Owl - Summer 2012

              TABLE OF CONTENTS
New professor named........................1
Jerry Sergent Retires.........................2
Dr. Hoffman as Baldrige Examiner.....2
Connections in Cameroon..................3
News Briefs.......................................4
Commencement 2012........................5
Solar Cells..........................................6
Publications and Presentations.........7
Dean’s Letter.....................................8
www.fairfield.edu/engineering
Summer 2012
Engineering’s Senior Design Projects
The Senior Design Project course is, first and foremost, a transformative experience for engineering students. It helps them transition from the role of student to one of professional engineer. It acclimates the students to the requirements and constraints of good engineering design as practiced by professionals in industry. For this reason, the Senior Design Project course is a crucial aspect of engineering curricula.
“Working on this project really tested the limits of what I learned at Fairfield,” said Mechanical Engineering student John Weichenrieder ’12, a member of the engi­neering team that worked on the Human Powered Vehicle for its Senior Design Project. The vehicle was the result of a multi-year effort, he added, “and needed our dedication and time during one of the busiest semesters of our lives.”
With partners George Romania and Musruk Siddique, he plans to enter the vehicle in the ASME HPVC 2013 Spring Competition and outperform the previous design.
“Time management and stressful condi­tions were nothing new to us, but the expe­riences learned from our past semesters made the juggling act so easy that it became second nature to us,” Weichenrieder added.
The Senior Design Project is a two-semester course in which the students work in interdisciplinary teams with a faculty men­tor. The culmination of the course is the presentation of the Senior Design Project, a seminal event that showcases the col­laboration among students who have spent the year designing, creating and imple­menting their research project. Students use knowledge learned in prior courses and apply them to problems they will face in actual industrial or research environ­ments. This year’s projects included an automated microplate workcell to provide repeatable sample preparation in a biology or chemistry lab, an automated syringe-filling machine sponsored by the Dymax Corporation, and a survivor locator light to be used in search and rescue efforts. Working with engineers from Sikorsky Aircraft, one group of students designed a tail bumper for the S-92 commercial heli­copter to guard against damage during
FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY
continued on page 6
A PUBLICATION OF THE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
Winners of the Dean’s Award for their light–sport aircraft. From left, Kevin Richard, faculty mentor Dr. Ryan Munden, Neil Rodrigues, John Burke, and Clare McManus.