Twenty-four projects designed by teams of UVM senior engineering students were on display on Monday, May 3, 2010 in the Dudley Davis Center from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. The evening of demonstrations was free and open to the public. Each team had worked with an outside company, non-profit, entrepreneur or community; or with the UVM College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences School of Engineering and other UVM faculty research projects to undertake system and product-design projects that address a variety of engineering issues. Devices include:

• an ozone-based hand sanitizer
• an elliptical trainer exercise machine that produces AC electric power
• a tactile touch screen for graphical communication for the blind
• a modular ultra-light moped
• a system for real-time monitoring of fuel and exhaust for an experimental diesel engine
• a Dust Curtain designed to remove dust from Mars rover solar panels
• a Torso-lift Chair for lumbar disc decompression
• a multi-seat training machine for crew teams

Twenty-two of the projects represent the work of UVM seniors in Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering who take a year-long capstone project course known as SEED or “Senior Experience in Engineering Design”. In addition, two teams from the Civil and Environmental Engineering senior project course will present their project outcomes.

“These ‘real-world’ projects require integration of student knowledge of undergraduate engineering topics from several disciplines as well as original creative thinking,” says Michael Rosen, Coordinator of the SEED Projects. “All parties gain: the students learn new skills and gain confidence from creating the prototype devices, while the external partners receive prototype solutions to their problems – as well as an extended opportunity to observe senior engineers who will soon be looking for jobs.”

Each team has one or more mentors from the faculty of CEMS and other UVM Colleges, and most work directly with engineers and professionals from off-campus partners, this year including Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Jasper Hill Cheese Cave , National Federation of the Blind, Auburn Systems, Ideas Well Done, Logic Supply, Trow and Holden, The Intervale, MITRE, and IBM.

Opportunities for 2010-2011

Interested companies of all sizes, consumer advocacy groups, industry organizations, non-profits, entrepreneurs and faculty research groups are encouraged to develop SEED projects for Academic year 2010-1011 by contacting:

Mike Rosen, Principal SEED Instructor Research Associate Professor mrosen@cems.uvm.edu