Previous ASME Award Winner

Recent Departmental Runner Up Awards

Capstone Design Projects

Liquid Silica Dispenser

2003-2004 - Spring

Team: 4

Team Members

Aaron Davis
Chris Cobb
Justin Searcy
Lane Carlson

Gas Turbine Fuel Mixer

2003-2004 - Spring

Team: 5

Team Members

Luca Brammer
James Gregg
Tuan Ong
Danielle Robles

Microscope Positioner

2003-2004 - Spring

Team: 6

Team Members

Thomas Scholl
Jeffrey Heil
David Hauser
Mike Di Lauro

Yachtbot

2003-2004 - Spring

Team: 7

Team Members

Wayne Husband
Nicolas Padagas
Eric Mellers
Rebecca Denson
Joe Kilcoyne

Tactile Navigation Interface

2003-2004 - Spring

Team: 8

Team Members

Laura Chao
Alice Duong
Gustavo Garcia

Classroom Table Extension

2003-2004 - Spring

Team: 9

Team Members

Joey Ho
Mary Le
Michael Yang
Sundana Chung

Bead Bonding

2003-2004 - Winter

Team: 1

Team Members

Matt Mycroft
Stephanie Hoffman
Joann Luu
Adam Kimmerly

Flying Reagent Dispenser

2003-2004 - Winter

Team: 2

Team Members

J. Armando Chavez
Won Tae Joe
James Chung
Chris Schmidt
Satoshi Kuwahara

Nanospray Ionization

2003-2004 - Winter

Team: 3

Team Members

Sherry Chaumpluke
Debby Grunewald
Soren Harrison
Phuong Tran

Rollercoaster Track Testing Robot

2003-2004 - Winter

Team: 4

Team Members

Aaron Bell
Ian Cadieux
Ben Graham
Ken Wu

Transmission for Unmanned Ground Vehicle

2003-2004 - Winter

Team: 5

Team Members

William Hui
Fernando Martinez
Brian Parisi
Rosa Sandoval
Byron Tierney

Controlled Free Weight System

2003-2004 - Winter

Team: 6

Team Members

Chris Kwanzen Hu
Scott Vernon Wong
Eiki Wai-Chi Or
Jason Robert Korniski
Harry Rafy Arsene

Convection Loop for Chaotic Flow

2003-2004 - Winter

Team: 7

Team Members

Donna Choi
Daniel Guzman
Erik Danielson
Jing Hu
Danny Lok

Baseball Fielding Machine

2020-2021 - Winter

Team: 1

Team Members

Tyler Collins
Nicolas Compton
Dain Lee
Don Lee

A remote-controlled baseball fielding machine capable of launching balls up to 70 mph and aiming up/down/right/left at various trajectories.
Picture of the baseball fielding machine on the field.

Solar Turbines Alignment Mechanism

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 5

Team Members

Nigel Coseip
Alberto Guardado
Vicente Lopez-Espinosa
Daniel Lopez Villa
Nicholas Pereyda

Contact Team
The purpose of this project was to investigate a new mounting foot design for a Solar Turbines Titan-250 turbine. Our solution would need to incorporate an actuation method which can produce precise movement, and a locking mechanism capable of arresting the feet under all conditions. The team identified two actuation solutions: a set of jacking bolts, and a worm gear screw jack. Both designs have their own advantages such as cost, maintenance, and ease of operation.
A view of the Jacking Bolt and Worm Gear solutions

Precision Hydrogel Injector

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 10

Team Members

Avinash Laha
Jiansong Wang
Justin Oshiro
Aziz Mogannam

Contact Team
We focus on a biomedical device that creates a suction mechanism to grip onto a rat intestine model and is built with an insertion tunnel that allows a hydrogel syringe to inject the fluid at the intestinal site. The 3D printed device successfully gripped the rat intestine underwater, through which 1 μL water with red dye was injected. Red staining of the intestinal wall indicated successful delivery into the submucosal layer.
Animation of Injector

Trifinger Robot

2020-2021 - Winter

Team: 3

Team Members

Jan Dustin Tengdyantono
Jonathan Goenadibrata
Joseph Murad
Sebastian Podiono

Contact Team
A three-finger manipulator with 9 degrees of freedom, designed for Autonomous Research & Development capable of performing various tasks within its free workspace. The plan is to design a robot to be able to hold on and lift a specific object within a given coordinate frame and move it to a different specified location with precision and accuracy.

Trifinger Robotics

Wheelchair Accessible Tesla Project

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 3

Team Members

Sarah Litto
Ricardo Gonzalez
Candice Mallari
Haobo Huang
Aron Tran

Contact Team
Our project is to develop a plan to modify a Tesla to be wheelchair accessible.
CAD of Wheelchair Accessible Power Ramp

General Atomics: Robotic Handling

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 13

Team Members

Janette Juarez
Isaac Kiah
Cris Madla
Erik Sanchez
Ryan Wong

Contact Team
This project analyzes the quality control of very small spherical capsules that are used to hold gases in a process called Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF). The surface roughness and sphericity of the capsules affect the ICF process so they must be mapped using an atomic force microscope. General Atomics uses a robotic arm to re-orient the capsule to map the entire surface. The reorientation process has been found to contribute ~3° of rotational error which this project investigates.
Workstation setup where robotic arm picks up a 2mm capsule, reorients it, and places it back down.

