Senior Design Expo 2023

Fu Foundation School of Engineering 

and Applied Science Presents 

the Tenth Annual 

May 4th, 2023 | 12pm-3pm 

Roone Arledge Auditorium 

Lerner Hall

Table of Contents 

Applied Physics & Applied Mathematics 

Influence of Recycled Silicates on the Hydration of Cement Paste (P.5) 

Phase initiation and Evolution using Surface Evolver (P.6) 

A Simple Model for Optimizing Magnetic Loss During Microwave Heating of 

Superparamagnetic Fe3O4 Nanoparticles (P. 6) 

Degradation Mechanisms of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) (P.7) 

Optimizing growth of AuNPs in DNA origami cages to tune optical properties (P.7) 

Thin Film Coating to Decrease Low Temperature Degradation of Yttria Stabilized Zirconia 

Dental Devices (P. 8) 

Low-Temperature Electronic Conductivity in Cu-doped CeO2 Nanoparticles (P. 9) 

connectiV (P. 10) 

Biomedical Engineering 

verifyNG (P. 10) 

Nu-Jet (P. 11) 

Resonance (P. 11) 

NanoCath (P. 12) 

InCerv (P. 12) 

Mindful Mouthguards (P. 13) 

FractUS (P. 13) 

Apneaware (P. 14) 

Euphony Therapeutics (P. 14) 

PoseEst (P. 15)

Civil Engineering & Engineering Mechanics 

Modular Living: Step into Legolan (P. 16) 

Alice Wainwright Park, Miami, Florida, Stormsurge Protection Redesign (P. 16) 

A New Home for NYCFC (P. 17) 

Aging Hydroelectric Dam Redesign for Climate Change (P. 19) 

Sunset Bay Terminal: Designing the Interborough Express Brooklyn Terminal Station (P. 20) 

Computer Science 

Open Source Economics – Building Trust and Effective Resource Allocation at Scale (P. 21) 

Earth & Environmental Engineering 

Long Island Western Bays: Saltwater Intrusion Resiliency Plan (P. 22) 

Optimization of Carbon Capture Technologies for the Blue Hydrogen Economy (P. 23) 

Feasibility of Novel Decontamination Procedures for Heavy Metal Extraction in Soils in the 

New York City Metropolitan Area (P. 23) 

Electrical Engineering 

Mirror for Integrated Rehabilitation (P. 24) 

8x8 MZI Beneš Switch Array Packaging and Testing (P. 24) 

Roverarm (P. 25) 

Block Diagram to Breadboard: Implementation of Digital Operations in Analog Guitar Effects 

(P. 25) 

Musical Meditation: Heart Rate-Informed Tempo Modulating Headphones (P. 26) 

Uninterruptible Power Supply for Home and Kitchen Applications (P. 26) 

Uninterrupted Power Supply System Designed for use in Thermoelectric Mini Fridge (P. 27) 

Weather Transmitter: Building a Transceiver with Modulation and Multiplexing Capabilities (P. 

27) 

ZyloZinger (P. 28)

Industrial Engineering and Operations Research 

Nest: Platform-agnostic On-chain Customer Engagement Loyalty Solutions (P. 29) 

Mechanical Engineering 

AMPF: Automated Pothole Filler (P. 30) 

AQUA4 (P. 30) 

ELEVA (P. 30) 

OptiShine (P. 31) 

WormBot (P. 31) 

DEMI (P. 32) 

Deadliftr (P. 32) 

Tacchissi (P. 33) 

Health Can (P. 33) 

Plan Bee (P. 34) 

A High Voltage Enclosure for a Formula Style EV (P. 34) 

AgriFlow (P. 35) 

Theta 5 (P. 35) 

Pick-A-Poo (P. 36) 

Lockit Bike Station (P. 36) 

Redesigning soccer cleat outsoles to reduce ACL injuries in female soccer players (P. 37)


Influence of Recycled Silicates on the Hydration of Cement Paste 

Liam Hayes, Diandian Zhao, Jonah Williams, Alissa Park, Shiho Kawashima 

In the 21st century, concrete is the second most used substance behind water, accounting for 

over 8% of global CO2 output. The current construction paradigm relies on non-renewable 

resources like industrial grade sand, and rarely aims to achieve an end-product use-life of 

more than a half-century. 

Current concrete recycling techniques consist of crushing to make large aggregates, which 

has limited use in construction projects. With concrete usage increasing at an unprecedented 

rate and 20th century structures reaching the end of their use-lives, novel recycling processes 

are needed to limit the impact of construction projects and prevent the buildup of demolition 

waste in landfills. Columbia’s Park Group Lab has made advances in developing a carbonnegative 

process to convert concrete waste into calcium carbonate powders which can used to 

make cement paste ex novo. Their process yields two main amorphous silica-containing 

powders. Cement paste and mortar samples were prepared using these silicate powders as 

pozzolanic additives to investigate the viability of these materials for novel concrete 

mixtures. 

Ordinary Portland Cement was mixed with the two powders and with industrial silica fume 

powder in a 1:9 ratio by weight. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and isothermal 

calorimetry were used to determine the time-evolution of the chemical reactions in the 

resulting cement pastes, while uniaxial compression testing was used to determine the 

strength evolution of small mortar samples prepared with the different cement mixes. Cement 

and mortar powders were mixed with water in a 1:4 ratio by weight and mixed for two 

minutes using a hand mixer and left to cure in air for 1 day before being submerged in 

distilled water to cure for up to 28 days. Samples were tested via TGA and compression at four 

different stages of curing: 1, 3, 7, and 28 days. 

The data collected since September 2022 has validated further experimentation investigating 

the detailed microstructural and chemical evolution of these materials and has supported the 

case that the Park Lab’s novel recycling process can help the construction industry move 

towards a circular material economy and provide civil engineers with new useful materials 

with reduced environmental impacts. 

5


Phase initiation and Evolution using Surface Evolver 

Juan Baek ‘23 

Phase initiation and evolution play a crucial role in research and manufacturing, 

particularly in areas such as polycrystalline thin films and displays. However, investigating the 

fundamental theory behind these processes has been challenging due to the complexity of 

mathematical calculations and the difficulty of observing phase transformations in condensed 

phases experimentally. 

Fortunately, Professor Ken Brakke of Susquehanna University has developed a program 

called Surface Evolver, originally designed to study capillarity physics of microdroplets. We can 

utilize this program for simulating evolution of a new phase beyond the simple classical 

Nucleation Theory. By minimizing the energy of the “inter-phase” interface as it undergoes a 

transformation subject to constraints, Surface Evolver uses various mathematical tools, including 

Green's Theorem and vector calculus to simulate the evolution of a new phase. However, before 

conducting a simulation, we must explicitly identify the shape and constraints of the solid/liquid 

interface. 

By understanding the relationship between contact angles on surfaces and interfacial 

energies, we can accurately simulate the evolution of a solid. We also develop a thermodynamic 

analysis by recognizing that curvature is a property of solid/liquid interfaces in mechanical 

equilibrium, resulting in the derivation of a critical curvature where the Gibbs-Thomson 

condition holds. We further demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of this method by 

showing that free-energy evolution plots that are normally sought after by researchers, are 

readily available from our curvature-volume evolution diagrams with fewer restrictions. 

A Simple Model for Optimizing Magnetic Loss During Microwave Heating of 

Superparamagnetic Fe3O4 Nanoparticles 

Ethan Burkley 

Advisors: Dr. Mengqi Shen, Dr. Xiaoyang Shi, and Dr. Ah-Hyung Alissa Park 

Rosenwieg’s phenomenological model for inductive heating of colloidal magnetic particles is 

used to guide the optimization of magnetic loss in superparamagnetic magnetite (Fe2O4) for use 

in the regeneration of a novel CO2 capture material. Thermal regeneration of CO2 capture 

materials is energetically costly and microwave induction has shown promise as a way to 

improve the efficiency of regeneration by embedding magnetic nanoparticles alongside 

functionalized nanoparticle organic hybrid materials (NOHMs) in a CO2 permeable matrix. 

While the magnetic properties of magnetite vary significantly with size, the Rosenwieg model 

illustrates why size is not a conclusive parameter. Ultimately, this analysis demonstrates how to 

tune nanoparticle size for a given microwave frequency as well as how to optimize the efficiency 

of magnetic loss. 

Keywords: Superparamagnetism, Microwave Induction, Magnetite, CO2 Capture 

6


Degradation Mechanisms of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) 

Fatima Begum, Department of Applied Physics and Applied Math 

Advisor: Professor Sanat Kumar and Nico Mendez, Department of Chemical Engineering 

Plastic pollution in the Earth’s oceans is undoubtedly an important topic of research. More 

specifically, its subsequent degradation into microplastics and nanoplastics is of large interest 

because sampling it from the ocean has proven to be difficult. As a result, research efforts are 

focused on simulating this degradation with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to analyze its 

properties and degradation mechanisms (chemical, thermal, and oxidative). In this study, 50 µm 

PET film was placed into water and heated for times ranging from one to ten days. The water, 

hypothesized to contain degraded PET particles, was analyzed through dynamic light scattering 

(DLS) to determine the number of degraded particles in the solution. These degraded films were 

then photographed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy 

(AFM) to analyze the properties of the surface. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was 

used to measure and calculate the degree of melting. Lastly, a polarized light microscope was 

used to take images of the solutions. 

