Despite the social distancing protocols of 2020, more than 280 graduating seniors of the College of Engineering and Computer Science spent the year virtually collaborating in teams to create more than 100 capstone senior design projects now being showcased in video presentations.
The Fall 2020 Senior Design Virtual Showcase features videos and descriptions of all 100+ projects on a that will remain accessible to the public Dec. 3鈥�4. 聽The five-minute videos submitted by each team provides an overview of their project and the technical work involved to create it.
Some prototypes offer potential solutions to real-world problems.聽Others聽have the potential for commercial development.
Some of the projects include:
- 鈥淏rainBeats,鈥� an innovative way to use brainwaves to compose music, created by computer science students
- An autonomous smart boat that serves as another set of eyes during ocean search-and-rescue efforts, created by electrical and computer engineering students
- Low-cost ventilators that could help alleviate pandemic supply shortages, developed by mechanical engineering students
- An optimized manufacturing schedule for their sponsor鈥檚 supersonic jet, created by industrial engineering students
Other projects include water purification systems, assistive mobile applications and robots and drones that assist in everything from aerial surveillance or underground pipe inspections to retrieving golf balls.
View/download a program of all Fall 2020 Senior Design project summaries.
The students have worked their entire senior year to bring their innovations to fruition 鈥� a notable 聽accomplishment given the constraints of virtual team collaboration to design complex systems and solutions that require hands-on prototyping.
The projects demonstrate students鈥� knowledge and application of engineering and advanced computing concepts, and provide solutions to real-world problems. Many of the projects are industry-sponsored by entities including Boston Whaler, Coca Cola, Mitsubishi, Orlando Utilities Commission, Steelcase and 麻豆原创.
Senior design is a required capstone course for most graduating seniors of the 麻豆原创 College of Engineering and Computer Science. The projects represent a significant portion of students鈥� grades and in many cases is the final step before graduation.
The showcase gives students a chance to present their projects to a general audience to show they are fully prepared for engineering and computing jobs. It鈥檚 also a way for employers to meet engineering and computer science聽 graduates about to enter the workforce.
麻豆原创 Alumni Judges: A Record Number Volunteer to Help
Adding a friendly competitive element to the showcase, 麻豆原创 engineering and computer science alumni will serve as judges this semester. More than 90 麻豆原创 alumni signed up to serve as judges who will score the projects on a variety of metrics, provide valuable feedback to the student teams, and select the best project in each discipline and Best in Show. Winning projects will be announced on the showcase webpage on Dec. 4.
Because of the virtual nature of the Fall 2020 showcase, more judges have been able to participate compared to previous in-person showcases held on 麻豆原创鈥檚 main campus. The alumni are professional engineers and computer scientists who are self-employed or work in companies of all sizes throughout the state, from across the nation, and even internationally.
鈥淭he competitive aspect of 麻豆原创 Senior Design has raised the bar on projects,鈥澛� says Mark Blue 鈥�89 鈥�08MBA 鈥�10MS, a systems engineer for L3Harris Technologies who has volunteered as a judge for several years. 鈥淚t gives students marketing skills that they need when interviewing. If you medal, that conversation will be the core of every job interview.
鈥淏y introducing a level of competition in senior design, we replicate, in a microcosm, what happens every day in industry. Students who take up that gauntlet will invariably be more competitive and successful throughout their careers. I am very proud of the way 麻豆原创 engineering students have accepted that challenge.鈥�
