See the 2021 Projects Poster (PDF 6MB)

See the 2021 Project Presentations

Student Presentation Topics included in Room A:

Natural Gas Compressor Connecting Rod High Temperature Limit Sensor (Ariel Corporation)

Jonathan Newman, Joey Fischer
Advisor/Mentor: Gary Drigel

Student engineers researched, designed, and tested a high temperature limit sensor to prevent overheating on a compressor connecting rod. The objective was to find a simple, reliable, and inexpensive solution using low cost components.

Pipe Bend Tester (Advanced Drainage)

Morgan Proffitt and George Gilbert
Advisor/Mentor: Gary Drigel

Student engineers designed, built, and tested a fully automatic and safety guarded pipe bend tester for high-density polyethylene (HDPE) small diameter pipe. This product is used in a variety of environmentally conscious projects, mostly being used as a “header” pipe in construction sites.

Universal Robot Gripper

Chandler Klass, Jimmy Amelung, Catherine Dyer
Advisor/Mentor: Rob Speckert

Student engineers designed, built, and tested an industrial universal robot gripper for Rimrock Corporation. The gripper needed to be puncture resistant, withstand extremely high temperatures, and have high repeatability with precision and accuracy. This is part of a feasibility study for a possible product.

Universal Test Stand (Force Control Inc.)

Tyler Gregory, Keith Kincaid
Advisor/Mentor: Gary Drigel

Student engineers have designed, built and tested a Universal Test stand for Force Control industries. This stand is for larger production Oil Shear Clutch and Brake units. It is also used for research testing in the lab. This stand can adapt to a wide verity of units as it is equipped with its own cooling system and hydraulic actuation system.

Adaptation of a Parker Proportional Valve for use with Festo Hydraulic Trainer

James Clements, Audrey Fields, Luke House, David Poeppelman
Advisor/Mentor: Rob Speckert

Student engineers designed, built, and tested the adaptation of a Parker Proportional Valve with Festo Hydraulic Trainers for educational use at Edison State Community College. The system will accompany lectures given by Edison State Community College faculty to educate students on the applications of proportional valves and PID controls with respect to powering a variable load on a hydraulic motor.

Child Safety Seat Occupant Detection and Alert System (CS-SODAS) *

Oscar Candra, Thomas Tully, John Whitt
Advisor/Mentor: Gary Drigel

Student engineers designed, built and tested an Internet-of-Things (IoT) device to protection children and give peace of mind to parents. The device detects when a child has been left in a vehicle and then alerts the parents by way of a Bluetooth smartphone alert. This device is small and non-invasive yet very reliable.

Worthington Cylinders Training Area

Modou L Njie and Saer Ndiaye
Advisor/Mentor: Rob Speckert

Student engineers designed, fabricated and installed overhead and floor conveyor systems for training new employees at Worthington Cylinders. This area will be utilized by the training staff to get new employees acclimated to working conditions within the factory before being placed on the production lines.

Septic Tank Monitoring Device (Smallwood Septic Solutions)

Christian Guffey, Brian Meermans, Cameron Calhoun
Advisor/Mentor: Gary Drigel

Student engineers modified and updated a current septic tank monitor control panel. This panel has more up-to-date components that gives homeowners and service providers more control over septic systems. The panel operates all components necessary in a system as well as monitors and notifies a service provider when a component had failed and is no longer operating properly. This panel also includes an updated timer which will eliminate the current obsolete timer and increases dose timing accuracy.

CO2 Laser Cutter/Engraver with Remote Monitoring *

Jonathan Abernathy, Jason Dick, Nicholas Lewis
Advisor/Mentor: Mert Bal

Student engineers designed a CO Laser Cutter/Engraver with the ability to relay information about the status of the process via internet connection. The Laser Cutter produces real-time feedback about the status and progress of the laser relative to a specific part to be viewed by users and potential customers of the laser service.

Cuckoo Clock Conundrum

Oscar Ambanawa, Derek Moser, Mo Shor
Advisor/Mentor: Gary Drigel

Student engineers designed and constructed a cuckoo clock that people of all ages can create at home. The goal is to transform a traditional cuckoo clock into a modern clock using engineering practices, such as 3-D modeling and simplifying them for use by the general public. The clock kit contains a small computing device to power the clock and cuckoo sound device. The traditional look of the clock remains the same, but controls and time uses modern technology.

Student Presentation Topics included in Room B:

GOFR (Guided Object Fetching Robot) *

Eli Westbay, Francis Nkrumah, Isaiah Storey
Advisor/Mentor: Mert Bal

Student engineers designed an autonomous robot: GOFR with Omni-positional maneuverability that is designed to aid in seamless material handling in automated shop floor environments. The GOFR can close the gap between stationary industrial robots without the need for conveyors or operators and it also has the added advantage of having a dynamic workflow.

Automated Wire Cutter (Automatic Feed Company - Monetary)

Andrew Bischoff, Wes Heuerman, Josh Inkrott
Advisor/Mentor: Reza Abrishambaf

Students designed and built a machine capable of taking a spool of wire and automatically feeding, stripping, and cutting wire lengths to a user’s given specifications. The machine allows users to define the parameters such as of wire length, strip length, and total quantity via a human machine interface and walk away from the machine as it performs the task automatically.

Automated CNC Router *

Christina Stoner, Eric Williams, James Schiele
Advisor/Mentor: Mert Bal

Student engineers redesigned and improved an existing three-axis CNC router for instructional and industrial use in future Miami University engineering technology labs. The improvements on the CNC router allow the router to operate fully automatically for detecting different sizes of work pieces, adjusting the work holder to mount the work pieces and operating in coordination with an external automated guided vehicle (AGV) for part loading/unloading.

Forest Fire Monitoring *

Christian Gandee, Austin Erwin
Advisor/Mentor: Reza Abrishambaf

Student engineers designed a device to detect forest fires and alert first responders when fire begins so the extent of damage could be controlled, and more lives could be saved. The project will be of benefit in the areas that have potential to experience wildfires in notifying the authorities at the initial phases of a potentially devastating wildfire.

