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Student Research & Projects

The opportunity to participate in experiential learning is deeply empowering and is pervasive in all ten departments in the College of Engineering. Students learn early on what it means to be an engineer and the societal impact of the discipline.

Student research showcase

These research projects offer a glimpse into the many important, innovative projects that our students are pursuing — from a noninvasive apparatus to measure breathing distress in infants, to drones that will provide safer and more effective fire monitoring.

students demonstrating infant breathing monitor in lab

When a newborn struggles to breathe, every moment is critical. Because hospital workers are often not alerted until other symptoms appear, the resulting delay of treatment can lead to complications and, in severe cases, death. Thanks to this student team, that could change. The students worked with pediatric cardiologists from Seattle Children’s Hospital to develop a new kind of infant monitor — a noninvasive apparatus that measures changes in infant breathing, chest wall volume and contractions, and greatly reduces medical response time.

Team members include: Nina Reese, Lok To, and Namratha Potharaj

student team at a poster presentation

Amazon Fulfillment centers process over a million orders per week. Packaging is the most complex process in order fulfillment, and while automated solutions exist for single-item packages, multi-item packing remains a manual process. Industrial robots could be the answer to automating multi-item packing, and this student team aimed to develop a logic system to guide these robots.

Team members include: Lucas See, Zach Lawless, Matt Lunde, Verina Dinata, Tianyu Ge and Wenhao Zhang

drone with a map and controller hookup

Team members include: Angela Kimber, John Gangi, Zoe Kootstra, Ashraf Faraj, Abdul Jmaileh, Dilraj Bal, Longji Yan, Anya Raj, Kibaek Jeong, Zhikun Lin and Hirotoshi Maeda


Past Student Research Projects

Decaf Style student team at innovation challenge

This team is developing an inexpensive teabag-style sachet that can decaffeinate a standard cup of coffee without chemicals or affecting taste. Their product, a personal "in-cup" decaffeination technology, consists of natural adsorbents enclosed in teabag-like sachets. To use, simply place the packet into a freshly brewed cup of coffee, wait less than a minute, and then enjoy a cup of decaf coffee knowing it wasn’t tampered with chemical solvents.

Team members include: Chun-Chia Kao, Archana Narayan, Yu-Liang Liu, Muhamad Said and Matthew Willett

student on video game that doubles as a rehab exercise

Completing a challenging level in a video game can feel truly satisfying. Whether a tough opponent is defeated or a racecourse is conquered, that sense of accomplishment pushes players on to the next level of the game. For patients undergoing stroke and traumatic injury rehabilitation, this motivation—combined with the immersive aspect of virtual reality—could also serve as encouragement during a long and slow recovery process. This student team is working to make this idea a reality through a device featuring a series of video games that double as rehabilitative exercises.

Team members include: Brian Mogen, Tyler Libey and Dimi Gklezakos

composite image of  student team and imaging system hardware they designed and implemented

Team members include: Philip David, Kevin Fukuhara, Kyle Lashbrook, Shruti Misra and William Thing