Nearly 500 seniors in the University of Arizona College of Engineering presented their design projects -- the culmination of nine months' labor and their equivalent of a thesis -- in the annual contest of Wildcat ingenuity known as UA Engineering Design Day, in the Student Union Memorial Center and on the UA Mall on May 3.

The interdisciplinary student teams demonstrated projects they designed, built and tested for their sponsors -- along with their teamwork, problem-solving and presentation skills. Several of the seniors got job offers and cash prizes.

Biomedical Engineers Win Big

Nearly 130 working or retired engineers and tech specialists participated as judges in the 14th annual UA Design Day, selecting winners in several categories for prizes totaling nearly $20,000. More than $7,000 of the money went for projects with biomedical themes.

The top prize, for best overall design, went to a team that developed a noninvasive slide-staining technique for Ventana Medical Systems using an infrared laser, semiconductor sensor and graphical interface.

"Our project will help Ventana increase the reliability and consistency of histology-based disease diagnostics," said Danton Whittier, systems engineering major and team leader. "If our prototype were implemented into their existing staining platforms, the overall tissue stain quality could be improved and lead to better disease diagnostics and, hopefully, better treatment plans."

"The neatest thing about the project was watching all of our independent sub-systems come together to form a successful device," he added. "It was a big morale boost when each team member was able to see the impact of their contributions to the overall system."

All but one team member will start engineering jobs or join bioengineering graduate programs. Whittier will work as a systems engineer at State Farm, Collin Gilchrist will pursue a UA master's degree, Jamie Hernandez will pursue a PhD at the University of Washington, Shawn Iles will work as an optical engineer for Edmund Optics and Tyler Toth will pursue his PhD at MIT. Pete Moya has one more semester toward his bachelor's degree.

Design Day 2016 Slide Show

Another team of six seniors won two awards, for best innovation and best presentation, for their nasogastric tube placement verification system.

They attached sensors to the end of the tubing that can detect stomach acids to determine if the tube has gone where it's supposed to go.

With some patients, such as those in a coma, it can be more difficult to place tubing through the nose for feeding or removing stomach contents without accidentally entering the respiratory tract, said biomedical engineering senior Chris Gallo, bound for Duke University School of Medicine. The results can be physical harm and even death.

"Our sensors confirm that the nasogastric tube is where it should be," Gallo said. The prototype is a long way from being used in clinical trials, he said, but team sponsor Xeridiem has already filed three provisional patents for the tube system. If the medical product manufacturer and first-time Design Day sponsor files true patents, Gallo and his teammates could be listed as co-inventors.

"One of the many highlights of our program for project sponsors is that we give them the intellectual property on their projects," said Ara Arabyan, a UA associate professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering who has directed the program since 2009. This year, Xeridiem is one of three Design Day sponsors pursuing patents for senior design projects.

UA's Engineering Design Program also stands out from others in the country in its comprehensiveness, level of organization, interactive website and new mobile app, Arabyan said. "We have several new sponsors, and they are coming in based on what they have heard from our sponsors."

One company that has sponsored Design Day awards for several years is Edmund Optics.

Mary Turner, who earned her BS in engineering physics and PhD in optical sciences from the UA in 1986 and 1993 and recently joined Edmund Optics, presented the company's 2016 Perseverance and Recovery Award to a team for its high-throughput curing oven.

"When I was in college, senior design projects were meant to help students get their feet wet," she said. "Now, students are working on real projects, with potential applications. It's become more and more real-world."

Low and High Tech

Other big winners on Design Day, thanks to project and award sponsors, included a system to harvest energy from the magnetic fields of power lines, a long-distance remote sensor for measuring deep water quality, a device to stop toilets from leaking and prevent floods and an entry-level crossbow made 80 percent from preexisting parts.

Projects ranged from nano-sized sensors, to a 3-D printer, to a sea rescue robot launcher, to a refrigerated truck converted to a self-sustaining food-growing pod. And for the thousands of spectators throughout Design Day from the UA campus, local community and beyond, app screens and robots were everywhere in sight.

Design Day 2016 Awards and Winners

Raytheon Missile Systems Best Overall Design • $2,000
On-Slide Reagent Concentration Feedback and Control
Design Team: Collin Andrew Gilchrist, Jamie Lynn Hernandez, Shawn Michael Iles, Pete Joseph Moya, Tyler Daniel Toth, Danton Xixo Whittier
Project Sponsor: Ventana Medical Systems Inc.

