Senior Design

Senior Capstone Design is one of the most important courses in the four-year curriculum. Students work beyond the traditional classroom setting to apply technical knowledge to actual engineering problems.

Teams are graded on their requirements analyses, feasibility studies, financial analyses, system designs, engineering drawings, prototype hardware, computer programs, presentations, demonstrations and reports. The experience helps students bridge the gap between their academic and professional careers by exposing them to realistic design processes, teamwork and expectations of practicing engineers.

Teams meet periodically with their client to review designs and provide written and oral progress reports. At the end of each semester, teams give a final presentation and write a design report. Evaluation is based on individual and team performance.

A number of ME students are part of interdisciplinary projects with the BME and ECE departments. 

Senior Capstone Design provides these development facilities for the project teams. 

  • Projects Lab (LN-G111)
  • Tech Lab (EB-A4)
  • Vehicle Lab (EB-A3)
  • Electric Vehicle Lab (EB-D1)
  • Special Projects Lab (EB-A8)

The Projects Lab has a diverse array of benchtop equipment, which is assigned to individual teams as needed. The Tech Lab has a 3D digitizer, two 3-D printers, and several surface-mount technology soldering systems. The Vehicle Lab has innumerable automotive tools, including a TIG welder, and is home to the SAE Supermileage and MiniBaja project teams. The electric vehicle lab is home to the SAE Formula Electric vehicle. The Special Projects Lab is used for larger projects that will not fit into the Projects Lab. 

2024/2025 Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Projects 

  • Bicopter Morphbot

    This project has been inspired by the growing research in novel robotic locomotion techniques. Recent studies have shown researchers attempting to create a robot which possesses the advantage of ground locomotion, such as carrying heavy load; as well as advantages of aerial flight, such as area surveillance and maneuverability.

  • High Temperature Maximum Droplet Pressure Tensiometer

    There is a need for an apparatus to measure the interfacial tension between molten glasses and metals at elevated temperatures. This project aims to design and construct a new instrument that can utilize the established measurement principal of Maximum Bubble Pressure method at elevated temperatures, thus enabling the rapid measurement of liquid-liquid interfacial energy of molten material pairs.

  • High-Pressure Chamber for the Manufacturing of High-temperature Micro-encapsulated Phase Change Materials

    In this project, a high-pressure chamber will be designed and built to suppress the heterogeneous bubble nucleation during the manufacturing of high-temperature micro-encapsulated phase change materials (PCMs). The new machine holds the promise to solve the long-standing durability issue hindering the use of high-temperature PCMs for Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage (LHTES) systems in the next-generation Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plants, solar-thermal industrial processes (SIPH), and solar-thermal fuel systems.

  • FSAE EV Charging Cart

    The FSAE EV charging cart project will design and manufacture a mobile charging module capable of charging the FSAE EV battery packs. The goal of this project is to create a simple charging interface in a compact and safe package while keeping the internal components cool

  • FSAE EV Drive Unit

    Design and manufacture a rear-wheel drive unit for °®¶¹´«Ã½ Motorsport’s EV2 vehicle. This drive unit will transfer electrical power from the inverter and convert it to mechanical power via an electric motor coupled with a gear reduction. The drive unit’s primary responsibility is to provide adequate torque to the rear tires while allowing them to spin independently around a corner

  • FSAE Front wing

    This project looks to create a front wing for the 2024-2025 FSAE vehicle. This wing will help produce downforce on the front of the vehicle and direct air over the nosecone and into the undertray. This will help with vehicle dynamics with effects such as understeer

  • Gem Stone Bead Sorting Machine with Visual Machine Learning

    This project is the continuation of a successful project from previous SDP team who built a gem stone bead sorting machine. This year's team will continue work on this machine toward it's completion. New tasks are also included that involve the development of visual machine learning algorithms for pattern recognition, defect detection and automatic dwg file generation

  • Pedal powered water filtration system

    The mechanical power created by pedal rotation will be used to charge a battery. The same battery will be connected to a pump that will pressurize saltwater and allow water to pass through the membrane while not allowing salt to pass. The team will need to select off the shelf filtration system and pump for their requirements. They will need to put the system together and show the production of drinkable water. The idea is similar to another project last year named as 'pedal powered theater box'.

  • PLA recycling unit

    It is proposed to design a mechanism to grind up PLA byproducts into a fine powder to facilitate recycling of the PLA, a common material used in 3D printing. It is hybrid R/D project

  • RC Plane (AIAA Design/Build/Fly Competition)

    Students will design and manufacture an RC plane that abides by competition standards. Students will also be able to apply and participate in the competition, should they be accepted and willing

  • Composite Airframe Filament Winder

    Students will design a filament winder to aid AeroBing with the manufacturing of composite cylinders, which will be used for rocket and solid motor airframes of various sizes. A filament winder can create strength-to-weight optimized parts by autonomously dispensing strands of resin-wetted reinforcement material, such as fiberglass or carbon, onto a rotating mandrel.

