This year more than 300 engineering seniors presented about 60 faculty-, industry- and club-sponsored projects, a number of which were nearly ready to make their debut in real life.

The robotic fish team poses with its award-winning robot fish at the 2013 UA Engineering Design Day.

"Our sponsors are really figuring out what makes the best types of projects," said Ara Arabyan, UA professor of mechanical engineering and coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Engineering Design Program, which organizes Design Day.

First-place winner of Best Overall Design, the robotic fish, proved to be a favorite not only among the industry judges but also among big and little kids alike who attended the 11th annual College of Engineering Design Day on April 30, 2013 at the Tucson Marriott University Park. Visitors to aquariums around the world may soon be using joysticks to guide the robotic fish in underwater environments as they learn about aquatic habitats through the eyes of a fish via high-definition streaming video.

"This year's quality of projects was outstanding," said Robert Laity, who does marketing for the robotic fish's sponsoring company, MediaMation Inc., and who was one of the team's mentors. "This team was incredible. They worked together really well and produced an excellent product."

Second place in Best Overall Design went to the portable thermal optical test chamber for aerospace technologies, sponsored by MIT's Lincoln Laboratories.

Like the robotic fish and thermal optical test chamber, many of the yearlong, client-driven Design Day projects are only steps away from the consumer market or from use in industry.

The inexpensive, environmentally sustainable hydroponic barley fodder system, which won the Innovation in Engineering Award and was sponsored by Bosque Engineering LLC, is on its way to helping feed a herd of about 30 alpacas. A disposable, low-power blood glucose meter, which won a number of awards, including Most Innovative Systems Integration, could one day give people with diabetes another way to track their blood glucose levels via mobile devices. As well, a portable incubator for antimicrobial susceptibility testing in resource-limited areas, which won Best Design Documentation, may well have moved the lab-on-a-chip concept closer to reality. The process will help physicians rapidly and cost-effectively identify the best antibiotics for treating various bacterial infections.

Whether or not the students received prizes, College of Engineering Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Jim Baygents said, "You are all winners, and we are all very proud of you."

All of the awards, for which a complete list appears below, included cash prizes totaling $11,400.

Among the project sponsors were Airtronics Inc., BAE Systems B/E Aerospace, Boeing, Bosque Engineering, Caterpillar, Continental Automotive Systems, General Electric, Honeywell, NASA, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Texas Instruments, Tucson Embedded Systems, Ventana Medical Systems, and W.L. Gore and Associates.

Engineering Design Day 2013 Prize Winners

Best Overall Design, First Prize • $1000
The robotic fish
Design team: Charles Leichner, Clayton Stewart, Yi-Chieh Chen, Hannah Grant, Mohamed Khairy, Robbie Laity
Project sponsor: MediaMation Inc.
Prize sponsor: BAE Systems 

Best Overall Design, Second Prize • $750
Thermal optical test chamber
Design team: Ivan McCrea, John Davis, Hafez Gharbiah, Leah Childers, Lajos Pelikan, Chris Miller
Project sponsor: Lincoln Laboratories, MIT
Prize sponsor: BAE Systems 

Best Analog Design • $1000
Fully automated beer cooling and dispensing system
Design team: Ryan Kovalchick, Nicole Rojas, Tim May, Danny Armenta, Michael Sato, Kyle Burke
Project sponsor: Texas Instruments
Prize sponsor: Texas Instruments 

Innovation in Engineering • $1000
Hydroponic barley fodder system
Design team: Paola Espinoza, Katie McCracken, Greg York
Project sponsor: Bosque Engineering LLC
Prize sponsor: Ventana Medical Systems Inc. 

