Connecticut high school gets green with Wittmann Battenfeld's help

Wittmann Battenfeld Inc. has provided engineering and design support to the machinery company's local Torrington High School, so its Science Club could develop and present a new product idea at Expo Fest, an annual competition in Connecticut.

Torrington High School won third place at the Expo in the Next Generation Science Standards Level 2 category, at the May 31 to June 1 event in Wallingford, Conn. The team developed a sustainable, "green" case for a mobile phone.

The team created Bee Green phone cases to combat the e-waste problem.

Paul Richard, a mechanical engineer at Wittmann Battenfeld, helped the students make their idea a reality. Over a three-week span, Richard worked with the students on areas including 3D CAD design; prototype material selection; an introduction to 3D printing, patterns and molds for prototype production and an introduction to vacuum-assisted liquid resin casting.

"Members of the Torrington High School Science Club worked hard all year to present their project, 'Bee Green' phone cases, at Expo Fest," said Lisa Debany, a teacher at Torrington High School and administrator for the Science Club.