Capstone Design Project Competition

Students: Dillon Hughes, Anjalee Gitthens, Godwin Igbeyoki, Erica Nichols, Kemma Kolstrup

HealingHand aims to help osteoarthritis and stroke patients regain hand mobility and grip strength through engaging physical therapy exercises. The device employs flex sensors and force sensors to assess patient capability, then leads them through a game which they must perform therapeutic exercises to control.

Team CEE 10, left to right, is Travis Tomlinson, Andrew Madrigal, Drew Scolari and Travis Tompkins. 

Advised by Juan Madrigal, Professional Engineer

Students: Travis Tomlinson, Travis Tompkins, Andrew Madrigal, Drew Scolari

The Winnemucca Municipal Airport is a rural airport in Winnemucca, Nevada that currently manages two mid-length runways capable of landing small freighter planes and private aircraft. The Winnemucca Municipal Airport Expansion Project will allow the airport to facilitate the landing of up to and including Boeing 767-300 Freighter planes to greatly expand the transportation of freight into Winnemucca. The primary aim of this project is to improve the desirability of the community for potential industrial employers, specifically for nearby mining operations. The project will consist of the addition of a 9,000-foot runway to the east of the existing airport facilities, expanded taxiways, a large docking area for plane unloading, and two 100,000 square-foot cargo handling facilities. The project has been planned to be minimally invasive to existing airport operations and will have continued use of the existing runways as a primary goal. The newly constructed runway and all associated taxiways will be built according to FAA specifications for the chosen freight aircraft. Asphalt sections will be capable of handling fully loaded freight aircraft, and cargo facilities will be designed to best facilitate the movement of goods through the airport to support forecasted growth.

Team CEE 18 is Pat Phelps, Hilario Sanchez, Blake Hardin, Logan Miceli and Austin Long.

Advised by Keith Dennett, PhD, PE, Camille Buehler, PE, PLS, Brian Moon, PE)

Students: Austin Long, Blake Hardin, Hilario Sanchez, Pat Phelps, Logan Miceli

The University Village Pedestrian Connectivity Project (UVPCP) is a multiphase infrastructure project aimed at enhancing pedestrian and micro-modal transportation between the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) and Downtown Reno. As UNR expands southward, Interstate-80 (I-80) presents a physical barrier that limits safe and efficient access to the University Village, a proposed mixed-use, pedestrian development. This multi-phase project seeks to foster connectivity, safety, and economic growth.   Phase One focuses on designing a pedestrian and cyclist only cable-stay bridge spanning I-80. This chosen design is beneficial due to its visual appeal, cost-effectiveness, constructability, and accessibility.   Phase Two addresses site development for University-owned and surrounding parcels south of I-80, with considerations for grading, utility infrastructure, and traffic impacts that come with increased commercial development.   Design efforts span multiple civil disciplines, including Structural, Environmental, and Transportation Engineering. The project integrates advanced design methodologies learned at UNR, industry-standard guidelines, and a new solution to create a safe, efficient, and vibrant campus extension.   The UVPCP aligns with UNR's long-term vision and the City of Reno's master plan, reinforcing the university's role in regional development while improving mobility and urban connectivity.

Advised by Nolan Erickson, Albemarle Corporation

Students: Thomas Hamby, Isaac Harrison, Nathan Merkle, Mitchell Rathbun

This project entails redesigning a portion of Albemarle's Silver Peak Lithium mine. Currently, the mine refines its brine with a batch process, which greatly reduces material throughput and operating time. Converting the batch process into a continuous process would increase the lithium produced by Albemarle by a reasonable margin.

Students: Sean Akers, Aidan Perrin, Matt Long, Jared Keller

Our team explored the process of extracting biogas from digested waste and converting it into hydrogen for RTC fuel cell buses in a way that is both economically viable and efficient. The process begins with amine scrubbing, a method used to purify the methane from biogas by removing impurities like carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. Once purified, the methane undergoes steam methane reforming (SMR), where it reacts with steam at high temperatures to produce syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. This is followed by the water-gas shift reaction, which further converts carbon monoxide and steam into additional hydrogen. Finally, a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) unit is employed to purify the hydrogen, separating it from any remaining impurities to ensure high purity. By optimizing these unit operations, we aimed to maximize the hydrogen yield while keeping costs and environmental impact low. This method provides a sustainable and cost-effective pathway to produce hydrogen from biogas, supporting cleaner and more efficient public transportation with RTC fuel cell buses.

