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March is National Engineering month in Canada, and engineers from coast to coast are celebrating the importance of careers in engineering.

At 黑料吃瓜网, senior students within the Faculty of Engineering got a chance to show off their future career potential at this year鈥檚 黑料吃瓜网Engineering Capstone Conference (DECC).

The Capstone Conference is the largest event for the senior year classes, incorporating all engineering disciplines within the faculty. The conference gives students the opportunity to showcase how their Capstone Projects integrate course work and engineering design skills to provide innovative solutions to local industry partners.

Originally known as the Design Expo and Poster Competition, the event revolutionized this year with a new name and a new venue location.

鈥淲hen we began planning for this year鈥檚 Design Expo, the newly begun campus renovation meant there was some uncertainty about the availability of Sexton Gym, where we usually hold the event. This led to a brainstorm of how we could change the event, and we realized that by moving offsite we could make the event bigger than before.鈥� says Sandra MacAulay Thompson, member of the Faculty of Engineering鈥檚 鈥淓ngineers in Residence鈥�, and one of the co-organizers of this year鈥檚 Capstone Conference. 鈥淲e decided to add formal student project presentations to the day so that it had the look and feel of a day-long conference.鈥�

All engineering students participate in an eight-month Capstone Project in their final year of studies. At the beginning of the academic year, students are placed into teams and are assigned industry or community based projects. Each team works with their client or mentor to solve specific real-life challenges. Most projects are sponsored by clients from industry.

聽鈥淚ndustry-sponsored capstone projects give our students a chance to apply their engineering skills to problems that are similar to what they will face as practising engineers,鈥� says Thompson. 鈥淭hese are open-ended problems with many technical and economic factors to consider. Tackling these types of projects build student confidence and exposes them to the challenges of working in industry.鈥�

This year Dexter Construction Company Limited partnered with a group of industrial engineering students to look at improving their snow removal operations.

The team of students, which consisted of Tate Linzel, Angus Nelson, Matt Shannon and Matt Lyttle, worked together to improve operations in areas such as scheduling, shift change processes, routing and resource utilization.

鈥淥rganizations get to see firsthand the abilities of students, and gain from their innovative thinking and sharp skillsets with minimal cost or risk,鈥� says Michael Parrott, a Project Manager at Dexter Construction. 鈥淭he opportunity is equally beneficial for students to contribute and gain experience on a real-world project as they prepare to enter the workforce as junior engineers.鈥�

The Dexter Snow Removal Project was one of approximately 98 projects that were on display at this year鈥檚 Capstone Conference. Like past years, the conference included a poster competition where 48 industry judges assessed each student project based on a variety of criteria including detailed project analysis, student professionalism and overall presentation.

As judges moved from project to project, hundreds of other members from the engineering community squeezed into the Westin鈥檚 largest ballroom to learn more about how the next generation of engineers were making an impact on their community.

Student posters ranged from the 鈥淒artmouth Cove Master Plan Project,鈥� a project designed to establish streets and sewer infrastructures for the new development of a Halifax Regional Municipality neighbourhood; to a group of students set to power a single family home using a fuel cell and ethanol reforming.

鈥淭he Capstone Conference is an exciting way for students to showcase their work to their fellow students, faculty, industry and the public. By highlighting these projects, we hope to generate interest in the Capstone Program: creating new opportunities for companies to support engineering education, and in turn helping those companies solve some of their tough engineering problems,鈥� says Thompson.

With the launch of the IDEA Project set to transform Dal鈥檚 Sexton Campus and Halifax鈥檚 emerging innovation district, the Capstone Program is another great example of how Dalhousie鈥檚 Faculty of Engineering is growing strong ties with local industry, and developing partnerships that enhance and strengthen the future of the Halifax community.聽

Interested in getting involved?
Do you have a design problem that needs a solution? If you or your organization would like more information about the Capstone Program, please contact Dr. Clifton Johnston at Clifton.johnston@dal.ca or 902.494.8985

2017 Capstone Conference Poster Winners

The Faculty of Engineering would like to thank all the companies and supporters that provided the projects and exceptional learning experiences for our senior students. Below are the winners of this year鈥檚 Capstone Conference Poster Competition.

DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AWARD OF EXCELLENCE FOR BEST CAPSTONE POSTER IN CIVIL ENGINEERING:
鈥�6-Storey Wood Building鈥� by Spencer Collier-Jarvis, Zachary Henry, Lindsay Kehoe, Keith Porter

NSERC CHAIR IN DESIGN ENGINEERING AWARD OF EXCELLENCE FOR BEST CAPSTONE POSTER IN ELECTRICAL & COMPUTER ENGINEERING (01):
鈥淚mproved Noise Shaping Digital Delta Sigma Modulator鈥� by Brett Chiasson, Brendan Lane, Paddy Quinn

NSERC CHAIR IN DESIGN ENGINEERING AWARD OF EXCELLENCE FOR BEST CAPSTONE POSTER IN PROCESS ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE:
鈥淒artmouth Fish Passage Between Sullivan鈥檚 Pond and the Halifax Harbour鈥� by Sarah Borden, Sabrina Hiefer, Marie Adrianne Imperial, Yujie Lang

鈥淓xpanding Nova Scotia鈥檚 Sustainable Energy Development by Utilizing Decommissioned Quarries鈥� by Caroline Forbes, Mitch Gammon, David MacDonald, Nicole Westeinde

SHELL AWARD OF EXCELLENCE FOR BEST CAPSTONE POSTER IN INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING:
鈥淧rocess Automation and Standard Operating Procedures鈥� by Ahmed Rayyan, Amer Hussein, Arsalan Ali, Sudarsan Adhikari

SHELL AWARD OF EXCELLENCE FOR BEST CAPSTONE POSTER IN MINERAL RESOURCE ENGINEERING:
鈥淧reliminary Scoping Study of a Au-U-Y Straitiform Paleoplace Quartz-Pebble Conglomerate Deposit, Shubenacadie Area, Nova Scotia鈥� by Eric Pushie, Mark Webb, Michael Forsyth and Mitchell Carter

MICHELIN AWARD OF EXCELLENCE FOR BEST CAPSTONE POSTER IN ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING (00):
鈥淚nertial Based Fall Detection Device鈥� by Frederick Porter, Joel Atkinson, Mason Baker and Miguel Morales

MICHELIN AWARD OF EXCELLENCE FOR BEST CAPSTONE POSTER MECHANICAL AND MATERIALS ENGINEERING:
鈥淎utomated Ring Removal Device鈥� by Patrick Hennessey, Mason Landry, Brad MacKeil, Cal Thompson.