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Subscribe to Gonzaga University's News Service RSS Feed| Dateline: 5/2/2006 | |
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GONZAGA UNIVERSITY NEWS RELEASE Dale Goodwin, Director Peter Tormey, Associate Director |
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| GU Engineering, Computer Science Design Day May 5 | |
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Twenty-nine senior projects of engineering and computer science majors will be presented at Gonzaga University’s 14th annual Design Exposition Day from 1-5 p.m., Friday, May 5. Following is a complete list of all 29 projects. Project Title: Colbert Road & Elk-Chattaroy Road Intersections - CE1 Project Title: Clean Water - CE2 Project Title: Four-Story Medical Office Building - CE3 Project Title: Gonzaga University Theatre Arts Building - CE4 Project Title: Facility for Activated Carbon & Ceramic Water Filters at the Songhai Center, Benin (Project 1) - CE5 Description: The people of rural Benin lack access to potable drinking water. As a result, the goal of this project was to design a manufacturing facility for an affordable, portable, sustainable water filtration system that can be easily distributed throughout Benin. The filtration system was based upon the Filtrón, a ceramic filter design developed by Potters For Peace. Ceramic filtration effectively removed biological contaminants from water because its pores are smaller than most bacterial organisms. The efficiency of these filters was enhanced through the use of activated carbon as a secondary treatment to remove inorganic pollutants. Its intricate pore structure successfully absorbed other impurities such as heavy metal and anthropogenic contaminants. Activated carbon was produced from the coconut shells, a common waste product of Benin agriculture. Activation occurs in a furnace with a steam injection process. A kiln was designed and tested which will be capable of utilizing biogas or a solid biofuel as a renewable energy source. The manufacturing processes and the facility structure were sustainably designed so that the people of Benin can maintain and continue to benefit from the facility for many years. The entire project utilized the resources and labor available in Benin, maximizing the economic impact while minimizing the environmental impacts. The final design will be part of a sustainability competition for further funding through the EPA. Project Title: Manufacturing Facility for Activated Carbon & Ceramic Water Filters at the Songhai Center, Benin (Project 2) - CE6 Description: The people of rural Benin lack access to potable drinking water. As a result, the goal of this project was to design a manufacturing facility for an affordable, portable, sustainable water filtration system that can be easily distributed throughout Benin. The filtration system was based upon the Filtrón, a ceramic filter design developed by Potters For Peace. Ceramic filtration effectively removed biological contaminants from water because its pores are smaller than most bacterial organisms. The efficiency of these filters was enhanced through the use of activated carbon as a secondary treatment to remove inorganic pollutants. Its intricate pore structure successfully absorbed other impurities such as heavy metal and anthropogenic contaminants. Activated carbon was produced from the coconut shells, a common waste product of Benin agriculture. Activation occurs in a furnace with a steam injection process. A kiln was designed and tested which will be capable of utilizing biogas or a solid biofuel as a renewable energy source. The manufacturing processes and the facility structure were sustainably designed so that the people of Benin can maintain and continue to benefit from the facility for many years. The entire project utilized the resources and labor available in Benin, maximizing the economic impact while minimizing the environmental impacts. The final design will be part of a sustainability competition for further funding through the EPA. Project Title : Bridge Replacement Design - CE7 Description: The State Department of Transportation (DOT) has requested design/build proposals for replacing an existing bridge. Any appropriate type of bridge will be considered but the State has specified steel as the material because of its durability, fast erection, and high level of recycled content. The DOT has asked each competing firm to submit a 1:10 scale model to demonstrate its concept. Models will be erected under simulated field conditions and then load tested. A panel of DOT personnel will judge the models by multiple criteria including durability, constructability, usability, stiffness, construction speed, efficiency, economy, and aesthetics. The contract will be awarded to the company whose model best meets the DOT’s needs and requirements. Project Title: City of Spokane Combined Sewer Overflow Basin Remediation - CE8 Project Title: Two-Story Health Sciences Building - CE9 Description: This project entailed the structural design of a two-story health sciences building located on the Walla Walla Community College Campus in Walla Walla, Washington. Architectural plans for the building and a geotechnical report were provided by Integrus Architecture. The design team completed the design in accordance with the 2003 International Building Code (IBC), ASCE 7-02, and ACI 318-02. Each code was used to determine applicable loads, allowable stresses, and design requirements for the structure. The RS Means 2004 Square Foot Costs Catalogue was used to determine material selection. The design was