Mechanical
Engineering
Senior
Design
2016
from the chair
During my three years as chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, I have
conducted dozens of exit interviews with our students as they head out into the world.
The one thing I hear repeatedly is how much they value their Senior Design experience.
Students almost universally describe Senior Design as “the most challenging and
rewarding experience of my time at Hopkins.”
The capstone of their years in mechanical engineering, Senior Design is an opportunity
for our students not only to demonstrate a knowledge of scientific concepts, but also to
apply their deep understanding of engineering principles to tackle design projects offered
by industry, non-profit and governmental organization sponsors.
The results are nothing short of remarkable—for students and for sponsors.
The students get access to the sponsors’ resources and technical contacts, and learn to
work within a budget to create solutions to real problems. The sponsors come away with
working prototypes complete with user manuals, specifications and design histories, not
to mention the chance to take an up-close-and-personal look at some extraordinarily
talented potential employees. Both parties benefit immeasurably.
LOUIS L. WHITCOMB
Chair, Department of Mechanical Engineering
“University students haven’t been told what’s possible
or impossible, and sometimes their creativity goes
in directions we never thought of. When we sponsor
a Senior Design Project, we not only get to work
with young minds that are creative and enthusiastic,
we also gain access to professors and other resources
that far exceed our capability. Last year, a JHU team
focused on improving our existing bicycle locks against
theft, and the team discovered a unique approach
that we currently are pursuing.”
— S A M I R TA M E R
A D VA N C E D T E C H N O L O G Y L E A D E R , A L L E G I O N ( S A N TA C L A R A , C A )
.
“ We believe strongly in establishing relationships with
student engineers in order to mine local talent. For us,
that is what sponsoring a Senior Design Project is all
about. Yes, along the way, the students do meaningful
work for us. But we also get to conduct a nine-month
interview with them. It’s a win-win situation for us both.”
— M AT T H E W V E L A Z Q U E Z
P R I N C I PA L E N G I N E E R , T E X T R O N ( H U N T VA L L E Y, M D )
f.
Why sponsor a Student Design Team? Working with a Student Design Team provides sponsors
from industry, government and non-profit organizations with multiple benefits, from fresh
and creative new perspectives on technical challenges to access to engineering professors
and the full resources of a world-class university and engineering school.
The Senior Design Process is much like an apprenticeship: It fully immerses students in
the design process, allowing them to apply the skills and concepts they have learned in
the classroom to real-world problems that matter. During the course, students are
encouraged to seek out whatever additional training they need and to use our fully
equipped Machine Shop and to consult our experts there.
Sponsors tell us that one of the biggest advantages of working with a team is the
opportunity to identify top engineering talent (and to observe their problem-solving skills,
creativity and teamwork) before these students graduate.
What is Mechanical Engineering Senior Design at Hopkins?
The capstone experience in mechanical engineering at Hopkins, the Senior Design Project
challenges student teams to tackle design challenges posed by industry, government,
and non-profit organizations. Sponsors provide teams with funds for materials, access
to world-class resources, and technical contacts, and students provide sponsors with
real-world prototypes that have been tested.
Senior Design Day:
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
current projects
1. SPONSOR: AIR FORCE RESEARCH L AB
Team AFRL: Amanda Canezin*, Teo Gaudin, Rachel Hegeman,
Kevin LeBlanc*, Ari Messenger, Christian Richardson
“Senior Design taught me
the design process, which I use
every day at my job. Even more
important, I gained valuable
insight into teamwork on
engineering projects. For students
looking to become engineers,
practical and hands-on experience
is so valuable. In fact, through
my Senior Design teacher,
Build a device that allows soldiers to descend from a hovering
aircraft at heights varying from 20 feet to 90 feet. The descent
must occur as quickly as possible, as soldiers may be in
compromised situations.
2 . SPONSOR : ALLEGION
Team ALL: Katharina Ertman, Rachael Guess, Trevor
Holmgren, Christopher Naco, Jacqueline Roche
Add smart self-monitoring features to the classic “door closer”
so that it can detect malfunctions and inform building
management systems.
3 . SPONSOR: BALTIMORE AIRCOIL COM PANY
Team BAC: Rohan Agarwal, Alexi Bennink, Joshua Harris,
Jorge Rivera, Simon Rojas
Develop a cost effective cooling tower for dirty-water
applications.
I contacted an engineer at SBD
and after sending him pictures of
my senior design project,
I was asked for an interview.
Now I work there.”
— JENNI
HERCHEK ’14
D E S I G N E N G I N E E R AT
S TA N L E Y B L A C K & D E C K E R ( T O W S O N , M D )
4. SPONSOR: JHU CENTER FOR BIOENGINEERING
INNOVATION AND DESIGN
Team CBID: Stefan Arnold*, Glenn Balbus, Minjea Jo, Dmitriy
Kats, Kyle Kirwan
Develop a personal cooling unit for use with the Ebola suit
previously developed at Johns Hopkins.
5. SPONSOR: JHU CENTER FOR BIOENGINEERING
INNOVATION AND DESIGN
Team MASK: Laura Scavo
Improve the design of the hood portion of the JHU Ebola suit
to passively provide defogging and air circulation.
