UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Thirteen engineering teams won awards at the 2013 Student Design Project Showcase on April 25 at the Bryce Jordan Center.

The showcase is the culmination of a semester-long effort that challenges students with solving industry-sponsored projects that expose them to the technical demands, pitfalls and professional expectations they would experience as working professional engineers.

The event featured 163 projects from first-year students through seniors, including 115 senior capstone projects involving 560 seniors.

Projects were judged by a panel of industry experts and awarded at the industry partners’ dinner and award ceremony following the showcase.

Three teams won first place for best project in the Lockheed Martin Design Awards:

•  “Project Assignment Algorithm” sponsored by the Penn State industrial engineering department. The team included Jack Cunningham, Robert Custer, Paul Mcnamee and Douglas Mercer, and was advised by Michael Immel, director of corporate relations and facilities for industrial engineering;
•  “Maximum Allowable Gasket Seating Surface Degradation Before Seal Failure” sponsored by Westinghouse. The team included John Eggolt, Benjamin Lambert, Eric Pelkey, Daniel Sanchez and Nicholas Yurko, and was advised by Tiffany Camp, mechanical engineering research associate with the Applied Research Laboratory (ARL); and
•  “Robotic Parallel Bars Walking Device” sponsored by Penn State robotics. The team included Yousef Alnemer, Sarah Bass, Gregory Krall and Ian Simpson, and was advised by Mary Frecker, professor of mechanical engineering and Learning Factory director.

Three teams were awarded second place:

•  “LED High Bay Light Fixture” sponsored by Lumax Lighting. The team included Alexandra Hesse, Nickolas Johnston, Shane Lewis, Jordan Oswald and Nithin Thomas, and was advised by Damian Rose, an ARL engineer;
•  “Robotic Test Arm” sponsored by the Central Pennsylvania Spinal Cord Injury Support Group. The team included Christopher O’Sullivan, Kristen Salava, Kathryn Schmiech, Alison Schwartz and Jessica Steffan, and was advised by Maggie Slattery, assistant professor of bioengineering; and
•  “Arm Swelling Detection/Monitoring” sponsored by B. Braun Medical. The team included Anas Almathami, Johnson Huynh, Jonathan Marshall, Sai Sunkara and Zhentian Wei, and was advised by Leland Engel, instructor in mechanical engineering.

Three teams were awarded third place:

•  “Implementation of Centralized Scheduling” sponsored by Jersey Shore Hospital. Team members included Zachary Buecher, Patrick Healey, Kristen Hershberger, Mark Mccarey and Jennifer Redclay, and was advised by David Nembhard, associate professor of industrial engineering;
•  “Gear Shift Helper” sponsored by the Central Pennsylvania Spinal Cord Injury Support Group. Team members included Daniel Diamondstone, Richard Ferri, Adam Frederick, Nathaniel Miller and Jose Monsanto-Acevedo, and was advised by Damian Rose; and
•  “Compaction Drum Wipers” sponsored by Volvo Construction Equipment North America. Team member included Thomas Krupa, Asset Kusmanov, Garrett Marshall, Eric Resch and Phillip Yesenosky, advised by Semih Eser, professor of energy and geo-environmental engineering in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.

The Boeing Systems Engineering Award went to “Rotor Wake Survey” sponsored by Boeing. The team included Willaim Boggs, Steven Drew, Ryan Hammerschmitt, Scott Hromisin, Joseph Oberholtzer and Dylan Wynn, and was advised by Wallace Catanach, instructor in engineering management in the School of Engineering Design, Technology and Professional Programs.

First place for best poster went to “Changing the Conversation: Engineering Ambassadors School Outreach Project” sponsored by the Penn State Engineering Ambassadors. Team members included Jacqueline Guillemette, Jessica Menold, Randall Schur, Abbie Swoboda and Catherine Talbot, and was advised by Leland Engel.

Second place for best poster went to “Nurse Call Pull Station Redesign – Global” sponsored by Tyco Fire Protection Products. Team members included Evan Cullen, Daniel Karrasch, Li Diming, Li Shou, Kristen Murray, Amy Videon and Yao Junlin, and was advised by Marty Trethewey, the Arthur Glenn Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

Third place for best poster went to “Fluid Level Sensing” sponsored by John Deere. Team members included Mohammed Al Nassir, Thomas Burke, Kevin Ganther, Richard Mcclain and Neelabh Pareek, and was advised by Andrew Barnard, a mechanical engineering research associate with the ARL.

The BP People’s Choice Award went to the project “Changing the Conversation: Engineering Ambassadors School Outreach Project.”