VCU School of Engineering Presents Senior Design Expo 2010

By Naomi Crown
School of Engineering

The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Engineering presents Senior Design Expo 2010, an annual event where teams of engineering students share their research and design prototypes with the community.

The event will be on Friday, April 30, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the rotunda and adjacent rooms at the Science Museum of Virginia, 2500 W. Broad St. The event is free and open to the public.

The Senior Design Program has been part of the School of Engineering curriculum since 1999 and is a requirement for graduation. The capstone program teaches leadership skills in a collaborative environment and provides students the opportunity to develop projects that may lead to products for the benefit of society. 

On average, 35 student teams participate in the Senior Design program and the expo has become a signature event for the School of Engineering.

Projects featured in the 2010 Expo are as diverse as they are innovative and include a low-cost sustainable model home, a control room nuclear reactor simulator, a human tracking robot and a next-generation roller coaster vehicle. Projects can be found at www.seniordesign.egr.vcu.edu.

The Senior Design Expo also helps to raise awareness of engineering, science and technology to middle and high school students in the area. More than150 middle and high school students are expected to attend the expo to discuss projects with student team members and learn more about studying engineering.

The Senior Design Expo is sponsored in part by the Science Museum of Virginia, Engineers Plus, Dominion Resources, James River Air Conditioning, Hoover & Strong, Clark Nexsen, M&E Contractors, Tridium and Teleflex.