Applied engineers blend hands-on know-how and analytical skills to solve messy real-world problems. Students in the Applied Engineering (formerly Engineering Technology) program gain hands-on experience coupled with theory in fundamental engineering concepts and select one or more of the following focus areas: sustainable and environmental engineering, process automation, and engineering management.
MEMBERS: Alex Richards; Aaron Sisco; Wesley Horner; Jerret Delancy
ADVISOR: Dr. Andy Stallard
SPONSOR: Hormesys
The demand for innovative solutions continues to drive sports science and engineering. Our entry for Engineering Open House is a performance enhancing product: cooling insoles designed to increase the performance of endurance athletes. These insoles utilize phase change materials (PCMs) along with selected additives to create a new type of insole within the sports industry. Our cooling insoles' main objective is to address the critical need of effective temperature regulation during prolonged physical activity. Endurance athletes are constantly pushing their limits in demanding environments and often face challenges related to heat buildup, leading to discomfort and performance degradation. Our approach integrates advanced PCM technology from MicroTek Laboratories, known for its thermal energy storage properties, with additives to assist with durability, flexibility, and overall performance. The key innovation lies in the strategic incorporation of PCMs, which undergo phase transitions at specific temperatures, effectively absorbing excess heat from the athlete's feet during exercise from the pressure of the feet hitting the ground. This active cooling approach helps with the risk of heat-related injuries and allows athletes to maintain peak performance levels for extended amounts of time. There are scientific studies that support that cooling during activities more than 30 minutes has an exponential effect on increased performance. Our cooling insoles represent an advancement in sports engineering, utilizing the fusion of materials to elevate the performance and endurance of athletes in their search for optimal performance.
MEMBERS: Devin DaPra; Evan Julius; Mostafa Mohammad; Blake Rausch
ADVISOR: Dr. Gary Brooking; Dr. Caskell Stallard
Cheating among the student body requires active and real time monitoring that teacher must remain vigilant to spot. To prevent cheating, teachers will roam the class while students are taking tests, working on homework or even amongst themselves. Most teachers cannot divide their attention enough to monitor students in different locations of the classroom, or even beyond the classroom environment at home. However, to prevent cheating it requires a high amount of attention that a teacher may or may not be able to provide. This will put a significant strain on the teachers and the paraeducator in the classroom. These requirements are relaxed in a smaller classroom environment, but within a classroom of twenty to thirty students it can become strenuous, and errors can occur. In a modern classroom, teachers have implemented Chromebooks and online assignments that provide students with the required help they may need. However, this has led to students wondering from the assignments to find easier methods of communication and problem solving. In this work, it can be demonstrated how the implementation of recognition features, and the implementations of a smart database may provide students with the attention and activate learning to the degree that will allow a student to grow concurrently in a classroom and at home environment.