In general, the DLS demonstrated that PET films that were degraded for longer tended to have 

higher count rates (~400 kcps) than those that were degraded for shorter periods of time (~100 

kcps). As a result of more degradation, the sample degraded for 8 days had a rougher surface 

(.28) than the control sample (.19), according to the AFM images. The degree of melting was 

about .4 according to the DSC measurements. The SEM images show variations in the sizes and 

shapes of the degraded microplastics. Finally, the polarized light microscope images illustrate 

that the degraded microplastic is in fact semicrystalline as opposed to solely amorphous. 

Keywords: PET, film, hydrolysis, chemicrystallization, microplastics, degradation, crystallinity, 

thermal degradation, oxidative degradation, Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Scanning Electron 

Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Differential Scanning Calorimetry 

(DSC), polarized light microscopy 

Optimizing growth of AuNPs in DNA origami cages to tune optical properties 

Margot Szamosszegi, Huajian Ji, Eric Shen, Oleg Gang 

The goal of this project is to optimize the growth of functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) 

inside DNA origami frames and assembled lattices to create prescribed nanostructures with 

stronger tunable optical responses. By investigating the growth parameters of these systems, this 

work aims to develop a better understanding of their behavior and pave the way for further 

exploration into the design and application of DNA-based optical devices. Results show that the 

growth of free AuNPs can be effectively controlled and maintained a spherical morphology 

beyond 30 nm, while the growth of AuNPs in DNA origami cages proved more challenging due 

to possible AuNP aggregation and confinement effects from the DNA framework. The growth of 

AuNPs in DNA origami lattices yielded irregular AuNP geometries and unreliable results due to 

AuNP encapsulation within several layers of DNA origami frames. These results serve as a 

useful starting point for researchers in the field and have opened up exciting avenues for further 

work to optimize AuNP growth parameters and fully unlock the potential of DNA-based optical 

materials. 

7


Thin Film Coating to Decrease Low Temperature Degradation of Yttria Stabilized Zirconia 

Dental Devices 

Sam Lossef 

Advisor: Professor Siu-Wai Chan 

In this project, the sol-gel process was successfully used to deposit thin film coatings of alumina 

onto yttria stabilized zirconia substrates for the purpose of delaying or preventing low 

temperature degradation (LTD), and enhancing lifespan of zirconia dental devices. 

Yttria stabilized zirconia is a ceramic material that is widely used in dental devices and implants 

due to its high strength and hardness, favorable optical qualities, and relatively low cost. 

However, interaction with aqueous saliva can result in low temperature degradation, a 

phenomenon in which tetragonal to monoclinic (t-m) phase transformations occur at the surface 

of zirconia ceramics, causing volume enlargement of grains, which in turn results in surface 

roughening, decreased optical translucency, micro-cracking, loss of strength, and potential 

catastrophic device failure. It was hypothesized that deposition of a thin film sol-gel layer of 

alumina on the surface of zirconia dental devices would act as a water barrier to delay or prevent 

the tetragonal to monoclinic phase transformations that are responsible for low temperature 

degradation. 

A viscous sol-gel was prepared by dissolving aluminum nitrate nonahydrate and carbamide in 

water and heating under reflux for 10 hours. Yttria stabilized zirconia samples (5 mol % yttria) 

were dip coated in either hot and cold sol-gel solutions, before being slowly withdrawn over a 30 

second interval. Coated samples were then heated in a kiln at 600° C for 6 hours to fuse the 

alumina coating to the zirconia substrate. Accelerated aging was then performed in a steam 

autoclave to simulate the effects of low temperature degradation on control and coated samples. 

EDS elemental analysis confirms that alumina was successfully deposited onto the zirconia 

substrate. SEM images suggest that coated zirconia samples had slightly smoother surfaces than 

uncoated samples. However, Raman spectroscopy indicates that coated samples unexpectedly 

had higher concentrations of weaker monoclinic crystals than uncoated samples, possibly related 

to the oven sintering at 600° C. Further research should be conducted to optimize kiln 

temperatures to ensure good adhesion of thin films to zirconia, while at the same time preserving 

the initial tetragonal crystal structure of the substrate. 

Keywords: Yttria stabilized zirconia, dental devices, low temperature degradation, thin film 

coatings, alumina coatings, sol-gel coatings. 

8


Low-Temperature Electronic Conductivity in Cu-doped CeO2 Nanoparticles 

Syed Saam Rasool, Yanhe Li 

Advisor: Siu-Wai Chan 

This project entails the synthesis and AC electrical testing of copper-doped cerium oxide 

(CuCeO2) nanoparticles. The synthesis is performed via a co-precipitation reaction and 

subsequent heat treatment. The electrical properties of the particles are probed over a small 

low-temperature range using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) on a bulk pellet 

sample comprised of the nanoparticulate powder. Values for activation energy and carrier density 

are reported and compared with those of past investigations. 

Keywords: List project keywords, Ceramics, ceria, metal oxides, copper, nanoparticles, 

impedance spectroscopy, electronic, conductivity, activation energy, polarons, low-temperature, 

synthesis, experiment 

9


connectiV 

Helena Cirne, Anjali Santhanam, Kiara Robichaud, Caitlyn Limanto, and Elvin Canseco 

Within the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit), most neonates require intravenous (IV) 

therapy. Full-term infants receive up to 100-140 mL/kg/day, yielding an administration of 10-20 

mL/hr. However, the rates can get as low as 0.1 mL/hr for concentrated drugs. Multiple inputs 

must be connected to a singular vascular access device, increasing variability in flow rate and 

risk of backflow due to flow interactions between several input sources at connection points. 

Improper administration of medication can cause serious adverse events such as abnormal blood 

pressure, anxiety from a loss of sedation, and increased pain. Thus, there is a need to reduce flow 

inconsistencies within NICU tubing connection ports while monitoring fluid flow for precise 

drug dosing in neonatal patients. To address these shortcomings in neonatal IV therapies, we 

have created a two-part system. The first component replaces existing connection ports with 

3D-printed, medically safe, sterile millifluidic chips. The millifluidic chip increases flow rate 

consistency and reduces negative flow interactions to ensure more accurate drug delivery. This 

works in conjunction with an external, photoresistor-based flow detection system that facilitates 

hands-off monitoring. This device will be capable of alerting health providers to potential 

disruptions of flow. connectiV works to minimize the deficiencies in the current technology used 

in the NICU by improving the system of IV drug delivery. 

verifyNG 

Lori Luo, Catherine Medeiros, Joy Fan, and Hsinyen Huang 

A nasogastric (NG) tube is a soft, rubber tube inserted into the nose, down the esophagus, and 

into the stomach by clinicians around the world to provide nutrition and dietary supplements to 

individuals who otherwise cannot eat. Despite the daily use of NG tubes by clinical care teams 

around the world, studies have shown that 88% of nurses do not quantitatively verify that the 

tube is properly placed in the stomach. Moreover, out of 932 blind placements of an NG tube, 

around half were misplaced. Misplacement of an NG tube can lead to lethal results, especially 

when the NG tube is placed in the lungs, where the delivery of nutritional feed can result in 

serious patient injury or death via drowning. Current methods to verify placement, such as x-ray, 

cause delays in patient care and require specially trained staff. As a result, there remains a need 

for an easy-to-use, binary output sensor to accurately confirm the proper placement of the NG 

tube. Using inductive sensing technology, the verifyNG device is able to accurately detect if the 

NG tube is placed in the stomach with an intuitive binary output. The use of this device in 

clinical settings across the world will improve NG tube placement accuracy and patient 

outcomes. 

10


Nu-Jet 

Anjali Nair, Isa Nuñez, Athena Pagon, Vish Rao, and Elías Tzoc-Pacheco 

Syringes and needles are the predominant vaccine delivery model despite their reliance on 

single-use components, stringent storage and transportation requirements, expensive waste 

disposal, and laborious administration. These elements translate to high costs per dose, making 

this vaccination model expensive and typically accessible only in high-resource clinical contexts. 

Globally, this results in a high proportion of needles being poorly sterilized for reuse, raising 

risks of infection. Thus, there exists a need for a cost-effective method of vaccine delivery to 

improve accessibility, sustainability, and sanitary standards. To address this demand, we sought 

to construct a low-cost needleless injector. The device generates a sufficiently pressurized fluid 

stream using tandem pneumatic cylinders in order to deliver an intradermal dose. A specially 

designed combination of valve, nozzle, and splash guard reduces cross-contamination that has 

historically plagued prior injector technologies. An electrically-regulated valve system controls 

filling and injection, simplifying the functionality for a user to a two-switch procedure. Nu-Jet 

offers a method of delivering vaccines that reduces material waste and administration costs, 

making vaccinations safer and more readily available for a manifold of healthcare settings. 