Bly Family Innovation in Energy Production, Supply or Use, First Prize • $1,500
Energy-Harvesting Power Supply
Design Team: Tareq A.A.M. Alsalem, Juan Carlos Castillo, Jared Christian Guglielmo, Michelle Victoria Gutierrez, Justin Javelosa
Project Sponsor: Tucson Electric Power

Bly Family Innovation in Energy Production, Supply or Use, Second Prize • $500
Ethanol Plant Repurposing
Design Team: Michael Gabriel Bauman, William M. Blair, Joseph Daniel Gaul
Project Sponsor: UA Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering

Rincon Research Best Presentation • $1,000
Nasogastric Tube Placement Verification System
Design Team: Christopher Gallo, Summer Garland, Nathaniel Husband, Gary Tyree, Hang Van, Andrew Reid Werchan
Project Sponsor: Xeridiem

Texas Instruments Analog Design Contest • $1,000
Deep Water Sensor System
Design Team: Matthew Ray Barragan, Austin Anthony Nawrocki, Nikitha Ramohalli, Alexander Yudkovitz, Yi Zhang
Project Sponsor: Texas Instruments

Ventana Innovation in Engineering • $1,000
Nasogastric Tube Placement Verification System
Design Team: Christopher Gallo, Summer Garland, Nathaniel Husband, Gary Tyree, Hang Van, Andrew Reid Werchan
Project Sponsor: Xeridiem

ACSS/L-3 Communications Most Robust Systems Engineering • $750
Microfluidic-Based Human Lung Model
Design Team: Elisa Camille Calabrese, Kristin Nicole Calahan, Christopher David Larkin, Emily Masterson, Mary Irene McIntosh, Kristina Rivera
Project Sponsor: UA Department of Biomedical Engineering

Edmund Optics Perseverance and Recovery • $750
High-Throughput Curing Oven
Design Team: Allison Nicole Bronstein, Jesus Damian Chavolla, Yanjun Liu, Corina MacIsaac, Yaroslav Valerievich Pilipenko, April Proft
Project Sponsor: Ventana Medical Systems

W.L. Gore and Associates Most Creative Design • $750
Sonar Module Integration for EMILY Rescue Robot
Design Team: Jeremy Burris, Jordan McKinley Driggs, Uriel Garcia, Matthew Sybrant, Jessica Nell Vickers Toll
Project Sponsor: Hydronalix

Phoenix Analysis & Design Technologies Best Use of Prototyping • $750
Robotic Knee Extension Simulator
Design Team: Czarina Lizette Aguilar, Eze Ahanonu, Ian Seamus Hoffman, David Mendoza, Brian J. Nicodemus, Daniel Palomares, Zachary Jordan Remer
Project Sponsor: UA Department of Biomedical Engineering

Arizona Technology Council Foundation Best Engineering Analysis • $750
X-56A Aeroelastically Scaled Modular Aircraft for Research
Design Team: John Alexander Casey, Dustin Taylor Leighty, John Meersman, Nicholas Robert Merendo, Salvatore Antonio Vitale
Project Sponsor: UA Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

Arizona Technology Council Foundation Innovation in Manufacturing • $750
Process Improvement to Minimize Fractures in Water-Soluble Mandrels
Design Team: Matthew Nathaniel Bahr, Phillip Befus, Matthew Allen Fry, Juan Jose Sandoval
Project Sponsor: Advanced Ceramics Manufacturing

RBC Sargent Aerospace & Defense Voltaire Design • $750
Toilet Leak and Flood Prevention
Design Team: Matthew Britton, Ian Krispin Carmichael, Eliza R. Dawson, Diego Morales, Derek James Strickland
Project Sponsor: QuakeWrap Inc.

Technical Documentation Consultants of Arizona Best Design Documentation • $750
Slide Handling and Retention Apparatus
Design Team: Andrew D'Arcangelis, David Charles Duperre, Erin Camille Evangelist, Mykella Samantha Jones, David Wayne Malboeuf, Matthew Thomas Nadolny
Project Sponsor: Ventana Medical Systems Inc.