6. SPONSOR: HONDA R&D AM ERICAS, INC.
Team HRA: Fernando Concepcion, Keith Pallo, Michael
Scarlato, Alex Schlink
Develop a device to electrically emulate the accelerator pedal
of modern vehicles, to facilitate full vehicle testing and control
in a proving ground environment.
7. SPONSOR : JOH NS HOPKI NS PEDIATRIC
12 . SPONSOR: JHU DEPARTM ENT OF PHYSICS AND
TRANSPORT & LI FESTAR M EDICAL
ASTRONOMY AND SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE
Team JHPT: Madeleine Abelson, Joonghyun (Peter) Ahn,
INSTITUTE
Kyle Candela, Theophilus Moss, Oritsetimeyin Moju
Team STScI: Carlos Benavides, Zachary Bredl*, Devin Conley,
Improve the safety of the emergency medical technicians
Nicholas Garcia, Sebastian Yllanes*
(EMTs) performing ambulance transports by increasing the
Develop a test system to verify functionality of a modern
time the EMTs remain seated, and seat-belted, during patient
digital micro-mirror device (DMD) at cryogenic temperatures.
care
Then use it to confirm that these micro-arrays are reliable.
8. SPONSOR : KRYPTON ITE SCH L AGE LOCK
13 . SPONSOR: TEXTRON SYSTEMS
COMPANY
Team TEX: Rami Bedewi, Byron Benjamin, Thomas Fiorelli*,
Team KRPT: Sydrake Abdi, Edward Kunkel, Alexander
Kyle Johnson, David Levi
Lambert, Adrian Pearl, Christopher Scherz*
Develop hardware to allow a quadcopter to land on a tree
Streamline the process of unlocking a bike lock by inventing
branch of nearly any size at nearly any angle.
a new way for riders to authenticate themselves.
14. SPONSOR: UNDER ARMOUR
9. SPONSOR : OFFICE OF TH E UN DERSECRETARY
Team UA: Pawel Malicki*, Matthew Re, Zachary Robbins*,
OF DEFENSE FOR ACQUISITION, TECH NOLOGY
Valeria Vasconcellos, Jared Wang
AND LOGISTICS, CORROSION POLICY AND
OVERSIGHT
Use advanced materials to create new structures for use in
athletic wear.
Team OUSD: David Gorman, Samantha Lott, Patrick Reilly,
Rachel Tsao
15. SPONSOR: WALTER REED NATIONAL MILITARY
Develop a fast, modular way to mask off large or small areas,
M EDICAL CENTER, AND JOHNS HOPKINS
both inside and outside an airplane, for painting.
UNIVERSITY M ILITARY AND VETERANS HEALTH
INSTITUTE
10. SPONSOR : JOH NS HOPKI NS APPLIED PHYSICS
Team WRVL: Clara Aranguren*, Luke Brown, Devin Holladay,
L AB
Benjamin Keyser, Katelyn Koons, Patrick Tilson
Team RIZK: Michelle Camacho, Rodrigo de Costa*,
Design a foot and ankle prosthesis that would allow veterans
Alexander Griffith, Thomas Keady*, Alexander Kearns
to quickly adapt to different footwear, specifically adjusting
Develop a safer and more comfortable robotic device for
the heel height from 0 to 4 inches.
aiding colonoscopies.
16. SPONSOR: WALTER REED NATIONAL MILITARY
1 1 . SPONSOR : STAN LEY BL ACK & DECKER
M EDICAL CENTER
Team SBD: Niki Entin, Ryan Howarth, Michael Howland,
Team WRVU: Kiana Duncan, Colin Egan, Colin Friedman,
Miles McKey*, Luke Moloznik
Joseph Hirsch, Suzie Kellogg*
Develop an oscillating tool as proof of concept for expansion
Develop a new version of a patented elbow prosthesis for use
of a product line.
with active duty and veteran amputees.
* indicates team member is a Junior classman and a student in the
Junior level Engineering Design Process course
“The senior design project definitely helped make me
a competitive applicant for Duke University’s Master of
Engineering program. In my application, I talked about how
working on the project taught me teamwork and sharpened my
ability to communicate my ideas verbally and in writing.
The project also helped me land a summer internship.
My interviewers took note of the fact that the project taught
me skills that were directly transferable to what was
needed in the internship.”
—WESLEY COH EN ‘ 1 5, D UKE UN IVERSIT Y MASTERS OF ENGI N EER I NG PROGR AM STUDENT
“ I was hired before Design Day by my client. My Senior
Design experience taught me the necessary equations and
ASME standards, among many other things about pressure
vessels, so I was able to make meaningful contributions
during my first weeks on the job. Senior Design was a
great experience that gives you invaluable experience
working on real client problems and gives you the
opportunity to learn from mistakes.”
— S H E E H A N H S U ’ 1 4 , D E S I G N E N G I N E E R , Z E V T E C H N O L O G I E S , I N C . ( O X N A R D, C A .
Department
of Mechanical
Engineering
SeniorDesign
To sponsor a project or for more information,
contact Nathan Scott (nscott@jhu.edu) or visit the
Department of Mechanical Engineering at me.jhu.edu.