The day before graduation, 27 senior engineering design projects, ranging from refined electronic prosthetic hands to an iPhone application that's a one-stop-shop for college students to a solar-assisted electronic bicycle, were on display at the University of Colorado Denver Engineering Student Design Open House on Friday, May 15.

The senior design projects were from the four engineering programs: civil, computer, electrical and mechanical. The enthusiastic, well-prepared students presented their projects through posters and displays of their work to two teams of judges as well as approximately 200 guests.

In their senior year, students in the UC Denver College of Engineering (COE) take a Senior Design class that is the culmination of the knowledge and skills they have acquired. It is the first time in the curriculum that engineering students formally learn about such things as solving a problem for someone else, design tradeoffs, cost and budgeting, documentation of process and product, scheduling tasks with lead time, and experiencing different human factors involved in teamwork.

The teams winning the COE awards were:
First Place: Team Air Mouse (EE)
Second Place: Denver Zoo and City Park Improvement Team (CE)
Two Honorable Mentions: Mr. SQUID and Motorized Trailer Mover Team

The American Council of Engineering Companies judges chose the following teams from each department for 2009 recognition from ACEC:
Civil Engineering: Denver Zoo and City Park Improvement Team
Computer Science and Engineering: P.A.R.T.N.E. R.
Electrical Engineering: Team Air Mouse
Mechanical Engineering: Motorized Trailer Mover Team