Texas A&M Engineering News

Students work around the clock to design a more inclusive campus during the 2018 Diversity Hackathon

Wed, 07 Feb 2018 00:00:00 CST

With only 24 hours on the clock, students came together to design and develop ideas to help make the Texas A&M University campus more inclusive.

The 2018 Diversity Hackathon brought students from many disciplines at Texas A&M to the Langford Architecture Center on Feb. 2-3, where they worked overnight to help turn spaces on campus into more welcoming environments for all people.

Cecilia Giusti, associate dean for outreach and diversity in the College of Architecture and head of the Diversity Council, launched the Diversity Hackathon four years ago. The inaugural hackathon featured a partnership with the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and the College of Engineering continues to play an important role in the event with a majority of the participants being engineering students.

“For 24 hours they talk about what it means to be diverse, what is an inclusive approach, and how to talk better about inclusion and diversity,” Giusti said. “[And] they actually create or produce something. Even if they don’t win anything, the whole exercise is fantastic—it’s magic.”

One team of general engineering freshmen worked to develop a tool to help the visually impaired better navigate campus. Team members prototyped a device that could slip onto the back of a pair of glasses and connect to a phone, which could then use the campus Wi-Fi to pinpoint the wearer’s location. The device would then communicate information through vibrations against the bone in the back of the ear.

“It would notify you of different obstacles around campus and different buildings or streets so that a person who was visually impaired would be aware of their surroundings and know which way to go without needing to look at a map,” said Jaxon Tucker.

There were six challenges teams could choose from provided by different programs across campus. The College of Engineering asked students to focus on the Zachry Engineering Education Complex and how to make it more accessible for students with hearing, visual or physical impairments.

“It’s going to be a world-class, state-of-the-art building, and I was hoping that students might come up with some concepts to ensure that all of our students are welcome and can participate at the same level,” said Debra Dandridge, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and engineering accessibility coordinator.

To help with the creation process, students had access to several resources, including 3-D printers and other tools provided by the College of Architecture. One team took up the challenge to create an open space for communication by developing an interactive screen to help people share concerns and ideas in a more accessible way.

“We’re going to have an interface for people to share their ideas through texts,” said junior computer science engineering student Muin Momin. “We have a phone number set up and people can text complaints or something they like about the space that they’re in, and that will display as a word cloud on the screen so everyone can see what’s going on and the owners of that space can get ideas on how to improve it.”

Being a part of the hackathon may also help students after graduation. Dr. J. Michael Moore, an instructional assistant professor in the computer science and engineering department, said industry is showing more interest in accessibility and expects graduates to be prepared to create these universally designed, accessible products.

“This hackathon is a fantastic opportunity for our students in engineering to not only try and do inventive ideas in a short period of time but also to be creative and innovative, and be ready and thinking that way, before they go out in industry,” Moore said.

Research to improve efficiency in oil wells leads professor, student to best paper award

Tue, 06 Feb 2018 00:00:00 CST

Texas A&M University researchers are studying seal leaks in subsea and aging oil well production facilities with the potential to greatly increase the efficiency of multiple-phase pumping and compressors turbomachinery.

Dr. Luis San Andrés, Mast-Childs Chair Professor in the Turbomachinery Laboratory, along with graduate assistant researcher Xueliang Lu, a Ph.D. candidate in mechanical engineering, conducted a series of measurements on the leakage and dynamic forced performance of wet seals, such as pump liquid seals, mixed with increasing contents of gas. The test results show the gas, or liquid, content affects the system pumping efficiency and reliability, with a dramatic impact on efficiency recorded with only a few droplets of liquid. The experimental results validate mixture model predictions produced by San Andrés in the early 2010s.

By better understanding the role seals have in the machinery, researchers can help industry officials continue to enhance pumping efficiency, increase reliability by reducing vibrations and ensure availability for extended operation times. The researchers said an electric submersible pump (ESP) manufacturer gave them positive comments on their work, and said their data may help them design novel seal types toward improving the life of seals in their ESPs. The current design can only survive 350 hours of operation, about 1/100 of the desired reliability.

