One issue many lager brewers have is getting their lagering and crash temperatures as low as they would like (e.g. 28-34F). This issue is often experienced with stainless conicals with glycol chilling systems (with a coil inside the conical for heat exchange). [Those who can stuff their conical inside a converted freezer do not have much of an issue with this, but not everyone can do this and the larger the conical, the less practical this is].
One of the chief hurdles is that you can only cool the glycol down so far, and then you start to form a "beercycle" around the coil in the conical. However, the temperature profile between the coil and the outer conical wall can be significant, such that the average beer temperature may not get below 36 - 40F, depending on ambient. You can also see substantial temperature stratification between the standard temperature probe (located vertically at roughly the center of the conical), and a TILT hydrometer which floats on top of the beer. This usually takes up to a day or more to get those temps approaching each other. And any time you want to change the temperature, this time lag will again exist.
My thought is that if there was a device which could circulate the wort/beer inside the conical (gently, to keep from stirring up the trub), then these temperature differentials could be relatively quickly and effectively minimized. This should also allow the glycol system to get the average beer temp lower, as you could use a lower glycol temperature without creating beercycles. This might also help with dry hopping effectiveness.
A couple ideas might be to design some kind of magnetic in-situ stirrer, or a separate beer circulation loop, or something else. I'm not wild about the second one, as this would require cleaning (I have plenty enough of that already) and more ports/hoses/pumps. There is a solution to be had here, I think, with further goals of being cost effective and easy to clean and maintain.
This may not be of interest to you, as I would never have had a SS conical/glycol system while in college, and it may not be all that sexy to your professor (unless he's into HB too
). Whatever you decide, all the best with your project!