Engineering students tap creativity for Senior Design EXPO
A 3D printing drone? Check.
A solar-powered refrigerator? No problem.
A human-powered, bicycle mounted device charger? Yep, we’ve got that too.
SUNY New Paltz seniors in mechanical, electrical and computer engineering showcased original prototypes and custom apps at the fall 2017 Senior Design EXPO on Friday, Dec. 8.
Fast becoming a favorite tradition within the Division of Engineering Programs, the EXPO is the culmination of the four-year undergraduate engineering experience at New Paltz, where senior students and their faculty collaborators share original design projects and innovative solutions to contemporary technological challenges.
“Creativity is the most distinctive trait in engineering,” said Division of Engineering Programs Chair Julio Gonzalez. “The process of translating ideas from paper into systems that perform a function useful to society has no comparison. Congratulations to all of our Senior Design students!”
The EXPO is modeled after professional conferences and research presentation events, where students speak directly with audience members and judges, who evaluate students’ work with an eye toward originality, functionality and real-world value.
This semester’s panel of judges was made up of engineering alumni and professionals representing regional companies whose sponsorship helped make the EXPO possible: MPI Systems, NanoNoggin® Fast Thinker Consulting, JBT Corporation®, Central Hudson® and GLOBALFOUNDRIES®. A number of these regional businesses brought job listings to distribute to the presenting students.
“The Division of Engineering Programs is wholly committed to educating students to join the workforce in the Hudson Valley,” said Dan Freedman, dean of the School of Science & Engineering. “We want our graduates to be out there as leaders and innovators for this region, which is why we really appreciate our collaboration with these companies. Their sponsorship helps us put on such a wonderful EXPO, and their feedback helps our students improve as engineers and find professional opportunities.”
In the end, the judges awarded the top prize to “Mobile Manufacturing: A 3D Printing Drone,” by Azer Khan ’17 (Computer Engineering). Second prize went to Adama Ouedraogo ’17 (Electrical Engineering,) for “Solar Refrigerator Using Thermoelectric Cooling,” and Third Prize to Electrical Engineering majors Shakira Mata ’17 and Brian Castellano ’17, for “Vibrace,” a piece of hardware designed as a vibration-based communication aid.
“When I was first thinking about engineering, I thought it meant making an iPhone or something like that,” Mata said. “But now that I’ve been able to do it for real, I like the idea of designing something that will assist someone who needs it.”
To learn more about the Division of Engineering Programs at SUNY New Paltz, please visit us online.