Raspberry Pi Bartender

Kyle Smeltzer, Tyler Walter, Michael Jones
Advisor/Mentor: Reza Abrishambaf

Students designed an automated mixed drink dispenser model that can change the ratio/size of the mixed drink by the input that the user provides through a small touch tablet/screen. The unit stocked with the most common/popular drinks could be expanded to carry more drinks and could even be adapted to accept payment and tips via credit card or cash.

Robotic X-ray Plate Holder (The Wilds) *

Austin Williams, Kyle Moss, Landon Campbell, Ryan Duty
Advisor/Mentor: Mert Bal

Student engineers designed and built a robotic X-ray plate holder for The Wilds, which is a private, non-profit, safari park and conservation center. The robotic X-ray plate holder will primarily be used in X-raying the park’s giraffes. The plate holder will have remote control features that allows users to do positional adjustments remotely in real time.

Remote Machine Monitoring System (Clippard)

Ben Arron and Joshua Lydy
Advisor/Mentor: Reza Abrishambaf

Students designed and built a monitoring system for Clippard, a valve manufacturing company, which runs a lights-out production and would like to manage three key aspects of each CNC machine used in production. The system automatically monitors runtime, cycle count, and fire suppression on each CNC machine and creates real-time reports.

Hard Facing Machine (Martin Sprocket and Gear, Montpelier branch)

Kyle Garn, Levi Brumbaugh, Seth Ramey
Advisor/Mentor: Reza Abrishambaf

The objective of this project is to make a simplified hard-facing machine for Martin Sprocket and Gear by eliminating some moving components and replacing them with components that are enclosed in an area that cannot be reached by employees or splatter from the weld. The machine aims to provide a higher quality weld, be more reliable and easier to maintain.

Vibration Analysis for Preventive Maintenance*

Anthony Armor, Cody Rosas, Tristan Schumacher
Advisor/Mentor: Reza Abrishambaf

Students intend to demonstrate the value of vibration analysis when used in industry as a predictive and preventive maintenance tool. The system gathers various data using accelerometer sensors mounted on a variety of rotating test equipment located at Shawnee State University and Washington State Community College.

Student Presentation Topics included in Room A:

Streaming Education Classroom and Lab Software for Heat Transfer Course

Dan Wilson, Nicholas Kalmbach, Sabian Stevens
Advisor/Mentors: Gary Drigel & Hamed Samandari

Student engineers designed, programmed, stress tested, and began implementation of an interactive software educational assistance tool. The objective was to supplement engineering and technology education and to streamline curriculum to increase knowledge retention in a more concentrated timeframe.

Semi-active Shock Absorber

Connor Newcome, Steven Jones, Mark Regner
Advisor/Mentor: Gary Drigel

Students designed, manufactured and tested semi-active shock absorbers for a 2010 Jeep Wrangler. This vehicle was not originally equipped with this type of technology. These adjustable damping shocks were compared to the performance of the factory passive shocks in several settings and driving conditions.

Autonomous Braking System*

Brad Fraley, Jerrod Newton, John Caudill
Advisor: Mert Bal

Student engineers have designed and built an autonomous braking system that utilizes distance sensing technology to detect an object in the path of the moving vehicle and applies the brakes through a system in order to prevent a collision. The distance sensor measures the distance away from an object, and activates a linear actuator to operate a hydraulic brake caliper. The system has been tested and implemented on a Go-Kart vehicle.

Hydraulic Brake Dynamometer *

Andrew Schmidt, Kevin Leichliter, John Boadi
Advisor/Mentor: Gary Drigel

Student engineers designed and built a Hydraulic Brake Dynamometer to measure the power output of tractor engines. This dynamometer was designed to be mobile, safe and effective. The dynamometer was designed specifically for antique tractors and is adaptable for various power take off (PTO) inputs and shaft heights. The purpose of the project was to diagnose power loss in engines and provide the ability to fine tune engines to maximum efficiency.

Park Smart Solution Parking Trolley *

Michael Erwin, Adam Bechtel, Kyle Jacob Smith (J6)
Advisor and Mentor: Gary Drigel

Student engineers designed, manufactured and tested a prototype car trolley to move vehicles in a wide range of settings from homes to automated parking structures. The goal was to create a low-cost solution primarily for automobile conveyance and location.

Electric Drifting Trike *

Alphonsus Akujobi, Kyle Louis Smith (K51), Brandon Wetzel
Advisor and Mentor: Gary Drigel

Student engineers combined two available technologies (1) a pedal powered drifting trike and (2) an electric hub drive motor. Once assembled they analyzed the resulting trike for performance, safety, design flaws and stress distribution. This electric drift trike allows enthusiasts to enjoy the sport of drifting on multiple terrains.

High Performance Electric Motorcycle

Jacob Speed, Joseph Vodzak, Tim Thompson
Advisor: Rob Speckert

Student engineers designed and built a high-performance electric motorcycle. This design is powered by several lithium-ion batteries that feed a powerful motor controller that synchronizes all the inputs and output coming from the rider. All performance aspects of the bike have been preprogrammed which allows the rider to choose from multiple different drive modes. Electric cars have already changed the way we think about everyday commuting, so it is only practical to start looking at motorcycles next.

Bamboo Electric Bike *

Quentin Bowden, Steve Conlkin, Samantha Welch
Advisor/Mentor: Gary Drigel

Student engineers have redesigned the standard bicycle to be a lightweight and green electric bicycle using bamboo as some of the frame components. The goal was to create a new option for the everyday, short distance traveler with a bike that is lightweight in comparison to a typical electric bike, Focus included ease of handling and improvement in battery life.

Updating Robot Platform for Engineering Education*

Andrew Littlejohn, Okala Conrad, Valere Monthe
Advisor: Reza Abrishambaf

The purpose of this project is to update and expand one of the robot cells within Miami University Hamilton Campus ENT lab. Using principles of electromechanical engineering and project management, this project is intended to provide the project team with hands on experience with PLCs, robot integration into electromechanical systems, as well as experience with mechanical design and additive manufacturing. After completion of this project, the updated robot cell will act as a platform for continued student projects and as an educational aid to help engineering students become familiar with robot and automation systems.

