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Past IDC Projects

A student working on a robotic hand.
Zach Fuge, mechanical engineering '23, works on a prototype version of the robotic prosthetic hand. Photo by Niki Hazuda for Virginia Tech.

I like the fact that engineering students are able to collaborate extensively with other majors within IDC. This is what engineering is, the ability to work with others from different backgrounds to create a final working product.

Zach Fuge '23

Explore our Interdisciplinary Capstone projects from 2022-23! If you'd love to join a capstone team, sponsor a project, or have questions, please contact Robin Ott

Challenge: To design, build and test an autonomous delivery system for small, lightweight parts to be delivered by UAVs across a square-mile facility.

Members of the Autodelivery team.

Team Members

Raf Balderas, Industrial & Systems Engineering

Joe Bottino, Mechanical Engineering

Kyle Jarrett, Computer Engineering

Troy Johnston, Mechanical Engineering

LeAnn Rhodes, Industrial & Systems Engineering

Ryan Popp, Electrical Engineering

Challenge: Develop and demonstrate a level 4 autonomous vehicle that navigates an urban driving course in an autonomous mode to simulate real life traffic scenarios encountered on public roads.

Team members from the AutoDrive Interdisciplinary Capstone team.

Team Members

Our role was to design the perception and path planning algorithms to successfully compete in a series of challenges. Challenges include navigating intersections and highways, detecting obstacles and road signs, and adhering to safety requirements.

Yashit Agarwal, Computer Engineering

Antonio Alonso, Computer Engineering

Nate Doggett, Computer & Electrical

Sammy Fellah, Computer Engineering

Rafiul Kabir, Computer Engineering

Josh Kruse, Industrial & Systems Engineering

Yuxuan Li, Computer Science

May Schulte, Industrial & Systems Engineering

Challenge: To overcome the size and delicacies of creating an autonomous systems designed for de-powdering specific 3D-printed, binder-jetted parts before the sintering process. This projects with an industry-leading client to create a system that has never been done before.

Members of the Azoth 3D De-powdering team: Connor Hale, David Spadaccia, Katie Corbett, Hutchison Peter, and Annabel Kleinfeldt.

Team Members

Katie Corbett, Industrial & System Engineering

Connor Hale, Electrical Engineering

Annabel Kleinfeldt, Industrial & Systems

Hutchison Peter, Mechanical Engineering

David Spadaccia, Mechanical Engineering

Challenge: To design and build the fifth generation of our electric superbike named BOLT VS.

This iteration will be the most ambitious bike yet with a new innovative battery pack, better data collection, and custom frame. Last year, the senior design team designed and fabricated a custom trellis frame which BOLT will be building upon this year. In May, the team will deliver the next generation of electric motorcycle complete with a powertrain, expanded data collection system, and safety validated frame.

Members of the BOLT team from the Interdisciplinary Capstone.

Team Members

Erin Cox, Electrical Engineering

Josh Dalton, Computer Engineering

Caleb Esatto, Computer Engineering

Erin Freck, Computer Engineering

Mason Gautschi, Mechanical Engineering

Colton Gehr, Mechanical Engineering

Collin Gray, Electrical Engineering

Matt Mayger, Electrical Engineering

Mason McCray, Mechanical Engineering

Dalton Reck, Mechanical Engineering

Ben Ryan, Mechanical Engineering

Weesam Semaan, Mechnical Engineering

Marissa Sluss, Mechanical Engineering

Kensey Wishon, Mechanical Engineering

Challenge: To design and build a Formula-style electric race car which adheres to the SAE competition rules, while learning and conveying practical engineering skills that are used in industry. 

Members of the Formula SAE team from the Interdisciplinary Capstone.

