Previous ASME Award Winner

Recent Departmental Runner Up Awards

Capstone Design Projects

Rollercoaster Track Testing Robot

2003-2004 - Winter

Team: 4

Team Members

Aaron Bell
Ian Cadieux
Ben Graham
Ken Wu

Transmission for Unmanned Ground Vehicle

2003-2004 - Winter

Team: 5

Team Members

William Hui
Fernando Martinez
Brian Parisi
Rosa Sandoval
Byron Tierney

Controlled Free Weight System

2003-2004 - Winter

Team: 6

Team Members

Chris Kwanzen Hu
Scott Vernon Wong
Eiki Wai-Chi Or
Jason Robert Korniski
Harry Rafy Arsene

Convection Loop for Chaotic Flow

2003-2004 - Winter

Team: 7

Team Members

Donna Choi
Daniel Guzman
Erik Danielson
Jing Hu
Danny Lok

Acoustic Measurement Device, sponsor Navy Marine Mammal Program

2003-2004 - Spring

Team: 1

Team Members

Brandon Braga
Robert Hughes
Jeff Smith
Doug Spence

Bicycle Rolling Resistance

2003-2004 - Winter

Team: 8

Team Members

Tim Johnson
Tim Lindfelt
Jeffrey Lyo
Eric Price
Ross Stensrud

Robotic Arm

2003-2004 - Spring

Team: 2

Team Members

Cory Nagel
Daisy Novy
Jon Orr
Danny Beck

Skateboard Router

2003-2004 - Spring

Team: 3

Team Members

Elia Fehme
Dan Smith
Kyle Kleinschmidt
Dave Wiens

Liquid Silica Dispenser

2003-2004 - Spring

Team: 4

Team Members

Aaron Davis
Chris Cobb
Justin Searcy
Lane Carlson

Gas Turbine Fuel Mixer

2003-2004 - Spring

Team: 5

Team Members

Luca Brammer
James Gregg
Tuan Ong
Danielle Robles

Microscope Positioner

2003-2004 - Spring

Team: 6

Team Members

Thomas Scholl
Jeffrey Heil
David Hauser
Mike Di Lauro

Yachtbot

2003-2004 - Spring

Team: 7

Team Members

Wayne Husband
Nicolas Padagas
Eric Mellers
Rebecca Denson
Joe Kilcoyne

Tactile Navigation Interface

2003-2004 - Spring

Team: 8

Team Members

Laura Chao
Alice Duong
Gustavo Garcia

Classroom Table Extension

2003-2004 - Spring

Team: 9

Team Members

Joey Ho
Mary Le
Michael Yang
Sundana Chung

Bead Bonding

2003-2004 - Winter

Team: 1

Team Members

Matt Mycroft
Stephanie Hoffman
Joann Luu
Adam Kimmerly

Wearable Lower Body Negative Pressure Pump

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 23

Team Members

Cindy Alberto
Natalie Gilvaja
Sidney Huen
Brendan Justus
Eni Ikuku

Contact Team
Currently, the constant exposure of astronauts to microgravity in space has the potential to cause lasting negative effects on the human body, which include muscular atrophy and even some cardiovascular deconditioning. To combat this, a mobile wearable circulation pump was designed to simulate gravity by creating a negative pressure of 20 mmHg within the suit and reverting fluid shifts in the body.
Complete Set Up of Vacuum Wiring

Dermal Cooling Vest

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 33

Team Members

Rachel Oelsner
Xochilth Saldana
Noa Kerner
Samuel Steeg
Jacob Plata

Contact Team
Active outdoor workers exposed to hot and humid environments face the threat of developing heat related illnesses. The dermal cooling system uses thermoelectric cooling in the form of battery powered Peltier devices to cool circulating fluid throughout a network of tubes surrounding the user’s torso. The system is completely portable and can deliver more than 200W of heat removal from the user.
A CAD model of the vest with the attached backpack are shown.

Spar Mooring for Ocean Turbulence Measurements

2020-2021 - Winter

Team: 10

Team Members

Eliran Q. Lenard
Ayesha Riaz
Horim Yu
Erik Zamarripa

Geno Pawlak and the EFD Lab are conducting a research study seeking to quantify the hydrodynamic mechanisms in kelp forests. The spar mooring for ocean turbulence measurements was a design solution for securely housing the acoustic doppler velocimeters that record flow data during deployments.
Team 10 with 1 of 5 spar segments and image of probe holding fixture

Tracheostomy Support System

2020-2021 - Winter

Team: 7

Team Members

Udai Kandah
Philip Lin
Karie Madrid
Ryan Yamamoto

Contact Team
Nearly 85,000 Americans receive a tracheostomy annually. Amongst them, about 12.5% develop skin deteriorations and pain due to prolonged contact with ventilation tubing. Our project addresses this issue through the use of an inflatable silicone support that can automatically adjust based on force sensor readings. This device aims to tackle an unaddressed global problem in the hospital with a novel design idea centered around biocompatible materials, control automation, and air flow mechanics.
Inflatable support device that can automatically adjust in height using force sensor feedback.

Brain Organoid Advanced Research Development in Space (BOARDS) Launch Acceleration Simulation Tool

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 14

Team Members

Christian Chan
David Morales
Jerry Lai
Junsong Kim
Mary Nguyen

Contact Team
The pursuit of space as the next frontier of human exploration raises the question of how space microgravity affects the human brain. To study these effects, brain samples will be sent to the International Space Station aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. However, the high G-forces of a rocket launch may damage the samples. As a result, an acceleration centrifuge simulator was designed to simulate a rocket launch profile to account for these high G-forces.
BLAST centrifuge assembly that will be build and tested at The Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination.

