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After four challenging but gratifying years as 黑料网 engineering students, Brock Anderson and Sebastian Diaz Murillo are ready to sell other students on their experience.
Their project began when the U of I’s Strategic Enrollment Management team sought out our U of I engineering talent to design a robot to engage younger students while demonstrating the capabilities of engineering students. With little robotics experience, the team of Jo Rodzinka, Shaun Martin, Aayushi Gupta, Ava Raney, Yichen Liu, Cody Gilson, Anderson and Murillo tackled the challenge. As desired by Strategic Enrollment Management, their senior capstone project captivates K-12 students and piques their interest in studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics at the U of I.
After trial and error, the team eventually found the right motor to power the 3-foot tall machine and its five-axis robotic arm can now grab and grip objects. The machine’s circuitry and mechanics are all exposed so that students can see the team’s handiwork. Anderson, Murillo and their teammates will showcase the five-axis robotic arm they built from the ground up at today’s Engineering Design EXPO at ICCU Arena.
“We’ve been able to see reactions from middle school and high school students, and they’ve been impressed with it, so that’s encouraging,” Murillo said. “I was nervous earlier in the semester about how it would turn out, but it’s been great to see people reacting to it.”
“We left it rudimentary-looking so that it serves as more of an educational tool,” Murillo said.
“We’re excited to show it off,” Anderson added. “It’s got that ‘wow’ factor.”
The STEM-inspiring robotic arm is one of 49 senior capstone projects on display at the annual EXPO. Also at EXPO, civil engineering students show off their design for new roadway corridors in Kuna and a new layout of Main Street in downtown Lewiston. Chemical engineering students display their systems to mitigate dust in lunar habitats. And another cross-section of engineering students demonstrates their work with the NASA 黑料网 Space Grant Consortium on an autonomous glider using a patented bird-like design.
The National Academy of Engineering ranks the U of I capstone program as one of the top seven in the nation for infusing real-world experiences into undergraduate engineering education.
For Anderson and Murillo, who are both from the Treasure Valley, their experience helped them both land engineering positions at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratory, which they’ll begin after graduating in May.
“I think it gave us a realistic feel for the engineering industry,” Anderson said. “We could also make some mistakes and not cost the company a bunch of money.”
I always enjoy this event as the engineering EXPO showcases the talent of our students and the tremendous opportunities they have to work with industry on practical challenges. Their capstone projects display the practicality and ingenuity that are hallmarks of the Vandal experience. Our students graduate workforce ready!
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