SJSU Materials Engineering Designs Shine at Technical Meeting

Materials Engineering undergraduates from San Jose State University participated in a virtual technical presentation at the November joint technical meeting hosted by the Santa Clara Valley chapter of ASM International and the Northern California chapter of SAMPE, the world’s largest associations of metals and composites-centric materials engineers and scientists. SCV-ASM Chair Jacques Matteau said, “These 16 young minds represent the possibilities of the type of innovations we may all get to see in the years to come as these ideas potentially grow and take root.” Covalent Metrology was the corporate sponsor for this meeting.

The senior projects were initiated by students.They presented proposed designs (rather than final designs) of impactful projects ranging from recycling cat litter to a no-electricity-required ventilator design.

One thread running through all the student projects was, how can we solve real-world issues? Julian Degery, already working in industry, is addressing how to keep polyurethane material  tension steady on production lines with a wide range of speeds and operating modes. Christopher Patrick Lee was inspired to start his 3D-printed traction device project after suffering from “Text-neck syndrome” while studying for finals.

Another common theme was working with accessible and affordable materials. Olga Blinova uses her SJSU access to High Performance Computers to design a simulation of material atomic interaction among various materials; her computational research helps us better understand and predict real-world limits. And the team of Patricia Allana Dela Cruz and Edward Pamell Penico keep their materials budget under $300 so the prosthetic hand they are designing can remain affordable for many of the 1.2 million amputees in the United States.

“One of the nice things about SJSU Engineering students is that they are often already working part-time,” remarked chapter member Chris Moore. “They understand enough about how companies operate so they can hit the ground running.”

Richard Chung, Chair of the Chemical and Materials Engineering Department, said, “I’m so proud of our students and the solutions they are coming up with. A couple of projects have received industry support such as the Retro-19 ventilator project (Livermore Instruments), the Rigid Absorbing Desiccant (Steel Camel), the Rechargeable pacemaker and Lower limb prosthetic (both Jabil), and TarpPad (Pfeiffer Consulting/Higher Ground).”

The Projects for Fall 2020 include:

  • Timelapse Motion Control Robot, by Syed Ahmad Ali
  • Atomic Model of Electro-optical Properties of Zinc Tungstate, ZnWO4, by Olga Blinova
  • Dancer Arm Tension Control Optimization, by Julian Xavier Degery
  • Prosthetic Hand using 3D Printing via Gradient-Dependent Infill, by Patricia Allana Dela Cruz and Edward Pamell Penico
  • Surface Modification Of 3D Printed PLA Part Using a Solution of Virgin PLA Material Dissolved in Solvent Allowing for Surface Bonding, by Kyle Matthew Hendrickson
  • Design of a Cervical Traction Device, by Christopher Patrick Lee
  • Retro 19 Volume Indicator (Modernising the Mark 7 ventilator for COVID applications), by Scott Minol Lienhart and An Thien Trong
  • Cost-Effective Process for Safely Recycling Sodium Bentonite Cat Litter, by Raleigh Joseph Lynaugh and his feline assistant Hildegard
  • Application of a Rigid Absorbing Desiccant, by Vinny Vo Nguyen
  • TarpPad, by Timothy Richard Riley Jr.
  • An Additively Manufactured Variable Isotropy Thermoplastic Structure for a Lower Limb Prosthetic, by Ruth Sosa
  • Development of Software for Modeling Geometric Frustration in Glassy Structures, by Mina Tavakolzdeh
  • Solar Cell Helmet, by Ray Anthony Turrietta
  • Rechargeable Pacemaker Optimization: Polymeric Material Design, by Dikaios C. Wong

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