Resonance 

Hannah Matin, Matthew Lange, Skylar Li, Leonardo Campos, Julia Zhao, and Athena Tsu 

Mucus build-up in the airways is a major issue for many patients with pulmonary diseases; for 

example, 50% of COPD patients have mucus hypersecretion, which correlates with a 3.5 times 

greater risk of dying. Oscillating positive expiratory pressure (OPEP) is commonly used to break 

up airway mucus for easier expulsion. Such devices oscillate to induce vibrations of resonant 

frequencies with the patient’s airway cilia, thus mechanically agitating the mucus and promoting 

its movement up the airways. However, current OPEP devices have several issues. Their patient 

effort requirements result in contraindications that exclude certain populations, and variability 

between devices makes it difficult to predict efficacy. In addition, depending on the OPEP device 

utilized, patient utilization is complicated by uninformative controls and precise handling. Thus, 

there exists a need for improved treatment for patients who experience mucus build-up in the 

airways. To address these issues with current OPEP devices, our device leverages fundamental 

principles of OPEP therapeutic parameters with electronic capabilities for optimized 

performance across a wider range of patients. Using a fully automated solenoid-based oscillation 

mechanism that is adjustable by the patient for their specific needs, we not only provide 

transparent therapeutic measures of frequency, but streamlined controls and reduced patient 

effort necessary for therapeutic effect 

11


NanoCath 

Yvonne Anang, Caroline Bell, Jocelyn Chen, Jordan Popov, and Justin Yun 

Intravenous drug delivery is common for many current medical treatments across various 

diseases. In particular, central line catheters are often used to directly connect an external drug 

source to major arteries and veins. This delivery method poses a significant risk to both the 

patient due to the possibility of dangerous infections, as well as to hospitals that take on the 

financial burden of such infections. Therefore, the design and maintenance of drug delivery 

through long-term access points to patients’ bloodstreams need improvements to be safer. To 

address this problem, we propose an improved catheter dressing to better protect the catheter 

access point, especially for long-term catheter patients experiencing multiple regular dressing 

changes. Inspired by existing catheter dressings and novel research on advanced antiseptic drug 

delivery methods, we created a multi-layered catheter dressing with an electrospun fiber mesh 

doped with the antiseptic chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) and superabsorbent materials enforced 

by a transparent structural support made out of silicone. With nanoCath, intravenous access 

points will be better protected and more infections will be prevented. 

InCerv 

Griffin Daly, Johanna Jackson, Sopho Kevlishvili, Jose Pomarino Nima, and Carly Rivera 

Cervical dilation is used in Obstetrics-Gynecology procedures from family planning to oncology. 

Roughly 80 million gynecological procedures require cervical dilation for instruments such as 

IUD inserters, cameras, or catheters to pass through the cervix into the uterus for the deployment 

of medicines, biopsies, diagnostic tests, and treatments. The current dilation process involves 

repeatedly sliding metal dilators in and out of the endocervical canal, which results in lengthy 

procedures and pain due to friction. It can also lead to the creation of false passages in the 

cervical tissue resulting in bleeding, cervical laceration, and uterine perforation. Therefore, we 

need a way to atraumatically dilate the cervix for uterine procedures. Atraumatic dilation does 

not have the possibility of piercing cervical tissue or injuring the smooth muscle. InCerv is a 

cervical dilator that consists of a compliant, biocompatible balloon, connected to a graduated 

syringe filled with an incompressible fluid. As the syringe is depressed, it injects a controllable 

volume of fluid into the compliant balloon, causing it to expand. Due to the incompressibility of 

the injected fluid, the diameter and rate of expansion of the balloon can be controlled by the rate 

of depression of the syringe. InCerv consists of a single insertion and can achieve dilation from 

anywhere from 1 mm to 18 mm and uses concentric expansion of the cervix to lessen pain 

associated with cervical dilation 

12


Mindful Mouthguards 

Timothy Simmons, Cason Hancock, Olivia Hansen, Schuyler Fuller, and Matthew Wahl 

Every year, roughly 3.8 million concussions occur due to sports-related injuries in the United 

States. However, there exists a lack of accurate and affordable methods to detect in-game 

concussions in high school athletes. Some concussion symptoms appear within minutes of the 

injury, while others may take several hours or days to appear. To make matters worse, after the 

first concussion, athletes are three-to-five times more likely to have another concussion. 

Repeated concussions can make symptoms last longer, induce slower recovery time, and even 

increase the chances for long-lasting or permanent problems (i.e., post-concussion syndrome, 

higher risk for anxiety and depression, structural brain injuries, problems with memory, naming, 

word-finding, dementia). Without properly identifying concussions and their severity quickly 

and accurately, athletes may be kept in games or fail to recognize their injury completely, leading 

to more permanent damage or even death. Thus, there is a need for a more accurate and 

affordable approach to detect in-game concussions for high school athletes in order to avoid 

severe complications that have the potential to cause permanent damage or death. To address this 

problem our device is a mouthguard fashioned with LEDs, an accelerometer, and Bluetooth 

connection. By using an accelerometer, data on hits to the head can be detected without the need 

for spotters or other expensive equipment. Also, since the mouthguard will light up upon a large 

enough impact, there is no question as to whether a student-athlete should remain on the field. 

Furthermore, our device is designed to transmit real-time data to the sideline via Bluetooth and 

could have an eventual integration with a mobile app to make comprehensive concussion 

management simpler. Overall, our instrumented mouthguard device is a thorough and proactive 

approach to concussion safety that will be able to keep track of the amount and magnitude of hits 

in-game, enabling timely intervention and reducing the chance of long-term injuries or death for 

athletes. 

FractUS 

Ayi Agboglo, Dreyton Amador, Daniel Garcia, Nathan Ocampo, and Yi Qu 

Osteoporosis is characterized by a decrease in bone mineral density, which compromises bone 

integrity and ultimately results in fractures. Osteoporosis affects nearly 20% of women and 5% 

of men over 50 years of age, and often goes undetected until after a bone fracture has already 

occurred. To avoid these fractures, regular monitoring of bone density would be ideal, but this 

involves the use of ionizing radiation, which can be expensive and only accessible beyond 

primary care. Thus, there is a need for an alternative way to characterize bone health in patients 

at risk for decreased bone mineral density before a fracture can occur. To this end, FractUS seeks 

to characterize bone density by providing a software that analyzes ultrasound images collected 

from a dual-probe setup. By utilizing ultrasound technology, physicians will be able to track 

patient bone mineral density regularly without concern about radiation exposure or cost. This 

could prevent future fractures by detecting trends of decreasing bone mineral density over time 

and providing preemptive care. 

13


Apneaware 

Jiamiao Chen, Luyu Kang, Zhilin Luo, and Yujie Zhu 

Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder characterized by gaps in inspiratory airflow during 

sleeping. It is one of the most common sleep disorders, affecting over 1 billion people 

worldwide. However, since the episodes occur during sleep, self-diagnosis can be challenging. 

Untreated, sleep apnea can have detrimental effects on health, leading to increased risks of 

multiple diseases, such as stroke and coronary heart disease. Existing techniques for diagnosing 

sleep apnea, such polysomnography, are expensive and frequently necessitate overnight stays in 

a sleep lab for the patients. Thus, there remains a need for an affordable and user-friendly device 

to monitor patients’ activities during sleep and detect the symptoms of sleep apnea. Inspired by 

pulmonary auscultation, our device employs acoustic detection of respiratory sounds. It consists 

of three components: a sound acquisition component resembling a mechanical stethoscope, a 

signal analysis system computing sleep apnea episodes, and a user-friendly interface allowing 

patients to monitor their sleep patterns and understand the implications. By accurately detecting 

sleep apnea events, Apneaware has the potential to raise awareness of sleep apnea in more 

people and encourage early prevention, ultimately improving the quality of life for those affected 

by this common sleep disorder. 

Euphony Therapeutics 

Djenebou Semega, Andoni Nolasco, Blake Turner, Imelda N. A. Adjei, and Andre Meddar 

Forty percent of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and seventy-to-eighty percent of 

migraine patients suffer from hyperacusis, which is an increased sensitivity to sounds causing 

discomfort or even pain for the patient. Loudness Discomfort Level (LDL) describes the point at 

which a subject perceives the sound as uncomfortably loud. Ninety-five percent of patients with 

hyperacusis have an LDL of less than 77 dB, compared to the general population in whom the 

average is about 100 dB. As this is on a logarithmic scale, there is a significant sound tolerance 

decrease in hyperacusis patients that would barely bother most people. Current treatment for 

hyperacusis includes sound therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy to improve sound tolerance, 

but for most patients, symptom management includes wearing headphones to block out 

uncomfortable noises. Blocking sound is often helpful for reducing discomfort, but when 

uncomfortable sounds are part of one’s daily life, it can be difficult to balance the need for 

comfort and the need to perceive one’s auditory environment. Therefore, there is a need for a 

way to reduce exposure to sounds that may trigger negative effects in hyperacusis patients. Our 

solution is based on a Targeted Noise Cancellation system while allowing user specificity with 

the addition of an app. This device targets unwanted sounds, based on frequency, to attenuate 

loud sounds while retaining the quality of desired sounds (i.e. conversations). By pairing the 

device to an app, we allow the user to select which frequency of sounds they want to reduce 

depending on their condition. In other words, in the app, the user can choose the minimum and 

maximum frequency and number of stop bands that they want to have attenuated through their 

device. Lastly, the app permits the user to record the frequency of the sounds they encounter to 

store in the app as part of a catalog from which they can then select or change the sound they 

desire to attenuate at any time. 

