Engineering Student Teams Highlight Collaboration, Innovation at Poster Competition

Photo Submitted

Team Grip Strength Pen won first prize in the 2019 Senior Capstone Design Poster Competition. The team created a pen to monitor a person's grip pressure while wirelessly transmitting the information to a computer or any other device.

Students from six engineering departments gathered in April to show off the culmination of a year's work at the third annual Senior Capstone Design Poster Competition.

Students from biomedical, biological, computer, electrical and mechanical engineering, as well as computer science, presented their year-long projects to faculty, staff, family members and friends, who voted on the top three.

More than 60 posters were presented, showcasing engineering skills developed by students throughout their undergraduate career. 

Robert Saunders, competition organizer and assistant department head of electrical engineering, said the competition is a chance to showcase student innovation.

"The poster competition puts the students in an environment where they talk about their projects with professors, other students and the general public," he said. "This gives the students a venue to proudly discuss their projects while practicing their communication skills in front of a widely varied audience."

The top three teams were:

First Place: Grip Strength Pen, a pen developed by electrical and biomedical engineers to monitor a person's grip pressure while wirelessly transmitting the information to a computer or any other device. Team members were:

• Biomedical Engineering: Hailey Carter, Morgan Dawkins, Andre Figueroa, Emily Janowski and Marinna Tadros
• Electrical Engineering: Brad Matthews, Brooks Walker, Logan Walz and David Mathis

Second Place: Path to Independence, an electronically controlled lawnmower assembled by electrical and mechanical engineers for a Fayetteville High School student with Muscular Dystrophy. Team members were:

• Electrical Engineering: Igliana Castillo, Melaine Craig, Jack Johnson, Jesse Coleman and David Castillo
• Mechanical Engineering: Adam O'Hern, Asa Thacker, Cooper Winters and Todd Kitchen

Third Place: Multi-Drug Deliver Pump, a drug delivery pump created by biomedical engineers to inject medication at the correct time and dosage. Team members were:

• Biomedical Engineering: Kaylee R. Henry, Alaa Abdelgawad, Jake Hopper, Katie Heath, Mason Belue and Gage Gabbard

All three groups were recognized at the College of Engineering student awards April 30.

Support from Jeff and Kathy Sanders and Carl and Susan Halford helped make the awards possible.

To learn more about the Integrated Design Experience for Undergraduate Students and how to get involved, contact Robert Saunders at rsaunders@uark.edu.