First-year general engineering students presented their final projects for 1414, Foundations of Engineering Practice, in a section taught by Matt James. With projects ranging from fire alarm safety to a portable air conditioner for the dorm to improving visibility on the Virginia Tech crosswalks, our newest Hokie engineers spent the semester working through scope, iteration and the whole design process!

Explore our fall 1414 class through our photo story (click individual photos to enlarge).

Close-up on a series of students' laptops presenting their 1414 final project: an extender for a typical lecture classroom desk. A student stands in front of his poster board about airflow conditions in older residence halls. A student stands next to a posterboard reading "Improving Safety and Efficacy of VT Crosswalks" while looking at the team's prototype. A close-up shot of the "Improving Safety and Efficiency of VT Crosswalks" poster presentation.

Students presented unique solutions to the desk sizes in lecture halls; humidity and heat in older residence halls; and improving the safety of Virginia Tech crosswalks.

A student stands behind her laptop that has a screen reading "Traffic Control: Barrier Arm." She stands next to a posterboard about Traffic Control on Drillfield Drive. A female presenting students in front of her poster board presentation on Traffic Control on Drillfield drive. A close-up shot of the prototype model for the Smart Pedestrian barrier. Two students stand in front of a scale model for their project "Smart Pedestrian Barrier."

Traveling by foot on campus sparked several creative project ideas, including a traffic control barrier arm around Burruss Circle and a smart pedestrian barrier.

A student presents his 1414 project. A close-up shot of a student's 1414 presentation regarding turning the Hokie Passport into a wristband. A student presents his 1414 project, turning the Hokie Passport into a wristband. Matt James listens to a student present "Defenders of Fire Alarms" during the 1414 final presentations.

Matt James coached the engineering students through the design thinking process, which helped them narrow the scope of their campus problems, like the Hokie Passport PID Wristband project, which takes the student ID and turns it into an easy-to-wear wristband.

A student discusses his 1414 final project. An extreme close up of a student's video camera project during 1414 final presentations. A student presents his 1414 project, a sensor to monitor pulled fire alarms. Students listen to another student presenting their 1414 project.

Several groups presented different fire alarm safety mechanisms, including a small video camera option and a prototype hand motion senors, designed to track the number of falsely pulled alarms.

 
Photos by Niki Hazuda for Virginia Tech.