completed using steel-composite beams, steel columns, open-web steel joists, and masonry shear walls. Along with these elements, the foundation was also designed. The students produced a final report presenting results of load analysis; AutoCAD drawings complete with plan sheets, details, and general notes; and structural design calculations. Project Title: Swale Evaluation Study - Engineered Topsoil Mix Design - CE10 Description: This project was designed to produce more specific guidelines for the construction of Spokane County’s swales. Currently, Spokane County provides requirements for swale volume only and does not take the filtration characteristics of native soils into consideration. However, the purpose of a swale is to remove pollutants from the water before it enters the aquifer. Therefore, it is important that the soil in the swale filters water effectively. In order to improve swale performance, this project consisted of two major parts. The first part was to look at the performance of current swales through in-situ testing. The second part was to test native soils, as well as locally available topsoil mixes to produce a soil blend with optimal pollutant removal characteristics. The data gathered in this project will be used to make specific recommendations for swale construction. Project Title: Development of a System to Differentiate Between Electromagnetic Emissions (EME) Resulting from Groung Failure & EME Caused from Cultural Electrical Noise - EE1 Description: This project entailed supporting the ongoing efforts by personnel from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s Spokane Research Laboratory in ascertaining whether electromagnetic emissions detected by an orthogonal antenna are precursors to impending ground failure. Essentially, an analysis of electromagnetic signals collected by the orthogonal antenna has produced several waveforms of interest to NIOSH personnel. However, the Data Acquisition System (DAS) processing the signals received from the antenna was unable to distinguish the waveforms of interest from ambient electromagnetic radiation. The purpose of this project was to design a filtering system to compare all collected signals and remove those deemed “cultural noise.” Any remaining signals sent to the DAS system may be indicative of rock breaking in an underground mine. The filtering system that was designed to automatically accomplish this task relied on the correlation method to distinguish cultural noise from a possible event of interest. Project Title: Improvement of a System to Amplify & condition Signals from Electromagnetic Emissions (EME) Resulting from Ground Failure - EE2 Description: Personnel from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) Spokane Laboratory are studying the possibility that electromagnetic emissions (EM) may be precursors to an impending ground failure or rock bursting. Currently, NIOSH has a data acquisition system (DAS), in conjunction with a triaxial orthogonal antenna, installed at the Galena Mine near Wallace, ID. This project entailed the improvement of the antenna and signal conditioning system produced in previous senior design project. The favorable frequency range allowed by the signal conditioning circuit was 1 kHz to 150 kHz. After the circuit was modified, testing on the antenna was done in conjunction with design project EE-1, as to the detection of emissions from rock stress or breakage. Project Title: Development of an Advanced Low-Cost RF Communication Device - EE3 Description: The purpose of the project was to develop a low-cost, low-power Radio Frequency Identification System. The goal was to increase the battery life of a RFID system that used active tags without increasing the amount of power required, or the cost of the tag. This was done by a developing a “sleep” mode and an “awake” mode for the tag, rather than having the tag transmit on a pre-determined interval. By using a combination of hardware and software, the tag only awakes to send data when it is requested by the reader. Project Title: Develop Capacitive Fluid Level Sensor for Dielectric Fluid - EE4 Description: This project entailed the design and development of a method of measuring the level of dielectric fluid in an enclosure using an array of capacitive elements in a printed circuit board. The presence of fluid on an element introduces a change in capacitance that can be identified by a microcontoller. The level sensor assembly is microcontroller-based with an I 2C interface for communication to an environmental system controller. A summary report including predicted performance of different capacitive elements, characterization data, and comparison of results will be gathered by the end of this project. Project Title: MATCLASS - EE5 Description: The objective of this project is to develop a C++ class that allows the rapid conversion of MATLAB algorithms into embedded product application code. This to be accomplished by the development of an extensible C++ class that expands The C language to provide commonly employed mathematical and logical operations on (possibly complex) matrix and vector objects using an interface patterned after the MATLAB language. The goals of this class are to mirror MATLAB functionality and syntax providing (complex) matrix object and operations, automatic memory management and generalized indexing. This class will be readily transportable between multiple platforms and provide an overall increase in target execution speed. Project Title: File Bar Right Sized Notch & Forming Equipment - ME1 Description: Notched file bars are used to separate and support