Team Members

Tilak Adhikari, Computer Engineering

Will Blackert, Mechanical Engineering

Nick DiLauro, Computer Engineering

Nathan Dodson, Electrical Engineering

Andrew Farruggio, Mechanical Engineering

Aayush Garg, Mechanical Engineering

Connor Hanson, Mechanical Engineering

Josh McLevain, Mechanical Engineering

Kenny Redmond, Mechanical Engineering

Wesley Runnion, Mechanical Engineering

Ben Simons, Electrical Engineering

Jason Smith, Mechanical Engineering

Michael Yanoshak, Electrical Engineering

Challenge: To automate the water delivery system for an indoor microgreens aquaponics system such that the system is less reliant on human intervention.

The system will need to regulate water storage, water delivery, and water quality (as measured by temperature, pH, and electrical conductivity). The system included a means for remote monitoring, as well as a digital interface for system control and monitoring.

Members of the Farms of the Future Team: Nathan Hayes, Artre Turner, Vitha Anumolu, Avish Kandi, Thomas Cavagnaro and Daniel Sullivan.

Team Members

Vitha Anumolu, Industrial & Systems

Thomas Cavagnaro, Mechanical Engineering

Nathan Hayes, Electrical Engineering

Avish Kandi, Computer Science

Daniel Sullivan, Electrical Engineering

Artre Turner, Industrial & Systems

Challenge: To design, build, and test a propulsion test bench and sensor fusion algorithm to help prepare the HEVT junior team members for future success.

Members of the HEVT team from the Interdisciplinary Capstone.

The EcoCAR EV Challenge challenges 15 North American universities to engineer a next generation battery electric vehicle (BEV) that utilizes automation and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) connectivity to implement energy efficient customer-pleasing features and meet the decarbonization needs of the automotive industry.

Team Members

Shashank datta Bezgam, Computer Science

Jake Bryan, Mechanical Engineering

Jorge Flores, Computer Engineering

Maxwell Graves, Computer Science & Electrical Engineering

Shannon Kelley, Mechanical Engineering

Aadi Kothari, Computer Engineering

Kyle Quach, Mechanical Engineering

Max Schafer, Mechanical Engineering

Brian Scurlock, Mechanical Engineering

Karan Sharma, Computer Science

Noah Whitlow, Mechanical Engineering

Meggy Zheng, Computer Engineering

Challenge: To design and build a robotic prosthetic for our customer with a partially amputated hand that allows the user’s thumb to control movement and perform actions including grasping, pointing, and making various hand gestures.

The members of the robotic prosthetic hand team: Talise Lindorf, Zach Fuge, Michael Han and Maddie Kogelis.

Team Members

Zachary Fuge, Mechanical Engineering

Michael Han, Mechanical Engineering

Maddie Kogelis, Electrical Engineering

Talise Lindorf, Electrical Engineering

Challenge: To develop functional electrical and mechanical subsystems of a solar powered electric vehicle in preparation of the 2023 The Formula Sun Grand Prix.

Members of the Solar Car @VT team.

Team Members

Adeel Aziz, Computer Engineering

Gunnar Copeland, Mechanical Engineering

Joey Dias, Electrical Engineering

Anthony Etzler, Electrical Engineering

Vincent Garcia, Electrical Engineering

Austin Honey, Mechanical Engineering

Jianyu Hua, Mechanical Engineering

Ethan Lee, Mechanical Engineering

Rashon Lopez, Mechanical Engineering

Jack Michaud, Electrical Engineering

Clay Mowry, Mechanical Engineering

Harry Rui, Mechanical Engineering

Kyle Shah, Computer Engineering

Danny Stover, Computer Engineering

Alex Strizenec, Mechanical Engineering

Ryan Vargo, Mechanical Engineering

Challenge: Our job is to design and build an autonomous robot for trash collection on rural roads.

Members of the Autonomous Rural Trash Collection team: Brendan Nielson, Farris Parkerson, Spencer Bartlett, Taylor McCleary, Michael Sabett and Liihao Lin.

Team Members

Spencer Bartlett, Computer Science

Lihao Lin, Computer Engineering

Taylor Mccleary, Industrial & Systems

Brendan Nielsen, Mechanical Engineering

Farris Parkerson, Mechanical Engineering

Michael Sabett, Industrial & Systems