UToledo College of Engineering to Host Design & Discovery Expo on April 24

UToledo College of Engineering to Host Design & Discovery Expo on April 24

The University of Toledo's College of Engineering will showcase student creativity and ingenuity at the Design & Discovery Expo on Friday, April 24, at the College of Engineering Complex, 1610 N. Westwood, Toledo.

The event is free and open to the public.

A signature event of the College of Engineering, the Design & Discovery Expo brings together students, faculty, alumni and industry professionals as students show off how they solved real-world problems for real clients.

At noon, the Senior Design & Research Expo opens on the first floor of Nitschke Hall, inviting visitors to explore student projects and faculty research at their own pace through 3 p.m. An awards assembly to recognize outstanding students and faculty follows the Expo at 3:15 p.m.

Expo projects are expected to include:

• A fully autonomous navigation system capable of piloting a robot;

• A voice-activated pill container that opens in response to a personalized voice command;

• A humane, reusable trap that safely captures small animals without causing harm using an automatic trigger system;

• An autonomous outdoor street cleaning and route mapping rover;

• The HydroStraw smart water bottle system that monitors water intake; and

• An affordable, scalable and customizable prosthetic solution for pets with limb loss

"The Design & Discovery Expo reflects the very best of what our College of Engineering has to offer - talented students, innovative faculty and a commitment to meaningful collaboration with industry. We invite the entire Toledo community to join us for this inspiring event," said Dr. Mohammad Elahinia, dean and Distinguished University Professor of Engineering at UToledo.

Students from local high schools that are part of the Robotic Rubik's Cube Challenge will also be part of the Expo.

New support for engineering research

This year Design & Discovery will coincide with the inaugural, private meeting of the Engineering Research Society (ERS), which was formed to support and advance research in the College. The ERS will meet in the evening to select and announce the first grants under the program.

ERS plans to distribute grants annually from a UToledo Foundation endowed fund to support young researchers with startup capital for promising research projects, and researchers in need of "bridge" funding to achieve external grant funding success.

"This group of member donors is coming together to shape the future and strengthen UToledo's position as an academic and research leader while preserving our prestigious Carnegie R1 research designation," Elahinia said.

Research areas are expected to include advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, automation, biomedical devices, energy systems, engineering education, materials development and sustainability

Individual, corporate and institutional memberships in ERS are available.