The Wichita State College of Engineering on Friday, May 4, will host the 63rd Annual Open House, its yearly public celebration of the accomplishments of students and faculty.
The open house will be held in the Experiential Engineering Building (EEB) from 9 a.m.-6 p.m., where more than 430 engineering students comprising 100 project teams will exhibit the results of their senior design research projects.
The event also features tours of more than a dozen engineering research laboratories operated by College of Engineering faculty and the National Institute for Aviation Research. The GoCreate makerspace will also be open. Guided tours depart from the EEB lobby at 2:15 p.m. and 3:15 p.m.
“We take pride in our exceptional students and their award-deserving innovative solutions to real world problems,” said Royce Bowden, engineering dean. “I encourage visitors to talk to the students and learn the personal stories behind the technical solutions being displayed.”
Here is a sample of projects that will be on display:
Reforestation Flying Machine (Aerospace Engineering) – An aircraft design with a high wing that provides a stable platform for dropping seedlings, maximizing seedling-carrying capacity and allowing for even spacing, and a powerful motor allows operation in adverse weather conditions.
Pickup Bed Modifications (Aerospace Engineering) – An application of fluid dynamics to modify after-market pickup bed modifications in order to reduce the drag created by the cab and increase fuel efficiency.
Oral Hygiene for Special Needs Children (Biomedical Engineering) – A toothbrush at utilizes sensors, an accelerometer and Bluetooth to turn tooth-brushing into an interactive game that engages children on the autism spectrum in longer, more efficient tooth brushing. Children with autism can be resistant to tooth-brushing, leading to dental hygiene problems.
Poschar (Biomedical Engineering) – A design for a wheelchair seat that reduces the occurrence of pressure ulcers by using sensors and pistons to continually and automatically shift the chair user’s weight to shift peak pressure areas and maintain proper blood flow.
Automatic Guitar Tuner (Electrical and Computer Engineering) – A design for a device that will assist a beginner or intermediate guitar player to tuning a guitar within 1 Hz of its desired frequency, making it far more accurate than a practiced human ear.
Concussion Detection (Electrical and Computing Engineering) – A device that can be mounted on the back of a football helmet and measure impacts that could cause concussions, reducing the number of concussions that go undetected and treated.
Wichita Biomass Project (Engineering Technology) – A design for a biomass gasifier for the zoo, which could turn animal waste into energy
Low Cost Visual Factory (Industrial Systems and Manufacturing) – A visual dashboard for Spirit AeroSystems to display current status of work performance compared to schedule, percent complete units and non-conformance information.
Developing Biodegradable Plastic Nanocomposites for Packaging and Shopping Bags (Mechanical Engineering) – A design for developing biodegradable plastics for use as shopping bags, increasing recycling of plastics and reducing landfill waste.
Potable Solar Water Purifier (Mechanical Engineering) – A design to supply a family of four in Sub-Saharan Africa with a purified daily water supply of 2.5 gallons, using a solar-trough to utilize solar energy to heat/boil water in order to remove unwanted contaminates
Select project teams and individual students will be recognized with honors and prize money at the Open House Awards Banquet, held on May 5. Awards will be presented by the college and its departments, engineering professional societies, student organizations, and corporate event sponsors, including Westar, Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems, Bombardier, Millennium Concepts, MKEC Engineering Consultants, Koch Industries, Professional Engineering Consultants (PEC), Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), and Ametek Advanced Industries Inc.