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Â鶹ӳ»­Ó°Òô senior engineering students capped off their college careers by presenting innovative, real-world projects at the annual Senior Design Showcase, a two-semester capstone event that brings classroom learning to life and connects students directly with industry professionals. 

Often referred to as "Capstone," the course challenges students to solve complex engineering problems through team-based design, research, and prototyping. Projects span across Lamar's five engineering disciplines, chemical, civil, electrical, industrial, and mechanical, with interdisciplinary collaborations also represented.

“Senior Design is the culmination of four-plus years of hard work and dedication by our students,” Interim Dean of the College of Engineering Dr. Tracy Benson said. “They come in as freshmen taking their calculus and physics courses, and by the time they mature through the process, they’re engineers. Senior design is that capstone that really brings it all together. It’s perfect.”

The College of Engineering offered up to $1,500 per team in funding with others relying on external sponsors such as Powell and Valero. Valero also sponsored the event itself.

Local industry professionals, many of whom are Lamar alumni, returned to campus to serve as judges, offering students direct feedback and networking opportunities.

Eli Clark, site manager at a Linde facility in Jurupa Valley, California, and a Lamar graduate, served as one of the judges.

“The thing I like about the Senior Design Showcase is that it’s a culmination of everything the students have learned,” Clark said. “It brings everything together, and it really tests their mental capacity to create a final product they can be proud of. It’s also a great representation of what they’ll be tasked with in the real world.”

Clark added that the sophistication of the projects far exceeded what he experienced as a student. “When I graduated over 20 years ago, the level of complexity of these projects is just so much more advanced,” he said. “It’s impressive to see how far the student body has come.”

One of the standout projects, which won first place overall, was an autonomous firefighting robot.

“Our project is to build and construct a firefighting robot that can autonomously search and navigate through a room, find the source of a fire, and then extinguish it,” team member Ryan Shugart said. “If combined with an alarm system, the robot could activate in response to a signal and handle the fire before it becomes out of control, saving both property and life.”

Shugart’s team was funded entirely by the College of Engineering and completed the project for under $500.

He said the most rewarding part was learning how to approach complex problems from the ground up.

“Taking the problem, dissecting it, understanding exactly what you want to attack, and then designing a custom solution — maybe something people have done before, but in a different way — that can’t be understated,” he said.

Another innovative project came from a team of engineering students who developed a low-cost, environmentally conscious coffee bean roaster.

“We wanted to reduce single-use coffee pods, cups, and bags from going into the environment. With our design, users can roast up to 25 pounds of beans from one plastic bag of green beans, eliminating the need for daily single-use products,” electrical engineering student Brynn Baker said.

What set their project apart is affordability. “It only cost us about $1,000,” Baker said. “Comparable roasters on the market can run between $7,000 and $10,000, so we really wanted to make something accessible for home use.”

The team was supported by Coffee Crafters, whose founder printed the custom stickers, and a local welding shop owner who provided access to welding equipment and materials.

Baker emphasized the importance of teamwork in bringing the project to life. “Senior design is a lot of team bonding,” she said. “We were together every weekend, wiring, building, communicating. You start with a far-fetched idea, and even when your professors question whether it’s realistic, you keep your eye on the goal. Accomplishing that just feels amazing.”

In addition to departmental awards in each major, honors were given for the top interdisciplinary project and for overall first, second, and third place.

The showcase continues to serve as a critical bridge between academia and industry, preparing Â鶹ӳ»­Ó°Òô students not only to enter the workforce, but to lead in it.

To learn more about the College of Engineering, visit /engineering/index.html.