The Summer Session 2000 course, Living Machines: From Conception to Construction, created a Living
Machine model whose components mimic those of the larger system planned for the Old Botany greenhouse.
We will be continuing to work on, improve, upgrade and test this model in the upcoming months. We hope to
post photos of our models soon! The home-made clarifier is especially impressive - the $2.43 8” diameter
funnel from the housewares department at O.W. Houts bonded with silicone (aquarium) sealant to a $178 clear
acrylic tube (so that we can see if anything is building up in the thing!) and held together by a homemade
wooden crate. The plants in our model have been happily growing and proliferating to the point that we have
buckets full of surplus plants all over the greenhouse!
With the formation of the new student Green Design Team club, we anticipate additional interdisciplinary
participation in our Living Machine work, providing additional help for construction of two new classroom
models for a local Montessori school.
Students in the Fall 2000 Projects in Sustainable Living course intend to construct and experiment with the
first Ecological Fluidized Bed model, a high-tech system which mimics the function of a constructed wetlands
in a much more compacted space. The EFB is a patented technology of Ocean Arks International, but we hope
to have one as part of our demonstration Living Machine on campus and wish to understand the principles of
operation of the device. We will be consulting Ocean Arks personnel for advice on this project.
For more info on the Living Machine Projects at the Center for Sustainability, contact:
Erin English
eee107 , 234-8961
or Jack Ray
jar209@psu.edu, 357-8366
One final note: We have applied for funding for the Living Machine at Penn State from the PA DEP’s
Growing Greener grant program. We await the announcement of grant awards at the end of October 2000 -
stay tuned!