Mechanical engineering student leads design of faster, safer equipment for Microsoft

A seven-student Interdisciplinary Capstone team led by mechanical engineering major Joseph Lee is on its way to presenting a finalized prototype at the Craig M. Berge Design Day this spring.

Working with sponsor Microsoft, Team 25015 is designing a winch and pulley system for managing active optical cables that connect high-performance computing devices such as routers and servers. As artificial intelligence and other high-performance computing needs grow, more AOCs are needed to manage power. 

Microsoft positions the cables in trays 10 feet above the ground. The students’ winch and pulley system allows workers to space ladders farther apart and spend less time on them, making the process both quicker and safer.

With sponsor feedback, the team had a working prototype ready for review before the spring semester.

“It’s been helpful to hear feedback twice from people who have spent a lot of years in industry and have done a lot of design reviews. They’ve seen projects that have succeeded and not succeeded,” said Lee.