TRAX International Best Implementation of Agile Methodology • $750
Entry-Level Crossbow Design
Design Team: Joseph Dominic Lucero, Austin Jacob Masterson, Matthew David Modean, Ahmed Ismail Mustafawi, Kyle Vinh Nguyen
Project Sponsor: Precision Shooting Equipment

Dataforth Corporation Best Design Using a Data Acquisition and Control System • $500
Performance Tools for Evaluating Microelectromechanical System Sensors
Design Team: Gregory Wilhelm Burleson, Ariel Munoz, Trevor Andrew Woodhouse, Joshua Uhlorn
Project Sponsor: Universal Avionics

II-VI Optical Systems Best Use of Optical Design and Technology • $500
Liqua-Telecentric Autofocusing System
Design Team: Yawei Ding, Olivia Fehlberg, Dana Kralicek, Timothy Ni, Edward Antonio Vergara
Project Sponsor: Edmund Optics

Latitude Engineering Best Physical Implementation of Analytically Driven Design • $500
Inkjet-Printed Antennas for Wireless Communication
Design Team: Santiago Burrola, Charles William Hoskins, Yiming Shi, Joel Turnblade, Alisa Zukova
Project Sponsor: UA Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Prototron Circuits Best Printed Circuit Design • $500
Wearable Wireless Body Area Network
Design Team: Nicolas Fajardo, Kevin Garrick, Xaviere Giroud, Brian Kehn, Andrew Thomas Maggio, Cecilia Maria Read
Project Sponsor: UA Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Honeywell Excellence in Aerospace Electronic System Design • $400
Thermomechanical Fatigue Testing System
Design Team: Oscar Hernandez, Spencer Yushian Lee, Andy Luc, Bernt Rennie Powell, Kevin Bryan Scheeler, William David Sim
Project Sponsor: Honeywell Aerospace

Honeywell Team Leadership 1 • $250
Commercial-off-the-Shelf Infrastructure for a 1U CubeSat
Design Team: Kaitlyn Elizabeth Williams (winner), Benjamin Macleod Bossler, Reed Matthew Hubbell, Alfie C. Tsang, Dean Michael Whitman, Steven Edward Wirth
Project Sponsor: Raytheon Missile Systems

Honeywell Team Leadership 2 • $250
Water Processing and Cleaning for Reuse
Design Team: Justine Nichole Bacchus (winner), Brennen Guy, Cory Luke, Edward Francis Mackay, Nicholas Bradley Siegel
Project Sponsor: Shamrock Foods

Thorlabs Photonics Is the Future • $250 Each Up to $1,750
Metal Surface Quality Characterization
Design Team: Cole Lumsden, Steven Joe Murrell, Mohammad Rabata, Maryam Amanda Tanbal, Jacob Robert Tevik, Jinghao Zhou
Project Sponsor: Procter & Gamble

Kristy Pearson Fish Out of Water Award, First Prize • $250
Water Processing and Cleaning For Reuse
Design Team: Brennen Guy (winner), Justine Nichole Bacchus, Cory Luke, Edward Francis Mackay, Nicholas Bradley Siegel
Project Sponsor: Shamrock Foods

Kristy Pearson Fish Out of Water Award, Second Prize • $150
Commercial-off-the-Shelf Infrastructure for a 1U CubeSat
Design Team: Steven Wirth (winner), Benjamin Macleod Bossler, Reed Matthew Hubbell, Alfie C. Tsang, Dean Michael Whitman, Kaitlyn Elizabeth Williams
Project Sponsor: Raytheon Missile Systems

Thank You, 2016 Engineering Design Day Sponsors!

The University of Arizona College of Engineering appreciates the generosity of all those who have supported this year's Engineering Design Day and senior design projects. Your time, experience and funding are critical to the program's success.

Industry
Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems • Advanced Ceramics Manufacturing • Arizona Technology Council Foundation • B/E Aerospace • The Bly Family • Boeing • CardioSpark • Caterpillar • Continental Automotive Systems • Control Vision • Dataforth Corp. • Defiiant Technologies • Edmund Optics • Freeport-McMoRan • Grecycle • Honeywell • Hydronalix • II-VI Optical Systems • Kristy Pearson • Latitude Engineering • Lightsense Technology • Lincus Energy • NeuroMetrix • New Nose Co. • Northrop Grumman • PACE Technologies • Paragon Space Development Corp. • Phoenix Analysis & Design Technologies • Pima College UAV Club • Precision Shooting Equipment • Process Engineering Associates • Procter & Gamble • Prototron Circuits • QuakeWrap Inc. • Raytheon • RBC Sargent Aerospace & Defense • Rincon Research • Securaplane Technologies • Shamrock Foods • Sigma Technologies International • Southwest Gas • Technical Documentation Consultants of Arizona • Texas Instruments • Thorlabs • TRAX International • Tucson Electric Power • Universal Avionics • Ventana Medical Systems Inc. • The Western Design Center • W.L Gore and Associates • Xeridiem • Zelen Environmental

University of Arizona
College of Engineering • College of Medicine • College of Optical Sciences

UA Student Chapters
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) • Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) • American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)