14


PoseEst 

Alex Ying, Jesse Yebouet, Jonah Dewing, Jonathan Guo, and Yena Shin 

Physical therapy (PT) is an important tool for pain treatment, muscle strengthening, injury 

prevention, and rehabilitation. Frequently, PT is not accessible due to the high costs of sessions 

and transit inconvenience. When faced with these barriers, patients will sometimes rely on free 

online resources for instruction. However, these sources can be unreliable and leave patients 

susceptible to exacerbating their injuries. In order to encourage patient compliance, prevent 

injury, and promote progress in a user-friendly, cost-effective manner, we present PoseEst, a 

markerless joint tracking smartphone app. After a clinical questionnaire, certain exercises may be 

suggested for the user’s injury. Using a deep learning model, a phone camera will automatically 

record a patient’s joint positions through these exercises in 3D space. The app will track the 

movements of the user’s knee, ankle, hip, and spine and assess the exercise form based on 

clinically accepted metrics. The user is presented with this information to improve form, and the 

app automatically tracks recovery progress over time. If the injury does not improve with simple, 

form-corrected exercises, a writeup with a history of the injury and the exercises performed will 

be ready to print for an easy introduction to actual PT clinics. PoseEst serves as a cost-effective, 

accessible, at-home aid platform prior to physical therapy intervention that can also work in 

conjunction with physical therapists to monitor patient health and adherence. 

15


Modular Living: Step into Legoland 

Charlie Henry Renner, Abraham Oh, Katherine Koziol, Amin Mojarad, Isabella Citera, Tes S 

DeJaeger 

Advisor: Tom Panyoditi 

This project is a five-story modular residential building located in Brooklyn, New York made 

entirely from recycled shipping containers. A modular approach is utilized to highlight the 

benefits from a schedule , cost, environmental, safety, and structural standpoint. Although 

modular construction is less traditional, it has promising results as it is highly customizable, 

iterative and sustainable. The geotechnical investigation, the relatively low chance of 

earthquakes and hurricanes, and the need for more efficient housing in New York City makes 

Brooklyn an ideal location for modular construction using shipping containers. 

Keywords: Civil Engineering, Modular Construction, Off-Site Fabrication, Volumetric Modular 

Construction, Construction, Affordable Housing, Brooklyn, NY, Shipping Containers 

Alice Wainwright Park, Miami, Florida, Stormsurge Protection Redesign 

Shanelle Marshall, Meera Mavroidis, Destiny Meyers, Marco Morales, and Ayesha Rennie 

Advisor: Tom T. Panayotidi 

The Stormsurge Protection project focuses on the design of a multi-purpose park located in 

Miami, Florida along Biscayne Bay. The park incorporates individual components that create a 

community space as well as work to protect surrounding communities from storm surge. With 

climate change on the rise, storm surge intensity and stormwater precipitation are on the rise 

making most neighborhoods in Miami highly susceptible to flooding during storms. The first 

component of our redesign is a pedestrian overpass over the existing A1 Freeway that runs along 

the water in downtown Miami. The overpass will be designed as a park connecting the residents 

in Brickell to Alice Wainwright Park spanning 280 feet over the A1 freeway. The second 

component is an amphitheater located in the southeast corner of the park. The amphitheater will 

have an in-built water filtration system at its center, which will retain and filter any excess 

stormwater and outfall it back into the ocean. Finally, the park itself will be designed such that 

the hills act as a natural protective barrier against high tides and flooding. The park will be 

graded so that it slopes towards the amphitheater. Moreover, ditches will be dug out from behind 

the hills, leading towards the amphitheater, to ensure that all the excess water is contained in the 

park system. 

Keywords: Stormwater Resiliency, Stormwater filtration, Structural Engineering, Stormsurge 

Protection, Park, Coastal Engineering, Sustainability, Natural Hazard Resilienc 

16


A New Home for NYCFC 

Jillian Busetto, Patrick Chang, Sarah Marshall, Alexander Moreno, Natali Petani 

Advisor: Tom Panayotidi 

As the current New York City Football Club’s (NYCFC) primary location of play is in the Bronx 

at Yankee Stadium, this project seeks to produce a design for a soccer stadium in Queens, NY 

that will serve as the new home for NYCFC. The club was founded in May 2013 and while 

barely a decade old, the club has had noteworthy performance on both on the national and 

international stage. Despite the team’s success and the fact that New York is ranked fourth by 

ESPN in the top-ten markets for the MLS fan base, NYCFC lacks a dedicated stadium. Although 

Yankee Stadium can accommodate soccer matches, it has had difficulties serving both the 

Yankees and NYCFC adequately. The new stadium will be purpose-built for the club, allowing 

and supporting the development of a proper soccer experience at home games. 

The stadium is to be located on an undeveloped plot of land in Willets Point across the 

street from the New York Mets’ Citi Field, where the MTA 7 line is conveniently located. The 

stadium is a two-tier exposed steel structure with a cantilevered roof that can accommodate 

approximately 32,200 fans. The column, beam, seating and stair layouts were initially designed 

in AutoCAD to ensure that the design made logistical sense and met egress requirements before 

importing it into SAP to perform structural design. 

To design the steel skeleton, load calculations were performed and the appropriate load 

combinations were applied to the structure in SAP2000. Preliminary member sizing calculations 

were performed, and initial steel member design was iterated upon for the members that failed in 

the SAP capacity check. Reinforcement for the floor, seat slabs, and precast concrete seating 

deck was designed by extracting the maximum positive and negative moment and shear 

experienced by each slab type. To determine the type of foundation needed to support the 

stadium, approximate soil properties of the Flushing Meadows area were deduced from previous 

studies of the area, academic studies, building code regulations, and existing foundation designs. 

The approximated soil properties were then used to determine each layer’s corresponding 

bearing capacity. With this and the calculated loads that the soil would be supporting, a dynamic 

model was created to output the number of piles and their spatial feasibility along with the 

amount of settlement created for various combinations of pile depth and diameter. The resulting 

foundation design includes 960 8-inch high displacement driven piles. 

A SolidWorks model served to construct the physical models, as each part of the 

assembly was converted into a drawing to be manufactured using either a laser cutter or 3D 

printer; and, a Revit model allowed for virtual reality visualizations, specifically a compelling 

4D time-lapse phasing model of the entire construction process. Revit 5D quantity takeoffs were 

used in tandem with RSMeans data to approximate the cost of construction, which amounted to 

$180 M. Construction sequencing for the project was optimized using the critical path method 

and a discounted cash flow analysis was conducted to determine time to recoup the investment. 

Finally, to minimize the project’s environmental impact, planning considered real engineering 

innovations such as VERIFI in-transit concrete management systems and SCM replacements. 

17


Overall, we seek to deliver design documents for a stadium to fit the owner's needs, 

including accommodation for games, seating, concessions, admission, circulation, training, 

operations, and more. We hope to provide an aesthetically-pleasing, environmentally responsible 

and financially sustainable home for NYCFC players and fans to enjoy for decades to come. 

Keywords: soccer stadium design, steel members, roof truss, slab reinforcement, precast 

concrete, driven piles, bearing capacity, settlement, quantity take off (QTO), net present value, 

cost analysis, critical path method, puzzle piece tabs, laser cutting, 3D printing, SolidWorks, 

AutoCAD, SAP2000, building information modeling (BIM), virtual reality (VR) 

18


Aging Hydroelectric Dam Redesign for Climate Change 

Ruben Bazalar, Caroline Cailloux, Kevin Cardenas, Yunus Kovankaya, Zhihao Liu, Ariana Novo 

Advisor: Tom T. Panayotidi 

Concrete gravity dams across the United States are aging towards the end of their useful service 

lives. In looking towards improvements or reimplementations of these astounding projects, there 

must be a focus on the disadvantages and complications faced. The Martin Dam in Dadeville, 

Alabama is exemplary of early efforts to find energy alternatives to fossil fuel-based sources, an 

issue that is timely with current climate change projections from greenhouse gas emissions. The 

hydroelectric dam was innovative at the time for its size and its ability to provide power to local 

communities. At the same time, the Martin Dam caused disruptions to the ecosystems it invaded 

as many dams do, leading to present concerns over methane emissions. The dam also reaches its 

100th year of service in 2026, so it will reach the end of its useful life within the next 3 years. 

Our solution focuses on maintaining and improving the current impacts of the dam through more 

effective turbines as well as the implementation of an oxygen line diffuser in the reservoir which 

will help increase dissolved oxygen (DO) levels. Increased DO will assist in protecting 

endangered flora and fauna native to Western Alabama and neutralize methane produced by 

decaying organisms at greater depths of the reservoir. Additionally, the dam’s effectiveness is 

improved to deal with extreme weather events by adding additional capacity to deal with more 

powerful floods forecasted by IPCC climate change scenarios. These capacity calculations 

assume a log-normal rainfall distribution based on rainfall data extracted from the National 

Oceanography and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 

Development of concrete gravity dams span across many disciplines of civil engineering. In 

order for the dam to be structurally sound, considerations had to be done on the foundation upon 

which the dam will be built, different loads and load combinations were analyzed, and an 

analysis of the stability of the structure was conducted. In order to ensure that the dam would 

work with our proposed conditions, hydraulic analyses were conducted for the design of 

spillways for flood control and turbines for power generation. The design standards came from 

those set by the United States Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers. 

