Inaugural Design Expo to take place at Penn State Great Valley

Undergraduate students to present capstone engineering projects

MALVERN, Pa. — In collaboration with the Brandywine and Abington campuses, the Penn State Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies will host its first Design Expo on Tuesday, April 26. As part of the inaugural event, two teams of undergraduate students will showcase their senior capstone projects as a culmination of their engineering education at Penn State.

The seniors are the first to graduate from Penn State with a bachelor of engineering with the multidisciplinary engineering design (MDE) option. The program represents a unique regional partnership among the three campuses, in which students complete their first two years of studies at either Penn State Abington or Penn State Brandywine and conclude their engineering coursework at Penn State Great Valley.

“It’s been a long time in the planning, so it’s great to see this first group of students successfully complete the program,” said Penn State Great Valley Chancellor James Nemes.

Presentations include an engineering project to accurately provide a specified force than can range from 0.5 to 300 pounds, and a product designed to open and close a ski boot buckle for those unable to bend or twist from a standing position. The senior robotics and junior embedded software classes will also have displays open to the public. Awards will be given based on votes from the public and a judging panel of engineering faculty and industry members.

The Design Expo will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., with doors opening to the public at 5 p.m. The event will be held in the Conference Center Building at Penn State Great Valley’s campus in Malvern. Presentations will be held in the auditorium; all other events will be held in the engineering suite.