Every spring, seniors in the engineering department are required to showcase what they have learned through a Senior Design Project. The projects are chosen by both professors and students. Some projects are completed for fun, a club, or even for a customer. I spoke with Mr. Jaillet in the Electrical Engineering department to get some details on what is in-store for this year’s upcoming projects.
Design goals are set by the student themselves and must meet certain course requirements. There is a lot of writing reports that goes along with the project, more writing than most people realize, according to Mr. Jaillet, “a lot of guys feel like they’ve been in a communications class when they’re done.”
This year, there are seven electrical engineering teams. The fall semester focuses mostly on designing and testing, while the spring semester focuses on construction. Teams meet to work on projects in the Senior Design Lab which is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. There is a lot of work put in at the library as well, writing the reports.
There are some very interesting projects this year. The first is a robot submarine, which is a club project. There will be a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) competition where the robot will have to complete underwater tasks. Another project is a mobile greenhouse. The original model needs to be redesigned to cover current needs. Students at the France campus are working on a tunnel oven sensor package which is used to monitor conditions inside the oven in order to optimize the conditions for maximum efficiency. Another project Mr. Jaillet mentioned is creating a power system in Zimbabwe. The goal is to use solar power to run sewing machines.
I will be following some of the design teams and interviewing them on their projects. There will be more blogs to come covering the Senior Design Projects. I am excited to see what these teams will accomplish!
