STUDENT: MIKA MATSUNO
School: Piedmont High School | County: Alameda | City: Piedmont
Grade: 11 | Age: 16
Supervised by: Gillian Bailey

About Mika
Mika Matsuno was raised in Piedmont, California and is currently a junior at Piedmont High School. She has a strong interest in sustainability ranging from energy to food. She is especially interested in ways in which people can eat or use things as close as possible to their source. As an avid classroom volunteer, she believes that sustainability must come from new technologies but furthermore it must come from a change in attitude beginning with the education of America's youth. Along with tutoring children, Mika enjoys reading, art, sewing, spending time with friends, and baking in her free time.

Summary: My design began with the idea that electrical power should be able to be used right at or very near to its source to minimize the ecological impact of transporting and storing electricity. This segued to a direct focus on how rapidly moving water oftentimes flows under bridges without the electrical power being utilized. My design attempts simply to harness the power of a river and use the electricity produced to power the various electrical needs of a bridge across the very same river such as the lights or toll gates. I would achieve this by having a powerhouse stationed next to the base of the bridge extremely close to the flowing water of the river. This powerhouse would contain a generator, which in turn, would be connected to a turbine in the ground as deep as possible beneath the powerhouse.
I would use a standard generator with a horizontal turbine that, when it rotates due to water flow, produces an alternating current and finally electricity. By having the turbine partially protruding into the flowing river the water would be able to flow through the turbine on only one side to ensure that the turbine keeps moving in the same direction. The water would then be reentered into the river with minimal damage to the river ecosystems. This power could then be used directly above the generator to power the functions of the bridge, allowing the entire system to be independent. While this design most likely will not work on smaller, slower streams, in faster moving rivers, especially during the peak of rainy season, the velocity can reach a speed capable of producing the type of electricity needed for the cycle of power to work.
Generator information: I would like to use a turgo turbine in the water, which in turn would spin the rotor of an electric generator above ground. Around the spinning rotor an enameled copper coil would be wrapped. Also within the generator would be permanent magnets to create a magnetic field. The turbine would spin the rotor and consequently the copper coil in such a way that it continuously passes through the magnetic field, exciting the electrons within the wire. These excited electrons constitute the electrical current that would then power the functions of the bridge.

LORENZO PALMERI (ITALY)

DESIGNER COMMENT TO STUDENT'S PROJECT
Mika's project touches one of the principle themes of our future. To make peace with nature, to work in accordance with it instead of attempting to enclose and exploit it to extremes. The bridge (made by man) and the river (from nature) are two perfect symbols of this possibility.

DESIGNER COMMENT ON CADW
Again, the beauty of the California Dream Week program is confirmed. The students expressed levels of utopia that were beautiful and - how fortunate for us - very much a possibility that could become a reality!


ABOUT LORENZO PALMERI
Lorenzo Palmeri, architect, received his architectural degree from Polytechnic of Milan. His initial work experience and collaborative exploits included projects with Bruno Munari and Isao Hosoe. During the same period Palmeri also studied music. Areas of activity range from architecture, interior and product design, teachings to musical production and composition. Since 1997, he also teaches, holding lectures and conferences in Italy and Institutes abroad. He participates in important personal and collective design exhibitions, and his projects won numerous international prizes. Palmeri has been commissioned for product design, renovations, art direction and interior design for big names as, for example, Fiera Milano, Arthema, Garofoli, Andreoli, Guzzini, Invicta, Nissan, Lefel, Napapijri, Pandora Design, Lavazza, Corvasce, Danese, Milanosoundesign with Giulio Iacchetti. In the musical field, Palmeri composes for theatrical performances, films and specific events. His first pop album "preparativi per la pioggia" ("prepare yourself for the rain") came out in 2009.