The team wrote a paper recording their results, which was recently recognized with the best paper award at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Turbo-Expo 2017, selected from 133 papers accepted in the Structure & Dynamics Division. Their paper’s title is “Leakage, Drag Power and Rotordynamic Force Coefficients of an Air in Oil (Wet) Annular Seal.”

The Turbomachinery Research Consortium (TRC) has sponsored the research for the past three years.

“TRC members, original equipment manufacturers and end users envision more and more applications of multiple phase pumps for the subsea oil and gas industry,” San Andrés and Lu said. “Wet seals must retain their leakage restriction ability without impairing the dynamic performance of the machinery.”

Follow up lectures are scheduled for presentation at the Asia Turbomachinery Symposium and the Turbomachinery Symposium later this year. More research developments will be published at the Gas Turbine Conference, with another journal paper already accepted.

“The research opens a door for the future research career of Lu as it verifies the likelihood of using air/gas injection to actively control leakage and force coefficient in pump seals and hydraulic turbomachinery in general,” San Andrés said.

Texas A&M Engineering and Alamo Colleges District co-enrollment program to begin offering classes fall 2018

Thu, 01 Feb 2018 00:00:00 CST

Texas A&M University, Chevron and Alamo Colleges District will enroll the first cohort of students for the Texas A&M-Chevron Engineering Academy at Alamo Colleges District in fall 2018. This innovative co-enrollment partnership was developed to address the state’s growing need for engineers. Qualified students will be admitted to the Texas A&M College of Engineering, complete the first two years of coursework at an Alamo Colleges District college and finish their engineering degrees in College Station, Texas. The program will begin accepting student applications March 1.

The Texas A&M-Chevron Engineering Academy at Alamo Colleges District allows students to remain close to home for their first two years while pursuing one of 19 majors within the College of Engineering at Texas A&M. This program is generously supported by Chevron.

“We are pleased to offer students in the Alamo Colleges District a unique pathway toward a first-rate degree from an engineering college ranked among the top 10 in the world,” said Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp. “Our goal is to attract the very best students to Texas A&M Engineering, even if circumstances require them to stay close to home for the first two years of college. These students will be Aggies in San Antonio from day one.”

“We are always eager to offer our students new opportunities for continuing their education once they graduate from one of the colleges of the Alamo Colleges District,” said Alamo Colleges District Chancellor Dr. Bruce Leslie. “Our latest partnership with Texas A&M University and Chevron will offer our students a pathway to a bachelor’s degree in a field with excellent job growth and high salaries, benefiting not only the students, but the state’s economy as well,” he added.

In Texas, the projected need for engineers in the workforce is 53,000 by 2024. To meet this need, universities and two-year colleges will need to work together to bridge the gap and attract and retain students who are interested in STEM fields. Engineering students in the Engineering Academy program enroll in math, science and core curriculum courses through Alamo Colleges District and have the unique opportunity to enroll in Texas A&M engineering courses taught by Texas A&M faculty at Northeast Lakeview College, part of Alamo Colleges District.

“Northeast Lakeview College is proud to be home for this program,” said Dr. Veronica Garcia, Northeast Lakeview College president. “This new program will help address the need for more programming in high-demand STEM fields and provide an opportunity for more students, in San Antonio and surrounding areas, to pursue engineering coursework.”

Chevron has donated $5 million to support Texas A&M-Chevron Engineering Academies across the state at Austin Community College; Houston Community College, Spring Branch in Houston; Texas Southmost College in Brownsville; El Centro and Richland Colleges in Dallas; and Alamo Colleges District in San Antonio.

“Chevron is committed to increasing access to, and the quality of, education around the world. We are proud to partner with Texas A&M on this important initiative to help ensure an educated and skilled workforce,” said Shariq Yosufzai, Chevron vice president of ombuds, diversity and inclusion and university and association relations.

“Our longstanding relationship with Texas A&M, through support of the Engineering Academy initiative, will help provide opportunities in the field of engineering for many underrepresented and first-generation college students,” Yosufzai said. “Partnering with Texas A&M, a top source of engineering hires for Chevron, to help provide opportunities in the field of engineering will support our efforts to help build the diverse workforce of tomorrow that will be required to meet the energy needs of the future."

Texas A&M Engineering Vice Chancellor and Dean Dr. M. Katherine Banks said the academies have the potential to reach beyond the typical pathways for access to a top-ranked engineering program.