Automated Transport Table

Alex Pinkerton and Noah Buck
Advisor: Mert Bal

The goal of the project is to provide an autonomous platform that will be used to transport objects within the robotics lab at Miami University. The platform is based around the Arduino microcontroller to act as the brains of the system and control the drivetrain. The Arduino will receive control commands via a Bluetooth module that is connected to a smartphone. As new technologies come about there will be more options that will allow future students to learn and push more boundaries in automation.

Student Presentation Topics included in Room B:

Installing and Programming a Robotic Vision System*

Casey Calihan, Chase Jelliffe, Jacob Webb
Advisor: Rob Speckert

Student engineers installed a vision system on the Yaskawa MH5 Motoman robot arm with a DX100 controller. This vision system allows for detection and sorting of objects by shape and color. This can be controlled by smart processing using Visual Basic, which the operator can control from a personal computer. This will be applicable for lab assignments in various courses.

Tote Stacking and De-Stacking System

Ethan Parsons, Trey Thomas, Zach Miller
Advisor: Rob Speckert

Student engineers have designed, modeled, and programmed a device to stack and/or de-stack totes for use on a production line. Using electric linear actuators and an array of sensors, EMI Corp (Jackson Center, OH) will be able to manufacture their own systems in house. These systems will complement the line of manufacturing conveyor systems they currently offer.

Robot Arm for Camera Head

Brian Armstrong, Brian Bostleman, Misty Ankney
Advisor: Reza Abrishambaf

The objective of this project is to design a camera arm to be used with an existing 6-axis robot installed at NorthStar BlueScope Steel in Delta, Ohio. This arm will be used to manipulate an array of cameras (filtered optical, IR, and thermal imaging) and laser measurement systems over the electric arc furnace shell to inspect the refractory lining.

Robot Vision System

Corinne Kissner and Kris Shoup
Advisor: Reza Abrishambaf

This project is in collaboration with North Star BlueScope Steel LLC, making a monitoring system for their Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF). A camera will inspect the refractory lining of the EAF for potential failures, increasing the safety of the employees. A camera is needed, as well as housing to protect the camera from the heat of the molten steel. This camera housing connects with an arm, which connects to a 6-axis robot currently installed.

Portable Automatic Ingredient Scaler

Jacob Turnwald, Jon Shivers, Russell Webster
Advisor: Rob Speckert and Hiren Gami

Miami Engineering Students designed, programmed, and built a smaller, portable version of the industrial sized automated ingredient scaler Decko Products INC. uses for its larger customer orders. Use of this new portable automated scaler for small batch orders will improve both work efficiency and product quality compared to the previous method of scaling ingredients manually.

Quality Through Automation Standard Aero

Seth Walker and William Lapthorn
Advisor: Mert Bal

This project aims to automate an existing manual production process at Standard Aero. The process welds a small thin curved honeycomb layer onto a solid equally curved metal base with both pieces measuring near 1 x 5 x 1/8th inches. Automating the process will eliminate the areas where human error causes the failures due to inaccurate alignment and incomplete welding or braze adhesion. Modification of this welding process incorporates a custom fixture/product holder, a motor, and a modified computer program to control the motor along with the automatic resistance welder.

Pick and Place XYZ Robot *

Alban Nana and Leonard Nsabimana
Advisor: Mert Bal

Student engineers redesigned an existing XYZgantry robot assembly for it to function as a pick-and-place robot for moving soda bottles in and out of a conveyor belt of a bottle filling system at the Miami University Electromechanical Engineering Technology laboratory. This project is a continuation of a project that already started last year. Students have made mechanical improvements in design of the robot, and re-programmed the cell with Arduino.

Vision System for Inline Inspection of Parts

Skylar Powell
Advisor: Mert Bal

A Keyence machine vision system has been designed and implemented in MIBA for inline inspection of transmission synchronizing rings. The intended outcomes of this project are to standardize the inspection, speed up the process and reduce labor cost and resource usage.

CNC Router Table*

Brett Ceyler and Wesley Clark
Advisor: Mert Bal

Student engineers designed and built a three-axis CNC router table. The 4’x4’ table is intended to process precision shapes using various tools. The system is driven by 4 Nema 34 stepper motors running on Mach 3 software. Designed from the ground up this modular system has the capability to support many different toolsets with minor changes. Students tested the table with a hot wire foam cutter and a router to shape wooden parts.

Student Presentation Topics included in Room C:

Smart Trash Monitoring System

Goshen Matoumbi, Nathaniel Anderson, and Thitibhorn Sobhanabhikul
Advisor: Reza Abrishambaf

The Smart Trash Monitoring System project specifically focuses on providing a real-time indicator of the garbage level in a trash can at any given time. The goal of the project is to design and manufacture a smart trash monitoring system that is easy to use, manageable, low cost and compatible for all infrastructures with Wi-Fi connectivity.

Occupancy Detection and Control*

Aaron Maynard, Greg Hornberger, Nick Krauth
Advisors: Hiren Gami & Reza Abrishambaf

The main objective for this project is to design and create a system of sensors to detect when a room or hallway is occupied and transmit that data to a central unit. As the data comes in it can be transmitted wirelessly to personal computers and to the Blynk phone application and is used to control the lighting in the occupied space. The sensor notes the direction of motion and uses this to keep an active count of the total number of occupants in a space and then control the lighting based on that count.

Cost-Effective Surveillance System

Adam Davidson, Katrina Hilliard, Radouane Adnane
Advisors: Hiren Gami and Rob Speckert

Student engineers designed, programmed and tested a cost-effective wireless surveillance system with a mobile application interface. The design uses off-the-shelf components to provide an affordable security system that can be used in residential and commercial settings.

Bluetooth Enabled Smart Lock for Residential Buildings

Aaron Barker, Ciara Knackstedt, Mason Dzugan
Advisor: Mert Bal

Students have designed and built a proof-of-concept new residential door lock that fits the new smart home trend. The smart door provides the users the ability to lock and unlock your door via an app on either a smartphone or tablet. This project utilizes an electric door strike that will communicate via Bluetooth to the user’s device and make keys a thing of the past.

