Electronics Mechanic II Richard Sandford, a 38-year veteran in the electronics field, recently helped combat an invasive species of beetle.

Sandford met with James Wieferich, a senior forestry student, and Deborah McCullough, Professor at the Department of Entomology and the Department of Forestry, on Friday, May 22. Wieferich and McCullough are designing a trap for emerald ash borers and wanted to make an air freshener give off a fragrance to attract the ash borers in intervals throughout the day. However, they could not program it to turn off at night when ash borers are inactive. That is where the Electronics Shop came in.

Wieferich could make the device give off a fragrance every 36 minutes using a motor within the air freshener. However, he needed to connect a photosensor cell to the motor so that it would turn off at night. He could make the motor work, or the photosensor cell work, but not in tandem. That is where Sandford’s expertise came into play.

According to Sandford, he had to design a circuit board to hook up to the freshener, allowing it to deactivate in the dark, and reactivate in the light, a two- or three-hour job. “I like getting projects like this,” said Sandford. “It keeps my brain going.”

Grateful for the Electronics Shop’s help, McCullough said, “It really is a huge deal for us to have resources like this.”

May 28, 2009