“The academies, through our partnership with Chevron and the two-year colleges, provide new pathways to a first-rate engineering education,” Banks said. “Through this co-enrollment program, students can live at home for the first two years of college without postponing their participation in an engineering program that is highly regarded by employers across the country.”

For more information about how to apply and other details, visit /academies or email engineeringacademies@tamu.edu.

Gao seeks out collaboration through Hagler Institute

Tue, 30 Jan 2018 00:00:00 CST

Dr. Huajian Gao is seeking to initiate collaborations with the Department of Mechanical Engineering as a Faculty Fellow in the 2017 class of the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University.

“I’m hoping I can gain a foothold here to have some collaborations long term,” Gao said. “The people here are very nice and the university is growing fast. I came from Brown University, and we are a smaller engineering school. Here I think Texas A&M can offer a much wider spectrum of people and talents.”

Gao, the Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Engineering at Brown, joined the Institute in 2017 for a three-year appointment, which is a mechanism for attracting world-class talent to the university and is driven by nominations of National Academy and Nobel-prize caliber researchers. Each year the Hagler Institute invites a number of nationally and internationally prominent faculty fellows to pursue advanced study in collaboration with faculty and student scholars at Texas A&M. The goal is to provide an environment for research and scholarship with the faculty fellows having freedom to pursue their own research interests as well as collaborate in disciplinary and multidisciplinary research.

“I think the Institute is very unique. It allows you to get in touch with top-notch scientists from all over the world,” Gao said. “These are top-notch scientists in their fields, so (Texas A&M) is able to recruit these scientists, at least on a visiting instance. I’m very impressed with the university. Before I came here, I didn’t know much about Texas A&M, but now through the Hagler Institute, I am very impressed.”

Gao’s field of study is nanomechanics, where he looks at the mechanical properties and behavior of materials on a small scale. He has a number of projects ranging from high-strength, high-ductility and high-toughness materials to biological systems including how nanoscale materials interact with human and animal cells.

Gao earned his bachelor’s degree in solid mechanics from China’s Xi’an Jiaotong University in 1982, followed by a master’s degree in 1984 and a doctorate in 1988, both in engineering science, from Harvard University. He has been interested in pursuing engineering since he was a child hearing about his father’s work as an electrical engineer.

He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, as well as a member of the German National Academy of Sciences and a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering and the Institute of Physics in Great Britain. Among his honors, Gao has received the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ George Wallace Melville Medal, Robert Henry Thurston Lecture Award, Charles Russ Richards Memorial Award and the Nadai Medal; the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Theodor von Karman Medal; the Max Planck Society’s Research Innovation Award; the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award; the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics’ Rodney Hill Prize in Solid Mechanics; and the Society of Engineering Science’s William Prager Medal.

Darbha named Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Fellow

Tue, 23 Jan 2018 00:00:00 CST

Dr. Swaroop Darbha, professor in Texas A&M University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been elevated to the status of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow.

Darbha was recognized for his contributions to Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and autonomous vehicles. He has worked on various aspects of ITS, and is widely recognized for his pioneering contributions to vehicle platooning in Automated Highway Systems, traffic flow and safety modeling with autonomous vehicles, and for truck brake diagnostics. One focus of his work is on string stability of vehicle platoons.

“String instabilities lead to pileups—a commonly occurring incident and a result of how much preview information each vehicle has,” Darbha said. “I have introduced singular and regular perturbation methods to analyze and design automatic vehicle following controllers and derive results, which are intuitive and of practical significance.”

His work on stochastic control of Unmanned Vehicle Systems has also been implemented successfully on flight tests by the Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio.

“The motion planning work that I’ve done in 2000 was instrumental in getting them started on Unmanned Vehicle Systems simulations,” Darbha said.

At Texas A&M, Darbha’s research interests include advanced vehicular control and diagnostic systems, motion planning and control of unmanned vehicles, decision making under uncertainty, and fixed structure controller synthesis.

“ITS has had a positive impact on society; for example, consider driver assist systems and Variable Message Signs,” Darbha said. “Even if autonomous driving may not be a reality, the focus on enabling communication between vehicles and infrastructure is expected to enhance mobility and safety.”