The SmartKitchen by Lambda Technologies*

John Whalen, Matthew Rana, Tiffany Fulton
Advisor: Mert Bal

Grocery shopping can be quite a chore, especially when customers forget to check how much butter they have left in your refrigerator, or if they have any garlic powder in the pantry. Student engineers have designed The SmartKitchen. With the convenience of The SmartKitchen, the customers can track the items in their kitchen, refrigerator, pantry, etc. by quantity and/or the last date of purchase through a simple scan in/out of the product barcode; that data is then exported to a database and posted to a website for easy mobile access and can be used to create lists or set reminders.

* Fleck Grant supported project

Student Presentation Topics included in Room A: 

Conversion of a 2008 Z06 Corvette to Run on E85 Fuel – Corvette

Jared Swain, Lewis Wellman and Marissa Shaffer
Student engineers converted a 2008 Z06 Corvette to run on E85 fuel and determine the effects of ethanol blended fuels on the vehicle performance and the environment. Highway driving and dynamometer testing was used to measure parameters such as horsepower, torque, fuel mileage and carbon emissions.

Reclaimed Water Irrigation System- Mane Inc.

Ben Timpe, Chuck Denny and Shawn Anderson
Student engineers designed, built, and tested a rainwater collection system capable of dispersing collected water through either a sprinkler system or a garden hose. The low cost system features automated controls to aid in its use.

Power Transmission Components Lifecycle Testing Device – Honeywell Intelligrated Products

Austin Oakley and Ben Glazier
Student engineers designed, built and proof tested a device to test timing belts, sprockets, and other power transmission components used in conveyer systems. This device will be used to evaluate and compare suppliers of these components.

Drop Weight Impact Tester (TUP) for Plastic Drainage Pipe – ADS

Corey Jackson and Nick Mathis
Student engineers developed, modified and built a more efficient and safer device to operate a plastic pipe impact tester at Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS). The device can now be operated remotely which is now more repeatable, accurate and much safer to operate. This design is now being used to retrofit TUP testers at other ADS manufacturing facilities.

Aerodynamics and Fluid-Structure Interactions in a Wind Tunnel – Miami University

Andrew Shaffer, Clayton Costello and Danny Kuhn
Student engineers designed, built, and tested a fixture to be used in the wind tunnel in the Aerodynamics and Fluid-Structure Interactions research laboratory at Miami University Middletown Campus. This fixture will be used to investigate fluid-structure interaction (FSI) problems.

Mold Loading and Unloading Device Manufacturing Thermoplastic Corrugated Pipe - ADS

Aaron Watkins, Ricardo Ugas and Ryan Bernhardt
Student engineers have designed, modeled and analyzed a device to aid in top and bottom mold changeovers for 12", 15", 18', 24", and 30" corrugated pipe. Currently the changeover is manually controlled by a using a pneumatic brake and drive system. The new device was designed to make the mold changeover procedure safer and more ergonomic.

Hydraulic Power Pack for FlexArm Tapping Unit

Andrew Stechschulte, Hayden Pottkotter and Tyler Heitmeyer (Rhodes State College)
Student engineers have redesigned and produced a prototype hydraulic power pack that powers a FlexArm tapping unit sold by Midwest Specialties. The redesign allows the power pack to be built in a modular fashion for two different model tapping units, improve on the current power pack layout, and give FlexArm the information necessary to outsource piece by piece.

Powder/Purge Separator

Blake Downer, Kyle Dew and Travis Harra (Washington State Community College)
Student engineers have designed a machine that will effectively separate a gaylord box of recycled plastics before grinding them down. Our process will separate the large plastic purges from the powder and small plastic pellets also contained in the box. This separation process is necessary for production to eliminate the airborne dust situation caused in the grinding process.

Composite Hot Tub Prototype - RL Industries

Dylan Orsborne, Eric Lucas and Shawn Hawkins
Student engineers designed, fabricated and tested a composite portable hot tub prototype. The hot tub was designed to be portable and fit in the back of a pick-up. By using composite materials, the student engineers were able to build a lightweight and fully operational hot tub.

Shopping Cart Retrieval System

Ethan Shearer and KayLynn Harrington
Student engineers designed and modeled a semi-automatic shopping cart return system. This system was designed to take carts from input stations, similar to conventional cart corrals and return them to a central location. A major issue in retail is labor costs. With rising wages, many corporations are seeking ways to cut labor and maximize efficiency of its workers.

3-Axis Pick and Place Robot

James Haley and Kyle Moon
The objective of this project is to design and build a programmable 3-axis gantry system with a touch screen HMI to pick up on object and move it to a new location specified by the user. The Pick and Place robot is intended to be used in engineering technology curriculum for teaching programming and machine control systems.

Student Presentation Topics included in Room B:

Torsion Tester – Miami University

Brain Ward, Henri Mel and Ethan Celuch
Student engineers have redesigned and fabricated a torsion testing frame for Element Materials Technology featuring an adjustable platform for varying lengths of specimens. The new design will offer an inexpensive solution to a more safe, efficient, and quality oriented frame for material testing and product qualification.

3D Printer Filament Extruder – Miami University*

Aaron Duerk, Greg Corthell and Jack Chambers
Student engineers have modified, designed, and built a plastic extruder based on the open source Precious Plastics movement. It is expected that this project will reduce the cost of 3D printing at the university by over 90%.

Home Automation

Chintan Patel and Samuel Humbert (Cincinnati State Technical and Community College)
Student engineers have designed and built a fully functional model home which harnesses large scale home automation capabilities within a small scale demonstration. The system has been designed to provide an example that could serve as a potential business opportunity in modern home automation.

Whirlpool Poly Film Scoring

Kyle Rhoad and Lauryn Vermillion (Rhodes State College)
Student engineers have designed a process to score the poly film on a dishwasher front panel using a robot. This will improve the manufacturing process in the areas of ergonomics, quality and cycle time.

