How would you like to simplify your shopping errands at Meijer by using your Alexa?
Or find the best deals while shopping on Amazon?
Spartan Engineering students at Michigan State University can help you with these things and much more.
Spring 2022 Design Day at Michigan State University will showcase the creative projects of more 1,000 engineering students on Friday, April 29. More than 240 teams will present imaginative projects from 8 a.m. to noon in the Engineering Building, 428 S. Shaw Lane, East Lansing.
Design Day, now in its 28th year, will include all 10 academic programs in the College of Engineering. The annual event is free and open to the public.
Executive Director of Design Day and Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Wayne Dyksen said he is delighted to return to an in-person Design Day after the pandemic disrupted presentations for two years.
“At Design Day, student teams present their ideas to their client, defend their ideas before faculty and industry experts, and think on their feet. You can walk down the halls of the Engineering Building and see how ready our students are to enter the engineering profession.”
Dyksen said 570 students will present capstone projects this spring.
Design Day includes competitions and project presentations from a variety of engineering classes. The 15-week capstone course, which is required for graduation, provides a platform for students to apply the knowledge and experiences gained throughout their engineering education. Working in teams of four or five, seniors put their best efforts into solving real-world problems for big and small companies. At the end of each semester, teams present at Design Day.
View the 2022 Design Day projects and teams here. A sampling of this semester’s projects include:
• Civil Engineering Senior Design – TechSmith New World Headquarters. More than 80 civil and environmental engineering students received real-world experience by examining the environmental, hydrology, pavements, project management, structures, and transportation requirements for the new headquarters for software developer TechSmith. A new 62,500 square-foot headquarters is being developed in partnership with the MSU Foundation on approximately five acres of land at the corner of South Crescent and Harrison Road in MSU Spartan Village. Student projects emphasized the implementation of green infrastructure.
• Meijer Smart Shopper. The Meijer Smart Shopper enables customers to use Alexa to interact with the Meijer application, simplifying the shopping experience. Using their phone’s microphone or an Alexa-enabled device, a shopper can add or remove items from their Meijer shopping cart and list. The application recognizes shopper patterns to improve Alexa’s accuracy when determining what brand of item a shopper wants. Alexa uses these preferences to alert the shopper when their favorite items are on sale or are unavailable.
• Amazon Shop Smart Web Extension for Shopping. The Amazon Shop Smart Web Extension for Shopping is a browser extension that aids customers in finding the best deals on Amazon. Amazon Shop Smart tracks products indicated by customers, then periodically checks for price drops on Amazon’s marketplace. A notification is sent to the customer when their desired product is being sold at their ideal price point.
Spring 2022 Design Day by the numbers
- 16 courses
- 248 teams
- 1,034 students
Capstone projects represent:
- 571 students
- 139 teams
- 90 sponsored projects
- 58 Michigan-based companies and institutions (64 percent)
Background
- All 10 MSU College of Engineering undergraduate degree programs represented
- Before the pandemic, this event was hosted twice a year on the last day of the semester prior to finals week
- 28th Year for Design Day (initiated in 1994 by the Department of Mechanical Engineering)
For more information on Design Day, contact Dyksen, dyksen@msu.edu, or Jill Bielawski, bielawsk@msu.edu