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Energy-Go-Round

Conservation at Play

ReplayMyPlay

One of Deren Guler's favorite childhood memories: rallying her neighborhood friends and heading to the playground for the day. 

Years later, the recent Carnegie Mellon grad is back on the playground using her expertise in physics to help protect the environment — through a project called ReplayMyPlay.

The basis of her project is to take the mechanical energy from the motion of children's play on, say, the swings or the see-saw, and convert it into electric power. Guler's ultimate goal? To engage the community in teaching children how they can make an impact and promote sustainability.

"The best thing is the look that comes over kids' faces when I explain to them what I am doing," said Guler, who has long held an interest in renewable energy technology. "They almost instantly understand what's going on. That makes me feel like I've succeeded in finding a way to get kids excited about learning concepts that might otherwise seem too complicated for them to understand."

ReplayMyPlay, a Sprout Fund Micro Spark project, includes a series of workshops that inform the community of project developments and teach children about fundamental concepts of energy conservation and renewal. Though the project’s intended use is for school playgrounds, ReplayMyPlay will eventually be in a shared public space in Pittsburgh.

About her time at CMU, Guler said, "I liked the attitude everyone had about the future. Everyone was always excited about progress and possibility. It's changed the way I think about a lot of things." She added, "I don't think I'll ever stop asking the question 'why?'"

For those in the Pittsburgh region, prototypes of the ReplayMyPlay structures will be on display at the WYEP Summer Music Festival in Schenley Plaza June 25 from 4 to 8 p.m.

Related Links: ReplayMyPlay  |  Read More About Guler  |  Mellon College of Science  |  Environment at Carnegie Mellon


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