Students from the UNLV Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering put their undergraduate education to the test at the spring 2012 Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition.
Engineering students from 43 teams displayed the culminating projects of their studies with a focus is on producing commercially viable projects. The competition introduces students to the spirit of entrepreneurship and the benefits of commercial application. The event is judged by local industry representatives and has thousands of dollars in prize money on the line.
Pavement with Return — This group is using energy pulled from hot, busy Las Vegas streets to power bus shelters in the Las Vegas Valley. Piezoelectric energy is created when extreme amounts of pressure are applied to the pavement through heavy traffic flow, causing electrical charges to appear. The group used a small device that can be inserted into roads to channel power created during heavy traffic. Harnessing this type of power could eventually lead to powering roadside businesses, homes, streetlights, billboards and more. The group, students Jimmy Floyd, Sean Gann, Anthony Ramos, and Ricky Zeedyk, won second place in the civil engineering category.
Solar Autoclave — In many developing countries, hospitals and clinics are located miles away from the power grid. This autoclave uses solar energy to generate superheated steam for the sterilization of medical tools in remote locations. It also could be used during disaster relief and military applications. Students Lisett Avelar, Derek Lennon and Sarah Trabia created this idea.
Retrofit Hybrid Solution — This plug-in electric motor that can be installed under any car, won the grand prize on senior design day. Jeremy Feliciano, Derek Joiner and Richard Ryan created a motor that will last for about an hour, helping drivers save on gas mileage during their typical commute. The average driver would save about $3,000 in gas costs during the first year and roughly $17,000 over the seven-year life cycle of a battery. In this photo, group members show their project to Fred Cox, the namesake of the competition and major supporter of the engineering college.
Banana Box — This product is designed to ripen bananas sequentially so that the consumer has a perfect banana ready to eat each day of the week. The box controls the temperature inside seven separate chambers that each holds one banana. The system monitors humidity and the box will inform the consumer which banana is ready to eat. Students Alan Carreno, Zeeshan Mohammad and Gabriel Nuer developed this idea.
SolaCon Concentrating Photovoltaic System — Photovoltaic (PV) systems are one of the largest sources of renewable energy. However, these systems are expensive because of production costs, which limit their widespread use. This project, created by students Jessica Christy, Justin Galli, Joshua Herrera and Vu Tran, reduces the number of costly PV cells required to produce a given amount of energy. Creators have used an extensive mirror system to reflect and retain nearly four times as much solar power as existing systems. In this photo, students show their project to Engineering Dean Rama Venkat. This group won the second place prize for mechanical engineering.
Boom Ease — When it comes to making movies, one of the most important aspects is recording high quality audio. Gathering the sound is the job of the boom operator, who usually uses a telescoping pole to position a microphone above the actors and out of camera frame. This boom holder and harness allows the operator to be completely hands-free when wearing the microphone. The project, created by students Alan Holton, Jeremy Knowles and Kelly Tsadiasi, won first place for entertainment engineering, a new category this year.
Basic Yoga App — This app aims to provide users with basic yoga postures that, if practiced every day, can result in overall wellbeing. The app the science of Yoga and how to wisely employ it in one’s life. Each pose has a detailed set of instructions along with a picture to describe the posture. The creator, student Amrita Nikhil Amritphale, won first prize in the computer science category.
Go DJ — The group created a DJ case that allows a disc jockey to have all of their equipment in one container, simplifying the set up and transportation process. Typically DJs often carry at least 60 pounds of equipment including two turntables, a mixer, and a laptop. All of the equipment now fits into one carrying case, making it easier for a DJ to perform at any venue. This project was created by entertainment engineering students Miles Caporicci, Emily Black and Max Godges.
International Network of Observatories Highlights New Level of Precision Gravitational Wave Astronomy
Updated LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA catalog features 161 gravitational wave events between April 2024 and January 2025, including evidence of second-generation black holes and the clearest-ever gravitational wave signal.
