Capstone Design Project Competition

Here are the 2026 winners!

Engineering Design, first place: AGROS WHORL-E, Team CSE-21

AGROS WHORL-E is a fully autonomous drone capable of precisely applying gametocides to Sorghum Whorls. WHORL-E takes a flight mission plan, then automatically detects sorghum whorls it finds in its flight through computer vision and through controls and visual servoing, positions itself towards the whorl to apply the gametocide before continuing on it's flight mission applying gameotcides to each whorl it passes. Effective gametocide application is critical to induce male sterility by producing hybrid seeds to prevent plants from reproducing with themselves. As a result, this application eliminates manual labor required to apply gametocides when the sorghum is growing, which can be tedious, harmful, and costly. Accurate gametocide application has an effect on crop yield as well as the survivability of plants by allowing selective breeding to increase resistance to heat, disease, etc.

Students: Isaiah McLain, Yovan Hirales, Jairo Cadena-Mendez, Elena Chau
Advisor: Assistant Professor Parikshit Maini, University of Nevada, Reno

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Engineering Design, second place: Open Radio Interferometry, Team EE-15

The Open Radio Interferometry project aims to solve the complexities of radio astronomy by providing an affordable, open-source, plug-and-play solution. Traditionally, radio interferometers cost upwards of $20,000, are highly difficult to operate, and are gatekept by proprietary agreements. This creates an unsustainable barrier to entry for students, educators, and smaller research groups. Our project democratizes access to astrophysical exploration utilizing off-the-shelf components. The system features a central processing engine based on a Xilinx Zynq SoC and an FMCOMMS5 transceiver, supporting four radio telescope receivers. To eliminate deep technical overhead, users are supported by a Python-based software workflow that automatically handles multi-channel receiving, FX correlation, calibration, and CLEAN image synthesis. With a user-friendly GUI and astronomy-standard FITS file formatting, per-channel spectrograms and synthesized celestial images are easily generated. By streamlining both hardware deployment and data processing, this platform enables hands-on observation of phenomena like 1.4 GHz galactic hydrogen line emissions without having to overcome the technical complexities of radio interferometry. 

Students: Brett Hopkins, Khoa Minh Do, Ibrahim Khondoker, Ian Goff, Luke Bowler

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Impact, first place: Production of Rare Earth Chlorides from Bastnasite Using Carbochlorination, Team CHE-3

Design of the process to produce water soluble rare earth chlorides from a rare earth concentrate derived from bastnasite mineral. The "one-step" process is carbochlorination of the rare earth carbonate fluorides in a fluidized bed. Introducing rare earth carbonate fluorides into a chlorine rich environment with carbon reduces the rare earths into rare earth chlorides. These rare earth chlorides are soluble in water, which allows for the separation of the rare earth chlorides into their constituents. These rare earth constituents are lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, and praseodymium. Separation of the rare earth constituents allows for further production of rare earth based materials, such as permanent magnets for use in electric motors.

Students: Daniel Morales, Travis Rothgeb, Spencer Fellenz, Daniela Vega-Rinne
Advisors: Ed McNew Mountain Pass Materials

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Impact, second place: Howler Technology: K9 Thermal Alert, Team BME-1

Howler Technology is a wearable, noninvasive monitoring system designed to detect early signs of heat stress in working dogs operating in high-risk environments such as military, law enforcement, search and rescue, and agricultural settings. Working dogs face extreme temperatures and intense physical demands that can quickly lead to heat exhaustion, organ damage, or fatality. Our system integrates continuous skin temperature monitoring, heart rate sensing, microcontroller-based signal processing, and Bluetooth communication to provide real-time physiological data to a mobile application. When predefined safety thresholds are exceeded, the system generates escalating alerts to notify handlers immediately. Lightweight, waterproof, and harness-mounted, the device is built for field durability while maintaining comfort and mobility for the dog. By enabling proactive monitoring rather than reactive intervention, Howler Technology aims to improve animal welfare, reduce preventable injuries, protect valuable operational assets, and enhance mission flexibility in demanding environments.

Students: Abigail Ganze, Natasia Ehlers, Zoe Atherton, Monserratt Ramirez

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People’s Choice: University of Nevada Transit Improvement Plan, Team CEE-17

The proposed project involves an improvement of pedestrian safety and traffic flow on the south end of the University of Nevada, Reno's campus with a comprehensive redesign at the corner of E Ninth St. and Evans Ave. Rapid increase of student population and outdated infrastructure have resulted in the intersection seeing significant pedestrian and vehicle conflicts, jeopardizing safety of the entire campus community. To address the demand in traffic, the project incorporates various main improvements including a roundabout, replacing the existing unsignalized intersection and eliminating traffic standstills completely. The removal of the current crosswalks will be replaced with two pedestrian bridges, rerouting foot traffic above the roads and complementing the rerouting of traffic circulation, mitigating pedestrian and vehicle interaction. Railings will be installed along the edge of sidewalks, bordering the intersection, to prevent pedestrians from crossing the street and encouraging the use of the pedestrian bridge. Three ramps will be installed at the ends of the bridges providing access to each side of the streets. One ramp will end in front of the HERE Reno apartment building, another in Evans Park, and the third ending at the parking lot between Fleischmann Agriculture and Sarah H. Fleischmann Building.

Students: Peter Ghelfi, Jackson Schlink, Diego Hernandez de la Luz, Mark Moyle II

Competition structure

In the culmination of the Capstone Design Project Competition, two distinguished awards will be presented to recognize outstanding achievements within the participating engineering teams. The judges will give four awards (two for engineering design and two for impact) as they deem appropriate among all the entries. This year, there also will be a single "People's Choice" award. 

The first accolade, Engineering Design, will be bestowed upon the team that demonstrates exemplary adherence to the established learning outcomes, emphasizing the meticulous application of engineering design principles to address specified needs while considering an array of critical factors such as health, safety, welfare, global, cultural, social, environmental and economic considerations. This award underscores the team’s commitment to academic excellence and the embodiment of core engineering competencies.

The second award, Impact, will celebrate the team that makes an extraordinary contribution to competitive innovation. This recognition will spotlight the project that exhibits unparalleled originality, practicality and potential impact.

Thank you

This contest was made possible through the generous support of Nevada National Security Sites.