Instructional Robot Arm

Eric Harper, Evan Tate and Gary Campbell
Student engineers have designed, manufactured, and tested an enclosure for a school purchased robot to aid in educational exercises for the department of engineering technology. The assembly is mobile and allows the use of interchangeable modules for the robot to interact with. The goal is to provide students with the means to learn basic and intermediate robot programming.

Industrial Internet-of-Things for Monitoring and Troubleshooting

Ben Schott, Josh Lentz and Skyler Hill (Zane State College)
Student engineers designed and developed a machine monitoring and troubleshooting Industrial Internet-of-Things (IoT) based network, employing LoRaWAN radios and embedded microcontrollers. The individual devices, or “motes”, monitor temperature, humidity, and vibration at different points in a manufacturing process to aid in troubleshooting issues.

Electric Go-Kart Conversion

Ethan Mckee and Phil Cohen (Zane State College)
Student engineers designed and built an electric go-kart from start to finish by converting a gas-powered go kart to a battery operated, electric vehicle. The completed, fully functional electric go-kart utilizes an electric motor and an electronic controller.

Conveyor Belt System for PLC Education

Brandon Carrier, Deshaun Williams and Nathan Davis (Columbus State Community College)
The student engineers built a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)-based conveyor belt system to be used in the PLC training laboratories at the Columbus State Community College. The designed conveyor belt system will be used to teach students PLC programming in industrial environments.

Drone Collision Avoidance System

Corey Thimmes, Dustin Flint and Kevin Theuer (Columbus State Community College)
The student engineers built a drone that will have safety features that can be customized by the user. The drone will possess a LIDAR sensor for collision avoidance, a live video stream via Raspberry Pi 3, GPS, and wireless telemetry to also be controlled by a ground station laptop.

Distributed Wireless Control System Integration for Motoman SV3 Robot Work Cell

Alpha Diaby, Kyle Turner, Rostand Wamba
The objective of this project is to upgrade an existing robot arm work cell unit with a Yaskawa Motoman SV3 manipulator and multiple individual wireless microcontrollers,operatingautonomously. The completed system displays the potential for modular, distributed and autonomous control systems for industrial applications.

Water Level Control System for a Steam Cooker Appliance

Eric Dean (Edison State Community College)
Student engineer worked with ITW/Hobart in Troy, Ohio to upgrade a steam cooker appliance which will better accommodate customers. The appliance was redesigned both electrically and mechanically to automatically fill with water, shut off at the appropriate level, and include safety measures for overfill.

Student Presentation Topics included in Room B:

Automated Bottling System Upgrade

Cody Hess, Richard Kazda, William Lane
The goal of this project is to revamp the existing automated bottling system, used in course ENT 402 - Industrial Automation Lab course at the Miami Hamilton Campus. The scope of the revamp is to install an electrical system that could be found in modern day industry environment and redesign the stations along the conveyor to have a more efficient flow.

Autonomous Robotic Personal Assistant

Erik Miller and Obieda Abulubad (North Central State College)
Student engineers developed an autonomous robotic assistant for use in cargo storage and delivery with the capability to be accessed remotely for telepresence functionality over virtual network computing. The robotic system, controlled by a Raspberry Pi, uses a web-camera to track a target with the help of computer vision.

Self-Adjusting Shock Absorber for a Sprint Car

Andrew Bargo, Kyle Peters, and Trevor Pryor (North Central State College)
The goal of this project is to complete a functioning automatic adjusting shock system on the left rear side of a sprint car. This automatic adjusting shock system will maintain the stiffness of the shock by monitoring the temperature of the shock and making shock adjustments when necessary.

Caster Durability Test Machine – Sauder Manufacturing

Hunter Clingaman and Jacob Carpenter (Northwest State Community College)
The students designed a machine for testing specific institutional furniture components against fatigue stresses and wear caused by moving the furnishings back and forth. The Caster Durability Test Machine will be designed and implemented for the benefit of the sponsoring organization of the project: Sauder Manufacturing Company.

Robotic Coyote Decoy

Jerrod Abel and Michael Hurd (Columbus State Community College)
Student engineers designed and developed the Robotic Coyote Decoy (RCD), which implements several non-lethal techniques to deliver a sense of fear into the geese and prompting it to leave the location. The RCD looking like a coyote makes loud noises, wags his tail and bright lights is intended as a nuisance wildlife management program for a variety of locations, including Airports, Parks and Parking lots.

See the 2017 Presentation Schedule (PDF 1256KB)

See the 2017 poster (PDF 800KB)

See the 2016 Presentation Schedule (PDF 946KB)

See the 2016 poster (PDF 508KB)

See the poster of projects (PDF).

Whirlpool Automated Exit Gantry

Andrew Hawes, Brennan Hornyak, Michaela Zack, Richard Shaffer
Advisor: Mert Bal
Student engineers designed and built an automated Exit Gantry system for Whirlpool Corporation in Clyde, Ohio. The new gantry system, installed on the Alpha Line (Line 5) of the Whirlpool plant, replace a previous outdated system that was incapable of running at a higher production rate.

Harris Products Group - Annealing Furnace Optimization for Silver Alloy Brazing Wire

Shelby Knostman, Danielle LeFevers
Advisor and Mentor: Gary Drigel
Student engineers measured, observed, analyzed and recommended the necessary operating temperature parameters of a batch furnace to properly anneal and prevent oxidation of high silver alloy brazing wire. This will ensure customers consistent and quality products.

Hephaestus 3D Printer

Nathan Bradison, Victor Meszaros, Weston Burch
Advisor: Rob Speckert, Mentor: Jim Davis (Zane State College)
Student engineers built a 3D Printer for use in demonstrations and courses on Zane State College campus. The new printer has an improved build platform and higher processing speed compared to an existing 3D printer at Zane State College.

3D Printer - Designing for Additive Manufacturability*

Kevin Canter, Isaac Crout
Advisor and Mentor: Gary Drigel
Student engineers evaluated the capabilities of Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D printed parts for strength, geometry and dimensional accuracy for potential use in consumer products. The evaluation was done using a Stratasys CubePro™ Trio FDM printer.
SunCoke Energy - Redesign of Coal Unload Underpass Sump System
James Geurin, Kyle Bosse
Advisor and Mentor: Gary Drigel

Student engineers redesigned and recommended modifications to a sump system to be simple, cost effective, and efficient in diverting ground water run off based on a 10 year flood plan. The redesign will increase the reliability of the system and decrease the amount of cost on unplanned maintenance.

