how people live and function within their everyday lives.
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Visualization is key to making an idea come to life before physically constructing it. For this project, Solidworks, was used to construct a virtual schematic of our design and to test the dimensions and sizes we selected. The model displayed was chosen as our final design; it featured a reflective bottom shelf to enhance the exposure of the coffee beans to the natural sunlight, mesh netting to utilize wind, and an easily removable top to allow for easy transportation after drying is complete or in the event of bad weather.
Throughout this course, I also gained experience in manufacturing and the art of making your design a reality. Learning the capabilities of the machines and tools at your disposal is a valuable asset that will help make your designs more practical from the beginning of the design process, as well as help you brainstorm unique and efficient methods to accomplish your goals. Our final design was constructed as a prototype on a reduced scale. It was also tested by simulating the conditions it would experience in the Guatemalan climate to examine its effectiveness in terms of improving the drying process for coffee beans.
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Roasted - Coffee Drying Table for Guatemala

Coffee production is one of Guatemala's main sources of national income. With the increasing pressure of modern technology growing among competitors, a new method is needed to help modernize their industry, while preserving their traditional process. Our group developed a design concept idea in the form of a coffee drying table to help speed up the drying process, and give Guatemala an edge in the industry.

This project was done following curriculum set forth by ME270, and was a group effort from the following team members: Taylor Geick, Timothy Kookier, Tyler Jones, Yang Li, and Sam Linde. Together, we got the chance to take part in a simulated design process that gave us a taste of what goes on in industry.

Taylor Geick
tgeick@iastate.edu Ames, IA