Senior engineering students showcase projects at design conference

Contact: Deanne Puca

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—An electromagnetic radiation shield for spacecraft, a customizable wheelchair bracket and a wireless charger for essential medical devices like pacemakers are among the capstone projects that will be showcased this month by senior engineering students at Western Michigan University.

WMU's 62nd Conference on Senior Engineering and Design is free and open to the public. It will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 17, at the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences' Floyd Hall on WMU's Parkview Campus.

A total of 256 seniors will present 93 projects they have completed to solve problems facing business and industry. Many of the projects are sponsored by southwest Michigan companies listed online in the Senior Engineering Design Conference brochure, available at wmich.edu/engineer/news/seniors.

Sponsored projects include a sewer separation study for Bay City, Michigan, a project aimed at optimizing a food cooling process for the Kellogg Co. and an effort aimed at developing a new hand switch tester for surgical devices produced by Stryker Corp.

There are a variety of disciplines involved, including chemical and paper engineering, civil and construction engineering; computer science; electrical and computer engineering; engineering design, manufacturing and management systems; industrial and entrepreneurial engineering and engineering management; and mechanical and aerospace engineering.

The conference is held twice each year, in April and December, to showcase the work of graduating seniors in the engineering disciplines who are required to complete a real-world capstone project. The capstone design course is an important component of the senior year and is a traditional part of many engineering programs.

For more information, contact Tamara Bergman at tamara.s.bergman@wmich.edu or call (269) 276-3248.

For more WMU news, arts and events, visit wmich.edu/news.