Christina Gibbs, Brooke Deans, Matt Harlow, Brendan Souvenir and Mazen Aljawi spent their entire senior year preparing for the Engineering Design EXPO.
For their project, the group developed a prototype called NeuroTouch which works to help surgeons in the operating room measure the mechanical properties of tissues.
“Right now in the O.R. it’s all a judgment call,” Gibbs said.
The team wanted to help with this. They made a device that gives feedback to surgeons to assist in determining the severity of different health ailments, she said.
Gibbs and her team are just one of about 67 engineering projects that will be presented at the 24th Annual Engineering Design EXPO.
Sponsored by the Micron Foundation and Engineering Outreach at University of Idaho, the EXPO will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 28, in the Bruce Pitman Center.
As a senior capstone requirement, all engineering students participate in the EXPO, Marketing and Communications Manager Rob Patton said.
“The primary purpose of EXPO is that it’s the culmination of our senior capstone design program,” Patton said. “All of our seniors, senior engineering students, go through the capstone program, and part of, if not most of their year as seniors they’re working on a design project that tries to solve a problem that is provided to them by a sponsor.”
The sponsors, whether they be industries or academic within the university, contact students with a problem they want to solve.
Gibbs’ group project was sponsored by faculty members within the engineering department, Bryn Martin and Michael Maughan.
“They came to us with an idea for this project and we all wanted to join in on it,” Gibbs said.
The EXPO is put in place as an unveiling of the seniors’ capstone projects. This year, there are around 275 seniors participating, Patton said.
“(Seniors) pull out all the bells and whistles for their projects,” Patton said. “They actually demonstrate their projects in EXPO hall.”
There are two primary components of EXPO, the booth presentations and technical presentations, Patton said.
Students will have their booths where anyone is able to approach them to ask questions about their project, Patton said. From K-16 students and Moscow community members to faculty and judges, students presenting have the opportunity to talk about their work to a variety of audiences.
As an internal process the engineering program provides their students, all of the projects will be judged using a rubric.
“It provides good feedback for the students, but it also gives them the opportunity to win a college award as well,” Patton said.
Along with the booth presentations, some students will also give technical presentations, or 15-minute pitches on their work, Patton said.
“They break down their problem,” Patton said. “They break down their process of how they came to their solution … any challenges, that sort of thing. But they’ve got to do it quickly in 15 minutes,” Patton said.
The technical presentations, which are open to the public, will be in different rooms around the Pitman Center and will be judged, Patton said.
“It’s for our students, that’s really what it is,” Patton said. “It’s kind of sending them off into the world and congratulating them for the work well done and giving them an opportunity to show that to the world or to the community.”
The EXPO not only acts as an opportunity for seniors, it’s a community engagement tool for prospective students, Patton said. It also lets individuals know what’s happening in the College of Engineering.
The EXPO has coupled with the extended experience program which does just that.
Patton said K-16 schools have the opportunity to register for a stipend to get themselves to the EXPO and take part in all events happening that day.
“It’s a really great opportunity to get them on campus, to have them see what engineering students actually do and then also expose them to other things around campus,” Patton said.
The extended experience program also allows younger students to participate in activities around different labs across campus, including engineering labs, he said.
This year, Patton said there are about 20 schools participating in the EXPO, with around 500 students visiting.
Along with this, Patton said the day will provide participants a chance to watch a film in the Borah Theater titled “Dream Big: Engineering Our World” explaining engineering marvels around the world.
Near the end of the day, EXPO participants can attend a keynote address presented by Brent Stacey, Strategic Advisor of Idaho National Laboratory National and Homeland Security. The keynote will focus on internet safety issues and how to prepare for securing cyberspace.
“We encourage everybody to come,” Patton said. “It’s usually a super fun day and there’s all kinds of activities going on, especially with all of the students going through.”
Savannah Cardon can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @savannahlcardon