More than 40 student teams were celebrated at the Fall 2025 Senior Design awards dinner, with winning ranging from groundwater-cooled data centers to bioprinters.

In 2000, the first Senior Design competition hosted by the UNLV College of Engineering featured about 10 projects.

Today, the biannual event, which marked its 25th anniversary in 2025, boasts over 80 student innovations spanning all areas of engineering and computer science. The capstone experience challenges students to bring their educational experience to bear in the creation of a working prototype or product that solves a real-world problem.

The projects presented at the Fall 2025 competition “span an impressive range,” said College of Engineering Dean Rama Venkat. More than 40 student teams competed this fall, and were celebrated during an awards dinner on Monday, Dec. 15.

“Time and again, our students prove they're ready to be society's creators, innovators, and problem-solvers,” Venkat shared with the audience.

From repurposing groundwater to cool our ever-expanding data center infrastructure, to creating a web application that helps community partner Goodwill track donations in real-time, College of Engineering students brought their theoretical classroom education to life with myriad technological advancement ideas.

“For a quarter century, UNLV Engineering students have showcased innovation, teamwork, and bold thinking at this flagship event,” Venkat said. “Once again, our students have delivered for this milestone anniversary.”

The following teams were honored at the Fall 2025 Senior Design awards dinner:

Grand Prize: Waste to Watts: Repurposing Groundwater to Cool the Cloud

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction

• First Place: Sustainable Multi-Story Vertical Farming Retrofit
  • Project Participants: Jonathan Hill, Armando Morga, George Martinez, and Mohamed Zakaoui
• Second Place: Verde Villas- Smart. Sustainable. Social 
  • Project Participants: Bench Jean Mortel, David Vidales-Guzman, Evan Silva, and Jose Padilla 

Computer Science

• First Place: GitHired 
  • Project Participants: Alejandro Serrano, Dakota Shannon, Coby Canlas, Isabel Nguyen, and Stefan Leoussis
• Second Place: HealthConnect 
  • Project Participants: Chloe Bautista, Wei Liu, Alec Martinez, Skyler Ray, Kusha Rohani, Chris Rosado, and Maria Surova

Electrical and Computer Engineering

• First Place: Portable USB 12-Lead EKG 
  • Project Participants: Matthew Clark, Daniel Dorlando, Matthew Speidel, and Tyler Zoutte 
• Second Place: C.U.R.A 
  • Project Participants: Joseph Robison, Kimberly Rojas, Alexander Pastrana, and Darryll McKoy

Entertainment Engineering and Design

• First Place: Extended Forklift Sensors
  • Project Participants: Elijah Benigno, Daniela Dominguez, and Jelani Williams 

Interdisciplinary

• First Place: Rebel Racing E-CVT 
  • Project Participants: Alex Hironaka, Ashton Pearson, David Hohl, Kevin Mata, and Mason Durham

Mechanical Engineering

• First Place: 4-2 Cable Driven BioPrinter 
  • Project Participants: Vesper Evereux and Areianna Eason 
• Second Place: PET Bottle Filament Maker 
  • Project Participants: Ray-Anthony Castillo, John Neil Fabella, and Jericho Villega

Sustainability

• Rebel Racing E-CVT 
  • Project Participants: Alex Hironaka, Ashton Pearson, David Hohl, Kevin Mata, and Mason Durham

Commercial Potential and Innovation (Tie)

• 4-2 Cable Driven BioPrinter
  • Project Participants: Vesper Evereux and Areianna Eason 
• Waste to Watts Repurposing Groundwater to Cool the Cloud Sustainable 
  • Project Participants: Adrian Montenegro, Alyssa Surette, Daniel Nevarez and Elias Black 

Popular Choice

• Max Reach Coil Nozzle 
  • Project Participants: Chaikel Brownstein, Jahir Hernandez, James Straughan, and Dennis Weirich 

Team Congeniality

• Gravitational Free Falling Vehicle 
  • Project Participants: Matthew Larson, Jet Pamogas, Sandra Spracklen, and Magnus Yuen