  • R/C Scale Turbojet Engine

    Design, build, and optimize an R/C scale turbojet engine. This engine would use principles from thermodynamics and fluid mechanics and could be analyzed using tools like computational fluid dynamics and finite element analysis. This project could be expanded in the future by incorporating the jet engine into an R/C plane

  • Smart armor thru electroadhesion

    This project designs smart armors with tunable rigidity enabled by electroadhesion. The armor is covered by smart platelets that actively interact each other via interlocking and contact. The rigidity is tunable by the configuration design and applied voltage

  • Triboelectric Metamaterial for load monitoring in Total Knee Replacement

    Students on this project will work on design and fabrication of 3D structures that are deformable and upon contact and release from periodic mechanical force, produce voltage. The 3D structure is a metamaterial that consists of triboelectric layers that are separated by an air gap. The periodic contact and separation creates charges on the surfaces. If two electrodes are connected to the outer layers, this charges flow back and forth creating electric current that is proportional to the vertical load. The metamaterial should be designed to be placed inside a TKR for joint load monitoring

  • Brain Controlled Robotic Arm

    Build a brain-controlled robotic arm that allows K-12 students to control its movements with their brains through biopotential signals. 

  • Refrigeration Cycle Laboratory Apparatus

    A vapor cycle refrigeration experimental apparatus such as the one available from PA Hilton (https://www.p-a-hilton.co.uk/products/refrigeration/refrigeration-laboratory-unit) is very expensive. The purpose of the refrigeration apparatus is to elucidate thermodynamic processes and make connections to real-life systems. The objective of this project is to design and build an experimental apparatus using a commercially available countertop ice maker or small window air conditioner at a much lower cost. Also, a means for measuring temperatures using thermocouples or thermistors will be required. In addition to building the experimental system, a set of instructions for the laboratory experiment and the theoretical background on vapor refrigeration cycles will be developed.

  • 118 WIG Remotely Controlled Airplane (B)

    Design, build, fly a Wing-In-Ground (WIG) remotely controlled airplane. A WIG airplane takes advantage of the so-called "ground effect", where left and drag of a fixed wing aircraft change dramatically (lift goes up while drag drops) when operating in close proximity to a surface. This project shall provide foundation (both theoretical and practical) for the Terraplane pod design

  • BSAE CVT Bracing System

    The °®¶¹´«Ã½ Baja team is upgrading the CVT setup for the new vehicle. The previous setup involved a brace for the input shaft of the transfer case. This brace was overly complicated and interfered with serviceability of the vehicle. This project will include the design of a new input shaft brace for a new CVT. Participants will also be involved in design of the new setup which will involve changing the orientation of the CVT itself.

  • BSAE Suspension Redesign

    The °®¶¹´«Ã½ Baja team is upgrading the CVT setup for the new vehicle. The previous setup involved a brace for the input shaft of the transfer case. This brace was overly complicated and interfered with serviceability of the vehicle. This project will include the design of a new input shaft brace for a new CVT. Participants will also be involved in design of the new setup which will involve changing the orientation of the CVT itself.

  • BSAE Suspension Redesign

    This project involves a comprehensive redesign of both the front and rear suspension systems. We are particularly focusing on a radical overhaul of the rear suspension, transitioning to a dual A-arm configuration to enhance performance and handling.

  • AeroBing Composite Propellant Vacuum Mixing

    Students will design and assemble a mixing device to mix composite propellant while under vacuum. This will allow for higher quality propellant grains while also allowing for more propellant to be mixed at once.

  • Bowling Robot (Teams will each have four members)

    Build an autonomous robot to compete in a bowling competition at the University Union.

  • Portcullis for Escape Room

    We’re looking to recreate a medieval portcullis inside our escape room. A Portcullis is a gate that is cranked up and down. The door will be used inside of our Wizards and Dragons Escape room

  • Autonomous Robot Racing Car with Artificial Intelligence

    Imagine creating a racing car that not only speeds around the track on its own but also dances through hairpin turns with precision and safety, like a high-speed ballet of technology and adrenaline. That's the exciting world of autonomous racing cars, where we design control systems that make these machines drift through corners with the grace of a professional racer. As autonomous driving becomes an integral part of our lives, the prospect of artificial intelligence surpassing professional racecar drivers is on the horizon. This project will focus on the development of a real-time sensing system and a neural network model for capturing the energetics, dynamics, and trajectory of a 1:10 scale RC Racing Car during real-world competitions, providing high fidelity data toward the ultimate goal of developing a fully autonomous robot racing car.Students participating in this project may also receive faculty advising on relevant topics such as reinforcement machine learning and task planning, motion planning and control for aggressive maneuver, physics-informed machine learning and multi-fidelity data fusion, as the needs arise during the project

  • Climate Controlled Fungus Gnat Habitat

    Design and construction of a climate-controlled insect habitat with autonomous day-night cycle, temperature, and humidity control/monitoring.

  • FSAE Chassis Dynamometer

    Design and manufacture a dynamometer to be compatible with FSAE rear wheel drive vehicles. This product will allow the FSAE team to characterize key features of the vehicle through performance comparisons. This product will be stored for many years of FSAE vehicle testing

  • Smart Micro-Particle Manipulation Chamber

    The Smart Micro-Particle Manipulation Chamber provides a controlled environment to study and manipulate
    micro-particles using adjustable magnetic and electric fields. Features include an intuitive interface, durable
    materials, programmable controller, and data logging and remote control for advanced analysis.

  • Robotic Arm for NES Power Glove

    Build a Robotic Arm that is compatible with a Nintendo Entertainment System Power Glove
    (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Glove). The Robotic Arm fingers can full extend and curl. The wrist can rotate +/- 90 degrees. The Arm can pitch +/- 45 degrees. The Arm can yaw +/- 45 degrees. The arm shall be responsive to controller inputs (an ECE project) to support an NES game "Super Glove Ball".