Campus Life

Student's Apparatus X project gains momentum

A computer design rendering of Apparatus X, a mobile relief vehicle for disaster sites. Credit: Aaron WertmanAll Rights Reserved.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Aaron Wertman, master of architecture student at Penn State, has taken his thesis project, Apparatus X: Empowering Disaster Victims, to another level. Wertman launched a website for Apparatus X and is currently raising funds to support his project.

Wertman’s passion for the mobile relief vehicle project and the enthusiasm of his colleagues recently propelled Apparatus X beyond its location outside the Stuckeman Family Building on Penn State’s University Park campus and to the pages of Wertman’s hometown paper and the front page of Penn State’s website.

His 30-day campaign raised $1,100 within 12 minutes of its launch, to Wertman’s excitement and disbelief. His goal is to raise $15,000 before 11:59 p.m. May 2. Donations to Apparatus X come with tiered perks: $1 gets the contributor’s name on the sponsor list and the benefits increase to the $10,000 perk – eternal gratitude and a visit by Apparatus X for a personal thank you.

Wertman will be working on Apparatus X and answering questions outside of the Stuckeman Family Building during Blue-White weekend as well as hoping for nice weather to continue working on his project this spring.

For more information about the project, visit the Apparatus X website at http://www.apparatus-x.com.

To read the Penn State News article, visit http://news.psu.edu/story/308473/2014/03/20/research/architecture-grad-student-looks-rebuild-new-orleans-apparatus-x.

A hand-drawn schematic showing proposed electrical system components in Apparatus X. Credit: Aaron WertmanAll Rights Reserved.

Last Updated May 15, 2014