REGINA - Fourth year engineering students at the University of Regina showed off their innovative and cutting-edge designs to the public Saturday at Engineering Project Day.
It is an annual event, this year with presentations and trade shows in the Education Building featuring over 30 projects presented by the students. Among the projects created by the students that were particularly highlighted include the following:
VisuSpeak: A mobile app that can translate American Sign Language to English using Machine Learning.
Alternative Design to Traditional Septic Systems for Ochapowace Nation: A project done working with Ochapowace Nation to design three wastewater systems to serve as alternatives to existing traditional septic systems.
Anti-ooze Valve System for Pellet-based, High-flow Extrusion 3D Printing: A project to address the issue of unwanted oozing of molten material through the nozzle during pellet-based 3D printing processes.
Intelligrain: A mobile app aimed at grain analysis process, to assist farmers and optimize quality, pricing, and sales strategies.
Proposed Upgrade Alternatives and Facility Upgrades for Okanese Cree Nation Drinking Water Treatment Plant: A project proposing three water treatment process alternatives to upgrade or replace the current system at Okanese Cree Nation
SecureMe: A mobile app to enhance personal safety and provide immediate support for individuals facing danger or requiring assistance.
Power Wheelchair with Enhanced Safety Features and Automation: a design aimed at improving overall safety with upgraded features.
Analog Circuit Reliability for Low Earth Orbit Space Applications: A payload board that studies the effects of space radiation on commonly used surface mount analog integrated circuits in low earth orbit.
Spydersense: a thermal monitoring hexapod robot.
These are just some of the projects that were on display Saturday. The projects were presented during the trade show and also orally in a presentation in the auditorium.
University of Regina Dean of Engineering Dr. Phillip Choi points out this is the culmination of several months of effort by the students throughout the year.
The goal with this event is to replicate what engineering students can expect in the real world after they graduate and being working as an engineer.
“I think in every case, when an engineer goes out to work, they have to work with their client, so that’s why we try our best to come up with more industrial partners that give us a project for our students to work on,” said Choi. “So they will learn how to talk to their client, and to define what is the objective of the projects, and then what are the key parameters you have to look at in terms of designing the system that they intended to design.”
The financial part of how to build a project is also important, as is the public safety aspects. Choi said the idea is to “provide real world experience,” and while these are small scale projects right now, 20-30 years down the road these engineers could be working on billion-dollar projects. “They see the pattern, the methodology and the approach that is used,” said Choi.
