Congratulations to the 2020 MSE Senior Design Project Winners!
On May 1st, 13 teams of MSE seniors virtually presented their Senior Design Projects for the annual Senior Design Day. These capstone projects, each sponsored by industry, state, or federal grants, demonstrate the engineering skills students have learned throughout their undergraduate careers. This includes the principles of design, how ethics affect engineering decisions, how professionals communicate ideas, and the day-to-day implications of intellectual property. The students research a problem, brainstorm potential solutions, and travel to the sponsoring company’s site to learn more about them and the project. Throughout the two-semester project timeline, student teams maintain contact with their industrial and faculty mentors, continually reevaluate their designs, write progress and final reports, and give presentations summarizing their outcomes. Summary videos of the MSE projects are available here.
The top three Senior Design projects were awarded by a team of industry judges and alumni, as summarized below:
- Lauren Heaven, Lockheed-Martin, Sikorsky
- Rheanna Ward, Lockheed-Martin, Sikorsky
- Vincent Palumbo, Mott Corporation
- Truman Strodel, Pratt & Whitney
We are grateful to this cohort for their commitment to our program, and more broadly for all of our project mentors and sponsoring companies/agencies.
As department head Bryan Huey notes, “The winning projects and students represent just a few examples of the knowledge, skills, creativity, poise, and determination which our MSE graduates carry to the next stage in their careers.”
(Left to Right:) Christopher Choi, Riley Blumenfield, and Aidan Walsh
1st Place ($400): Preparation Of 3D Printed Plastic Components For Waterborne Environments
By Riley Blumenfield, Christopher Choi, and Aidan Walsh
Sponsored by: Naval Undersea Warfare Center
Sponsor Advisor: James LeBlanc
Faculty Advisor: Rainer Hebert
This project focuses on finding a 3D printable material with high mechanical properties and UV resistance, as well as a coating that prevents significant degradation of mechanical properties during exposure to seawater.
(Left to Right:) Kevin Sala and Cameron Sanders
2nd Place ($300): Controlling Residual Stresses In Alpha Beta Titanium During Manufacturing
By Kevin Sala and Cameron Sanders
Sponsored by: Pratt & Whitney
Industry Advisor: Vasisht Venkatesh
Faculty Advisor: Lesley Frame
This project focuses on a better understanding of the surface and subsurface residual stresses and microstructural damages that occur during machining of titanium alloys as well as the design of manufacturing processes that limit the residual stresses and subsurface damage.
Katelyn White and Eric Krementowski
3rd Place ($200): Optimization Of Adhesion Between Kapton Tape And EPR In Motor Lead Extension Cables For Use In Electric Submersible Pump Cables
By Eric Krementowski and Katelyn White
Sponsored by: Marmon Utility Co.
Industry Advisors: Michael Norton, Dan Masakowski
Faculty Advisor: Bryan Huey
This project focuses on assessing the adhesion between Kapton® tape and EPDM rubber of Chemlok® 250, Chemlok® 6150, 3M® 4799, and 3M® Primer 94 with 3M® 9485PC adhesive tape with a T-peel test in order to identify the optimal adhesive, prioritizing adhesion strength while considering ease of use and safety issues.
More information on these and the other 10 MSE projects can be found on the Senior Design Demonstration Day website.
Published: May 15, 2020
Categories: industry, news, senior design, undergraduate laboratories, undergraduate students
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