Dr. Craig Howald, left, and Evan Saribalas ‘24, runs some tests with the hydraulic flume system that Saribalas engineered and constructed for his capstone project. (Photo provided)

Imagine being encouraged to bring your wildest ideas to life. At Marietta College, students are prepared and inspired to pursue their passions through hands-on research and creative projects that let their innovation shine.

Just ask Evan Saribalas ’24 (New Albany, Ohio), an Applied Physics major who recently built a hydraulic flume system to test the efficiency of rowing oars. Testing his capstone project, he flipped a switch, then watched with pride as 50 gallons of water rushed through the 2-meter flume he designed and constructed.

With his system’s 5,000-gallon-per-hour flow rate, Saribalas can now research how oar geometry affects performance – pursuing his curiosity as a scientist naturally does. He is among hundreds of MC students unveiling discoveries and creative projects at Marietta’s annual All Scholars Day on Thursday, April 18.

For Saribalas, one of the best parts of his capstone is that he didn’t complete it alone. With close guidance from Dr. Craig Howald, Rickey Associate Professor of Physics, he brought his vision to life, overcoming challenges and gaining confidence along the way.

“I’m not sure I ever thought I’d get this type of opportunity,” Saribalas said. “It was nice being at a small school like Marietta because I was able to work closely with Dr. Howald. His guidance and advice were invaluable, but I also learned a lot about my skills along the way.”

“This has been a very exciting capstone project,” said Howald. “Evan has been great – providing the idea, designing the equipment, building it all with my help, troubleshooting, and prototyping improvements.”

Howald also said with many capstone projects, students are less worried about the aesthetics of the project and focus more on the results.

“It shows off his engineering mindset,” Howald said. “In particular, I have been impressed by his capability to design, implement, revise, and refine. In addition, he has respectfully incorporated most of my suggestions.”

“Now future students can use the fully functional flume for their own research,” said Saribalas. “When I was building it, I wasn’t thinking about the future applications, but it’s nice to know future Pioneers will benefit from it.”

As part of the Engineering Dual Degree program, Saribalas didn’t envision working on a capstone project since he should have left campus after three years.

He will graduate from Marietta in May, and he is looking at civil engineering graduate programs at West Virginia, Case Western, Ohio State, and Cleveland State.

He anticipates choosing a program by April.