Each year the IEEE Fellow Committee reviews the work of its members for elevation to IEEE Fellow. Less than 0.1 percent of voting members are selected annually for this member grade elevation, which is the highest grade of membership within the institute.

“You bring honor to yourself and to IEEE by your achievements,” said Karen Bartleson, 2017 IEEE president and CEO, in the announcement of Darbha’s elevation.

Looking to the future, Darbha said he would next like to develop methodologies for assessing safety and addressing communication between vehicles to improve mobility and safety.

“I am working on developing techniques for quantifying the benefits of traffic safety due to vehicle-to-vehicle communication, understanding how imperfect communication affects mobility and safety and resuming my work on diagnostic systems for air brakes in trucks.”

Pharr awarded grant for research of lithium metal anodes in batteries

Wed, 17 Jan 2018 00:00:00 CST

Dr. Matt Pharr, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University, has received grant funds to benefit his research of lithium metal anodes in batteries.

Pharr was one of four researchers awarded a $20,000 gift award by the Applied Mechanics Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The program is funded by the Haythornthwaite Foundation and targets new university faculty engaged in research involving theoretical and applied mechanics.

The objective of Pharr’s project, "Electro-chemo-mechanics of Lithium Metal Anodes for High-capacity Batteries," is to construct a stable metallic lithium anode, which Pharr said will enable higher energy and power capabilities in batteries while reducing weight and volume.

“From a scientific perspective, despite being the third element on the periodic table, little is known regarding the mechanical behavior of lithium,” Pharr said. “From an engineering perspective, lithium metal is known as the ‘holy grail’ of anode materials, as it has the highest theoretical capacity, lowest density and most negative electrochemical potential.”

Pharr’s research interests include materials for energy storage and conversion, mechanics of flexible/wearable electronic devices and deformation and fracture of soft materials.

Capstone team named finalist in NASA Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-Changing Idea Challenge

Wed, 10 Jan 2018 00:00:00 CST

A team of mechanical engineering seniors at Texas A&M University has risen to the challenge and has been selected as one of five finalists in the 2018 NASA Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-Changing (BIG) Idea Challenge.

The BIG Idea Challenge supports development of innovative and high-impact technologies for use in a broad array of future NASA missions. The challenge allows students to incorporate their coursework into real aerospace design concepts and work together in a team environment.

This year’s challenge is to develop solar panels for a future Mars mission, where supplying reliable electric power for humans on the Martian surface is a critical technology need. The Texas A&M team—comprised of seniors Gabrielle Adams, Joshua Banks, Bryan Calleros, Cole Frazier and Uday Toodi—must design, model and test a series of solar panels that can be autonomously deployed on Mars. The panels would generate power before the astronauts arrived and would be used as a power generation system throughout the duration of the mission.

As part of the challenge, the team developed a video simulating their solar panel design.

Their design will be tested against four other universities during the 2018 BIG Idea Forum on March 6 hosted at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, to present their concepts in an evaluative design review.

Former student tapped to serve on statewide fire protection commission

Wed, 03 Jan 2018 00:00:00 CST

Bob Morgan, a Texas A&M University former student, has been tapped to serve on the Texas Commission on Fire Protection (TCFP).

Morgan, who graduated from Texas A&M in 1994 with a degree in mechanical engineering, was recently appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott to serve a six-year term on the TCFP, which develops and enforces statewide fire service standards and provides education and assistance to the industry. As commissioner, Morgan will work with fire departments throughout the state to assist with testing and certification for firefighters and fire inspectors. Commissioners also work to ensure that policy changes to state law are upheld.

“I believe that my role on the TCFP is similar to my role as a (protection engineer), which is to always put the public welfare as my first priority and that includes firefighter safety,” Morgan said. “I am very proud to have the opportunity to serve my state and its citizens, including our many firefighters.”

Morgan is the senior fire protection engineer for the Fort Worth Fire Department, where he manages the fire protection plan review, works with fire inspectors, and evaluates the codes and hazardous material policy.

While Morgan is dedicated to his job, he said his goal upon graduation was not to be a firefighter. He first went to work for an insurance company with Texas A&M connections and then moved to an architectural engineering firm. In his role there, he met firefighters in Fort Worth, which led him to join the fire department.

