Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Week
Each year, seniors from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at NC State University participate in Capstone Senior Design, where students build and showcase a variety of engineering projects throughout the academic year. The course is split into two: MAE 415 in the fall and MAE 416 in the spring, offering Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering students the opportunity to address real-world engineering challenges.
In the 2024–2025 academic year, there were nine sections comprised of 247 total students. Four sections worked on industry-sponsored external projects, and five sections worked on departmental internal projects. In the fall, they worked on conceptual design through presentations, reports, and computer simulations. In the spring, the students built the prototypes. The prototypes were tested twice with the second test providing statistical data showing robustness.
There were three Senior Design Days this year, held from April 16 to April 18. Each Senior Design Day was composed of formal presentation sessions in the morning and prototype demonstration sessions in the lab in the afternoon. It was overall a success. Over 90% of the prototypes worked. The others, though not completely, worked partially.
ABB’s sponsored project was titled “Multi-point Latch (MPL) Door for Arc Resistant Switchgear.” The purpose of this project was to design and construct a rigid multi-point latch door for ABB’s SafeGear housing. The door will protect nearby operators and equipment in the event of an internal arc fault, while also locking with one operation. The design will allow technicians to easily access the switchgear and maintain the high safety standards of ABB.
Corning sponsored a senior design project titled “Interferometer Optical Interface,” which tasked students with developing a semi-permanent interface between the DataPixel DAISI-MT interferometer and the multifiber optical connector cable. The interface allows for precise evaluation, isolates the cable, and minimizes calibration time. This new interface increases repeatability and life cycle compared to the existing solution without impeding measurements.
The Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division sponsored a project titled “Terminal Ballistics Testing Projectile.” The goal of the project was to design, manufacture, and test a hypersonic projectile to be launched from a medium caliber electromagnetic rail gun at the Naval Surface Warfare Center. The projectile will act as a ballistic test vehicle for future experiments.
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions sponsored a project titled “Above Deck Sensor Faucet with Sustainable Power,” which tasked students with designing a robust faucet that integrates a motor, ceramic cartridge, sustainable power source, rechargeable batteries, and water-resistant control electronics. The faucet had to meet design goals for compactness, long battery life, reliability, serviceability, and manufacturability, all while operating at 50 psi with a 0.5 GPM flow rate.
The first departmental internal senior design project was conducted in collaboration with the College of Veterinary Medicine and was titled “Transport of Livestock for Treatment.” Students were challenged to design and construct a system for the safe transport of large animal patients in and around the Veterinary Hospital. The design had to require minimal manpower and training while aligning with the college’s mission of world-class care.
The Department of Horticultural Science sponsored a project titled “Mechanical Harvester for Open Field Tomatoes,” which tasked students with developing a tomato harvesting system that could identify ripe round tomatoes by diameter or color and extract them from the bush. The aim was to create an efficient system to reduce labor costs in agricultural harvesting.
Another departmental project was titled “Small Fan Array Wind Tunnel (FAWT) Design,” and called for the design of a small, portable wind tunnel capable of generating controlled airflow for testing. The design needed to accommodate adjustable fan speeds, replicate various wind conditions, minimize noise, and fit within space, power, and cost constraints.
The ME Lab also sponsored a departmental project titled “Benchtop Wind Tunnel for Lift and Drag Measurements,” in which students were tasked with designing a compact and intuitive wind tunnel that could be used in MAE 306 lab coursework. The wind tunnel needed to accurately measure lift, drag, and pressure on different aerodynamic bodies at speeds up to 22 mph, while being portable and easy to replicate.
The final internal project cluster came from Pack Motorsports and included multiple design challenges to support the Baja and Formula SAE teams. The Formula SAE team’s projects included the design and construction of a modular pit cart for testing and competitions, a safe and robust car jack system for raising the vehicle, and an accumulator battery segment capable of withstanding extreme forces. The Baja SAE team’s projects included designing a torque converter system to optimize gear ratios and minimize power loss and constructing a pull-down corner testing rig to analyze suspension performance. These five design projects were completed by a combined group of 28 students across five teams and contributed to the performance of Pack Motorsports’ 2024–2025 competition vehicles.
Join us at our next Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Week, Spring 2026.
Details coming soon.