First Year Design Expo Fall 2024

The Spark of Engineering Creativity Starts Here: Expo Showcases Early Work 

More than 220 students in 44 teams showcased their prototypes at the Fall ’24 Fundamentals of Engineering Design Innovation Expo held on campus on Dec. 6. 

This is an opportunity for College of Engineering, Design and Computing students who are starting their degree journey and are taking one of two courses (MECH 1200 or ENGR 1200) to showcase some of the concepts they’ve learned. The students must present a project that solves a problem related to each semester’s themes. This semester students in mechanical engineering focused on “Cars of the Future” and those in the other course focused on “water.” 

The courses, typically taken in the first year by engineering majors of all kinds, engage them in the design process in teams for a semester-long project. Teams shared their elevator pitches and proof-of-concept prototypes.  

“The aim is to help students see the work of engineering as having a human benefit, and that requires getting to know all kinds of people who may be impacted by your designs,” said Associate Teaching Professor Kate Goodman, who coordinates the ENGR 1200 sections. “The projects require initial interviews as well as prototype testing. Most of the students tell us that building the prototypes is their favorite aspect of the course. We hope this spark of creativity will motivate them as they learn circuits, object-oriented programming, statics, fluid mechanics, and all the other deeply analytical work required of engineers and computer scientists.” 

Connie Blanco, who worked with teammates Arsene Tisangamu and Bano Karimi said the project helped solidify her decision to become an engineer, even if she isn’t quite sure which engineering field she’ll pursue yet. Their team designed a Snow Barrel which collects snow, uses a heating source to melt it and a filter system to clean the water. The team said they wanted to focus on a solution that would benefit people living in cold states. 

“We talked to a lot of people who said it was such a waste to see all the water from snow lost especially when water is such an important resource,” Blanco said. “That gave us the idea. Our Snow Barrell makes water available for animals on a farm or help (city) people who face frozen pipes and still need water.”

 Bano Karimi, Connie Blanco, and Arsene Bisangamo

Participants spent time presenting their projects during the expo to judges (instructors from across the college) and visiting the boards of other teams. Those in attendance also voted for their favorite project – the People’s Choice project. This semester’s winner is: 

FlowFind led by students Vic Deguzman, Anthony Hernandez, Shrijan Sharma, Benjamin Lopez, Grant Bear (Instructor Dan Guenther) 

The team’s elevator pitch: Did you know water leakages affect 800 million people? Our product is a leak detection app that monitors your water system in real-time, alerting you to leaks instantly. Providing the location of the leak and remote access, we encourage users to monitor their sewage system and conserve water effortlessly.  

Other winners selected by judges who attended the expo: 

• Best Prototype: Humi by Team Goomba: Brandon Koenig, Dean Bateman, JD Faraidy, Becky Palacios Romero, Gabriel Morales, Hamad Alfoudari (instructor Susan Stirrup) 

• Best use of Design Innovation Methods: Flow Fix with the Shower Shield, Team: Dustin Nguyen, Noah Hartman, Mohammed Alrubaily, Meshari Alghaith, Josh Bachofer (instructor Elise Harrison) 

• Best Stakeholder Engagement: Geosense by The Quad Squad: Luke Swenson, Zee Modeste, Mateo Regier, Ritik Gupta (instructor Suzanne Schuett) 

• Best Expo Presence: The Automatic Gutter Dumper by team Gutter Gurus: Talal Aklubaisi, Kevin Diaz, Brandon Lee, Nicholas Trivelli (instructor Kate Goodman) 

There were all sorts of creative designs including a snow guard aimed at making it easier to remove ice snow from windshields, a way to automate the hydration of your pets, and a way to reduce toxins from run-off water. 

In the spring, the First-Year Design Expo is held in conjunction with the Senior Capstone Expo. Be sure to look for that event in May, typically the Friday of the last week of classes. 

First Year Design Expo Participants