After having initial discussions in 2021, this fall several Oakland University School of Engineering and Computer Science students partnered with the team at SEA LIFE, Michigan's largest aquarium, at Great Lakes Crossing Outlets, to bring some Thanksgiving joy to Benson and Carr, the aquarium's two resident sea turtles.
The Thanksgiving Dinner project consisted of OU senior design students developing and 3D-printing a few different size molds of a turkey so that marine biologists could create a gelatin full of pureed vegetation and proteins and vegetables as a special holiday dinner treat. They worked under the guidance of Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Mike Latcha, Ph.D."I was excited to pitch the idea to the senior design class this fall as I knew it would be a very interesting project and offer a real world application of 3D design and fabrication," said Latcha. "Several students took an interest and I knew this experience would be something they could talk about on their future job interviews, too!"
The project was also followed by WDIV-TV4 reporter Paula Tutman as she told two stories to viewers about this Thanksgiving idea and then again when she came to the aquarium to witness the Thanksgiving dinner being given to the sea turtles.
Special thank you's go to SEA LIFE's marketing
manager Erik Schreefel and his marketing team
and to senior marine biologist Lauren Grauer
and her team for the access and opportunity!
Original source can be found here.
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