Engineering Students Demonstrate Projects that Solve ‘Real-World’ Problems

WHAT:	Creative engineering solutions to common, everyday problems – demonstrations and presentations
WHO:	Senior industrial engineering students at Rutgers University
WHEN:	Friday, Dec. 7, 2012, 8:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
WHERE:	First floor lobby and lecture hall, CoRE Building, 96 Frelinghuysen Road, Busch Campus, Piscataway. (Parking available in lot 64 at end of Brett Road)
BACKGROUND:	A human airbag system that detects when people are falling and protects them from injury, a machine that makes custom chocolates on demand, and a robot-like system that detects cracks in highway pavement and fills them: These are a few of the engineering solutions to real-world problems that industrial engineering students at Rutgers University will exhibit in the 13th annual Design of Engineering Systems presentations. The program serves as a learning tool for graduating seniors and a talent display for companies looking for new industrial engineers. Students work in teams to design and implement solutions; they then explain and demonstrate the solutions to fellow classmates, faculty and industry representatives. A summary of projects with the names and hometowns of team members follows.

Self-Diagnostic and Maintenance Dishwasher

Ramone Barnes, Lumberton; Romaine Barnes, Lumberton: Michael Cheng, Glassboro; and Ruth LaFrance, Willingboro.

This group designed a dishwasher that monitors its own components for wear, noise, vibration and other evidence of degradation, and sends this information to a web site where the customer or service technician can access it. The dishwasher also performs diagnostic tests on parts to determine when they might need repair and to predict the remaining lifetime of the dishwasher.

Elbow Simulator

Thomas Barlow, Toms River; Nicholas Ruggirello, Bayonne; Lindsay Riso, Freeport, N.Y.; and Lauren Wagner, Egg Harbor Township.

Simulating elbow motion can help experts evaluate the performance of elbow implants and advance knowledge of elbow disorders. This group designed an elbow simulator to help a surgeon study the elbow and reproduce realistic elbow movement. A user attached to the machine can move his or her arm and see that movement recreated on the simulator. The system analyzes any stress or strain due to that movement.

 Automated Pipeline Inspection System

Yun Jun Chung, hometown not available; Arda Erzin, hometown not available; Adrian Poltorak, hometown not available; and Raymond Sarlo, Hillsborough.

This group designed an oil pipeline inspection system that detects defects and relays their location and severity to a monitoring station. It also analyzes the nature of the defect to determine the best time to repair it before a critical failure occurs.

Optimum Routing and Scheduling of Circuit Board

Steven Fang, Bridgewater; August Grimm, Flemington; Milad Haddad, Bridgewater; and Holly Powell, May’s Landing.

This group designed an electronic circuit board manufacturing system that determines the number of holes that need to be drilled, chooses the proper drills, and minimizes the time needed to drill the holes.

All-in-One Chocolate Machine

Kwabena Agyemang, South Plainfield: Peter Lebron, Jersey City; Arthur Noroes, hometown not available; and Joseph Sikorski, Edison.

This group designed an automated machine that makes chocolate on demand. A customer can enter a product order directly on the machine or through a web site. The machine then formulates the most efficient chocolate making strategy based on the types of orders it received. It monitors its supply of raw materials and determines when they need to be refilled, and keeps tabs on potential problems such as nozzle blockage. It sends maintenance information to the operator and order status to customers.

Automated Human Airbag System

James Neal, hometown not available; Javier Jaramillo, North Plainfield; Neel Mainthia, Piscataway; and Ronald Josias, hometown not available.

This group designed a human airbag system to prevent injuries caused by falls, such as hip fractures, distal radius fractures, and brain injury. The system detects when a fall is happening and inflates an airbag in time to prevent injury. The built-in gyroscope and accelerometer in an Android-based cell phone is used to detect a fall.

Automated Pavement Crack Maintenance

Michael Egan, Parsippany; Tarun Jada, Mount Holly; and Josue Jolibois, Old Bridge.

This group designed a small-scale prototype of a mobile unit that scans an asphalt road for major cracks and consequently seals them on the spot with filler material. This robot-like system lets its operators view its progress as it identifies and fills cracks in the pavement. Operators can specify using GPS coordinates where the system will be operating.

Space-Constrained Logo Detection System

Tomasz Madon, Hamilton; Yeop Jee Seung, Edison: Kenley Tan, hometown not available; and Joseph Wong, hometown not available.

Imaging systems have been widely used in industry to recognize product logos and brands. This group designed such a system to recognize casino chips in a small area. Once the system identifies the casino chip, it shows the type of chip and how it was sorted on a display screen.

Inspection System Using Control Charts

Arjun Ganatra, Edison; Richard Jordan, hometown not available; Elizabeth Kim, hometown not available; and Nelson Yeung, hometown not available.

This group designed an inspection system that uses image processing to control product quality in manufacturing. The system separates unacceptable units, identifies the cause of the problem and gives the production engineer feedback on what may have gone wrong in the process. Cameras mounted on either side of a conveyor line capture images of the products.

Optimum Packing System

Nikita Dhillon, hometown not available; David Kim, hometown not available; Vu Ho, hometown not available; and Sahir Jawani, hometown not available.

This group designed an automated packaging system that places as many items as possible in containers, minimizing empty space while ensuring that the weight of the items is within the container’s specifications and the value of the items is within ranges of insurance costs.

Optimum Assignment of Jobs to a Machine

Victor Cusota-Rosa, Audubon; Lalaine Inumerables, Elmhurst, N.Y.; Claudia Medina, North Plainfield; and Bao Nguyen, hometown not available.

This group designed an automated system for bakeries that assigns jobs such as making cakes and brownies to the appropriate machines and optimizes the production steps.