Medical Air Curtain Simulator

Jacob Schraub, Brian Stebbins, Steven Vasquez
Advisor: Gary Drigel & Mentor: Mazyar Amin
Student engineers designed, manufactured, and tested a versatile air curtain simulator planned for use by patients in hospital beds. The purpose of the simulator system is to create a preventive barrier that will protect the patient from outside contaminants and minimize the spread of air borne pathogens from the patients.

Emergency Vehicle Detection for Civilian Vehicles*

Mike Titus, Mike Mount, John Muskopf
Advisor: Gary Drigel, Mentor: Mert Bal
Student engineers designed, manufactured and tested a prototype device to detect the presence of emergency vehicles within range of a test vehicle based on the presence of emergency sirens. This system reacts and alerts the driver by flashing a signal on a touch screen as well as turning off the vehicle’s radio when an emergency vehicle approaches.

Remotely Controlled Collapsible Frame Vertical Lift Gate

Andrew Batdorf, Jarl Sebastian, Matthew Watson
Advisor and Mentor: Gary Drigel
Student engineers designed, analyzed, manufactured and tested a collapsible frame residential access gate. Design requirements included: mechanical operation, collapsible frame, remote control, security and pleasing the aesthetics.

Spring Valley Tree Farm – The Design of a Christmas Tree Loading Apparatus*

Steve Hanekamp, Sam Francis, Matt Mongin
Advisor and Mentor: Gary Drigel
Student engineers designed, manufactured, and tested a prototype device to move fresh cut and baled pine trees from check out to the customer’s car. Design requirements included the ability to lift trees from ground level to the top a vehicle without damaging the vehicle and to be manned by one person.

Remote Controlled Lawn Mover*

William Gardner, Justin McFall, Julio Chavez
Advisor: Gary Drigel, Mentor Mert Bal
Student engineers designed, constructed and tested a prototype remote controlled lawn mower for residential use. A gasoline powered push lawn mower is converted to start, stop, drive and mow via remote control. Key goals were safety, reliability and protection of the consumer from injury and liability.

Sani-Lift Garbage Can Lift System

Doyle Bush, Benjamin Lartey
Advisor and Mentor: Gary Drigel
Student engineers designed, manufactured, and tested a prototype residential lift system to facilitate the disposal of waste into tall commercial refuse containers and dumpsters that require lifting higher than forty inches.

Quanex IG - Poly Inline Splice Automation

Chris Untied and Nick Dry
Advisor: Rob Speckert
Students developed an automated Poly Inline Splicer system for Quanex IG Systems in Cambridge Ohio. The system splices two webs of strapping together with increased strength and speed resulting in considerable savings to the company.

Garden Monitor*

Charles Maguire, Jacob Groezinger, Melvin Harris, Mitch Philpott
Advisor: Mert Bal
Garden Monitor is a network of wireless devices targeted to a large-scale commercial application that can monitor acres of vegetation. A network of wireless-sensor probes measure soil humidity and temperature from plants. The system allows users to monitor growing conditions of their plants through a cloud-based software interface.

Wireless Machine Monitoring Network

Joe Stoll and Matt French
Advisor: Mert Bal
This project consists of a wireless network of sensors that collect and analyze status information from multiple manufacturing machines. The information collected from machines are uploaded to a cloud-based software system for real-time display. The system is intended for analysis of machine utilization in large manufacturing plants.

Foot Pressure Monitoring System*

Ed Haynes, Eric Schmidt, Scott Reynolds, Terry Hugus
Advisor: Mert Bal
Students designed and built a sensor that can be inserted into a shoe in order to monitor pressure points of the foot. The sensor uses a smart phone app via Bluetooth to generate a graphical representation of the foot pressure distribution. The system is intended for various applications of ergonomics studies and sports training.

Energy Mapping System*

Bradley Geer, Brittany Rodriguez, Matthew Fronk
Advisor: Rob Speckert
Student engineers designed and developed a system that produces a graphical representation of energy moving through a system in real time. The system can interface with any computer through a USB connection for real-time visual representation and data-logging.

Bolt Torque Strength Tester

Joe Imbrock and John Nichols
Advisor: Rob Speckert
Student engineers developed a bolt torque tester that will improve ABC’s quality control process of testing the breaking torque (or ultimate torque) of various fasteners. There is a transducer mounted on a torque wrench that transmits the data and torsional deflection to a Visual Basic program. This information can be reviewed to determine whether the fasteners were formed properly and suitable for sale.

Automated Lab Equipment for Fluid Mechanics*

Jason Francis, Larry Bingham
Advisor: Rob Speckert
Student engineers designed an automated laboratory system that calculates flow rate and pressure drop through tubing connected to a gravity fed water system. The system uses a Visual Studio application that allows Miami University students to use experimental data from lab and verify hand calculations.

Distance Lab Package for Fluid Dynamics*

Jason Male, Tyler Thomas, and Taylor Arnett
Advisor: Rob Speckert, Mentors: Mazyar Amin and Mert Bal
Student engineers designed and built portable fluid mechanics laboratory equipment to be used for the distance education program. Students also generated written laboratory assignments and instructions that demonstrate the principals of fluid mechanics in an understandable way using cost effective components.

Telepresence Robot*

Brian Baldridge and Jason Mailloux
Advisor: Mert Bal
Students designed and built a web-controllable, mobile robot that features live audio and video streaming to allow complete interaction and communication between remote users. The robot is intended to be used for university promotion, public relations projects and distance education.

Northwest State Bridge Crusher*

Students: Chris Sherman, Devin Dye, Matt Fedderke
Advisor: Rob Speckert
Student Engineers designed a fully automated Popsicle bridge crusher that will allow the user to orchestrate Popsicle Bridge competitions while maintaining hands-free operation and generating accurate and consistent results.

*: Armin J. Fleck Scholarship Recipient

See the 2014 projects (PDF).

