Partnered with Intel through Stanford’s ME 113, our group designed and tested a prototype sub-ambient tablet cooling dock.

The cooler revolved around the use of Peltier elements. The cold side of the elements were connected to a .03” thick aluminum plate which contacted the back of a tablet in the same relative location as the tablet’s processor. The warm side of the elements were connected to a finned heat sink cooled by two fans powered at 6V.

Ultimately, our cooling system was able to drop the temperature of a Surface 4 Pro’s processor by 8.6 degrees at a cost of 9.24 Watts. We also saw the Surface Pro increase its power draw by .24 Watts, indicating its ability to perform more work when cooled.

For the project, our group received the Henry O. Fuchs Memorial Award for Outstanding Mechanical Design.