From training simulations for military personnel and an optimization plan for a luxury boat company to a toaster that crisps bread according to your perfect toast color and a smart chessboard crafted for beginners, UCF student innovation was on full display at the Fall 2023 Senior Design Showcase.
Seniors in computer science, electrical and computer engineering, photonic science and engineering, industrial engineering and management systems, and mechanical and aerospace engineering demonstrated the knowledge they gleaned over their academic journey at UCF, culminating into one final endeavor prior to graduation. Each team spent up to a year on their capstone projects from concept to creation, working in teams to help prepare for the real-world collaborations they will experience when they enter the workforce.
Students submitted video presentations of their work to a group of volunteer judges who evaluated each project based on a rubric that examined multiple facets, including technical merit, the broader impacts of the work, project management and creativity.
Out of the projects submitted by electrical and computer engineering students, the top five projects were:
- PCB Short Circuit Locator
- Toasty: Image Processing Smart Toaster
- SMART Chessboard
- Machine Learning Applications in Power System Fault Location with ADMS and AMI
- Autonomous Trash Sorter
The Autonomous Trash Sorter project was selected as the best project from ECE.
A disciplinary team that included ECE students also made it to the live showcase round: HIVE: The Grounded Swarm.
Overall, out of more than 90 teams, 30 were selected to present their work live to the judges for the in-person senior design showcase.
The judges selected the following standout projects from the other disciplines, and the overall showcase winner who won the Best in Show award:
- UCF Department of Computer Science: RE-Rassor: Technology Upgrades
- UCF Electrical and Computer Engineering: Autonomous Trash Sorter
- UCF Industrial Engineering and Management Systems: Scheduling and Utilization Cost Improvements for the Cepheid Product Line
- Interdisciplinary: A Machine Learning Solution to Spinal Surgery Candidate Assessment
- UCF Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering: GlideX – Underwater Glider
- Best in Show: UCF Polaris: Mobile Campus Exploration
The Fall 2023 Senior Design Showcase was sponsored by Northrop Grumman, L3Harris, Mitsubishi Power and Texas Instruments.