VCU School of Engineering Presents Senior Design Expo 2012

By Joan Izzo
VCU School of Engineering

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Engineering presents Senior Design Expo 2012, an annual event in which teams of engineering students share their innovative research and design prototypes with the greater Richmond community.

The event will take place on Friday, April 27, at 9:30 a.m., in the rotunda and adjacent rooms of the Science Museum of Virginia located at 2500 West Broad Street. An awards presentation will be held at 2 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

The Senior Design Expo aims to raise awareness of engineering, science and technology to middle and high school students living in the greater Richmond community. More than 200 students are expected to attend and discuss projects with VCU engineering student team members and learn more about studying engineering in a university or college setting.

This year the event is being held as part of VCU’s Student Research Week, a series of events that bring together undergraduate and graduate students from across disciplines to celebrate research and creative and scholarly projects.

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

For this year’s event, 215 students in 64 teams will participate in the Senior Design Expo from the departments of Biomedical Engineering, Chemical and Life Science Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering.

Projects focus on alternative energy solutions; bio-fuel development; advances in microelectronics, aeronautical, aerospace, and automotive engineering; and development of medical devices and drug-delivery systems that aim to improve human health.

Projects this year include organic solar cells designed for the consumer market; production of bio-butanol as a source of alternative energy; predictive tools to identify and predict fraud, waste and abuse in Medicare claims; remote-controlled unmanned aircraft; drag reduction using synthetic jet actuators; a functional synthetic small diameter vascular graft replacement for treating vascular disease; an electronic board game that teaches sustainability; and a nuclear reactor simulator based on the specifications of the North Anna Nuclear Power Plant in Virginia.

The Senior Design program is made possible due in large part to the generosity of individual patrons, local corporations and organizations, including Dominion Resources, Engineers Plus, Clark Nexsen, Keith Fabry Reprographic Solutions, James River Air Conditioning, the Science Museum of Virginia and the Virginia Aeronautical Historical Society.