Dec. 9, 2011

Students of The William States Lee College of Engineering presented their year-long senior projects at the college’s Senior Design Exposition on Friday, Dec. 9, 2011. There were 19 completed student projects on display, along with the design posters for 49 mid-semester projects. Check out this photo gallery and this year's winning projects.

The completed project judged the best was that of the “Renewable and Modular Micro-Source Power Generator” team. The project combines solar and hydrogen fuel cell power to generate electricity on a small scale. The 3KW system generates hydrogen during the day to run the fuel cell at night. Team members are Justin Shipley, Matthew Bixler, Preston Finnie, Sebastian Hoyas and Ryan Ricono.

The second-place project was “NASA Autonomous Virtual Presence,” a self-guided robot with two-way video that permits the remote user to travel the hallways of a building and actually interact with other individuals as if they were present in the building. The team members are Randy Westlund, Jonathan Luu, Chase Rayfield, Kevin O'Connor and Andrew Covian.

The third-place project was “Vault Water Powered Generator,” a power generator that uses discharge water from a water plant aeration system to turn a propeller and alternator, generating 400 watts of "free" power for lights and other uses at the plant. The project was sponsored by Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities. The team members were Anna Pisani, Kevin Creech, Nicholas Klietsch and Evan Schatz.

Providing students with an innovative, hands-on learning experience, the Industrial Senior Design Program at UNC Charlotte is educating engineering students, supporting industry partners and benefiting the State of North Carolina. The program teaches students how to apply their years of math, science, and engineering knowledge to solve the unique problems presented by many progressive North Carolina companies.

For more information contact Dr. Bill Heybruck, Director, at 704-687-2934, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or see the Senior Design website http://srdesign.uncc.edu.