Looking back at his time at Texas A&M, Morgan said his mechanical engineering degree helped with technical aspects in his career, such as thermodynamics and heat transfer. His overall education, from economics to specialized engineering studies, also helped him approach any engineering discipline with greater ease.

“A (Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering) provides a good basis or foundation for moving into more specialized fields of engineering, in my opinion,” he said.

But it isn’t just his degree from Texas A&M that has helped him in life. Morgan said he didn’t know about many traditions at Texas A&M before coming to College Station, and even viewed some of them, such as having to learn the yells, as a burden. Now he encourages students to find ways to socialize with peers, which makes college easier.

“I think I have a much greater appreciation for the camaraderie that comes from the traditions,” Morgan said. “Some of my best friends now were friends from A&M.”

Morgan offers several pieces of advice to students to maximize their time while at Texas A&M, including to not give up if they are struggling with their major and instead seek out help and advice.

“Lastly, I would also always recommend serving your community, i.e. volunteer in whatever capacity you can to help others,” Morgan said. “I promise that you will find it immensely rewarding.”

Morgan is a member of the International Building Code Fire Safety Committee, six different technical committees with the National Fire Protection Association and the North Central Texas Council of Governments, and is chairman of its Fire Advisory Board. He is also a member and past president of the Fire Prevention Association of North Texas and DFW chapter of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers.

Student design projects recognized through Virtual Project Showcase

Wed, 20 Dec 2017 00:00:00 CST

Texas A&M University continues to highlight student project work accomplishments through the inaugural Virtual Project Showcase this fall, with the showcase winners recently being announced.

The Virtual Project Showcase provided engineering undergraduate students a platform to share their innovative projects with industry members nationwide. Industry professionals were invited to participate and judge remotely, which Magda Lagoudas, executive director of Industry and Nonprofit Partnerships and instructional associate professor, said gave them an opportunity to see the exciting projects students are involved with and the quality of work they can deliver to sponsors. Industries sponsoring a student project gained great value while supporting the university’s goals to develop the engineers of tomorrow.

“We opened this up to noncapstone students too, because it’s so important for all engineering students to be able to showcase their projects and ideas. By making a video presentation, they’re also gaining valuable experience pitching innovative solutions—something that will help them when they leave Texas A&M and enter the workforce or become entrepreneurs,” Lagoudas said.

Undergraduate students submitted a two to four-minute video describing their project and were encouraged to include images of prototypes or engineering analysis as support materials. In total, 85 teams representing more than 300 students from across the college submitted videos. A majority of the entries represented senior capstone design projects, while the remaining represented noncapstone projects such as AggiE-Challenge, design competitions and other projects.

Winning teams in the capstone category were:

1. MEEN 402 Pressure Vessel Design Project from the Department of Mechanical Engineering

2. Halliburton Heat Treatment from the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

3. Mixed Reality Guitar Learning System from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering

4. ST Genetics Automated Tube Decanter from the mechanical engineering department

5. 3-D - Printed Antenna from the industrial and systems engineering department

Christian Alejandro, member of the first-place team, said the Pressure Vessel Project was a stimulating and challenging endeavor. The project’s goal was to improve and present a pressure vessel design after a previous pressure vessel had failed after 30 years of use.

“We had the unique opportunity to have our senior design project make a difference on campus and help a fellow department, the geology department,” Alejandro said. “Originally we thought we would have to do the regular showcase but then were told to create and submit a video instead. This would allow the project to be shown multiple times to different people.”

Alejandro said while explaining a two-semester project in under five minutes was a challenge, the team took away valuable lessons from the experience.

“We believe that continuing this type of showcase could be beneficial to both the university and its students,” Alejandro said.

The top three videos in the noncapstone category were:

1. Women in Engineering’s Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (WE AUV) for design competition

2.Sandcrete from the AggiE-Challenge

3. Superhydrophobic Sponges Loaded with Functional GQDs for Oil-water Separation Applications from the AggiE-Challenge

The WE AUV team built a vehicle from scratch that could compete at the annual Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International RoboSub challenge in California, where AUVs must navigate a rigorous obstacle course. Team member Abishalini Sivaraman said the showcase provided the team an opportunity to explain what they had learned and perfect their video making and editing skills for competition.

