UCalgary engineering students showcase innovation and ingenuity at annual design fair

Graduating students at the Schulich School of Engineering at U of C are showcasing their ingenuity and innovation skills at the annual Design Fair.

Calgary’s next generation of bright young minds showcased their ingenuity and innovation skills Tuesday at the University of Calgary’s annual Engineering Design Fair.

A total of 138 capstone projects crafted by fourth-year students at the Schulich School of Engineering were on display as part of the signature event aimed at providing practical solutions to everyday problems.

Mechanical, biomedical and software engineers put their brains together in the hopes of impressing judges, but also to make a positive impact on the world with their projects.

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“Students are encapsulating so many different elements of engineering so it’s an opportunity for each of them to take what they’ve learned and show themselves and others what they’re capable of,” said Anders Nygren, dean at the Schulich School of Engineering.

“We have a number of projects today that students came up with entirely on their own that could potentially become a business. Many of them are industry driven and have industry advisors for students to meet with.”

The fair featured everything from robotic devices that support search and rescue efforts, environmentally friendly initiatives to recycle electric vehicle batteries and blood pressure simulators to aid in the monitoring of patients.

Derek Zamzow, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student, is among hundreds of mechanical engineering students aiming to create positive changes for his community.

He’s part of a team called Ride4All, which focussed on the creation of an adaptive tricycle for children who have mobility issues.

“The requirement for the project was to have adjustable handlebars because of the ones on the original tricycle weren’t very comfortable, to have more adjustability in the seat and the pedals cause some of the kids struggle with knowing their pedaling motion,” Zamzow said.

“So, we designed an attachment that can Velcro their foot to the pedal and then another part of the project was controlling their speed so we designed a braking system that can slow them down and keep them safe.”

Meanwhile, other groups focussed in on solutions to widespread issues impacting all Calgarians.

Hasnat Zaheer and his team members developed an underground storage pipe system to heat up walkways during the winter.

“So, we did this at a much greater scale for a kilometre-long walkway which would essentially support heavy duty industrial vehicles,” Zaheer said.

“The snow goes through a pipe underground made up of three or four inches and our system has 50 per cent glycol propylene and 50 per steam mixture, which is heated up to 90 degrees Celsius.”

Zaheer adds that big industrial businesses could save time and money in the long run if they’re able to have a clear walkway that would allow them to work more efficiently.

A large majority of the capstone projects were also software based, featuring new designs that measure telemetry models for cars, tracking devices or beacons for lost hikers and systems designed to measure greenhouse gas emissions on farms.

Many projects also highlighted the importance of health-care solutions, specifically the need for practical surgery solutions.

Jenny Hua is a fourth-year biomedical engineering student who invested her team’s time and energy into improving traction for hip replacement surgeries.

They developed a special boot placed on the onto the foot that can help pull the leg out of its socket during a hip replacement and provide better support for surgeons.

“We talked to a lot of clinicians and industry professionals to get their feedback and to understand where the complications are with patients because a lot of surgeons are interactive with these kinds of devices,” said Hua.

“There’s a lot of improvement points we want to address given that there can be a lot of problems that can come out of hip surgeries.

The projects will be on display for the community at the Schulich School of Engineering’s Canadian Natural Resources Atrium until 5 p.m. Tuesday.

A panel of judges will determine winners of awards at the end of a busy day at 4 p.m.