Above photo: Top from left: Team 1, Team 10 Bottom from left: Team 15, Team 21

Nanotechnology Engineering’s (NE) Capstone Event took place in the E7 event space on March 17th. This year’s NE Capstone Design winners came up with innovative projects and novel devices to create solutions for a variety of challenges society faces today.

Four teams won the Best Fourth Year Design Project Poster and Prototype Award.

Team 10’s project entitled “Isoflex: A Flexible and Multi-Directional Force Sensor” took first place. The team developed a force sensor that combines resistive and capacitive elements to provide multi-directional sensitivity.

Their project aimed to address the limitations of current force-sensing technologies, which are non-compliant or limited to one direction of sensing. The design of their force sensor has the potential to streamline the integration of force-sensing technology into various systems where flexibility is important. Making this technology more accessible for a broad range of applications in robotics, therapeutics, and wearable technologies.

“The NE program provided us with the tools we needed to excel in our project, including access to state-of-the-art equipment and expert faculty guidance,” said Team 10 members. “In addition, we were able to leverage the program's emphasis on collaboration and teamwork to work effectively as a group and achieve our goals. Overall, the NE program played a critical role in our success in creating an innovative project.”

Team 21 focused on renewable energy, placing second with their project, “Enhancing High-Capacity Si-Anodes for Li-ion Batteries.” They developed a new battery design with an increased energy density compared to batteries currently used in electric vehicles, replacing a graphite electrode within the battery with a silicon-carbon composite with greater energy storage capabilities.

Tackling the issue of range anxiety by extending battery life is a critical step toward curbing CO2 emissions and working against climate change. The team credits their success to their supervisor Professor Michael Pope.

“Professor Pope was essential to the success of this project. We gained valuable knowledge from his extensive background in lithium-ion batteries, and we can’t thank him enough for his mentorship,” commented Team 21 members.

While the team members are moving on with new, exciting post-graduation employment opportunities, they are encouraged that their work will be continuing within Pope’s research group and transferred to graduate students who will work on this technology.

Two teams tied for third place. Team 15 placed third for their project “Triboelectric Nanogenerators for Energy Generation from Rainfall.”

This team created a transparent, flexible device that generates electricity when raindrops hit it. The team felt there is a need to explore small-scale solutions to enable off-the-grid energy production and that rainwater represents an opportunity for renewable energy that hasn’t been directly addressed.

The device is made of a very thin layer of an insulator, with a conductive material below it, and a narrow piece of conductive material on top.

When a raindrop hits the insulator, it spreads out. As it spreads, friction between the water and the insulator causes electric charges to transfer between them, like rubbing a balloon on hair. Teammates utilized knowledge acquired in their undergraduate degree to design their device.

“The microfabrication techniques and theory taught in our microfabrication courses allowed us to leverage the cleanroom facilities at the QNC to create our micro metal grid electrode,” said Team 15 members.

Additionally, Team 1 secured third place with their project, "Endonostix: A Non-Surgical Diagnostic Tool for Endometriosis." Their objective was to develop a more advanced biomarker detection system using DNA origami technology to combat the issue of undiagnosed endometriosis. This medical condition affects millions of women, and the team's efforts aimed to address this critical issue.

“The NE program teaches us to be adaptable multi-disciplinary engineers. That multi-disciplinary approach proved key in the successful design and execution of our project,” said Team 1 Members.

The Capstone Design Projects are a culmination of the student’s experience in their program. A combination of lessons learned in the classroom and lab, as well as their co-op experiences. This year the NE fourth-year students should be extremely proud of the work that they produced!