Helping Rwanda with more affordable, sustainable energy consumption. Creating a bandage that senses and destroys infectious bacteria. Designing a lower-cost horseshoe.
These are just a tiny sample of the projects produced by the engineers of tomorrow who will graduate sometime this year from the Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering. A total of 527 seniors displayed 122 projects April 19 during E-Days at the Lory Student Center – an annual showcase of senior design projects.
Thirty-five industry leaders judged the competition from such companies and organizations as Aecom, Agile RF Systems, Colorado Division of Water Resources, Dale F. Jones Structural Engineer Inc., Emerson, HP, Nutrien, Siemens, Terumo BCT and Wolf Robotics.
Winners of the 2019 competition (winners under each category are listed in first, second and third place):
Biomedical Engineering (49 participants)
Smart Bandage: Create a living medicine bandage containing genetically engineered cells that can sense and destroy infectious bacteria in wounds (Kelli Corrigan, Ryan Boudreau, Tyler Daniel, Neil Rettedal, Jacob Grady).
Sensor Technology for Enhanced Prosthesis Production: Deliver a handheld probe for prosthesis tissue stiffness and measuring performance of 3-D printed sockets.
Cell Separations: Increase fluid flow rates through centrifuges while maintaining same or better cell recoveries (Ryan Rykhus, Rachel Von Seggern, Ashley Marcolinea).
Chemical and Biological Engineering (75 participants)
CSU Brewery Design and Automation Team: Design and develop a brewery system for Fermentation science students in Gifford (Emily Strack, Gabe Wham, Tim Utz, Ryan Mohr, Thomas Eftink, Layne Rudisille, Charles Ellis, Wylie Borden, Lucas Smith, Maxine Smith).
Oil and Gas – Methane to Dimethyl Ether in Rwanda: Analyze small-scale dimethyl ether production processes from methane to determine whether Rwanda could use as an affordable energy alternative to wood consumption (Rebecca Tullberg, Mohammed Al Mufarraji, Alexandrya Reda, Michael Andrade).
Unwasted – Recovering value from Fort Collins food waste: Provide a sustainable solution for organic waste processing and renewable energy generation for the City of Fort Collins (Ryan Montagne, Becka Olivares, Bethany Hagloch, Anna McConnell, Jackie Tan, Tory Travers).
Civil and Environmental Engineering (118 participants)
Seniors Without Borders: Redesign the water supply system for El Pital, El Salvador (Ammar Al Kiyumi, Carly McGowan, Kayla Bergeron, Lia Clark, Nicolette Peerman, Rachel O’Brien, Christian Mendez).
Ramsportation Consulting Engineers: Redevelop transportation infrastructure around planned CSU Meridian Village residence hall complex (Connor Williams, Daniel Rodgers, Micah Gibbons, Colby Sargent, Ryan Smiertelny, David Vigil).
Aqua Power Associates: Design retrofit of Highlands Ranch Aquifer Storage and Recovery wellfields to recover energy during water storage cycles. (Alex Pooley, Connor Burkesmith, Harrison Cross, Trent Powell, Schyler King, Kendall Hettel)
Electrical and Computer Engineering (79 participants)
Bio-analysis Chamber: Build a device that will simultaneously test the application of pharmaceuticals on a piece of living tissue inside one of four bio-analysis chambers (Kyle Steinacker, Bassem Faour, Nima Sherpa, Michael Siegel, Michael Spilg, Ryan Thomas).
Wireless Signal Characterization: Use computational electromagnetics to analyze electromagnetic wave behavior in extremely large and complex structures (Jake Harmon, Colton Martin, Stephen Kasdorf, Mitchell Hawkins).
Critical Optical Components for High Power Lasers: Increase laser power through high performance optical components used to form laser cavities and direct their output (Priscilla Vazquez, Aaron Davenport, Alex Meadows, Emmett Randel).
Mechanical Engineering (187 participants)
Alternative Horseshoe: Develop proof-of-concept for an alternative to a traditional metal horseshoe that’s low-cost, non-invasive and easy to apply (Paige Frankl, Danielle Troudt, Victoria Palmer, Drew Kaiser, Zach Kehmeier).
Miba Friction Plate Test Method: Create new testing method for friction material industry that compares torsional adhesive characteristics of friction plates (Erik Pranckh, Austin Young, Conor McCarrell, Julian Baldauf, Ryan Newhouse, Thomas Tilley).
Waterpik – Robotic Test Station: Design and implement a robotic test station for Waterpik products and prototypes (Josh Robertson, Jack Smith, Riley Crowell, Nick Fuller).
Mechanical Engineering Research (MECH 498 – 14 participants)
Melt Electrospinning Writing System Repair: Design a polymer writing system capable of writing tissue scaffold structures through computer-aided design software (Tanner Deniston).
Development of a Novel Growth-Factor Induced Method for Rotator-Cuff Tendon: Conduct experiments to help develop new repair methods for rotator cuff tendons (Daniel Palmer).
Optimizing Optical Gas Imaging Technologies: Provide a quantitative strategy to detect natural gas leaks through Optical Gas Imaging (Marcus Martinez).
