Check Out Some of Drexel’s 2015 Senior Projects
Every year, Drexel seniors show off everything they’ve learned at the University through a senior project, whose requirements and outcomes vary by major and college.
Take a look at what some students did this year, from Miley Cyrus-inspired menswear to and an analysis of Drexel’s Writing Center to plans for an extension of SEPTA’s Broad Street Line and the development of a better way for those with advanced-stage ALS to interact with a computer.
College of Arts and Sciences
English majors presented their fiction, research and literary analyses to the entire Department of English & Philosophy June 9. Drew Houriet presented research contrasting Drexel’s own Writing Center with similar programs at the University of Sciences and Coe College. Jen Jolles examined the mourning process depicted in “Austerlitz” and “Extremely Loud.” Another notable paper was presented by Marinna Lamanna, who wrote about gossip as a form of gendered communication as represented in George Elliot’s “Middlemarch.”
The Department of Biology hosted a showcase and reception June 4 in which seniors presented their individual theses and group senior seminar proposal projects. Uzair Ali, Valerissa Baker, Karen Kabonge, Andrea Kain, Isabel Manley and Robyn Suhling took first place in the senior seminar competition for their project, “How does the composition of the gut microbiome influence weight-related neuronal activity as measured by changes in hormone and neuropeptide secretion?”
Seniors from the Department of Culture & Communication presented posters about their projects June 3. The requirements varied depending on the concentrations of their communications degrees, such as technical and science communication, global journalism and corporate and public relations. One senior, Nick Stropko, hosted an acoustic concert benefiting WKDU, Drexel’s student-run radio station.
College of Computing & Informatics
June 1, five groups of seniors from the College of Computing & Informatics (CCI) showcased their senior project development groups at the Senior Project Competition. Cory Bergquist, Ryan Daugherty and Dylan Yates won first prize for Gygan Reign, an online player-versus-player strategy game where players control their armies by drawing custom paths directly on the battlefield.
An honorable mention was made to Andrew Black, Matthew Bodofsky, Kenneth Fox and Eric Loi for developing NeuroLink, a low-cost Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) for use by those physically incapable of operating a mouse and keyboard.
College of Engineering
Every year, students in the College of Engineering partake in Senior Design, a three-course sequence intended to simulate a professional work environment and provide experience working in a group on an open-ended problem. Departments from the College of Engineering nominate their best team to present at the college-wide Senior Design Competition.
Theoretical projects ranged from an expansion plan of the SEPTA Broad Street Line, to construction of a new five-story library for Drexel, to a low-pressure pump to treat congestive heart failure.
Westphal College of Media Arts & Design
The collections of 29 graduating fashion design students hit the runway at the Annual Senior Fashion Show Saturday, June 6, presented by the Fashion Design and Design & Merchandising programs in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design. Unlike other student shows, Drexel’s fashion show is not limited to a single theme; students are encouraged to develop their collections around their unique sources of inspiration, including Miley Cyrus, glittering snow and modern ballerinas. There were collections for men, women and children and categories such as sportswear, active wear, evening wear, bridal, lingerie, and outerwear.
Photography majors showcased their work in the Senior Thesis Exhibition June 12. The photos, which were in black-and-white or color, landscape or portraits, were compiled in a book available for purchase.
Seven undergraduate product design majors and one custom-designed major in the Pennoni Honors College developed prototypes of products that can solve problems in the world around them. Connor White teamed up with Mohamed Zerban, a mechanical engineering student in the College of Engineering, to design a “Smart Faucet” that would purify and conserve water. Collin Cavote was the only student in the class who is not a product design major, but one pursuing a custom-designed major through Drexel’s Pennoni Honors College that combines biology with product design and entrepreneurship. Cavote worked on a modular biowall system that removes toxins like formaldehyde and benzene from the air. The thin, living walls — which Cavote likens to “a flat screen TV made of plants” — can be hung like a picture, and are ideal for places with bad air quality like urban environments.
Center for Hospitality and Sport Management
Culinary arts and science students juggled a lot of plates for their final projects. Ally Zeitz wrote a cookbook and created a vegetarian “jerky.” She cooked a dinner in the Academic Bistro, as did Noah Williams and Caitlyn Hoefert. Jericho Turnigan created a healthy beverage product using vinegar. Shannon Bonelli did a research project on the nutritional and health aspects of lunch meat.
School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems
Senior Design proposal presentations were held May 18 and 19 for students in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems. Teams displayed their work to fix existing problems, which included a new method to measure the rotational stiffness of the torso (Mitchell De Snoo, Christopher Ehler, Taylor Garen, Kendra Krentz and Kyle Van Leer) and a new non-traditional power source for biomedical devices that don’t consume much energy (Sakina Kanji, Krishna Dalal, Sidarthur Singh and Uktarsh Gupta).
The team named first-place winner in Senior Design, which won the faculty and staff choice as well as the student choice, was comprised of Nathan Lear, Michael Lucas, Derek Rauand Bhavit Vora. Their project, “Continuous Monitoring of Patient Airway for Laryngospasm,” is a device that utilizes fiber optic light transmission to detect obstruction in the airway during surgical procedures involving laryngospasm, or closure of the vocal cords.
College of Nursing & Health Professions
Seniors in the College of Nursing & Health Professions completed group projects for their final term at Drexel. Alicia Lamoureux, Sarah O'Connor and Victoria Smith worked together to validate a new food frequency questionnaire meant to assess magnesium intakes, while Angelina Adeline, Alice Hsiaoling Ko and Alexandria Wolz held a pilot study to determine food safety knowledge among older adults. Jaclyn Conley, Viktoryia Kuzmitskaya and Allison Smith evaluated the effectiveness of the "Eat.Right.Now" high school nutrition education intervention program. Kamran Ahmad, Jon McGeehan and Josh Quinones analyzed pesticide residue in farm drift.