Engineering students at the University of Windsor have proudly demonstrated the results of years of learning.
Roughly 300 students in their fourth year of the various engineering disciplines at the university presented their capstone projects Friday during an open house at the Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation. The presentation, a requirement for students in getting their degrees, is an opportunity for students to show how they have taken what they learned and applied it to situations in everyday life.
Kristie Pearce, the spokesperson for the university's Faculty of Engineering, said area businesses have teamed up with some of the groups on certain products.
"They're displaying these projects and industry has invited a lot of partners with the students on these projects," said Pearce. "Also, faculty are grading them on these projects right now, too."
One such partnership involved a group of students working with GBIE, a company from Amherstburg that creates weather seals for automobiles. Mechanical engineering student Elizabeth Sweeny said the company asked her group to create seals that reduce noise.
"What we've developed is an arm that adds no additional noise," said Sweeny. "It's really easy to use and is attached to the shaker, and it keeps the shaker perfectly aligned. Then we created an easy way for them to know the mass that's being applied to the sample, so they know how much contact there is between the two surfaces."
Visitors were encouraged to ask questions of the students. Scoresheets were also provided so visitors could give written feedback on the degree of innovation demonstrated, as well as the confidence exhibited by the students as they presented their ideas.