hanging file folders inside of large file cabinets, commonly found in most offices. These bars are meant to aid in the organization of files in longer sideways file drawers. The production run is only 1000 parts per week, and each piece of equipment currently used to punch and form the file bar is also used for numerous other parts. Flexcel has decided to design dedicated equipment exclusive to this operation. This decision was made in order to minimize scrap material, labor costs in set up time, to decrease the number of operations required, and to decrease the “time-to-market” of the other parts that require use of the larger equipment. The production line required that two machines be designed and manufactured such that they are suitable for volume production of 1000 parts per week. Each machine will perform one phase of a 2 stage operation, and the entire process will be controlled by a single operator. Project Title: Cooling System for 1000W Metal Halide Light Pipe - ME2 Description: Bonneville Power Administration, the primary energy contractor for the United States Government in Washington State, installed a new lighting system in the service hangars at Fairchild Air Force Base. Since the installation, BPA has observed premature failure of the light bulbs, often after less than 3000 hours of use. The bulbs are rated by the manufacturer to have useable life spans of 5000+ hours. The failure modes of the bulbs have been deformation due to excessive heat (and sometimes shattering), as well as typical burn-out. In an effort to cure these problems, BPA requested a design for a cooling system for the lighting units that will keep the engine within operational temperature limits, thereby increasing the life spans of the bulbs. The project will yield a fully detailed 3D model for all designed components, a bill of materials with supplier contact information, and an installation guide that will allow for retrofitting of all of the lighting units during their next round of servicing. Project Title: Bundle Inverter - ME3 Description: This project entailed designing an optional feature for an existing machine that would overturn stacks of corrugated materials. The bundles vary in size; therefore the design had to accommodate a large range. Time was another driving factor because the bundle inverting option could not impede the operation of the ALF MAX system. Initial concepts were created that have been refined to yield a final design with minimal parts. A failure analysis was conducted to ensure that the bundle inverter option would withstand the largest size bundle with ease. UML documentation was provided along with electrical line diagrams to allow the bundle inverting option to integrate with the electronics of the ALF MAX system. At the completion of the project the deliverables were presented to the sponsor. Project Title: Wheat Leaves Cutting & Processing System - ME4 Description: This project is based around the fact that the agricultural industry is constantly trying to find new microcides that will prevent the loss of crop production due to fungi and molds. The project is focused on developing a device that will automatically cut the wheat leaves and place them in individual cells of a 96-microwell plate. This process needs to be automated due to the fact that many microcides need to be tested multiple times, and the current process of cutting the leaf specimens by hand and placing them into the wells by hand is too time-consuming. Specifically, the automation device will take the leaf from a hand-fed source, feed the leaf to the cutting mechanism, cut the leaf into small sections using an approved cutting method, and place each of these leaf sections into a 96-microwell plate to prepare them fully for the testing process. The team has spent a large portion of its time researching different cutting methods due to the sensitivity of the leaves to the type of cut made. The team has also developed many different concepts and will submit, with the final report, solid models and detailed drawings of one of these designs to MatriCal at the conclusion of the project. Project Title: Pallet Stacking System - ME5 Description: The purpose of this project was to design, build and test a system that will Project Title: Portable Electrostatic Precipitator - ME6 Description: The goal of this project was to design, build, and test a portable electrostatic precipitator. Electrostatic precipitators operate by electrically charging particles, and then collecting them onto an oppositely charged surface. This device would be used to collect a small number of particles from the air onto transmission electron microscopy (TEM) grids. The grids could later be analyzed to determine the size distribution and composition of particles in the air where the sample was taken. Knowledge of the size distribution and composition of particles in the air is very important for safety in industrial environments as many particles can be damaging if inhaled. The device was also designed to be very simple to use, especially in allowing for quick loading of the TEM grids. This will allow the user to take many samples in a short period of time. A complete, functioning prototype was built, and test results will be included in the final report. Project Title: Heavy Duty Positioning Device for Large Equipment - ME7 Description: This project entailed the design of a heavy duty positioning device that will increase safety in a mining workplace. The device will be used to precisely position a heavy load (such as a shaker deck or conveyor), weighing up to 5 tons, with minimal effort to allow the