Along with constructing the vehicle, the team also aimed to “prepare women engineers to solve problems in industry and to further the field of underwater autonomy.”

"The showcase has given us the platform to reach out to many students about the existence of the team," Sivaraman said.

Women in Engineering director, Shawna Fletcher, said the WE AUV team was established in the fall of 2015 to offer opportunities for women to participate in technical challenges.

“In partnership with the (Engineering Innovation Center), these students have worked on this project outside of the classroom on their own time,” she said. “It’s terrific to see how these students are dedicated and enthusiastic about technical projects—they are on their way to becoming accomplished engineers.”

About 60 judges representing 28 industries participated in the judging. Each video was judged by three different judges who were assigned to videos randomly. Teams were judged on their ability to define the problem, discuss their design methodology, present and support technical project outcomes, and their overall video presentation.

The top videos in the senior capstone and noncapstone categories received a monetary prize.

Capstone team rolls out project to help upgrade local’s wheelchair

Tue, 12 Dec 2017 00:00:00 CST

In search of ways to make life a little easier for a College Station resident, six mechanical engineering seniors at Texas A&M University devoted their senior capstone design project to improving and upgrading a wheelchair.

The team’s goal was to develop a fully functioning mechanical chair, mostly from scratch, while applying lessons they learned in the classroom to a real-world scenario. Over the course of the year, students were expected to learn, synthesize and develop skills of the engineering practice, while also working as a team.

“At the end of the day our team knew we were helping someone create a better quality of life, and that is always the driving factor behind our decisions,” said team member Clare McDougall. “We are all touched and proud to have the opportunity to give back to a fellow community member in such a significant way.”

The Wheelchair Design Team consisted of all senior mechanical engineering majors — McDougall, Andres Alvarado, Lane Garner, Jacob Garner, Miguel Hoffmann and Tristen Tinar. All of the students expect to graduate in December.

The team first met with their sponsor, who requested to remain anonymous, in the spring to review the specific needs for the team to address in the redesign. The students then broke the chair down into four areas: leg supports, arm supports, base and the seat/backrest system.

“The chair had to perform basic functions like recline/incline, adjust in various ways to accommodate for their measurements, and fit under tables and in doorframes. Some requirements were more specific relating to how he/she opens doors and how he/she will enter/leave the chair,” McDougall said.

In the initial brainstorming for a basic design, team members researched design ergonomics, existing patents and alternative designs for the chair. McDougall said the team based their idea for their reclining mechanism from a La-Z Boy chair.

After brainstorming, the team began modeling the design. Team members had to learn how to budget their time for the process of planning, designing, receiving feedback and redesigning until they created a satisfactory model.

“This process requires an immense amount of planning and time management, which isn’t necessarily what’s on the forefront of people’s minds when they enter their senior year,” McDougall said.

“Prototyping was never meant to easy; it is meant to be a tedious, iterative and often frustrating process,” said Alvarado. “But in the end, it is extremely rewarding to see the final working product.”

Alvarado said the students were challenged with balancing course expectations with the reality of the project, which did not always align.

“Ultimately, our team’s goal is not attempting to apply all concepts learned in the classroom to our project, but rather delivering a finished, operational and safe wheelchair to our client,” Alvarado said. “Along the way we do our best to match the criteria of the course with the nature of our project.”

McDougall said she has taken away lessons in how to take and respond to constructive criticism, as well as how to work as a team over the last two semesters. Alvarado said there has been a transformation of sorts after the students met in the spring, each with their respective critical thinking mindsets, problem solving skills and mass of engineering knowledge.

By working in the machine lab building the pieces of the chair from scratch, Alvarado said the team also honed skills that could not be learned in the classroom.

“But in the context of tackling our first full-blown engineering project, we had little experience in effectively communicating, practicing integrity and dealing with conflict. Fast-forwarding to now, each one of us has seen immense growth in those areas. These are the types characteristics that matter at the end of the day in the professional engineering world, rather than just the pure technical expertise gained from our project,” Alvarado said.

For more information about the senior capstone design program or to sponsor a future capstone project, email Dr. Joanna Tsenn.