Montana State University engineering students will showcase their senior capstone projects on Thursday, December 5, at the biannual Design Fair in Norm Asbjornson Hall. The event, which is free and open to the public, will run from 2 to 4 p.m. and will feature work from 52 students across 15 projects and 15 posters.
The Design Fair offers a unique opportunity for students to display the culmination of their engineering education. Each senior in the Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering completes a capstone project as a requirement for graduation. These projects, which are often sponsored by private industry or faculty members, address real-world challenges and are designed to meet specific needs.
“We take pride in graduating students who not only study engineering, but also do engineering,” said Brett Gunnink, dean of the college of engineering. “This strength of NACOE graduates is fully demonstrated through student capstone projects and is a hallmark of Bobcat engineers.”
Students work on their capstone projects over the course of two semesters, addressing real-world constraints such as cost, sustainability, scheduling, manufacturability, and health and safety. This semester’s projects include an innovative backpacker’s ventilation fan, a prosthetic arm, and a sawdust briquette compressor—a companion project to an industrial sawdust-collection system showcased at the spring Design Fair.
The event provides an exciting opportunity for attendees to witness firsthand the creativity and engineering skills of MSU students, while also giving the public insight into the types of projects that are driving innovation in the field.