mine to run smoothly. The load will be positioned by placing 4 identical units, one under each corner, allowing free motion in any direction. To position the device, the user simply pushes the load. However, the movement will be slowed by a combination of safety precautions, including a self centering spring mechanism, velocity damper, and brake. The design was created by the students and approved by NIOSH, followed by full 3D solid models and drawing package. A proof of concept model will be made, and used in the ASME SERAD safety design competition in late May. Project Title: TX501 Width & Overlap Control Automation - ME8 Description: Our project involves an early process in Goodrich Corporation’s textile subdivision, addressing the adjustments of width and position of raw carbon fiber tow material. Effectively, our team’s focus has been the retrofit of existing manufacturing hardware to possess automated adjustment capabilities with an incorporated feedback loop. Currently when inconsistencies are evident, operators make on-the-fly adjustments to tow position and width. With our automated system, we are seeking to increase response time, produce a more uniform product, and allow for fewer line stops. Our team’s design utilizes a PLC, measuring light curtain, and stepper motors to monitor, adjust, and provide a feedback loop for the position and overall width of the carbon fiber tow as it passes through the TX501. Due to the nature of the components utilized, completion of this project has presented our team with diverse mechanical, electrical, integration, and programming challenges. Project Title: Swivel Aisle Seat - ME9 Description: The purpose of this project is to design a triple airplane seat with an aisle seat that swivels. The swivel seat will allow aisle-seated passengers to remain seated while allowing passengers seated in the window or middle seats easier ingress and egress. The design will also allow an easier transfer for a person who occupies a wheelchair. The design must be durable, lightweight, and follow current FAA, SAE, and Boeing standards and regulations. Based on these specifications, we developed two separate conceptual designs, and then selected the preferred design. Following the completion of our final design, a functioning prototype will be built. Project Title: CentrAlert - 3D Interface Module - SESGD 06-1 Project Title: Restaurant Reservation System - SESGD 06-2 Description: This project developed an online restaurant reservation system to include several components: (1) Online Reservation Module - This component allows a customer to search for a restaurant and reservation availability based on location, cuisine, price range, date, time and party size. The essential feature behind this module is the algorithm to determine when a table is available at a given restaurant location. This requires the system to manage the complexities of a restaurant’s table inventory and how this inventory interacts with reservation availability. (2) Table Management Module - The table management piece provides a simple user interface for a restaurant to manage their table inventory and table joins. This information was integrated into the reservation availability algorithm. (3) Reservation Management Module - This tool provides the restaurant with guest book functionality to view and modify existing reservations that are made online and by walk-in customers. (4) Restaurant Administrative Module - Restaurants will use this application to modify their restaurant profile which affects the search results for diners surfing online. Restaurants will also use this tool to access demographic information about customers who have made reservations at their restaurant which can be utilized for marketing efforts. (5) Data Storage Module - Develop and design the data storage algorithms to store information related to the functionality of all modules. (6) In-House Administrative Module - This tool is to be sued by the owner of the reservation system to view global information abut all restaurants and customers and to create new restaurant accounts. The software was developed using Visual Studio 206 and the .Net framework 2.0 with C# and SQL Server 2005. Project Title : Distributed Audio Application - SESGD 06-3 Description: Design and develop a Distributed Audio Application based on Microsoft Windows Media Center that implements a whole house, multi-zone audio system. Tasks: Develop software capable of playing multiple unique digital audio files and playing them back to a specific audio zone or zones; Develop a graphical user interface for controlling the Distributed Audio Application. This GUI must conform to standards set for Windows Media Center and be capable of being operated via remote control and keyboard from both the main Media Center PC and any Media Center Extenders; Develop a two-foot, touch-screen interface that allows control of a specific audio zone from an in-room-installed, PDA-like, Smart Control. This interface will allow for basic control of the playback of audio into that zone. The project was developed using Visual Studio .NET 2005, the .NET Framework, the .NET Compact Framework, C#, MFC, Javascript, HTML, MCML, windows CE, Windows XP, and Windows Vista. Project Title: 3D Game/Game Engine - SESGD 06-4 Description: Develop a fun, yet simple open-source game engine and game to submit to the Independent Games Festival. The project components include: The project was developed using C++, OpenGL in XCode and Visual Studio 6. SVN was used for versioning. Doxygen was used for documentation. |
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