Despite the relentless fury of the typhoon Haikui, the 2012 Summer Capstone Projects Oral Defense and Design Expo proceeded smoothly in the Library of Shanghai Jiao Tong University on August 8, 2012. In the morning, two oral defense sessions took place concurrently. In the afternoon, an exhibition was held, showcasing 26 Capstone projects, 39 Vg100 projects, and 6 projects from the course “Business Basics for Entrepreneurship.” Dean Ni, Associate Dean of Education Peisen Huang, and Executive Director Pam Byrnes braved the storm to boost the students’ morale.
JI’s Capstone Design is a senior project that is completely different from the traditional thesis-based senior project prevalent in the engineering schools in China. In JI, under the supervision of a team of instructors, a group of four or five senior students from Mechanical Engineering (ME) and Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) work together on one project. Students are required to write a group report as well as individual reports in English and finally present in the English oral defense. The 26 Capstone Design projects cover a wide variety of areas, including smart energy, manufacturing, electric vehicles, network communication, and medical equipment. Several projects are sponsored by Covidien and Intel.
The strong wind and downpour did not deter the large turnout at the bi-annual event (at the end of the summer and fall semesters). Besides students, faculty, staff, and parents, there were reporters from Shanghai Education Television Station and Xinmin Evening News, and representatives from the industries, such as Siemens, Covidien, Bosch, and QNX Software Systems.
At 2 o’clock, Zheng Huang, Vice President of SJTU, along with Director Zhibin Jiang of the Office of Academic Affairs, attended the event. He listened carefully to students’ presentations and asked a lot of questions. He received briefings on Capstone Design and Vg100 from faculty and discussed issues with Deans Ni and Huang. He intends to promote the models in SJTU.
The VIPs presented awards to the winners of the Capstone Design, who were selected based on the design effort and oral defense.
Gold prize: Design and Implementation of a Modular Electric Vehicle Configuration
(Instructor: Profs. Chengbin Ma & Mian Li)
Team members: Hoaran Chen, Lingna Chai, Qianchang Zhu, Xinning Shen, Zhongheng Wang
Silver prize: Design of One Step Device for Safely Puncturing the Internal Jugular Vein
(Instructor: Prof. Kai Xu, Sponsor: Covidien)
Team members: Cheng Du, Peijiang Wang, Rui Xu, Jun Yao, Kehan Zhang
Silver prize: Holo TV-Team A
(Instructors: Profs. Vincent Chang & Wenjie Wan)
Team members: Ruyong Li, Tianchen Liu, Shuda Mo, Siyuan Sun, Yadong Wu
In his concluding remarks, Vice President Huang was amazed by the achievements of the graduates of the JI’s third class. On behalf of Party Secretary Ma Dexiu and President Zhang Jie, he congratulated students on their creativity and capabilities, which demonstrate that the JI students know how to learn and the JI faculty knows how to teach. He wished JI big progress.
Mr. Jin Xu of QNX/RIM Software Systems marveled, “It’s very impressive to see so many innovations from the students! Great Job!”
Hongtai Li and Yucheng Tang from Siemens commented, “It is a great honor to visit the Expo. The students have creative ideas, clear thinking pattern, hands-on capabilities, and excellent communication skills. Also, the Expo is very well organized. We are flattered to be treated as VIP’s.”
One of a few prospective students in the Expo, Mr. Gene Mueller, a successful lawyer and President of Mueller Carey, PLC, remarked, “This is an extremely valuable engineering expo. Lots of great ideas. Thanks.”
