UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Engineering students will display their senior capstone design projects at the Engineering Design Showcase from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 27, at the Bryce Jordan Center. The event is free and open to the public.
The design showcase is the culmination of a semester-long effort by engineering students to design prototypes and solutions to real-world challenges posed by industry clients.
Seniors in biomedical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, energy engineering, engineering science and mechanics, industrial engineering, materials science, and mechanical engineering are participating in the showcase.
Several local, national and global firms and government agencies sponsored the spring 2017 projects, including Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, DiamondBack Truck Covers, Dresser-Rand, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Lord Corporation, Lycoming Engines, Quaker Chemical Corporation, Siemens, Tyco China Investment Co. Ltd and Volvo.
Seventeen design projects were completed by global teams that included Penn State students working with their peers from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden; Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China; KV Leuven, Belgium; The Belgium Campus, South Africa; and the University of Melbourne, Australia.
The event will also feature efforts by first-year students in EDSGN 100 Introduction to Engineering Design, who have been tasked by General Electric with designing a strategy to extract rare-earth element ore from a deep mine in a cost-efficient and environmentally conscious manner. This includes, but is not limited to, the use of alternative types of mobile mining equipment, alternative energy sources for mobile equipment or other methods that could exploit the current mine setup.
Judges at the showcase will award accolades for design excellence and best posters.
Visitors are encouraged to vote for their favorite project to receive the people’s choice award.
For a complete listing of spring 2017 projects and sponsors, please visit the Learning Factory website.