Hamud Universal Upright Vehicle Rack

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 29

Team Members

Sho Kondo
Matias Lee
Jonathan Song
Huy Tran
Peggy Tran

Contact Team
The purpose of this project was to develop a universal vehicle equipment rack that could accommodate various types of sporting equipment. The problem statement was to design and manufacture a modular rack that was: versatile with many types of equipment, durable to withstand a maximum load of 430 lbs, and cost-efficient to be less than current competitors.
The universal rack with a surfboard modular attachment.

Formula SAE Traction Control

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 12

Team Members

Jack Ringelberg
Charlie Roman
Jason Kuang
Kevin Li-Zhang

Contact Team
UC San Diego’s Formula SAE team, Triton Racing, has been improving the power output of their engine year after year, making it difficult for student drivers to control the car. A traction control system was implemented to assist amateur drivers in maximizing the car’s performance by electronically controlling the engine output to ensure tire wheel grip remains in the optimum range throughout various driving scenarios.
Traction Control Test

XLence AM 3D Inertion Printer

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 27

Team Members

Team Member 1: Adan Ruiz
Team Member 2: Puning Zhu
Team Member 3: Kennan Gonzales
Team Member 4: Bradley Robison
Team Member 5: Martyn Lizarraga

Contact Team
The XLence AM 3D Inertion Printer team focused on a novel method for metal 3D printers using argon and a fluidics loop to replace the vacuum chamber and maintain less than 1% oxygen concentration in the printing area. Successful completion of the project greatly reduces the cost of metal 3D printers and allows smaller engineering companies easier access to them.
Gantry Systen and Nozzle Assembly

Improving Automated COVID-19 Testing Workflows: Pipette Challenge

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 32

Team Members

Abdulkarim Alamad
Candice Chung
Nicole Kidess
Nikola Terzic

Contact Team
The goal of this project was to optimize COVID-19 testing workflows, allowing for more daily testing and faster results. The problem was boiled down to test tube orientation. The status quo at the EXCITE Lab was for technicians to manually align the test tubes' barcodes in a rack before placing them into a machine that scans the tubes. This wasted about two hours daily. Our solution is a detachable piece that forces the correct alignment of each tube, removing the manual alignment step entirely.
A test tube with the anti-rotation feature (ARF) attached to the bottom

Cohu Temperature Control

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 20

Team Members

Nathan Zager
Matthew Soohoo
Harrison Lew
Emmanuel Gharehbekloo
Ronald Law

The Cohu Temperature Control project, sponsored by Cohu Inc. and in conjunction with the project sponsor, Steve Wetzel, aimed to create a marketable flow control module for the Cohu Delta MATRiX semiconductor handler.
CAD of Control System

Development of Advanced Hose Clamp

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 18

Team Members

Tyler Arlan
Tate Castillo
Fateh Sandhu
Diego Tocol
Kyle Venstrom

Contact Team
This project focuses on the development of a new hose clamp to be used in Wildland firefighting to stop the high-pressure flow in a fire hose to attach more hoses. The project achieved this goal through testing and modeling the hose used by firefighters to get a better understanding of the force needed to restrict the flow of water. The team designed, analyzed and prototyped a newer hose clamp. This clamp will be less expensive, durable, and easier to use than existing hose clamp models.
Clamping Bar used to stop water flow in a fire hose

Solar Turbines: Ancillary Quick Disconnect

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 16

Team Members

Patrick Finn
Jose Garcia
John David Lopez
Josue Luna
Young Ju Yun

Contact Team
A vacuum test platform was designed and manufactured in order to test both installation/removal times of clamps and bolts as well as ensure the connection solution maintained a vacuum of up to 4 in Hg. Undermount toggle clamps in combination with a neoprene foam gasket is a proposed solution to replace the current use of bolts and Sikaflex.
CAD image of the test platform with a mounted latch and undermount toggle clamp.

Cerebellar Dependent Learning

2020-2021 - Winter

Team: 19

Team Members

Jadon Wong
Theo Duffaut
Carla Martinez-Barry
Joe Wayne

Contact Team
An improved apparatus utilized to measure cerebellum dependent learning via delayed eyeblink Pavlovian conditioning for UCSD neuroscience researcher Dr. Cole Ferguson. The system administers an LED flash stimulus followed by a puff of air to the mouse’s eye, then measures its blink response time with Matlab image processing software.
Cerebellar Dependent Learning Rig 2021

Automated Control of Material Structure with Electrical Impedance Monitoring

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 4

Team Members

Arturo Medina
Sean Orellana
Diego Porroa
Nankyong Yoo

Contact Team
The objective of this project is to automate the heating process for a metal-salt nanocomposite material given a target impedance spectra. Our controller makes data analysis and the sintering process more efficient for the lab in terms of time and result replication.
DIY Oven Setup with Arduino, GAMRY, and Electric Box

UCSD Medical - Blood Pressure Cuff

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 9

Team Members

Austin Chung
Albert Hernandez
Jeffrey Onuma
Jordan Wong

Three mechanical shields have been designed to prevent external forces from affecting blood pressure readings during surgery.
Three shield designs for blood pressure cuff protection. Flexible Shield (front right), Wall Shield (back left), and OctoShield (back right).

Articulet: An Articulating Endotracheal Tube Stylet

2020-2021 - Spring

Team: 36

Team Members

Alexander Coleman
Bethania Perez
Catlynn Nguyen
Win-Ying Zhao

Contact Team
A lightweight, single-use stylet that gives users real time control of an endotracheal tube, ARTICULET can bend up to 90 degrees on its distal end to reduce intubation time while minimizing complications.
Final Prototype Stylet and Complete Solidworks CAD Assembly