See the 2013 projects (PDF).

See the 2012 projects (PDF).

See the 2011 projects (PDF).

See the 2010 poster (PDF).

See the 2009 projects (PDF).

Basic Utility Vehicle - School Bus

Andrew Ellison, Matthew Farley, Daniel Kay
This team is designing and constructing a utility vehicle that can be used as a school bus in countries with lack of adequate transportation. This year’s design targets African and Latin American countries with warm climates. The group finished 3rd in the National BUV Design Competition in April 2008, organized by the Institute for Affordable Transportation.

Fabrication of Fatigue Delamination Test Rig

Daryl Stamper, Jason Wyrick
This group is enhancing a test setup for composite delamination completed by a previous senior design group. The students will identify and correct problems with mounting and fixtures and run experiments to find the fatigue life of laminated composites.

Automated Saline Dispenser for Fish Tank

Jonathan Corrado, Jason Williamson, Brian Wallen
This team is designing a fish tank with a saline (salt) dispenser controlled by a microprocessor. This project is particularly challenging since high humidity tends to coagulate salt.

Comparative Analysis of Underwater Detention Systems

Greg Gibbs and Ron Moore
This project compares three hydrologic programs that allow the user to obtain modeled detention systems. This study is being funded by Contech Stormwater Solution.

CV Cage Visual Inspection System

Pat Armontrout, Larry Wright, Anthony Brubaker
This project uses a camera and software for part inspection on a 300 ton punch press that is used to punch windows in CV bearing cages. This project is funded by the Timken Company

Residential Elevator

Dan Hellenbrand, Brendan Kuhl, Kerry Willet
This group is undertaking the design and fabrication of a residential elevator. The elevator has to meet the requirements of a person with disabilities. The students will design a completely new elevator by identifying the features and problems of a residential elevator and incorporate the enhancements for easy use by a person with disability.

Electric Vehicle

Jacob Biederman and Greg Gosser
Students are converting an internal combustion engine on a pick up truck to electric power obtained from DC generators. The generators will reside in a trailer mounted on back of the truck.

Strain Gage Instrumentation Trainer

Mike Carino and Bobby Woods
This team is designing a bridge/signal conditioning strain gage unit. Among other things, this unit will allow students in an instrumentation course to study heat effects of current through a strain gage.

PLC Washer Separator Conveyor Design

James Schwieterman, Greg Feathers, Tony Fischer
Students are designing a washer separating assembly conveyor controlled by a PLC and robot. All automation and fixtures are being designed by the students.

PIC Controlled F.I.R.S.T. Robotics Trainer

Joe Graham and Jeremy Roberts

This team is using their Miami University experience to design a robot trainer for Lakota high school students to use in preparation for the F.I.R.S.T. Robotics competition.

Testing Facility for Fatigue Delamination

James Frank, Jeremy Hay, Shaun Reeb, and Jeff Speed
The main objective of this project is to fabricate an experimental setup for testing delamination under fatigue loading on unidirectional carbon-epoxy composite laminates. Experiments are conducted under varying mixed-mode conditions. In this project, a special variable mix mode test-rig has been fabricated to use with an existing vibration shaker system for fatigue-type loading of composites.

Process Control Trainer

Eli Wallace and Andrew Kissel
The Process Control Trainer project is designed to assist students in learning PID control using Ziegler-Nichols tuning. The process data will be collected and sent to distance students in real-time via the Internet. With the data collected, the students are able to display the accompanying charts and graphs of the process as well as calculate all variables needed for PID control.

F.I.R.S.T. Robotics

Susan Pandin, A.J. Lipps, and Anthony Williamson
This group used their Miami University experience to help mentor Lakota East High School students build and compete with a robot for the FIRST Robotics competition at the regional and national level. The Miami students have been involved in all aspects of the project, including design and fund raising. This year's team was named First Robotics team 1038, the Thunder Hawks. The robot game for 2007 was called Rack 'n Roll. The field consisted of a 10 foot rack made of swinging pipes and chains. The object of the game is to hang as many inner-tubes as possible on the swinging pipes to score the most points. The robot stands five feet tall and weighs approximately 100 lbs.

Interfacing a Process Control Trainer to the Web

Derrick Tucker and Nathan Webb
This team is modifying existing laboratory equipment used to familiarize students with fluid process control. The focus is to interface a fluid process trainer to the Internet using a data acquisition card, TCP/IP, and Labview. Distance sites will be able to monitor process variables and manipulate parameters to achieve PI control of the process.

Remote Adjustable Variable Orifice Plate

Joe Powers and Vernon Smith
An aero-derivative turbine engine at General Electric requires several manually controlled variable orifice plates to assist in the control of the air pressure exerted on the thrust mount bearings in the engine. The adjustment of these orifice plates is necessary to extend bearing life and is performed by shutting down the engine and manually adjusting the orifice plates to the desired opening. This team has designed a new remotely adjustable variable orifice plate. Some of the features include control by a linear actuator with a digital readout, a new orifice opening with adjustment capability in one thousandths of an inch, and thermo-electric panels. The adjustment readout is interfaced to a Labview program.

Mar-Test

Tom Houtz and Dwayne Platt
This team designed and built a material tester for Mar-Test Corporation. The unit will be used by the sales team to demonstrate Mar-Test's material testing capabilities. Considerations in the design include load cell interfacing to LabView and proper material selection for demonstration purposes.

Tool Changer

Students: Lee Carey, Anthony Williamson
Design of a tool changer for a small cnc routing machine.

Bar Stool Racer

Students: Brian Miller, Greg Allgaier, D.J. Schenk
Design of a bar stool racer. This includes wheels, steering, and a gasoline powered motor designed into, yes, a bar stool.

Nozzle Grinding Cell

Students: Dustin Musselman, Brandon Wagner
Design of a nozzle grinding cell for grinding jet engine parts. It includes design of a laminated tool fixture, assisting in design of the machines and designing the PLC logic to control the machines

Clutch Test Stand

Students: Justin Baker, Dan Davis, Robert Schneider
Design of a clutch test stand for testing clutches as they are manufactured. This includes the overall structure, operator interface, and PLC control of the test stand.

