Michigan State University College of Engineering celebrated Spring 2026 Design Day on April 24, recognizing student teams whose projects demonstrated creativity, technical skill and real-world problem-solving.
Now in its 32nd year, Design Day is one of the college’s premier undergraduate academic events. This spring, 1,188 students on 240 teams from 13 courses participated. Among them were 734 students on 147 capstone teams completing 117 sponsored projects.
Design Day projects and 15-week capstone courses give students a platform to apply what they have learned in the classroom to open-ended challenges from companies, university partners and community organizations. For students, the experience builds resume-ready project work, professional confidence and connections that support the transition from college to career. For partners, it offers a direct way to engage with emerging engineering talent while supporting practical, student-driven solutions.
Corporate, university and community partners play a central role in that experience. This spring, 77 sponsored projects were backed by Michigan-based companies and institutions. Through those partnerships, students worked with real clients, responded to technical and business needs, and practiced the communication, teamwork and project management skills expected in the engineering profession.
One example was the Apple-sponsored computer science and engineering team that received the MSU Federal Credit Union Praxis Award for “Setup Assistant for MLX Mac Cluster.” The project focused on making Apple’s MLX machine learning framework more accessible to users setting up clusters of Mac devices.
Team member Amelia A. Marine, who earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and is a member of the Honors College from Troy, Michigan, said the project’s open-source direction made the work especially valuable.
“The most meaningful part of this project for me is that it is being published open-source, so that it is accessible for people to actually use,” Marine said. “There is so much that MLX offers, and it is exciting to be able to connect people of different skill levels with it using our setup assistant. Overall, I learned a lot about the tradeoffs involved in software design and how to apply it to problems in the real world.”
Sixteen awards were presented in applied engineering sciences, civil and environmental engineering, computer science and engineering, electrical and computer engineering, and mechanical engineering. Awards were conferred by corporate and faculty judges.
Spring 2026 Design Day award winners
Applied Engineering Sciences
Most Sustainable
Ford Motor Company: “Strategic Supplier Capability Assessment”
Stephen Washington Jr., Kayden Hellmann, Davis Murrell, Harley Williams, Christopher Sellers, Logan Waggoner and Jacob Saltsman
The team developed a Power BI platform to help Ford Motor Company evaluate supplier capability and strengthen sourcing decisions across a complex global supply chain.
Most Impactful
ClubUp LLC: “Automation of New Member Onboarding Process”
Sanjana Jettipalle, Carson Hennessey, Rosalia Miller, Mario Pjetrushaj, Olivia Peplowski, Grace O’Malley and Jacob Griswold
The team evaluated software solutions to help ClubUp streamline and automate customer onboarding as the company expands across Troon-managed properties.
Mike Sadler Competitive Edge Award
Joyn Collective: “Data-Driven Impact Measurement for Transformation Work”
Kyle McCullough, Stephen Czyrka, Brian Pae, Rhea Galbraith, Tracy Pham, Alvaro Miranda Tueros and Gabrielle Caciocco
The team developed data and visualization tools to help Joyn Collective measure, explain and communicate the impact of transformation work for clients.
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Rolla C. Carpenter Senior Design Award
Mitten State Engineering: “The Leinweber Center for Engineering and Digital Innovation”
Sofia Beerworth, Franziska Winkler, Levi Cowan, Rachel Huyser, Bryce Krupp and Maya Burlak
The team worked on civil engineering design concepts tied to the planned Leinweber Center for Engineering and Digital Innovation, including green infrastructure and site design considerations.
Rolla C. Carpenter Senior Design Award
JSN Engineering: “The Detroit Water Resource Recovery Facility”
Sean Fleming, Jack Pennewell and Nathan Simmons
The team worked on environmental engineering concepts for the Detroit Water Resource Recovery Facility, focusing on next-generation nitrogen removal strategies for the wastewater treatment plant.
Computer Science and Engineering
Auto-Owners Insurance Exposition Award
HAP: “AI-Powered Video Creator Tool”
Sammy Guo, Nikhil Tatineni, Neha Aigalikar, Krish Wadhwani, Arnas Kumar and Khang Nguyen
The team created a web-based platform that uses artificial intelligence to help generate videos for training, education and internal communication.
MSU Federal Credit Union Praxis Award
Apple: “Setup Assistant for MLX Mac Cluster”
Madhur Varshney, Paul Lin, Amelia Marine, Marco Antonio de Oliveira Batista, Anika Balakrishnan and Constance Chen
The team developed a setup assistant to help users configure MLX Mac clusters through automated device discovery, visual connection diagrams and troubleshooting guidance.
TechSmith Screencast Award
TechSmith: “UserClarity”
Calvin Clark, Naseeb Bello, Tanaya Kirtane, Samuel Ardinger, Mann Aswal and Jackson Wright
The team created software that uses artificial intelligence to analyze usability recordings and help identify key moments of user struggle and success.
Amazon Sigma Award
Ludus: “Real-Time Seating Chart API, Builder, and Viewer”
Grayson Viener, Jake Aquino, Yashika Desai, Noah Gaw, Navya Gupta and Bach Nguyen
The team developed a real-time seating chart system designed to help venues build seating maps and help ticket buyers select seats without booking conflicts.
Electrical and Computer Engineering
ECE 410 Outstanding Project Award
Team 5
Caroline Huang, Eric Qin and James Verrico
The team received the top award in ECE 410, in which students design and characterize a CMOS 8-bit microprocessor data path.
ECE 480 First Place Award
MSU Electromagnetic Research Group: “Dual-Band 5G Secured Wireless Communication System”
Parteek Sidhu, Kuanlun Chiu, Nathaniel Gleneski, Sahithi Alla and Hady Nayef
The team developed a programmable wireless system for distributed antenna research using low-cost commercial software-defined radios.
ECE 480 First Place Award
Texas Instruments: “ECG Signal Acquisition and Display System”
Mark Murray, Pranav Deshmukh, Colin Lazarski, Ojas Alate and Carter Vasicek
The team designed and implemented a standalone electrocardiogram signal acquisition and display system built on a custom printed circuit board.
Mechanical Engineering
ME 481 Edison Award for Best Capstone Design Project
Vertical Autonomy: “VA-15 Fuselage Redesign”
Ryan Monaghan, Luke Etheridge, Andrew Hilbert, Jake Coury, Seth Lindsey and Kieran Russell
The team redesigned the VA-15 fuselage to support additive manufacturing while maintaining low weight, aerodynamic performance and space for required internal components.
ME 481 Best Capstone Project Presentation Award
General Motors: “Flex Body Modeling and Simulation Best Practices”
Andrew Koch, Christopher Nio, Connor Dunn, Emma Powell and Caleb Montpas
The team worked on improving the efficiency of full-vehicle multibody dynamics simulations by optimizing flexible body modeling practices.
ME 470 Leonardo da Vinci Award for Best Mechanical Design
Rope-Traversing Robot
Zahin Ahmed, Wael Halabi, Olivia McCurdy, Jackson Messer and Elliott Miller
The team designed and built the top-performing robot in a competition requiring students to traverse a suspended horizontal rope while transporting a payload.
Read more about Spring 2026 Design Day.
Spring 2026 Design Day by the numbers
- 1,188 students
- 240 teams
- 13 courses
- 10 degree programs represented
- 734 capstone students
- 147 capstone teams
- 117 sponsored projects
- 77 Michigan-based companies and institutions
- 16 awards
Written by Austin Witt.
MSU College of Engineering Media and Public Relations page