A computer-generated lift simulation of a fighter plane won first place for posters this month during the first College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium.
The symposium is an event recognizing student achievement in the Summer Undergraduate Research Program, which pairs students and faculty to develop diverse future engineering leaders with the critical skills needed to solve big societal challenges. During the program, undergraduate researchers participate in interdisciplinary, hands-on project learning that fosters critical thinking, teamwork, communication and entrepreneurial skills.
Work from the program is highlighted in poster presentations during the symposium. This year’s event was well attended, with guests that included Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong, College of Engineering Dean Amy Fleischer and several faculty members. The symposium featured close to 40 poster projects vying for three top spots.
The first place team included William Newey, Austin Quick and Sebastian Seibert von Fock, with Christian Eckhardt of the Computer Science and Software Engineering Department serving as the faculty mentor.
Their project, Real Time Lift Simulation, looked at the F/A-18 Hornet, an all-weather jet aircraft used by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, with the goal of creating a compute shader based on real time lift and drag simulations for dynamic bodies in gas/fluids.
Second place went to a project called IoT Cattle, which set out to develop an affordable, easy-to-manage and user-friendly product that would give ranchers live updates on the whereabouts of their cattle. Team members included Nate Tjepkema, Rey Punao, and Jaedo Han, with Chris Lupo, chair of the Computer Science and Software Engineering Department, and Peter Livingston, chair of the BioResource and Agricultural Engineering Department, serving as faculty mentors.
Third place was awarded to Rory McDermott for his project entitled Design and Development of Laboratory Dual Axis Single PV Module Tracker, which outlined the design and development of a laboratory single axis sun tracking system. While two-axis tracking is superior in energy performance, costs and reliability can make single-axis tracking more appealing. Dale Dolan, of the Electrical Engineering Department, was the faculty mentor.
The first place team won $1,000, while prizes of $750 and $500 went to the second and third place finishers, respectively.
College of Engineering Dean Amy Fleischer joined a team of five top leaders from engineering industries and three department chairs as they faced the challenging task of judging each of the posters.
