Local and regional firms give hands-on work to engineering students, could lead to jobs
Even before they graduate, engineering students at Washington State University Vancouver are showing that their ideas can succeed in the marketplace.
From 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, April 23, students in WSU Vancouver’s School of Engineering and Computer Science will present seven senior capstone projects from the current academic year.
The students partnered with local companies to craft unique engineering solutions.
"We want to show how WSU is supporting local industries in solving engineering problems," said Amir Jokar, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at WSU.
Jokar said the students began working on the projects last fall, after he helped match the students to the appropriate project, depending on their area of interest.
About 20 students participated in seven projects.
The projects included the design of a band saw swaging machine for Armstrong Manufacturing Co., pressure tool design for StressWave Inc. and a mixed fluid power system for SAIC Maritime Technologies.
Armstrong, based in Portland, manufactures metal-cutting machine tools. Kent-based company StressWave uses technology to lower the cost of improving fatigue life of holes in metal structures. A subsidiary of San Diego-based SAIC, SAIC Maritime focuses on aiding the extraction of deep-water petroleum reserves and expanding the international telecommunications network.
For the U.S. Geological Survey Cascade Volcano Observatory, students devised a low power, icing restraint enclosure system for the Mount St. Helens Crater Rim camera. Jokar said the students devised a thermal mechanical system that can break the ice that occasionally covers the camera.
nLight Corp., a Vancouver-based semiconductor laser company, tapped the minds of two WSU students to help engineer an "opto-mechanical package."
Geoff Fanning, a product engineering manager at nLight, said the students were helpful with basic engineering evaluations.
"The idea is for them to see what the industry is like and for the industry is to see what they are like," said Fanning.
One of the projects involved putting a laser light into an optical fiber, and the other was working on a green laser head assembly, he said.
Additional projects included the human powered vehicle challenge for the School of Engineering and Computer Science at WSU Vancouver.
Jokar said the students traded their services for the experience. In some cases, he said students have been offered jobs at the companies. Some projects could lead to patents, also.
He said there will be announcements at the April 23 event about which students will work at what companies.
