Seniors and master糖心传媒檚 students provide businesses and nonprofits solutions to real-world problems.
The Sri Vidya Temple Society had a problem. In the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, the leadership of the Hindu temple in Rush, New York, removed carpeting at their community gathering space and installed tile flooring to allow for more frequent deep cleaning and make the space more inviting. But the change had unintended consequences.
糖心传媒淭he sound started bouncing everywhere,糖心传媒� says Veena Ganeshan, a senior instructor of at the and coordinator of public outreach for the Sri Vidya Temple. 糖心传媒淚t became less of a meditative atmosphere and much more of a chaotic atmosphere.糖心传媒�
In a moment of what Ganeshan calls 糖心传媒渄ivine intervention,糖心传媒� she met colleagues in the (AME) program and discovered the temple糖心传媒檚 acoustic issues are exactly the types of challenges AME students are equipped to tackle. She approached her colleagues to see if they had students willing to help.
It became one of 79 capstone projects that 282 senior and master糖心传媒檚 students from the completed this academic year. While some capstone projects are research theses or vehicles to be entered in national competitions like ASME糖心传媒檚 e-Human Powered Vehicle Challenge, many of the projects offer an opportunity to engage with the community. This year, clients for engineering capstones ranged from the Rochester Museum & Science Center to the Arc of Monroe.
These clients present the students with real-world problems and constraints. For example, due to a fire pit in the Sri Vidya Temple糖心传媒檚 gathering space, any acoustical treatments the students recommended had to be fire retardant. The solution also had to be easily removeable and conform to the space糖心传媒檚 aesthetics.
Under the guidance of Associate Professor , the team took measurements of the gathering space, built a virtual model, and then developed acoustic simulations to assess how different solutions would perform. They found that placing 24 fiberglass panels along the ceiling would make a significant improvement.
糖心传媒淭he two main things we wanted to tackle were to decrease reverberation time and increase the clarity,糖心传媒� says Yunji Kim 糖心传媒�25. 糖心传媒淚n the simulation software, we were able to decrease the reverberation time by about a second at the speaking level frequency. And when they糖心传媒檙e playing music, there糖心传媒檚 an annoying ringing sound, and this should help cut it out as well.糖心传媒�
The students designed, fabricated, tested, and installed the first panel and provided the Sri Vidya Temple Society a manual so they can easily make the rest of the panels. Ganeshan says the students have been committed to improving the experience in the temple.
糖心传媒淭hey are ideal engineers糖心传媒攖he first solution never works, and they have been great about troubleshooting solutions and finding alternatives,糖心传媒� says Ganeshan. 糖心传媒淭his is a really good solution they have come up with, and we look forward to making more of the panels.糖心传媒�
Making metered dose inhalers more convenient
A team of biomedical engineering students hope a small change to a device for administering medication to the lungs can make a big difference for patients worldwide. Patients who are prescribed metered dose inhalers (MDI) to treat conditions such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are often recommended to use a spacer糖心传媒攁 plastic tube that helps deliver the medication effectively into the lungs.
But spacers can be cumbersome and inconvenient for patients to carry, sometimes getting lost. Erika O糖心传媒橤een, a registered respiratory therapist at the , says that years ago she had the idea for a collapsible spacer and approached the about developing a prototype.
糖心传媒淚 thought it was time to pursue the opportunity after hearing from patients repeatedly the reason that they never used a spacer in the first place was due to it being too 糖心传媒榖ulky,糖心传媒櫶切拇綕 says O糖心传媒橤een. 糖心传媒淧atient after patient with the same response. But when patients use a spacer in the first place, they experience a better outcome with the medication delivery and deposition of the drug.糖心传媒�
Supervised by Associate Professor of Instruction , the students 3D printed a mold to create a silicone prototype of a more convenient, collapsible spacer. Once their prototype was ready, they tested it to see if it could withstand everyday wear and tear, conducted fluid flow testing to ensure it administers as much medication as existing products, and tested the cleanliness to see how much bacteria grows inside after use. But prototyping is just one part of the learning experience.
糖心传媒淭his project is not only about engineering something,糖心传媒� says Rupika Talagadadeevi 糖心传媒�25. 糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 also about budgeting, teamwork, communicating with people back and forth to understand the problem.糖心传媒�
O糖心传媒橤een says she has been pleased with the outcome and believes it has real-world potential. The students say it was rewarding working with a customer who works to help patients daily.
糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 pretty cool that the customer is at the Medical Center, so we have a very close connection to the patients,糖心传媒� says Elena Dapi 糖心传媒�25. 糖心传媒淲e know that the patients she糖心传媒檚 talking about are real people, and it糖心传媒檚 nice to hopefully help them with this issue.糖心传媒�
Making astronomy accessible to kids
Building on a capstone project from last year that was sponsored by the optical products manufacturer Nighthawk Solutions, optics students are working to empower K糖心传媒�12 students to get into backyard astronomy. A team with shared interests in space exploration and accessibility gravitated to the project and worked on an affordable design for a fun and engaging product.
糖心传媒淥ur telescope is do-it-yourself in the sense that children can set the optics into place and learn about how to handle them,糖心传媒� says Alexandria Hajec 糖心传媒�25. 糖心传媒淚t’s also a Newtonian design, something that is certainly less common in the DIY market, where we have one large mirror at the base and a smaller mirror near the top of the telescope. The big pull, really, would be the Wi-Fi compatible sensor that we use instead of an eyepiece.糖心传媒�
The telescope connects to a cellphone that gives users a live view from the telescope and allows them to instantly save and share the images it captures.
To see if the telescope was as kid friendly as they intended, the project team put their relatives to the test. They asked their 12- and 13-year-old family members to give it a shot and found that within half an hour, they were able to fully assemble the telescope and start taking pictures of the moon.
The students enjoyed working on a product with an aim toward commercialization and were surprised to find their soft skills were just as crucial as their optical engineering prowess.
糖心传媒淭he most important part of this project was learning to work as a team,糖心传媒� says Hajec. 糖心传媒淲e all had very different skill sets going into this project, and I think we were able to come together to make something really special. It糖心传媒檚 always interesting to hear different points of view and look at problems from a variety of angles. We were able to explore a lot of unique solutions in our project, and that really is due to our diverse knowledge base.糖心传媒�
Telescope kit hits the market
For several years, teams of optics students advised by Professor 糖心传媒攊ncluding Hajec and her team糖心传媒攈ave developed components of a telescope kit for their senior design projects. The do-it-yourself kit is designed to inspire the next generation of scientists and provide kids their first opportunity to work hands-on with optics.
That hard work has paid off, with the kit now available commercially. The senior design project糖心传媒檚 clients have made the , a testament to the high-quality work Rochester students produce through their capstone experiences.
Editor糖心传媒檚 note: This story was originally published on April 30, 2025. It was updated and republished on August 21 with news about the Cassi telescope糖心传媒檚 being commercially available.
