Concordia Journal Home > Archives > April 1, 2010 issue >

2010 Undergraduate Capstones  

By Russ Cooper

Once again this year, the EV Atrium was bustling with inventions of all kinds as the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science presented the undergraduate Capstone projects, the annual culmination of a required course for every undergraduate engineering student.

The departments of Building, Civil, and Environmental (BCEE) and Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (MIE) took over the atrium March 24, showing 46 presentations.

The departments of Computer Science and Software Engineering (CSE), and Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) had their turn March 25, demonstrating their 23 projects.

“Our projects supporting research or industry are typically the most challenging and the most accomplished,” said MIE Engineer in Residence Dominic Ng, who serves as engineering consultant and project manager for the MIE capstones.

As an example of this, Ng pointed to the project Design and Construction of an Atomic Force Microscope, the project of MIE’s Stephan Marchant, Greg Kramer and Sarah Halliburton.

The mechanical microscope is able to detect particles as small as 10 nanometres – a feat unattainable by a normal optical microscope, and only available with an electron microscope but at far greater cost.

The system was created specifically to aid the research of MIE professor Rolf Wuthrich (the project’s supervisor), whose research into developing hydrogen fuel cells requires particles of an exact size to make the fuel cells more efficient.

Halliburton states that a half-degree change can make microscopes less accurate; this system thermally compensates to ensure the reading is accurate.

On the BCEE side, professor Adel Hanna arranged for his student to consult with Facilities Management to gather ideas for proposals for new residence buildings. Bijan Nimap, Wu Yan Fei, Huynh Kim Phung, Sidarath Yim put forward a concept for a 13-storey, 450-person-capacity building for the De Maisonneuve parking lot adjacent to Bethune Square. The building would have a daycare centre with a playground on the main floor, and the roof would also be equipped with an extensive greenhouse.

“I like projects that serve Concordia, Montreal, Quebec and Canada,” said Hanna. “Students work very hard. At the end, I would prefer to see their projects be of practical use.”

Over with the CSE, student Brian Rubin was happy to explain his Front Desk Information Board. The team developed a web application able to adjust the text on a light board (similar to the scrolling LED displays inside Metro cars) over the internet; the person posting the information can do so from a computer anywhere in the world.

A new development last year (see Journal, April 23, 2009), the Electrical and Computer Engineering’s third year COEN/ELEC 390 will present its capstones on April 14, the date of MIE’s awards ceremony. ECE’s awards will be presented June 10, for both 390 and 490.

BCEE and CSE will not hold awards ceremonies.