ME Seniors Present Design Projects

A stone-rejecting device for combines was just one of 28 senior design projects presented by teams of ME seniors on May 5 at Levis Faculty Center. Other presentations featured systems to reduce energy consumption in three buildings on campus, a chainless bicycle that works via hydraulics, a safety awning to protect people from falling objects, an ultra fuel-efficient vehicle, a weed seed killing device for the USDA, an improved cycle ergometer for a local dialysis center and many others.

The senior design presentations are the culminaton of the ME 470 course in which students work in teams under the supervision of MechSE professors to tackle real design problems from manufacturers and service industries. Over the last 15 years, more than 3000 senior mechanical engineering and industrial engineering students have worked with 200 companies on more than 850 projects. Students gain a variety of benefits from this open-ended problem-solving experience, which requires them to synthesize and apply the knowledge they have gained through their engineering courses, to work within time and budget constraints, and to present their progress and results through regular oral and written communications with company members. Participating companies also benefit from the experience, fresh perspectives on design issues, specific recommendations for resolution, and access to expertise and resources that might not otherwise be available to them.