Keywords: Concrete Gravity Dam, Hydroelectric Power, Oxygen Line Diffuser, Kaplan Turbine, 

Climate Change, Methane Emission Reduction, Dissolved Oxygen 

19


Sunset Bay Terminal: Designing the Interborough Express Brooklyn Terminal Station 

Amanda Klepper, Ameen DaCosta, Clare McGillis, Jenna Stewart, Sydney Umanah 

The Interborough Express is a proposed passenger light-rail system that would connect 

underserved areas of Brooklyn and Queens using the right-of-way of the lightly used Bay Ridge 

Branch, currently used by freight trains. The daily weekday ridership is estimated to be 115,000 

people, and it would connect with 17 different subway lines and the Long Island Railroad, 

providing a crucial link in the area. Our project is to design the terminal station for this line by 

the Brooklyn Army Terminal at the border of Sunset Park and Bay Ridge along the shore of New 

York Harbor. Due to its location, it has been affectionately named the Sunset Bay Terminal. The 

two-story station will be complete with shops and other passenger services, a connection to a 

nearby ferry stop, an outdoor park, an elevated walkway to the street, and a train yard. Our 

design also features an innovative green roof, optimized viewing of the scenic shoreline through 

a glass window wall, and a central glass dome that illuminates a central atrium. 

Our station design features a two story building with a footprint of 75,000 square feet, or 

250 ft by 300 ft. The primary structural design utilizes steel columns and beams with 25’ spans 

as well as reinforced concrete slabs. The lateral force resisting system features moment 

connections addressing wind forces perpendicular to the wall faces. The primary loads addressed 

in the design are dead loads from the structural members, interior, and green roof, live loads from 

pedestrian traffic, and wind loads. We modeled the dome shaped skylight accounting for dead 

loads from the glass and wind loads. 

The station design also contains multiple green infrastructure elements: a green roof that 

spans the entire area of the roof excluding the skylight, a water catchment system to collect 

rainwater runoff to use for flushing the toilets, and multiple green areas on the property. The 

green roof is composed of sedum, which is native to New York, drought-resistant, and easy to 

maintain. Spanning the entire roof, our innovative rainwater harvesting system is a central 

feature of the station design. Water will be filtered and directed through a pipe system and into a 

storage tank. Once water collects the tank, it will then be reused throughout the building. It will 

provide 318,750 cubic feet of water per year – saving $13,000 yearly. 

The coastal placement of the station presents unique design and geotechnical challenges. 

The groundwater level of the soil is around 1.5 ft below the surface. The site is directly underlain 

by glacial till and fill from past construction projects. This soil is weak and unfit to support the 

load of the terminal. Beneath this glacial till, there is gravelly sandy loam, which will be better 

suited to support loadings. Thirty-six cast-in-place, point-bearing concrete piles will be used to 

support the structure. Cross sections of the piles will be 2 ft by 3 ft and driven 20 feet below the 

surface. This will provide more than enough bearing capacity for the building’s live and dead 

loads. 

This terminal station will be owned and operated by the Metropolitan Transportation 

Authority (MTA). The work will be contracted out using a Design-Build project delivery 

method, designating a single team for the design and construction of the entire project. This 

ensures smoother coordination of materials and efficient scheduling. The design, planning and 

construction for this terminal station is estimated to take 3 years. 

20

Computer Science 

Open Source Economics – Building Trust and Effective Resource Allocation at Scale 

Iman Anwarzai 

Advisor: Eugene Wu 

Climate change threatens farmers’ livelihoods. Index insurance uses satellite and sensor data to 

decide whether to pay a farmer after drought. We identify several problems that arise with index 

insurance and top-down policy generally centered around a lack of trust and a lack of data. We 

can view solving lack of trust and lack of data as a modeling problem where community 

members set parameters for a policy. We propose a system called Decision Engine for 

Socioeconomic Disaster Risk (DESDR) to allow for community contribution to model 

parameters improving model effectiveness and trustworthiness. An initial DESDR deployment in 

Ethiopia is allowing community interaction and improved feedback for model tuning. 

Keywords: Interactive Data Visualization and Transformation, Machine Learning, Web 

Development 

21


Long Island Western Bays: Saltwater Intrusion Resiliency Plan 

Alexia Alejos, Karen Copeland, Megan Cushing, Maria Di Landro 

Advisor: Professor Farrauto 

Our project assesses the impending risks of climate change to groundwater systems, with a focus 

on dangerous saltwater intrusion exacerbated by sea-level rise. Saltwater intrusion in aquifers 

puts freshwater resources at risk due to increased salinity. This is not only a risk to public health, 

but can also damage native ecosystems and put existing water infrastructure at risk of failure. 

These impacts are particularly dangerous in an increasingly water-stressed world, where more 

than forty percent of the global population face water scarcity today. For our project, we focus on 

Western Bays subregion of Long Island in Nassau County, where saltwater intrusion has been 

impairing ground water quality since the 1950s. This impairment is a result of depletion of the 

freshwater aquifer system from excessive pumpage. Too much groundwater pumping can allow 

seawater to enter the freshwater supply by lowering the cone of depression surrounding pump 

stations. Sea-level rise will only exacerbate this issue. Long Island has been identified as one of 

the most vulnerable regions to sea-level rise in New York State, with 57,694 people in Nassau 

County at risk of flooding in a 4ft sea-level rise scenario. This is over 20,000 more people than 

any other county in New York State. Initiatives are already underway to protect this at-risk 

community through natural flood control methods such as marsh restorations for areas damaged 

by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. However, methods such as these do not currently address saltwater 

intrusion concerns with water quality. We propose potable water recharge to combat the overuse 

of the aquifers and sea-level change. Wastewater sourced from Bay Park Water Reclamation 

Facility will undergo a series of additional treatment steps including sedimentation, 

ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, disinfection and chemical addition. This treatment brings the 

wastewater to potable standards, allowing it to be reinjected into the aquifer system. Specifically, 

we targeted the Lloyd and Magothy aquifers, two of Long Island’s coastal aquifers with 

measured saltwater intrusion. The location of recharge was selected based on the location of the 

freshwater-seawater interface, as documented by prior studies. The flow rate of the system was 

determined through a mass balance to maintain steady state between freshwater withdrawals, 

rainfall infiltration, and our potable water recharge. This ensures a sustained and reliable water 

supply that is able to meet consumer demand without placing strain on current or future water 

sources. In addition, we investigated the costs of a “business as usual” scenario, in which the 

study area would be forced to connect to the New York City Water Supply System to continue to 

meet freshwater demands. This would cost the community approximately $137M. Additionally, 

abandoning a viable freshwater source should not be an option in an increasingly water-stressed 

world. Social and environmental justice components of this project were also investigated using 

a SWOT analysis. Overall, potable water recharge is an innovative, sustainable, and long lasting 

solution to saltwater intrusion in Nassau County. 

Keywords: New York, Long Island, South Shore Estuary, Nassau County, Climate Change, 

Sea-Level Rise, Saltwater Intrusion, Potable Water Recharge, Wastewater Reuse 

22


Optimization of Carbon Capture Technologies for the Blue Hydrogen Economy 

Luca Jose Barcelo, Jeffrey Shixun Chen, Stephanie Sanchez 

Advisor: Robert Farrauto 

Global decarbonization initiatives and the subsequent energy transition have catalyzed an 

evolution in hydrogen production methods that address CO2 emissions. Hydrogen is now 

produced with cleaner fossil fuel inputs—largely natural gas, (methane)—and combined with 

CO2 carbon capture to create a low-emissions product called ‘Blue Hydrogen.’ With the 

burgeoning use of hydrogen in industries including power, the need for clear production 

pathways of blue hydrogen has become more important. Using existing global production 

technologies of H2 and their corresponding output streams, we attempt to create an economic 

model based on trends to attempt to determine the optimal carbon capture technologies to 

implement by industry. The optimization of carbon capture technologies considers the 

fundamental chemistries of capture methods and their costs. Further assessments are made on the 

feasibility of carbon storage versus utilization based on industry and geological conditions of the 

region of or near the hydrogen plants. 

Keywords: Blue hydrogen, CCS (carbon capture and storage), hydrogen production, carbon 

emissions, hydrogen economy. 

Feasibility of Novel Decontamination Procedures for Heavy Metal Extraction in Soils in the 

New York City Metropolitan Area 

Mantjita Camara, Emily Lord, Dane Miller 

Advisor: Robert Farrauto 

The goal of this project is to analyze different solutions and synthesize new procedures for the 

treatment of contaminated soils, as defined by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 

(RCRA) in urban areas. According to NYC Health and NYC Parks, some of the most common 

contaminants present in New York City’s soil are metals such as lead and arsenic, pesticides, and 

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (Soil and Gardening - NYC Health, n.d.). We aim to 

focus specifically on soils contaminated with trace metals most commonly found in New York 

City: Lead (Pb), Chromium (Cr), Arsenic (As), and Cadmium (Cd). Heavy metal exposure 

presents a risk of bioaccumulation in both humans and all living organisms in an ecosystem 

which can lead to brain and nervous system dysfunction, kidney problems, cancer, and immune 

systems issues. Current remediation practice for heavy metals is usually removal of the 

contaminated material and backfilling (if necessary) with imported clean fill. We plan to make a 

case study based on a specific project where soil remediation has taken place in New York City 

and analyze how the land would change if newer forms of remediation were implemented. From 

this we would provide recommendations for how the land could be reused post remediation as 

well and provide a life cycle analysis of this new method. 

