2D Clinostat

Abstract

Dr. Eleni Gourgou is an assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on understanding the impact of elements in the environment and their effects on organism’s physiological states, such as their learning and locomotion. There has recently been a need to test the model organisms Dr. Gourgou works with in a microgravity environment, and she has requested a 2D clinostat to be designed and manufactured. A 2D clinostat will be able to simulate microgravity conditions for the model organism, Caenorhabditis elegans, without having to leave Earth. The creation of this clinostat will reduce time and cost for Dr. Gourgou’s research and allow her to refine microgravity experiments for future use in outer space. Our ME 450 team working under Professor Allen Liu will spend the Winter semester of 2021 creating a 2D clinostat as our team’s senior capstone design project.