Senior Design Projects take center stage at Walter Pyramid
The most important and prestigious jiu-jitsu tournament in the world, concerts with famous artists like T-Pain, and now the College of Engineering Senior Project Design Expo take center stage at CSULB’s famous Walter Pyramid.
“I was thrilled to have the Expo inside of the Pyramid this year - it is the only space on campus that can accommodate all of our departments at the same time,” said Dean Jinny Rhee. “It was fitting to showcase our culminating design projects and to celebrate our seniors in an icon of the campus.”
More than 70 projects were on display across all six departments during this all-day event. They represent the culmination of student’s learning, and give them a chance to design and develop real products, solving real problems.
Computer Scientists displayed new apps, like Pillventory, a machine-learning enhanced medicine tracker. Biomedical Engineers designed 3-D printed blood vessels. Civil Engineers displayed their plans for community centers.
“California is heading towards a greener environment, so for our design project we collected cooking oil and converted it to biodiesel,” said Tania Avilez ‘24, a graduate of the Chemical Engineering Department. “We had to combine things we learned throughout our time here. For instance, economics played a big role in our design.”
Each department took over the pyramid for a section of the day, allowing families, faculty and industry judges to examine the projects, ask questions and in some cases award prizes.
“Some of these projects have led to patents and start-up companies over the last few years,” said Jalal Torabzadeh, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department Chair. “11-years ago the [bachelor’s of science in mechanical engineering] senior design class was almost half the size of this class. That means providing high-quality education, learning and design experiences for over 220 BSME seniors this year.”
Sponsorship for the event grew to seven Corporate Affiliates, whose donations help fund the event, but also the projects themselves. Engineers from Raytheon mentored two project teams designing drones for the RTX Student Drone Showcase.
With the Senior Design Project Expo growing every year, it is likely to join the ranks of classic annual events held at the Walter Pyramid.
