April 12, 2019 – There was a buzz in the room as students set up their prototypes and posters for one of their final projects as undergraduates in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (MIE) at the University of Toronto. The annual showcase – which took place on April 3 – is the culmination of the fourth-year undergraduate Capstone design course.
The Capstone program is coordinated by professors Dionne Aleman and Kamran Behdinan. Professor Aleman oversees the industrial engineering MIE 490 course while Professor Behdinan heads the mechanical engineering MIE 491 course. At the beginning of the school year, student teams are paired with industry clients to address their real-world challenges. This year’s clients included Air Canada, Mozilla and World Vision among many others (see the full list of clients at the back of this year’s Capstone booklet).
Impressive prototypes were on display in the ballroom at 89 Chestnut, the venue for this year’s showcase. A group of students stood around a silicone drop-on-demand 3D printer kit watching it oscillate back and forth, the creation of students Yining Wang, Ruojing Song, Changsong Yang and Kangwei Wu for their client Advanced Research Laboratory for Multifunctional Lightweight Structures.
A loud, whirring sound could be heard throughout the day, the source of which was a pump inflating an attachable bladder for solar power aircraft, allowing the airships to touch down on both land and water. The amphibious landing gear was designed by students Amier Faudzi, Christine Bui, Romaissa Allalou and Sabrina Lokman for their client Solar Ship Inc. This project would go on to win the John H. Weber Scholarship which recognizes the top automotive or aviation design (see the full list of winners below).
In the evening, Professor and Chair of MIE Markus Bussmann took to the stage to address the room full of students, some of whom Professor Bussmann supervised for their Capstone projects. “To the students here today,” said Professor Bussmann, “I congratulate you on the great work you have done. You should be very proud of what you have accomplished.”
Professor Behdinan then presented the awards for the top projects, as decided by two different rounds of judging conducted by MIE faculty members. Franca Peri presented the Peri Family Industrial Engineering Design Award to the first place industrial engineering team. Before presenting the award, she shared stories she has heard many times from her husband John Peri – who was unable to attend this year’s event – about his time as an industrial engineering student at U of T. She wished the students success in their professional and personal lives, noting that the best man at her and John’s wedding was a friend John made in the engineering program.
The camaraderie was palpable throughout the event, as students cheered and clapped when the winning teams were announced. After the awards ceremony, at the end of a very long day, the students packed up their projects and left looking tired, but laughter and chatter could still be heard as they slowly trickled out of the room.
-by Pam Walls, pam@mie.utoronto.ca
Watch a video from the MIE Capstone Showcase:
View photos from the Capstone 2018-19 Design Showcase in the gallery below or on the MIE Flickr page.
Winners of Capstone 2018-19 awards
1st place, Mechanical Engineering
Coconut Lathe: Efficient Paring in Rural Philippines
Team members: Hema Nookala, Maria Reuben, Aldrin Perez, Chuzhang Han
Supervisor: Amy Bilton
Client: CocoAsenso
2nd place, Mechanical Engineering
A Portable, Buildable Mechanical Testing Machine for Undergraduates
Team Members: Monica Burgers, Xinyue Liu, Simo Pajovic, Chi Zhang
Supervisor: Beno Benhabib
Client: Professor Jason Foster
3rd place, Mechanical Engineering
Designing a Solar Dehydrator for Cricket Consumption in Siem Reap, Cambodia
Team Members: Jeremy Miranda, Manjot Atwal, Michael Bento, Rachel Mandel
Supervisor: Amy Bilton
Client: World Vision
John H. Weber Scholarship
Design of Amphibious Landing Gear for Solar Powered Aircraft
Team Members: Amier Faudzi, Christine Bui, Romaissa Allalou, Sabrina Lokman
Supervisor: Olivera Kesler
Client: Solar Ship Inc.
1st place, Industrial Engineering and recipient of Peri Family Industrial Engineering Design Award
Web Compat User Feedback Decoder
Team Members: Bing Ning (Emily) Xu, Nicole Wongsoo, Carol Yeung, Amrit Prasad
Supervisor: Scott Sanner
Client: Mozilla Corporation
2nd place, Industrial Engineering
From Data to Dial: Driving Sales through the Force of Analytics
Team Members: Lu Chen, Alison Chow, Connor Lawless, Ana Medinac
Supervisor: Timothy Chan
Client: Salesforce
3rd place, Industrial Engineering
Air Canada: Predicting Flight Crew Absences
Team Members: Mark Charanduk, Kevin Xu, Youngmo Byun, Saurabh Agrawal
Supervisor: Merve Bodur
Client: Air Canada
Wallace G. Chalmers Scholarship
Ultraviolet Sanitizer for Portable Devices
Team Members: Chan Ho Lee, Po Ting Chou, Heechan Kang, Donghoon Kim, Putthipat Preecharwongsiri
Supervisor: Lidan You
Client: Confidential
View all 2018-19 Capstone design projects
