A mailbox that notifies people that their mail or newspaper has arrived without them having to leave the comfort of their home or office. A car that displays road signs inside the vehicle on a driver’s dash board and an automated plant watering system for homes or commercial greenhouses.
These are just a few of the engineering solutions to real-world problems that industrial engineering students at Rutgers University demonstrated during the 11th annual Design of Engineering Systems presentations on Friday, December 4.
The program serves as a learning tool for graduating seniors and a talent search for companies looking for new industrial engineers. Students work in teams to design and implement solutions; they then explain and demonstrate the solutions to fellow classmates, faculty and industry representatives.
“To arrive at their solutions, teams pull together their knowledge of physics, dynamics, materials properties, manufacturing processes and more,” said E. A. Elsayed, professor of industrial and systems engineering. “They use their skills of presenting, just as engineers do in their everyday jobs.”
The eight teams have been working on their projects since last spring.