Keywords: Soil remediation, remediation techniques, environmental remediation, metal 

contaminants, heavy metals, VOCs (volatile organic carbons), phytoremediation, environmental 

sustainability, green urban development. 

23


Mirror for Integrated Rehabilitation 

Gulnur Avcia, Abdul Latif Bambaa, Margherita Firenzea, Shane Maughna 

Advisor Name(s): John Kymissis, David Vallancourt, Oliver Durnan 

Stroke is a major cause of disability worldwide, often resulting in limited physical movements 

and impaired speech on one side of the body. Mirror therapy (MT) is a cost-effective technique 

that has been shown to aid in the restoration of hand mobility. However, for MT to be effective, 

patients must consistently practice a variety of exercises every day for a given amount of time. 

To help with this, we have developed a smart mirror using electroluminescent (EL) technology. 

Our mirror utilizes a silver-doped conductive EL stack that emits monochromatic, 

non-dimensional light, easily observable from any angle. An optical partially-transparent 

mirror is used to display exercise progress directly on the mirror, providing an integrated 

experience for patients. The display elements are powered by a fly- back converter adapted for 

high-voltage capacitor charging and controlled by a Raspberry Pi through level-transistors. 

Keywords: Electroluminescent Display, High-Voltage Capacitor Charging, Screen-printing, 

Level Transistors 

8x8 MZI Beneš Switch Array Packaging and Testing 

Jaeda Mendoza, Brett George, Michael Lee, Dimosthenis Chrysochoou 

Advisors: Keren Bergman; James Robinson, Robert Parsons 

Data centers across the US are expanding in order to meet growing demand for high performance 

computing. A large portion of power consumption results from the interconnects and switch 

relays that link servers to each other. In an effort to minimize the power lost in these regions of 

the data center, a solution must continue to deliver high bandwidth while simultaneously 

minimizing the energy requirements from the server. Our project revolves around one such 

solution that makes use of a purely optical interconnect which meets both bandwidth and power 

requirements for the data centers of the future. We integrate a 8x8 Mach-Zehnder Interferometer 

Beneš Switch Array implemented as a photonic integrated circuit (PIC), into an electronics 

packaging and test bed environment such that its features may be tested within experimental and 

practical data centers. 

Keywords: Data Centers, Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (MZI), 8x8 MZI Beneš Switch Array, 

Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC), Printed Circuit Board (PCB) 

24


Roverarm 

Ava Kim, Xinran Gao, Cornelia Wang 

Advisor: John Kymissis 

Roverarm is a IR sensor based self navigating rover with a manually maneuverable robotic arm. 

Inspired by a solution to messy pets, a custom powered mechanical arm is mounted on a custom 

built rover that has two modes: automatic and manual. Automatic mode uses IR sensing 

technology to pick up IR signals emitting from a photodiode and adjusts its direction to drive 

towards it. The peak wavelength emitted by the light source matches the peak sensitivity of the 

photodiode at 940nm. Hence, it will follow a pet wearing a collar with a diode in it for instance 

without human interference, avoiding obstacles using the ultrasonic sensor. The motors receive 

the signals from the sensors and the motor driver driven by the I2C communication protocol 

increases the voltage and current from the board and drives the actual motors. If the owner 

would like to pick something up manually, they can engage manual mode via the IR remote 

controller to stop or adjust the car’s position and then engage the mechanical arm to pick up any 

fallen objects. 

Keywords: InfraRed Sensor, Arduino, Autonomous, Servo Drivers, I2C Communication 

Protocol, Ultrasonic Sensor, Photodiode, Wavelength. 

Block Diagram to Breadboard: Implementation of Digital Operations in Analog Guitar 

Effects 

Tajinder Sunda, Tsolaye Itseoritseetan Ogbemi, Siwanta Thapa 

Advisor: Seth Cluett 

We aim to design an analog guitar effect pedal in this project. We are basing our design on an 

early-phase shifter pedal while adding several of our own upgrades. A guitar effect pedal is an 

electronic device that changes how a guitar sounds; different pedals alter the sound differently. 

We will be looking at a phase-shifting pedal that amplifies some aspects of the tone and reduces 

other aspects. It does this by splitting the given audio signal into two portions and altering one 

portion by changing the phase. This creates a rippling effect, the desired tone from a 

phase-shifting pedal. We plan to upgrade from an existing model, MXR Phase 90 (very popular 

during the 1970s), which consisted of a single speed control knob, by adding a feature to create a 

single or double “copy” of the original signal. We plan for each signal copy to be individually 

phase-shifted at different frequency bands. We will add a knob for each “copy” to adjust the 

phase shift, thus giving the user more options for their desired output. 

Key Words: Phaser, frequency bands, pedal 

25


Musical Meditation: Heart Rate-Informed Tempo Modulating Headphones 

Tess Fallon, Aleksandr Petukhov, Leonardo Arvan, Madeleine Denis 

Music has been shown to have a significant impact on people’s physical and emotional states. In 

addition to emotionally hyping us up or calming us down, listening to music can cause actual 

physical changes in our bodies. It can raise or lower our blood pressure, impact our breathing 

speeds, and even speed up or slow down our heart rates. It has also been demonstrated that 

people’s heart rates respond to musical changes in tempo only when the adjustment occurs at a 

rate of less than 3% per minute. 

We built a heart-rate reactive musical device that aims to help people cope with overstimulation 

and/or anxiety. The device is a stand-alone headphone set with capabilities to separate the user 

from auditory stimuli. The headphones have a PPG heart rate monitor attached to the earpiece 

which will constantly read the user’s heart rate. The headphones will play calming music at an 

adjusting rate in an attempt to slow down the user’s heart rate and ease anxiety and 

overstimulation. As the user calms down and their heart rate slows, the music will respond and 

incrementally decrease in tempo, at a rate no faster than 3% per minute. The goal of the device is 

to decrease the user’s heart rate incrementally with music, so that they feel calmer and 

experience less of the negative impact of high stress levels and anxiety. 

Uninterruptible Power Supply for Home and Kitchen Applications 

Malik Hubbard, Ourania Stourati, Maxfield Parson-Scherban 

Advisor: Matthias Preindl 

Project Description: With the growing threat of climate change leading to more unexpected 

weather conditions and natural disasters, electrical power systems around the world are 

experiencing increased strain. Many solutions are in development to increase the resiliency of 

electrical grids from natural disasters, but most of these solutions focus on large-scale outage 

prevention. The uninterruptible power supply (UPS) for home kitchen applications is a power 

resiliency solution that focuses on minimizing the effects of a power outage on an individual 

home. While most commercial UPS systems are used to protect larger valuable loads like 

computer servers, or small private loads like personal computers, this project develops a UPS 

specifically for home kitchen applications. Similar to all UPS designs, our system has the ability 

to, in the case of a power outage, fall onto a 12V, 54Ah battery pack supply and continue normal 

power delivery to an electrical load. Harnessing traditional power electronic DC/DC and DC/AC 

converters and our control system, our 1200W UPS is rated for the power requirements needed 

for home kitchen appliances. In doing so, our system bridges our electrical design with 

commercially mature power delivery practices, to develop a useful and practical device to help 

abate the unwanted harms of losing electrical power. 

Key Words: electric grid, power electronics, battery pack 

26


Uninterrupted Power Supply System Designed for use in Thermoelectric Mini Fridge 

Sara Adamkovic, Carlos D. Nuñez-Huitron, Vedika Poddar, James Potash 

Uninterrupted power supplies (UPS) have become crucial household devices for providing 

power in the event of a power outage. One of the most common concerns related with power 

outages is the possibility for food spoilage in the scenario the power outage is not resolved in a 

timely manner. Aside from the food spoilage this can cause financial setbacks for households 

which presents a demand for alternative power supplies. Unlike traditional power backup 

solutions like generators which are often noisy, fuel-dependent, and unreliable, making them not 

the most ideal source of backup power. Our novel UPS design utilizes a 12v 100Ah deep cycle 

battery, a PWM IC (SG3524N), MOSFETs, a center-tapped transformer, and a filtering stage to 

form an inverter capable of producing a 120 VAC power supply. Our design provides a reliable 

and efficient source of power suitable for use in mini fridges, ensuring uninterrupted power 

supply in the event of a power outage. Not only does our design prevent food spoilage and the 

associated financial loss but also makes for an attractive appliance to have not only in 

households but also for workers who wish to have a portable worksite mini fridge. 

