Language

English (en)

Publication Date

Fall 2025

Document Type

Final Report

Embargo Date

12-8-2025

Problem Statement

Neon Greens is a quick-serve salad concept located in St. Louis, MO. Part hydroponic farm and
part restaurant, they focus on growing a majority of their greens in-house, and emphasize
transparency in food systems.
In recent months, they added a ‘Protein Caesar’ salad to the menu. That salad features two
‘jammy’ boiled eggs which are cut in half. Staff at Neon Greens steam eggs precisely in their
Combi oven and shock them to stop the cooking process. They then peel those eggs by hand.
On some days, they must process >100 eggs, which can take up to 1.5 hours of a team
member’s day. After exhaustive research online, it became clear that the only existing
mechanized peelers were manufactured overseas, were quite expensive, and might not work.
Neon Greens’ owner, Josh Smith, is hoping for a solution that could save both time and $$$.
Important factors for the product include:
• The device should not need hard plumbing, (if water is used, it’s a closed-loop system)
• The device should be compact (no more than 3’ x 1.5’ x 1.5’ footprint)
• The device should not require much training to learn how to use
• The device should operate at 70db or less – it will be operating in an open kitchen
• Debris from the ‘peeling’ should be self-contained within the machine
• The device should enable peeling significantly faster than the current method
(manually, we peel on average 1 egg per minute)
• Electrical and mechanical safety are critical – if parts of the device require jets of water
or other potentially unsafe elements, safety measures must be applied to protect users.

Author's School

McKelvey School of Engineering

Author's Department

Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Class Name

Mechanical Engineering Design Project (MEMS 411)

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