AME students compete in inaugural Engineering Discovery Day
(From left) Engineering undergraduates Nick Inscho and Joshua Fraire collaborate with electrical engineering major Henrich Buendia and civil engineering major Baw Reh to design a sensor-equipped garbage can that alerts users when full.
The University of Arizona College of Engineering hosted its first Engineering Discovery Day on Nov. 20, where over 140 teams of first-year students presented projects they designed from the ground up. The event was modeled after the college's signature showcase for senior capstone projects: Craig M. Berge Design Day.
“This is our first year running this event, and the results have been outstanding,” said Joanna Robertson, adjunct engineering professor and Discovery Day lead instructor. “Students were eager to pursue their own ideas and expand on the interests they developed during the Solar Track Meet.”
Aerospace engineering majors Josh Brossman and Maggie Henry worked on a project aimed at preventing overwatering plants. The design connected two sensors to a water pump and a microcomputer to monitor soil moisture. When the moisture level dropped below 30%, the system automatically watered the plant.
On another team, aerospace engineering major and Flinn Scholar Roselyn Dorrell helped develop an ultrasonic sensor mounted on a servo motor that continuously rotated 180 degrees. The sensor spotted objects in its path and displayed them on a computer screen.
“Getting to work on a project of our own choosing for our second major assignment was a lot of fun,” Dorrell said. “Being able to pick anything pushed us to dive deeper into concepts we were genuinely excited about.”
W.L. Gore & Associates, a global materials science company, supplied materials and awarded prizes to top teams for categories like best use of prototyping and best overall design.