Blunder Education Prize • $750
The robotic fish
Design team: Charles Leichner, Clayton Stewart, Yi-Chieh Chen, Hannah Grant, Mohamed Khairy, Robbie Laity
Project sponsor: MediaMation Inc.
Prize sponsor: Edmund Optics

Best Use of Prototyping • $750
High-flow breather valves
Design team: Paul Foss, Scott Harlow, Josh Jakary, Marc Spencer, Gerard Torres
Project sponsor: AGM Container Controls
Prize sponsor: PADT 

Best Engineering Analysis • $750
Data-acquisition system vibration and weather protection
Design team: David Ashton, Axel Monroe, John Nguyen, Beau Peterson, Oscar Rico, Shanna Tune
Project sponsor: Caterpillar Inc.
Prize sponsor: Raytheon Missile Systems

Best Presentation • $750
Jupiter: joined-wing UAV providing intelligence, targets, and emergent reconnaissance
Design team: Calvin Cheung, Brendan Clasby, Juan Duarte, Sean Gellenbeck, Andrew Law, Peter Smith, Hari Subedi
Project sponsor: Hermann Fasel/ UA Aerial Robotics Club
Prize sponsor: Rincon Research Corp. 

Best Design Documentation • $750
Portable incubator for antimicrobial susceptibility testing in resource-limited areas
Design team: Jeremy Amorin, Yezhou Chen, Vineet Dixit, Darl Heidenreich, Erica Isaacs, Ingrid Noche
Project sponsor: University of Arizona
Prize sponsor: Technical Documentation Consultants of Arizona 

Voltaire Design Award • $750
Hybrid rocket engine test stand
Design team: Brian Franz, Doug Mason, Daniel Murphey, Spencer Sasarita, Robbie Schultz
Project sponsor: UA AIAA
Prize sponsor: Sargent Aerospace & Defense 

Best Creative Solution • $750
Rapid temperature-gradient-based wire-guided PCR
Design team: Avi Kaze, Wenyue Li, Lin Ma
Project sponsor: UA Biosensors Lab, Jeong-Yeol Yoon's Research Group
Prize sponsor: W.L. Gore & Associates 

Best Physical Implementation of an Analytically Driven Design • $500
High-force damper test
Design team: Paul Fielding, Yasmine Straka, Ben Madrid, Hyun Jun Ji, Spencer Figge, Mario Valdez
Project sponsor: Airtronics Inc.
Prize sponsor: Latitude Engineering

Most Innovative Systems Integration • $500
Disposable low-power blood glucose meter
Design team: Ashley Anhalt, Melvin Barney, Melissa Lim, Pooja Rajguru, Brian Suarez, Daniel Sweeney
Project sponsor: Texas Instruments
Prize sponsor: Los Hermanos/Northrop Grumman Trust

Best Team Leadership 1 • $250
Disposable low-power blood glucose meter
Design team: Ashley Anhalt (winner), Melvin Barney, Melissa Lim, Pooja Rajguru, Brian Suarez, Daniel Sweeney
Project sponsor: Texas Instruments
Prize sponsor: Honeywell

Best Team Leadership 2 • $250
Hybrid rocket engine test stand
Design team: Brian Franz (winner), Doug Mason, Daniel Murphey, Spencer Sasarita, Robbie Schultz
Project sponsor: UA AIAA
Prize sponsor: Honeywell 

Excellence in Aerospace Electronic System Design • $250
Thermal energy extraction methods for UAV gliders
Design team: Rohit Umashankar, Samuel Blake, Jacob Estabrook, Meghan Folley, Kenneth Noble, Celina Thaxton
Project sponsor: UA Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department
Prize sponsor: Honeywell Aerospace 

Best Printed Circuit Design • $250
Competitive autonomous underwater vehicle
Design team: Alexander Abel, Evan Briones, Kevin Forbes, Kevin Geisler, Cliff Mai, Sean Topping
Project sponsor: AUVUA
Prize sponsor: Prototron Circuits

Fish Out of Water, First Prize • $250
Disposable low-power blood glucose meter
Design team: Daniel Sweeney (winner), Ashley Anhalt, Melvin Barney, Melissa Lim, Pooja Rajguru, Brian Suarez
Project sponsor: Texas Instruments
Prize sponsor: Kristy Pearson 

Fish Out of Water, Second Prize • $150
Disposable low-power blood glucose meter
Design team: Pooja Rajguru (winner), Ashley Anhalt, Melvin Barney, Melissa Lim, Brian Suarez, Daniel Sweeney
Project sponsor: Texas Instruments
Prize sponsor: Kristy Pearson