Keywords: Uninterrupted Power Supply, Thermoelectric, Mini Fridge, Inverter, DC-AC, 

Pulse-Width Modulation, Transformer, Filtering 

Weather Transmitter: Building a Transceiver with Modulation and Multiplexing 

Capabilities 

James Yin, Warren Xia, Mohamed Berbich 

Advisor: Irving Kalet 

Project Description: Weather transmitters are weather instruments built to detect and transmit 

weather information via wireless data communication. The system is composed of a transmitter 

and receiver pair. The transmitter is connected to a variety of climate related sensors including 

temperature and humidity. The receiver receives the transmitted signal and outputs the data to a 

readable display surface. The techniques for wireless transmission are two-fold: signal 

modulation and data multiplexing. The three radio frequency techniques implemented for the 

weather transmitter include amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation (FM), and 434 

MHz radio frequency design. Time division multiplexing (TDM) was used to combine the 

separated data received from different sensors and transmit them through a single signal for 

demultiplexing at the receiver. 

Keywords: Weather Transmitter, Climate sensors, Amplitude Modulation, Frequency 

Modulation, 434 MHz, Time division multiplexing 

27


ZyloZinger 

Sienna Brent, Alex Yu, Haris Zia 

Advisor: Stephen Edwards 

Our Xylophone game ‘ZyloZinger’ combines the mental engagement and fun of a videogame 

with the hand-eye coordination required for a real instrument. A user will play a xylophone with 

mallets, with a microphone recording the sounds as the keys are struck. In front of the user is a 

VGA display, which shows four multicolored notes falling synchronously. When one of these 

notes on the display enters the green “valid” region at the bottom of the screen, the user is 

expected to play the xylophone on the corresponding note. This sound signal gets sent to an 

FPGA which performs signal processing using the Goertzel Algorithm to identify the note that 

was played. From there, the data result gets sent to the software through an Avalon 

Memory-Mapped interface, where it is compared against the note the software was expecting to 

“hear”. If this comparison returns positive, the user is awarded a point which appears soon after 

on the VGA display. 

Keywords: Xylophone, FPGA, Goertzel 

28

Industrial Engineering and Operations Research 

Nest: Platform-agnostic On-chain Customer Engagement Loyalty Solutions 

Hangqi Zheng, Jessica Chen, Darrel Choi 

Advisor: Yi Zhang 

Loyalty programs can be a challenge for brands as they struggle to keep customers engaged and reduce 

churn rates. Customers are often deterred by loyalty programs due to their complexity or lack of 

attractiveness. Two main issues customers face: 

-difficulty obtaining and accumulating rewards, leading to a loss of interest in the brand and the 

loyalty program 

-the lack of fungibility and limited reward options, making loyalty points less attractive to 

customers. Personalization of rewards is also a challenge for brands, as it may require knowledge of 

individual customer behavior and preferences. 

These issues result in a significant amount of unredeemed loyalty points, leading to the wasted potential 

for engagement and growth of the brand's fan base. The inability to incentivize spending or reduce churn 

rates can lead to decreased revenue for businesses. To improve loyalty programs, brands can simplify 

their programs and offer more flexible rewards to customers. They can also increase transparency around 

reward accumulation and redemption, making it easier for customers to understand how to benefit from 

the program. By doing so, brands can increase customer engagement, incentivize spending, and improve 

customer retention rates. 

Our team is developing a revolutionary on-chain customer engagement platform that streamlines the 

process of creating and managing loyalty rewards programs. With our platform, businesses of all sizes can 

easily set up their loyalty rewards programs in minutes. Customers will be able to find all of their rewards 

in one place, making it easier for them to manage different programs and redeem rewards. We also allow 

users to trade and exchange digital assets and gift cards through the use of blockchain, enabling further 

fungibility and flexibility of redemption choices. Businesses will also be able to analyze customer 

behavior and preferences in real-time, allowing them to personalize the reward experience for each 

customer. 

Keywords: Loyalty programs, customer engagement, customer retention, rewards, fungibility, 

personalization, transparency, on-chain customer engagement platform, blockchain, digital assets, 

real-time analysis. 

29


AMPF: Automated Pothole Filler 

Jose Chanchavac, Phillipe Dumeny, Javier Lopez, Jerry Qu, Justin Tucker 

Advisor: Yevgeniy Yesileyskiy 

The AMPF, or automated pothole filler, is designed to make the pothole filling process a much 

safer and more efficient process. Currently, the process of filling potholes is not only expensive 

and dangerous, but very time consuming. Anywhere from 5-10 workers are needed for this 

process, and the time it takes to assemble the tools necessary can be rather time consuming. With 

AMPF, however, only 1-2 workers are needed, and all the tools and parts needed to fill a pothole 

are brought together into one easy to use assembly. The user drives up to a pothole, and engages 

various subsystems that use an array of tools to cut and clean the pothole, a dispenser to fill it in, 

and lastly a vibratory roller to compact the fresh asphalt, leaving a clean, secure patch of road. 

Keywords: Mechanical Engineering, Pothole Filler, Road Assistance, Automated 

AQUA4 

Anton Deti, Emily Milian, Itai Savin, Kennedi Wade, 

Advisor: Yevgeniy Yesilevskiy 

Aqua4 is a water rerouting system that gives homeowners and renters alike an accessible solution 

to repurpose water in the bathroom while also saving money. The design allows for the typically 

wasted cold water that runs while one waits for their shower to become warm to be diverted to 

replenish a toilet after it has been flushed. Additionally, its modular design allows the user to 

convert the tank into a handwashing station, where the water used in this process will fill up the 

toilet tank below. By regularly showering, flushing, and washing hands, the customer passively 

saves water while maintaining their routine. 

Keywords: Mechanical Engineering, water conservation, rediverting, shower, toilet 

ELEVA 

Victor Barros, Felipe Couto, David Nieto, João Salles, Katherine Samuel 


ELEVA is an affordable and portable mechanical wheelchair lift that enables individuals with 

mobility impairments to safely ascend and descend staircases while remaining in their 

wheelchairs. This design targets low-infrastructure areas in Brazil, where topography and 

consistent electricity access can be challenging. ELEVA is compatible with narrow staircases and 

allows loading and positioning of a wheelchair from both the front and back of the device. It is 

operated by one caregiver, who positions the wheelchair, engages the safety latches and ratchet 

post, deploys and secures elevating straps, and rotates the rear handle, following the device until 

ascent or descent is complete. Parts are separable for more compact storage and wheels on the 

main apparatus facilitate hassle-free transportation. 

Keywords: Mechanical Engineering, wheelchair, wheelchair lift, assistive, Brazil 

30


OptiShine 

Dairon Estevez, Josette Content, Lily Bresse, Maya Puri 


Optishine is a manually powered cleaning device that grabs eyeglasses gently to spray and wipe 

the lenses. As oils, dust, and other debris dirty the lenses of everyday eyeglasses users, cleaning 

those lenses becomes a great inconvenience. Often, it is uncomfortable to hold eyeglasses by 

hand while cleaning, and the typical cloth wipe is done with no liquid, potentially damaging the 

lenses after long term use. The “Glasses Cleaner” implements liquid spray with removable 

microfiber rollers to circumvent these issues, and to provide a consistent cleaning experience. To 

clean, the user places their eyeglasses between the rollers inside Optishine, closes the lid, and 

cranks the lever on the side of the box. Optishine was designed to be available in everyday, 

public areas, allowing users easy access to cleaning their glasses whenever they need. 

Keywords: Mechanical Engineering, glasses cleaning, hand powered, transmission, ergonomic 

WormBot 

Solomia Dzhaman, Trevor Le, Bruno Rergis, Miguel Rodriguez 


WormBot is a digging robot designed to shed light onto the inner workings of covered landfills. 

It is able to move through a landfill and collect data on the conditions at various locations inside. 

For this project, we have decided to focus on developing a novel locomotion system that is able 

to autonomously propel WormBot through a landfill. The robot consists of three major 

subsystems: a drill to clear a path, a linear expander to push the drill forward, and an expansion 

system to provide countertorque to the drill. 

Keywords: Mechanical Engineering, landfill, drill 

31


DEMI 

Miles Huntley-Fenner, Christina Wright, Yidi Reiss, Leon Aharonian, Nicolas Aldana 


DEMI (Debris Elimination and Management Instrument): A Novel Solution for Space Debris 

Removal. Space debris poses a serious threat to the safety and sustainability of orbital activities. 

To address this challenge, we designed DEMI, a collection mechanism that can capture and store 

multiple pieces of small debris in low Earth orbit (LEO). DEMI works with a two stage capture 

system: an outer aperture that encloses the debris, and an inner door that seals it inside a storage 

chamber. DEMI can be easily attached to the ESPA Star satellite bus, which provides the 

necessary power, propulsion, and communication systems. DEMI is made of space grade 

materials with the ability to add space-grade shielding to withstand the harsh environment of 

space. 

Keywords: Mechanical Engineering, space, debris, satellite 

Deadliftr 

Yelaman Sain, Kyrie Lorfing, Matt Klenk, Sam Wustefeld, Will Hamilton 


The Deadliftr is a device featuring a wireless curvature sensor, worn in a pocket of a 

compression shirt, that sends real time feedback to the user’s phone regarding their back position 

and deadlifting technique. The design is built using a 3D printer, and curvature is measured with 

a series of potentiometers. Our aim is to ensure users are deadlifting within a safe range of back 

curvature, and to provide useful live feedback to the user as they lift. 

