Teams of sophomore and junior Engineering Design students have created innovative products for this year’s Dyson Design Competition that address six grand challenges of engineering to impact aspects of people’s lives.

The projects were developed this winter in one of the design studios forming the basis of the unique academic program that has earned accreditation and admiration from engineering educators throughout the country.

“The annual James Dyson Award Challenge fits perfectly within our program’s design specialties and Rose-Hulman’s mission of educating students to impact the world through their problem-solving skills. Our students have once again come up with some creative ideas this year,” said Engineering Design Program Director Patsy Brackin, PhD.

For instance, the SunFlower portable solar generator provides a charging station for a variety of battery-powered devices. The eye-appealing design features 3-D printed simulated sunflower petals that surround a solar panel with sun tracking capabilities to provide constant energy production. The device was designed and assembled by Sergio Coco, Ryan D’Aquila, Owen Smith, Tristan Stephens, and Jacob Tuck. 

A vertical, small-scale hydroponic urban plant tower created by Jeremy Bergman, Schuyler Chew, Vanessa Hood, and Elizabeth Ziemer allows homeowners or apartment dwellers to grow their own food and rely less on global food resources. The process of growing and sharing food can help people learn about plant growth and sustainability, while providing increased social connections for residents.

Meanwhile, a convenient modular agricultural system would allow people to add green spaces to their offices, homes, apartments, or other urban environments by growing pods of moss and other succulent plant arrangements. The project was designed by Kyle McDuffie, Mikko Shaia, William Stephanouk, Tayte Turner, and Clover Watson. 

The Wheeley Good Dispenser provides a carefree way for medications to be distributed to elderly and other patients at regular intervals, as programmed by a concerned family member or health care professional. The design team of Harrison Boerner, Owen Chaffin, Maxwell Danielson, Ryan Dreimeyer, and Michael Fang have received positive feedback during preliminary project testing.

The team of Neesa Bonham, Calee Coleman, Emilia Diaz, Kali Hurst, Karsyn Kitka, and Jayden O’Dell developed Math on the Move, a gamified learning system that allows students to learn math in a fun way, benefitting students, parents, and teachers.

Finally, an easy-to-use magnetic device can be attached to personal physical fitness equipment to provide electronic readings that assist and improve training techniques. A prototype was created and tested by Aaron Altman, Quinn Johnson, Steven Johnson, Colden Roach, and Deven Wells.

Elements of the National Academy of Engineering’s 14 Grand Challenges include making solar energy economical, advancing personal learning, engineering better medicine, managing the nitrogen cycle, and providing access to clean water. 

Learn more about aspects of the Engineering Design program at rose-hulman.edu/engineeringdesign.