NIWC Drag on Inline String of Spheres

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 26

Team Members

Pedro Esteban Lorenzo
Ivy Pham
Kristen Rosier
Alex Schreyer
Benny Wu

Contact Team
An empirical characterization of the drag coefficient of on a line of multiple spheres as number and spacing between spheres changed. This was primarily done for two in-line spherical floats at various separation distances between floats; tests were also preformed on a single float to set a baseline, and 2-5 floats with zero separation distance.
Experimental hardware assembled. Rigidly linked spherical floats are connected to sensors and weights.

Intraoperative Tissue Biomechanics Sensor

2020-2021 - Winter

Team: 14

Team Members

Tejas Choudhary
Ryan Fimbres
John Junio
Archana Penumudi

Contact Team
Intraoperative, handheld devices designed to provide real time values of stress and strain within nerve tissue.
Image of Stress Device and Strain Devic3e

Sole Survivors

2020-2021 - Winter

Team: 12

Team Members

Garrett Crotty
Miles Kieler
Jordan Pham
Ho Wong

Contact Team
This project focused on creating a solution to reduce the amount of stingray stings for a user, which could be achieved by either a footwear item that is puncture proof or a deterrent that scares away stingrays before they are able to be of harm. The team created a footwear item named “Sole Survivors” that is puncture resistant in key areas on the sole, top, and back of a user's foot to protect the user from the stingray’s venom.
Final prototype of the Sole Survivor

Optimization of COVID-19 Testing Workflow

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 6

Team Members

Sidney Chan
Miya Coimbra
Garrett Dawson
Matthew Lok
Haoyi Tian

Contact Team
This project provided two solutions for automating the decapping of COVID-19 sample test tubes in UC San Diego's EXCITE Lab. The goal of the project was to increase overall testing throughput by decreasing decapping time and circumventing limitations on certain equipment.
Left image: Adapters for the Capit-All machine to aid in decapping 1-1.4 mL tubes. Right image: The Parallel Beam Decapper, which decaps 5 mL tubes.

Thermal Switch

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 24

Team Members

Julia Guerrero
Caleb Kobriger
Samantha Lee
Brooke Pauken
Noah Sheen

Contact Team
The thermal switch project, sponsored by Professor Carlos F. Coimbra and Gregory Specht, studied the effectiveness of a gas-filled expansion switch design. Specifically, the focus of the project was to prove or disprove the possibility of a gas powered thermal switch to be used on rovers in Lunar and Martian missions.
CAD model of upside small go-pro like camera within a clear encasement. Attached to the camera are a heat sink, bellow (spring like cylinder), and thermal insulating material. On the top and bottom of the encasement are aluminum plates.

Dermal Cooling Vest

2020-2021 - Winter

Team: 13

Team Members

Joshua Choi
Tyler Compo
Edgar Favila
Vladimir Melnik
Jocelyne A. Perdomo Kú

Contact Team
Improper thermoregulation can be seen in field workers who perform physical activity in hot and/or humid environments. Medical patients can also experience it as a symptom or side effect of the treatment of certain diseases. In these cases, cooling vests can be used to remove excess heat from the skin which assists in thermoregulation. Our sponsor, Dr. José R. Suárez, proposes a novel cooling vest that utilizes thermoelectric cooling devices (Peltier devices).
This image depicts the final cooling vest. Both the inner cooling vest with circulating tubing and outer insulation vest can be seen.

Ultrasound Transducer Guide for Dental Imaging

2020-2021 - Winter

Team: 16

Team Members

Ariel Ubaldo
Nicolas Kumkom
Steven Luyapan
Sung Bum Lee

Contact Team
The ultrasound transducer guidance system was designed to aid the process of scanning the oral cavity while collecting necessary position data for 3D image reconstruction. The manually operated device has a patient position their head on a chin rest while the operator manipulates the transducer. An axial encoder and a linear encoder gather the position data of the transducer tip during the ultrasound scanning process which will be used by our sponsor to reconstruct 3D images of the oral cavity.
A front view and a 3/4 view of the ultrasound transducer guidance system for dental imaging fixed to a table top.

ATA Smart Animatronic Figure Breakaway Joint

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 1

Team Members

Vi Ly
Xuebin Zhu
Ze Zhuang
Matthew Henry
Devanshu (Dev) Gulati

Contact Team
The primary goal of the project is to refine the functionality of an animatronic figure that ATA will use to enhance their analytical design, robotics, and controls capabilities. The project involves: (1) designing and implementing a breakaway mechanism at the upper arm segment of the animatronic figure, (2) creating a dynamic model that predicts arm breakaway under different motion profiles, and (3) developing a control strategy that safely operates the arm in the event of a breakaway.
Our animatronic figure waving hi!

FSAE Composite Anti-Intrusion Plate

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 11

Team Members

Norman Chen-Liaw
Dante Khandelwal
Amy Liang
Saketh Madamala
Efran Martinez

The design, manufacturing, and testing of a composite anti-intrusion plate for the front impact structure of a Formula SAE vehicle.
CAD render of the final composite anti-intrusion plate design showing the face skin, honeycomb core, and inserts.

Cohu Peripheral Pickup

2020-2021 - Winter

Team: 8

Team Members

Christian Powell
Jordan Steele
Kyle Gore
Aaron Lao

Contact Team
The purpose of this project is to design a peripheral seal solution for our sponsor, Cohu, to implement into their existing semiconductor testing machines. Cohu is an industry leader in equipment and services for back-end semiconductor manufacturing. It is necessary to research a variety of seal candidates in attempts to move the pickup mechanism for their pick and place handler to the periphery of the semiconductor chips their products handle in order to improve the efficiency of the handler.
A 3D rendering of our pick and place machine.