Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Projects 2025

Engineering Projects Expo is here! We invite you to spend some time getting to know this year's Mechanical Engineering Senior DesignÌýprojects and teams.

Engineering Projects ExpoÌýcelebrates the hard work and many achievements of more thanÌý270+ÌýstudentsÌýas they close out their undergraduateÌýcareers.ÌýSince August 2024, these students have been working through the design process from start to finishÌýand have engineered solutions to real-world problems.

Students completing industry-sponsored projects were presented withÌýchallenges of relevance to their clients from a variety of specialties. Those in the Engineering for Social Innovation section of Senior Design developed entrepreneurial productsÌýbased onÌýuser needs.

Teams were mentored and supported by a dedicated group of faculty directors andÌýstudent program assistants, as well as fabrication, administrative, and laboratory staff over the course of the academic year.ÌýMost projects required students to develop skills across disciplines with someÌýmulti-disciplinary teams bringing together student expertise in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering,Ìýand computer science.

Please explore projects below to learn more about this year's teams, their designsÌýand the positive impact theseÌýengineers areÌýmaking. Thank you for your support of our program and students.

IfÌýyou would like to learn moreÌýabout the program or sponsoring a project, please visitÌýDesign Center Colorado.Ìý

Senior Design by the Numbers

40

Design Projects

276

Engineering Students

1,700Ìý+

Student Hours per Project

33

Dedicated Directors

2025 Senior Design Projects

2025 Graduate Design Projects

Team 51: Flexilis: Deformable Surgical Needle and Introducer

The primary objective of the project is to create a system that reliably delivers a surgical suture needle into the body cavity in the least invasive manner possible. Our team has approached this design challenge with an IE (Introduction and Extraction) Device that releases a deformable needle with suture into the body cavity and proposes solution with parts and design familiar to the surgeons.

Sponsored by Children's Hospital Colorado

Team 52: Free Piston Linear Generator

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Team 53: Fuel Cell R&D Rig

Hydrogen fuel cells are a promising solution for generating electricity without harmful GHG emissions. Supported by Woodward, Inc., this project fosters research in this sector at CU through the creation of an R&D rig to operate a 16 kW fuel cell stack. It addresses challenges in controlling the necessary electrical load, air, hydrogen, and heat rejection through the balance-of-plant components.

Sponsored by Woodward Inc.

Team 54: Freedom Seat

An aircraft seating system featuring a sliding aisle seat that creates space for a wheelchair, enabling Passengers with Restricted Mobility (PRM) to fly in their own wheelchairs. Our mission is to enhance comfort, independence, and dignity for PRMs while ensuring efficiency for airlines, without loss of space or revenue.

Sponsored by Molon Labe Seating

Team 55: Remote Spacecraft Sensing: Ranging Sensor Characterization for Rendezvous and Proximity Missions

Current remote sensing between a spacecraft and resident space objects are performed using expensive sensors and object identification. In this project we explored and characterized an emerging sensing alternative with lower hardware and computational costs

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Sponsored by Sierra Space