Students: Kiana Partovi, Darren Ly, Timothy Ang

This project is intended to provide undergraduate students with a virtual robotics lab. They will be able to learn about how to code a robot simulation in python, and apply the content they have learned through taking quizzes and coding in a live environment.   The platform includes robotics courses, robotic environments, coding environments, teacher and student interaction, and gamification. The course content will educate undergraduate students about robotics through coding. They will learn about a specific robot and the functions that go along with it. For example, this can include how to move the robot or move objects/assets with python code. The robotic environment is created from Mujoco, an open source physics simulation. The coding environment is in python and the code entered in this environment will affect the robot simulation.   The goal is to provide for all types of students, whether that be because they don't have access to purchase hardware equipment, have access to a lab, or are intimidated by the complexities robotics is known to have. We aspire to make robotics an engaging and accessible experience.

Advised by John Westhoff (UNR School of Medicine)

Students: Domminic Mayer, Rino David, Nolan Visitacion, Jake Herweg

The MedPass project aims to address the concerning decline in USMLE Step 1 examination performance among UNR medical students. This program serves to be a supplement to current learning resources and classes by utilizing predictive tools and machine learning models to analyze student performance data across multiple sources. By identifying specific knowledge gaps that could be overlooked due to the pass/fail grading system, MedPass creates personalized learning plans that are tailored to each student's unique needs. The platform analytics serve to benefit students but also faculty as well, who gain valuable insights into class/year-wide performance trends enabling targeted curriculum adjustments based on analysis. The MedPass program utilizes industry standard technologies and practices such as NextJS, Tailwind CSS, Pandas and more opening the door for continuous development and improvement. The project will serve as indispensable to a medical student's academic career as failing the USMLE Step 1 can dramatically alter a student's career trajectory and potentially reduce the already limited pool of new upcoming medical professionals.

Team CSE 20 is, left to right, is Joseph Jacobson, Vedant Malhotra and Shayan Hosseini.

Advised by Sean Montgomery (Connected Future Labs)

Students: Vedant Malhotra, Joseph Jacobson, Shayan Hosseini

SoulSync brings user wellbeing and health data together into an app that brings users closer to friends and family, while giving them a greater understanding of their own mental health. By tapping into biometric information from devices such as the iPhone, Apple Watch, and EmotiBit, SoulSync can understand trends of a user's daily life. SoulSync also provides insights into all this data by encouraging the user to check in and take part in activities. Tapping into data from apps such as music, calendar, and health, and pairing it with data from hardware devices such as Apple Watch and EmotiBit brings a unique blend of analytics and insights to the user. The social aspect of SoulSync (SoulSync Social) allows users to share their emotions and more to others, fostering deeper connections with friends and family. SoulSync is also designed with privacy in mind, ensuring all health data is processed locally and on-device. Additionally, data inputs into SoulSync are all opt-in. SoulSync's unique blend of data processing and analysis means it's easier than ever to understand your health data while also providing a seamless and effortless way to check in with friends and family.

Students: Larissa Beauchamp, Logan Prins, Levi Woods, Tyler Quick, Ian Smith

Formula SAE Electric is an international competition where university teams design, build, and race single-seater electric race cars. Currently, new Formula SAE Electric teams face significant barriers to entry to the competition. One of these barriers is developing a competition regulation, reliable, well packaged drivetrain system to integrate with the rest of the vehicle. The goal of this project is to create a modular drivetrain system that can easily integrate with varying vehicle designs, allowing new teams to seamlessly enter the competition. To accomplish this, the design must be affordable, easy to assemble without specialized equipment, compatible with standard powertrain components like the EMRAX 228 electric motor and the Drexler FSAE differential, and have a compact form factor capable of accommodating different vehicle layouts.

Students: Christopher Pinar, Ashley Byrne, Troy Uemura, Tanner Schultz, Jordan Jackson

Over the past decade, roughly 595,000 wildfires burned 63.6 million acres across the US. Prolonged exposure to the smoke produced in these wildfires leads to an increased risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.  With these risks, wildland firefighters have little to no options for protecting their lungs from the burnt material particulates. The little options that wildland firefighters do have either aren't efficient in filtering the air, too bulky, or make it too hard to breathe. This project aims to protect the lungs of wildland firefighters through a light-weight respirator that can filter out toxic particles and allows firefighters to work without constricting their movements.

Team MSE 2, from left to right, is Joy Calhoun, Grace Suenram, and Jonathan Ramos

Advised by Dr. York Smith, American Battery Technology

Students: Jonathan Ramos, Grace Suenram, Joy Calhoun

Battery fires caused by thermal runaway are a central hazard in a lithium-ion battery-powered world, and the primary prevention method is to mitigate operation under elevated temperatures to reduce overheating. Phase change materials are an emerging battery thermal management technology with potential to passively remove heat through a solid-liquid phase change. This project aims to produce a novel phase change material made from paraffin wax, silica xerogel, and aluminum nitride that has improved thermal conductivity and shape stability, and limited electrical conductivity.