Design Day

Design Day is an opportunity to share our Senior Design Showcase with the public. Seniors work in groups with faculty to design and test projects.

Spring Design Day 2024
Thursday, April 18th
10am to 3pm
Union Ball Room

Saltair Room

10:30 to noon – Posters

1pm to 4pm – Robot Competition: TBD

Senior Design Projects: Spring 2024

Rio Tinto uses semi-autonomous grinding (SAG) mills in its copper mining process to crush ore. These SAG mills are unique to the operation at the Rio Tinto Kennecott Site, meaning any proposed solution will be a completely novel one. On the far side from the feed inlet, the SAG mills are equipped with a funnel cone that’s used to recirculate crushed ore back into the mill for additional crushing if needed. These cones wear down with use and require replacement. The current replacement process relies on using a telehandler to move the cones into and out of the installation location. However, the telehandler is currently being used in an unsafe manner; the loads exceed manufacturer specifications on the equipment being used and the cone is not securely fastened during the transportation process. This project set out to determine how a new tool and/or installation method could improve the safety and efficiency of this maintenance task.

Team: Chris Thomsen (lead), Douglas Roberts, Shawn Haymore, Yeonsu Kim

Advisors: Dr Huebner, Andy Gill

Our goal was to improve the aerodynamics of an experimental aircraft’s landing gear. To accomplish this, we designed, optimized, and manufactured fairings to cover the exposed gear.

Team: Hudson Randle (team lead), Jeff Cunningham, Mohammed Alshahrani

Advisor: Randall Morrill

As electronics and their power and cooling needs become more intensive, creative solutions to electronics cooling are more important than ever. The participating team competes in the ASME/IEEE Heat Sink Challenge to design, model, simulate, and submit a stainless steel heat sink that takes advantage of additive manufacturing capabilities in a vertical enclosure under forced air conditions. This year, guidelines such as low power and lower material conductivity bring a unique twist to the competition. Competing teams are judged on the thermal performance and creative use of additive manufacturing in each design, and if selected, are selected by GE Additive to print the heat sink and present their designs to the 2024 ITherm Conference.

Team: Zane Frey (lead), Eric Montenegro, Nathan Brown, Joshua Brodbeck, Oliver Proctor

Advisor: Dr. Sameer Rao

The measurement of the concentration of ascorbic acid in a given solution often demands cumbersome and costly methods such as utilizing redox titration with Indophenol where the addition of the acid turns the blue indophenol clear, or through photometric determination where the concentration is compared to the intensity of light after passing through a sample.

Due to the nature of current ascorbic acid concentration measurements, the Low-Cost Ascorbic Acid Senor Using Photographic Paper aims to redefine the process, striving for simplicity, affordability, and effectiveness by leveraging the cost efficacy of photographic paper. The goal of this project is to design a cost efficient and easily replicable, light-tight housing that allows for the distribution of an acid sample across photographic paper. Coupled with this will be software that images the processed ascorbic acid sample and converts said sample to a grayscale value that produces the corresponding ascorbic acid concentration value.

Team: John Stilley (lead), Mackenzie Ros, Nathan Smith, Jose A. Salinas-Barrera

Advisor: Dr. Roseanne Warren

L3Harris is interested in utilizing magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) pumping in liquid heat exchangers due to the increased reliability that such systems provide. The objective of this project is to assess the feasibility of MHD pumping. In depth research utilizing FEM models and physical experiments will aid in the completion of this objective. This will allow L3Harris to determine if MHD heat exchangers should be pursued.

Team: Jacob Layton (lead), Vincent Funtanilla, Basil Zainaddin, Matthew Catmull, James Henry, Josh Broome

Advisor: Dr Pan

Our project is to design, manufacture, and race a fluid powered bike for a competition sponsored by the National Fluid Power Association (NFPA) using hydraulic and pneumatic components. This project focuses on creative and new ways to utilize hydraulics and human power together. This vehicle challenge hopes to create an environment that results in the uncommon connections and breakthroughs in the fluid power industry, as well as introduce undergraduate students to the fluid power industry. The project culminates in four races that will push the bike to its limits in speed, endurance, and regeneration.​

Team: Alex England (lead), Alex Rayburn, Chris Weinand, Josh Stout, Isaac Lee, Trevor Jenkins

Advisor: Dr. M Dillon

Develop, manufacture, and launch a rocket for the Spaceport America Cup using a Commercial Off The Shelf [COTS] motor to achieve an apogee of 10,000ft. This project is in partnership with the University of Utah Aerospace Club and is building on the knowledge from the clubs participation last year. The rocket will deliver a payload of 8.8lbs in a CubeSat format which is comprised of a 360 GoPro camera attached within a clear section of the rocket.

Team: Joseph Phillips (lead), Kevin Bustamante, Austin Erickson, Sean Kimbrough, Cameron Vail, Caitlin Matthews

Advisors: Dr. Hochhalter, Bill Hooper

How to Sponsor a Capstone Project:

Visit the Capstone section of our website for more details on sponsoring Capstone Projects.

Upcoming Design Days

Spring 2024: April 18th
Fall 2024: December 3rd


Event Contact

Davey Stevenson
Administrative Program Coordinator

Office: 1569 MEK
Phone: (801) 213-2046
Email: davey.stevenson@utah.edu