Academics

Fall 2013 Design Showcase winners announced

Students demonstrate the "LiriK," a tablet for sheet music that turns the page by tracking a person's eyes. The students combined a webcam and a desktop computer on Linux to develop their proof-of-design concept. The project was one of two teams to win the best poster award at the event. Credit: Curtis Chan / Penn StateCreative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The winners of the fall Engineering Design Showcase were announced Dec. 12 at the Bryce Jordan Center.

The event was the culmination of a semester-long effort by students to solve real-world problems posed by industry sponsors. Participants included first-year students through seniors across a number of engineering disciplines.

Two projects received the Lockheed Martin Design Award for best project: "Bicycle for Disabled Person with Brachial Plexopathy" for the Central Pennsylvania Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Support Group by Abdulla Al-Naemi, Alexandra Blanarik, Andrew Kesterholt and Jonathan Rhone, advised by Matt Parkinson, associate professor of engineering design; and "Pure Step" for MMEH LLCC by Bradley Calaman, Hanzhen Lin, William Nuss, Zachary Rutstein and Nicholas Wells, advised by Mike Erdman, the Walter L. Robb director of the engineering leadership development program.

Second place for best project went to two teams: "Boeing Vertical Take-Off and Landing" for Boeing by Lovedeep Bhela, Jeffrey Glusman, Kyle Maguire and Mingyang Zhou, advised by Wallace Catanach, instructor in engineering management; and "PHOD: Payload Hauler, Omni-Directional" for Nearth Co. by Alexander Koslov, John Stillmun and Andrew Timmons, advised by Matt Parkinson.

Third place was awarded to two projects: "Robotic Fishing Pole Holder" for the Central Pennsylvania SCI Support Group by Michael Mankosa, Bradley Sherman and Mark Strine, advised by Wallace Catanach; and "Shell EcoMarathon Cars -- Global Team 2" for Shell by Iselin Froybu, Colton Hinkle, Justin Latorre and David Tawadras, advised by Leland Engel, instructor in mechanical engineering.

Two teams came away with the best poster award: "The LiriK," an independent project by Jia Chen, Kathleen Mangan, Brigid Smith and Ryan Wright, advised by Lennart Bilen, instructor in computer science and engineering; and "Volvo Ocean Race Design Competition" for SCA by Craig Barnett, Joshua Cressman, Kevin Gottschall and Erik Rose, advised by Robert Campbell, research associate with the Applied Research Laboratory.

Second place for best poster went to "Pentadesma Butter" for the Penn State Engineering Leadership Development program by Micah Fuge, Daniel Gaddes, Emma Hocker, Ruhie Patil and Jason Scott, advised by Mike Erdman.

Third place went to "Tractor Simulator" for the Penn State agricultural engineering program and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health by Taylor Floyd, Cody Harris, Stephen Linde, John Schneider and Bryon Stuart, advised by Jeff Catchmark, associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering.

The BP People's Choice Award went to "Shell EcoMarathon Cars -- Global Teams 2" for Shell.

The Boeing Systems Engineering Award was given to "Remote Diagnostic Camera" for Xerox Corp. by Uman Afrvidson, Christopher Brown, Daragh Egan, Daniel Pacifico, Joshua Snyder and Andrew Tritinger, advised by Lennart Bilen.

Three firms were named best sponsor at this semester’s event: Solutionwerks, Quaker Chemical Corp. and Dentsply Professional.

Last Updated May 12, 2016