Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Projects 2023
Engineering Projects Expo is here! We invite you to spend some time getting to know this year's Mechanical Engineering Senior Design projects and teams.
Engineering Projects Expo celebrates the hard work and many achievements of more than 200 students as they close out their undergraduate careers. Since August 2022, these students have been working through the design process from start to finish and have engineered solutions to real-world problems.
Students completing industry-sponsored projects were presented with challenges of relevance to their clients from a variety of specialties. Those in the Engineering for Social Innovation section of Senior Design developed entrepreneurial products based on user needs.
Teams were mentored and supported by a dedicated group of faculty directors and student program assistants, as well as fabrication, administrative, and laboratory staff over the course of the academic year. Most projects required students to develop skills across disciplines with some multi-disciplinary teams bringing together student expertise in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science.
Please explore projects below to learn more about this year's teams, their designs and the positive impact these engineers are making. Thank you for your support of our program and students. If you would like to learn more about the program or sponsoring a project, please visit Design Center Colorado.
TB: 2023 SD winners
Featured Articles
A group of graduating mechanical engineering students at the University of Colorado Boulder designed a consumer hydroponics system called Hydroponics Excellence, or H.Ex, which features a wall-mount design and connects to a phone app that keeps track of the heath of a user’s garden.
A group of mechanical engineering seniors at the University of Colorado Boulder have designed an adapter that will allow surgical robot Hugo to use two preexisting surgical devices, the Sonicision and Ligasure XP, for laparoscopic surgery.
A group of mechanical engineering seniors at the University of Colorado Boulder have designed a water-purification system called Puresip, which is housed inside a bottlecap and shines ultraviolet radiation through a straw to purify the water as the user drinks.
A group of mechanical engineering seniors at the University of Colorado Boulder have designed an adjustable lower limb prosthetic called OneLimb Assembly, which will help reduce the number of new fittings and assemblies.
A group of mechanical engineering seniors at the University of Colorado Boulder have helped bridge the gap between athletic performance and engineering by designing a sleep cabin prototype, where athletes can relax and recover in optimal conditions between games.
Mechanical Engineering students had a big turnout at the New Venture Challenge (NVC), which is CU Boulder’s top, cross-campus entrepreneurial program and competition, giving innovators the chance to build a startup with ongoing support and mentorship.
Mechanical Engineering Graduate Design
We developed a high-efficiency linear generator powered by hydrogen, which has less friction than rotating engines by turning linear motion directly into electricity. They are applicable as a range extender for hybrid vehicles.
Sponsorsed by Woodward
Sandia National Laboratories is investigating the feasibility of additive and alternative manufacturing methods for low volume production protective housings for Printed Wiring Assembly (PWA)’s that provide the same level of expected protection as current protective housing methods, but more cost competitive by making the housing one single piece. Use cases typically are insensitive aerospace environments.
Sponsorsed by Sandia National Laboratories
The objective of this project was to create a handheld endoluminal intervention device. This involves taking the previous graduate team’s design, a large and heavy tabletop device, and reducing the size and weight such that it could be comfortably held by a physician for an extended period of time. In addition, we needed to create a universal adapter for existing catheters which would allow a variety of catheter types and sizes to be controlled by the same electromechanical handle.
Sponsorsed by Medtronic
The “Nanonics” series of connectors have high pin counts and are very delicate and utilized on complicated, densely-populated PWBAs (“Printed Wire Board Assembly”, a.k.a. “PCBA” or “printed circuit board assembly”). We aim to remove a Nanonics-style connector with high pin count from a PCB with between 12-16 layers. Upon successful connector removal, the PCB can be reused with a new connector replacement. The rework must be done in a manner that meets aerospace-grade inspection that passes IPC Standards (Class III Specifications).
Sponsored by Sandia National Laboratories
With no convection, orbital spacecraft temperatures can reach extreme highs and lows. The stability ofcraft temperature is critical forcontinued hardware functionality. Creation of a thermal model allowed for the examination of temperature stability from the environment and surface coating choice. Lab tests confirmed the efficacy of using a mylar-based insulation, along with including a thermal control system, to achieve temperature stability.
Sponsored by UCAR