Final year engineering students will be on hand to discuss their projects ranging from a system to help the blind navigate a touch screen using only a smartphone and a wearable device, to a sensor that can rapidly detect an individual’s degree of marijuana intoxication.
Over 750 students in 12 programs will present more than 150 projects they have spent months designing and building. On March 27, 15 qualifying teams will compete for $60,000 in a pitch presentation funded by the Esch Foundation. The winner of the Sedra People's Choice Award will receive an additional $3,000 in funding.
“Capstone Design challenges undergraduate students to integrate what they have learnt in their four-year engineering programs and also add a touch of creativity,” said Pearl Sullivan, dean of engineering. “The symposia are always so much fun and impressive – we can see first-hand complete engineering designs of our remarkably talented students as they near graduation.”
Additional project highlights this year include:
- Erasable printer ink that allows paper to be reused
- Recycled tire product designed to absorb and contain oils from oil spills in an environmentally responsible way
- Digitized pathology image system that increases the accuracy of medical diagnostics
- Wireless sensor band for post-surgery patients that increases the accuracy of at home exercises to reduce the physiotherapy recovery time
- Emergency drone recovery system that sends out a parachute if the drone is about to crash
- A decision support tool for optimizing hospital operating room hours
- Virtual reality simulator that allows children and injured athletes to practise soccer without risk of concussion
- Robotic arm that accurately tracks a user’s movement in 3D space
- Hybrid rocket engine capable of reaching an altitude of 30,000 ft.
- Software that matches volunteer skills with the needs of non-profit organizations
Symposium dates and times:
Chemical Engineering
Monday, March 12 | 9 a.m. to 12 noon | Engineering 6
Software Engineering
Wednesday, March 14 | 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Great Hall, Davis Centre
Management Engineering
Friday, March 16 | 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Great Hall, Davis Centre
Nanotechnology Engineering
Friday, March 16 | 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. | Great Hall, Davis Centre
Systems Design Engineering
Monday, March 19 | 1 to 5 p.m. | Great Hall, Davis Centre
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Wednesday, March 21 | 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Great Hall, Davis Centre
Civil, Environmental and Geological Engineering
Thursday, March 22 | 12 noon to 5 p.m. | Great Hall, Davis Centre
Mechanical Engineering
Thursday, March 22 | 1 to 5 p.m. | Sedra Student Design Centre, Engineering 5
Mechatronics Engineering
Friday, March 23 | 1 to 5 p.m. | Great Hall, Davis Centre
Norman Esch Capstone Design Awards
Tuesday, March 27 | 1:30 p.m. | Sedra Student Design Centre, Engineering 5