Interfacing Process Control Trainer to the Web

Students: Derrick Tucker, Nathan Webb
Students are rewiring the trainer to interface to a data acquisition card. They are interfacing the trainer through Labview so the trainer can be controlled and monitored via a TCP/IP interface.

Tool Nipper Station with Vision Camera

Students: John Gengler, Tim Painter, Craig Otto
Students are designing an automatic nipper to cutslag off a part. They are interfacing this with a vision system to determine alignment of the part.

Design of a Snow Remover Blade for Ford Trucks

Students: Jeremiah Chmielowiec, Todd Oswalt, Brian White
Students are using Finite Elements to design a snow remover blade.

High Pressure Cleaning Station

Students: Mihai Bradacs, Joel White
Students are designing a spray wash system to remove bird dung from hospital carts that are stored outdoors.

Test Bridge for Statics Course

Students: Kim Barr, Graham Grayson
Students are designing a bridge for use in Engineering Technology labs to verify bridge truss equations.

Water Tank Design for Caron Corp

Students: Derrick Ice, Don Schwendeman, Matt Dill
Students are instrumenting and re-designing a water tank.

First Robotics

Students: Don Becker, Paula Doliboa, Chris Haussler, Zach Shelton
BendArch Engineering is a Senior Design Team comprised of the students listed. They are partnered with Lakota East Robotics for their robotics competition this year. They are using their Miami University experience in helping to mentor thirty-three high school students, who are in sophomore through senior status, build and compete with a championship robot in the First Robotics competition at both the Regional and National level.

Motoman Standard Design for a Torch Tip Changing Box

Students: Adam Tarter, Dan Goforth, Matthew Foister, Jason Collins
This design needed to encompass all of the standard new NX100 ArcWorld product lines offered by the company. Reach study analyses had to be performed for all systems, AutoCAD drawings, BOM's (Bill of Materials), cost effective solutions for saleability, and two alternate designs. One design was a simple torch tip change function, and the other incorporated more of an automatic tip change function with minor operator interaction. We will have video documentation reflecting the actual functionality as part of our final presentation.

2005 1ST PLACE - Basic Utility Vehicle

Students: Jim Bachman, Sean Reed, Vince Breidenbach
This team is entering a competition to build a basic utility vehicle for use in third world countries. The vehicle is aimed at improving lives in developing countries by facilitating the spread of simple vehicles that can be assembled almost anywhere, by almost anyone. This project is built under the guidelines of The Institute of Affordable Transportation. The team will complete on April 30, 2005 in Indianapolis against other major U.S. universities

Paper Machine

Students: Dan Thyen, Rich Baker
The project is to correct the speed readout for the coating head rollers on a paper coating machine. An error correction curve was developed experimentally and then applied to speed signal to adjust for the sensor errors.

Automatic Car Lifting Mechanism

Students: Daniel Black, David Graf, and Joshua Moreland
The team is designing all phases (structural, activation, safety, cost, etc.) of an automatic passenger car lifting mechanism that may be employed when any tire on the car goes flat. The design takes into account varying surface roughness and unevenness and there will be some investigation into an inside sensor system that warns the driver of impending "flatness" and identifies the tire location.

First Robotics

Students: Jimmy M. Nichols, Matthew E. Brown, Craig A. Mathews
First Robotics with Lakota East High School offers our students a unique opportunity to mentor young potential engineers. This project involves designing a robot to perform a specific task and earn points in head-to-head competition against other robots. In addition, students assist with facilities preparation and fund raising.

HVAC Trainer

Students: Gary Bosse, Josh Huff, John Wilson
This team is modifying an HVAC trainer for use in a thermodynamics course. The modifications will allow for more flexible and accurate labs. Students will be able to monitor temperature and pressure variance across an evaporator coil. This will allow the Coefficient of Performance (COP) to be measured accurately. The system is web based, allowing the controls and data to be used for distance learning.

Fuzzy Logic Controlled Motor

Students: Mindy Nicely, Telicia McCants
This team is designing the electronics and writing the code to create a hands-on lab experiment for teaching fuzzy logic concepts. Students will write input and output membership functions and rules using a fuzzy logic interface. The behavior of the motor will then be observed as the input and output membership functions are modified.

Dayton Technologies Pick Cycle Automation Application

Students: Michael W. Harrison, Bryan Waye
The main objective of this project is to use engineering design and analysis to reduce packaging labor by developing automation equipment and fixtures. The project is intended to determine the process parameters and equipment design improvements that would give the greatest labor savings over the project life cycle.

Manufacturing Automation Cell

Students: Steve Hart, Alan Belchear, Adam Watters
This team is designing a grant funded manufacturing automation cell at Rhodes State Community College. This group worked with the college to determine what technologies needed to be taught in the cell, and designed a working model that will be used by the college.

Process Trainer

Students: Clarence Breitenbach, Aaron Roberts, Andy Rearden
This team is designing a series of fluid based lab experiments for Miami University. They are also interfacing three process trainers to the web for use in distance education. These labs will reinforce classroom lectures on topics in fluid mechanics.

Pacific Industries Valve Stem Transfer

Students: Neil Gardner, Joe Rudischum, Greg Selzer
This group is working with Pacific Industries on a redesign and cost analysis for a manufacturing application to transport process valve stems moving from a lathe to a wash station.

Viscosity Measurement System

Students: Randy Schilling, Darius Banks
This team is designing a trainer to measure the viscosity of most fluids. They are also interfacing the unit to a PC using Labview.

Backhoe Design

Students: Mike Blaisdell, Tim Brahimaj, Adam Kemery
This group is designing a backhoe for use in farm applications. They designed the part using hand calculation and verified the results using Working Model. The backhoe was then built and tested.

Magnode Mobile Caustic Etch Tank

Students: Mark Miller, Dura Peffly, and Mike Weeks
The main task of this project is to modify the design of a caustic etch tank that checks aluminum grain structure. The existing procedure does not have good accuracy or repeatability, and is labor-intensive. The redesign of the tanks will solve these problems.