Keywords: Mechanical Engineering, real-time feedback, deadlift equipment 

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Tacchissi 

Seph Lun, Jacob Minkin, Minghao Yin, Sarah Wojtczak 

Advisor: Yevgeniy Yesilevskiy, Bianca Howard 

The Tacchissi /ta'kisi/ is a new design of high heel that transforms into and flat and back again 

with a quick, easy motion. This innovative shoe allows frequent travelers and constant walkers to 

wear just one pair of shoes, instead of commuting in one and carrying the other. There are no 

extra parts that you need to carry or worry about. They provide a simple transition from flat to 

heel. Once the shoe is strapped on, the lever in the back can be easily pulled up and the heel will 

pop out and lock into place. You are then ready to go! When you realize, your feet are starting to 

hurt, you pull the lever up again, and push the heel in to lock back underneath the shoe. The 

Tacchissi can also be an interesting addition to any party outfit and provides a solution to those 

who was the versatility of a flat and the elegance of a heel all in one shoe. 

Keywords: versatility, easy motion, commuting, transforms 

Health Can 

Nicolai Dolinar, Kobi Hall, Rabeca Mohammed, Logan Teder, Madeleine Brennan, Samuel 

Adeniyi 


The Health Can is a smart watering can that helps users solve issues relating to their houseplants. 

The design consists of a watering can with an integrated camera and computer, along with a base 

station for charging and dispensing different types of additives for plant health. Not only can it 

diagnose different pests on houseplants, but it can also treat the plant and provide the user with a 

helpful tool to keep their plant healthy. 

Keywords: Mechanical Engineering, Houseplants, Fluidics, Machine Learning 

33


Plan Bee 

Automating Pollination for Vertical Farming 

Valentina Gonzalez, Siddhanth Lath, Aiman Najah, Joaquin Palacios, Georgios Thomakos 


Plan Bee is an automated pollinating robot intended to increase the diversity of crop production 

in vertical farms by enabling pollination in enclosed environments. Plan Bee is a five degree of 

freedom robot with on-board computer vision. Operation of the pollinator is simple; Plan Bee is 

an independent system that can be easily introduced to any vertical farm plant basin to 

automatically identify and transfer pollen from flower to flower in a randomized fashion. To the 

user, it is a simple plug and play, with live feed displaying the amount of flowers detected, 

pollinated, and left in the pollination cycle. On the backend, Plan Bee leverages a neural network 

and DepthAI to identify flowers, determine their location and orientation, and automatically plan 

and deploy pollination routines. Our robotic system successfully identifies flowers within its 

workplace and pollinates them without the need for humans or live bees. 

Keywords: Mechanical Engineering, pollination, robotics, vertical farming, computer vision, 

gantry system 

A High Voltage Enclosure for a Formula Style EV 

Katherine O’Reilly, Sanja Kirova, Matthew Groll, Sergio Santiago, Arlene Diaz 


In the "Formula SAE" intercollegiate competition, electric race cars require battery packs that are 

lightweight, strong, and secure to power their motors. These battery packs also need to be easily 

serviced by a student pit crew and comply with various requirements, such as electrical 

simplicity, safety, accessibility, and low center of gravity, as well as a finishing endurance. To 

meet these needs, it is necessary to choose an appropriate material, ensure waterproof assembly, 

and provide adequate cooling. Our carbon fiber enclosure is the perfect solution that meets all 

these requirements and gives you the competitive edge you need to win races. This lightweight 

enclosure is superior to steel counterparts, as it can hold 90 pounds of batteries that operate at 

high voltage. The structural reinforcement beams and secure compartments ensure that the 

batteries are safe and protected. It has impact safety, cooling to maintain a working inner 

temperature under 60 °C, and waterproofing to keep the batteries safe in case of a wet 

environment. With easy-to-mount lids and accessible connectors, installation is a breeze, 

allowing you to focus on the race. 

Keywords: Mechanical Engineering, racing, Formula SAE, battery, carbon fiber, battery pack 

34


AgriFlow 

Axel Ortega, Keith Leung, Nicholas He, Jacob Scheer, Nipun Poddar 

Advisor: Yevgeniy Yesilevskiy, Harry West 

The AgriFlow is an agricultural device designed to simplify the traditional farming process for 

small-scale farmers. It allows farmers to dig the soil, plant seeds, and cover the soil back in a 

single pass. The device includes a unique dispenser mechanism that delivers potassium 

polyacrylate, a polymer that absorbs water and provides moisture, directly next to the seeds, 

eliminating the need for manual application. Farmers can operate the AgriFlow with just three 

simple steps: pull the handle to engage the gear, push the device forward to start the farming 

process, and return the handle to its original position to disengage the gear once the task is 

completed. The AgriFlow is an innovative solution that enhances efficiency and convenience in 

small-scale agriculture, allowing farmers to maximize their yields and reduce their workload. 

Keywords: Mechanical Engineering, agriculture, small-scale farming, potassium polyacrylate 

Theta 5 

Derek Borza, Alexis Singh, Christian Eberhard, Ethan Shek, and Jaka Pandza 


Theta 5 is an innovative, automated cartesian gantry system designed to perform in-place 

capping and uncapping of large, standard SBS format vials. The automated features of Theta 5 

lessen the risk of cross-contamination across lab environments while also reducing the amount of 

time spent on repetitive capping and uncapping operations. Aside from increasing productivity 

and quality of work, the mechanism maximizes available lab space due to its small footprint, 

improves functional performance through its in-place capping and uncapping actions, and 

promotes greater accessibility to such automated devices by being distributed off-the-shelf. The 

user experience is straightforward, eliminating steep learning curves associated with other, more 

advanced products. The vials are first placed on an ejected tray by the user. Following that, a user 

can designate the number of vials on the tray and proceed by pressing "Decap" or "Cap." Upon 

completion of uncapping or decapping processes, the user may choose to reclaim their vials or 

transfer them to another automated device to perform additional operations or analysis. 

Keywords: Mechanical Engineering, automation, capping, decapping, SBS standard, lab 

35


Pick-A-Poo 

Ashton Buchanan, Chengxi Wang, Henry Jensen, Joaquin Zavala, Qijing(Susan) Fu 


Pick-A-Poo aims to help all dog owners eliminate the trouble of cleaning up dog waste. It 

provides users with zero hand-to-waste contact, an automatic bag-loading function, short-term 

waste storage, and effortless dumping. The operations of our Pick-A-Poo are simple. When the 

users use the product, they will need to put in our special roll of paper bags, pull the paper out 

and attach it to the other side to form a track. Then pushing and pulling the central arm enables 

the clean and tidy process of picking and dumping the dog waste. The light design makes 

Pick-A-Poo easy to carry around. It will definitely be a fashionable and efficient choice for any 

dog owner. 

Keywords: Mechanical Engineering, automation, capping, decapping, SBS standard, lab 

Lockit Bike Station 

Terence Lau, Gabriel Mohideen, Nicholas Poon, Xinyan Qiu, Jannie Zhong 

Advisor: Yevgeniy Yesilevskiy, Harry West 

In the last five years, the number of bike riders in New York City has risen by 20%; as a result, 

so has the number of bike thefts. This can be attributed to the availability of portable angle 

grinders capable of cutting through the most popular bike locks on the market. The Lockit Bike 

Station offers a secure and effective solution for bike owners in New York City looking to park 

their bikes on the streets. 

Designed to accommodate the majority of bicycles owned by city residents, the Lockit Bike 

Station uses reinforced aluminum claws to lock the front wheel into place. An aluminum frame 

houses the locking mechanism, deterring thieves from breaking into the station even with power 

tools. Operating the lock is simple: first, the user rolls their bike onto the pressure plate, 

auto-engaging the aluminum claws to their locking positions. Then, the user may complete the 

locking process through a phone app, directing two linear actuators which bolt each claw into 

place. Unlocking the bike is just as simple, with the reverse process applied. 

Keywords: Mechanical Engineering, bicycle, security, lock 

36


Redesigning soccer cleat outsoles to reduce ACL injuries in female soccer players 

Yumna Alrefaei, Ashley Gigon, Nikita Manjuluri, Isabella McLaughlin, Christine Zou 


This research study aims to redesign soccer cleats for female soccer players to reduce the likelihood of 

anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears. Females are up to eight times more likely to tear their ACL in 

comparison to males, and soccer cleats are mainly designed for men with women’s cleats lacking comfort 

and performance. We propose an alternative design by varying the density of the outsole to relieve 

pressure off the knee. Our design redistributes the forces on the foot to achieve an optimal valgus and 

knee flexion angle, putting female soccer players less at risk, thus, reducing the forces that lead to ACL 

injuries. Seven different outsole density patterns were designed based on the Nike Premier FG 3 and then 

printed with Ultimakers out of thermoplastic polyurethane using support blockers in Cura. Each pattern 

was tested on five athletic young adult females. The knee flexion and valgus angles were measured using 

a virtual reality tracking system as the subjects performed actions of walking, running, and jumping. 

Keywords: Mechanical Engineering, anterior cruciate ligament injury, soccer, cleat outsole design, 

density, 3d printing, virtual reality tracking. 

37

Senior Design Expo 2023

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