A group of Rose-Hulman electrical and computer engineering students placed third in the EMC Student Design Competition. The contest was part of the IEEE + SIPI 2026 Symposium, which was held in August in Dallas, Texas. The Rose team —graduating seniors Yejia Hao, Jiuzhou (Lucas) Lin, and Yicheng Zhu — was the only group made up of undergraduate students.

The symposium is held annually by the IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society, the world’s largest organization dedicated to the development and distribution of information, tools and techniques for reducing electromagnetic interference. The student design competition includes a design problem that students work on throughout the academic year. Last year’s project revolved around a remote-control car problem in which students were given parameters around building the vehicle and its electromagnetic-radiated emissions. Teams submitted proposals and test plans throughout the academic year, and finalists were invited to present in front of a panel of judges at the symposium.

The Rose students finished behind two university teams composed of mostly PhD students. Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Michael Cracraft, PhD, serves as the advisor for the EMC Student Design Competition teams. He sees this third-place win as an example of the faculty-student interaction opportunities that undergraduate students receive at Rose-Hulman.

“One of the many benefits of Rose-Hulman is we are able to offer advanced senior electives at an undergraduate level that enables these students to compete extremely well with other schools with PhD students,” says Cracraft. 

Cracraft also notes that several company leads in attendance at the final presentations of the EMC Student Design Competition expressed interest in working with Rose-Hulman for future capstone design projects, internships, and hires as a result of hearing the Rose students present.

The student design competition is an annual endeavor and the next problem will be released this fall. ECE majors or other students interested in the competition are encouraged to reach out to Cracraft.