On Wednesday, 144 Senior Design teams showcased their projects at the 2016 Stevens Innovation Expo. The projects presented at the expo encompassed everything from Sustainability to Robotics to Education and the Arts, and drew in one of the largest crowds to ever attend an Innovation Expo at Stevens.
In Canavan Arena, Walker Gymnasium, and the Griffith Building, 144 teams comprised of 544 students presented their Senior Design projects. All of these teams had spent either the past two or three semesters working on sponsored consulting, entrepreneurial, or product development projects to gain experience by working on real-world problems. Projects presented at the expo included a sustainable and resilient playground, an automated surface cleaning robot, and the divisive HangoverLyte beverage. “It all seems so effortless, and yet the students work really diligently for a year,” said Sandra Furnbach Clavijo, Manager of the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and one of the Innovation Expo’s organizers. “It’s just really nice seeing campus come together to see their work.” The expo drew in not only Stevens students, but employers and members of the general public as well, including Thomas Kean Jr., a member of the New Jersey State Senate.
After the seniors had presented their projects, attendees were welcomed to attend a lecture on the future of research, a research networking session, and a lecture on the history of the internet. Later in the day, Senior Design teams were invited to compete for $16,000 in total prizes at the Elevator Pitch and Business Service Pitch competitions, sponsored by the ANSARY foundation. First place for the Elevator Pitch Competition was won by the WHISPER team. Coming in first for the Business Service Pitch Competition was the Nuclear Solutions team.
“It took a lot of staff, member, and department coordination, and everyone working really hard to put [the expo] together,” said Clavijo. The 2016 Stevens Innovation Expo was innovative in its own regard, having come up with new ways of branding itself. This was the first year for which a promotional video was made to advertise the event to employers and businesses, and a recap video is being made in order to spark interest in the same audience for next year’s expo.
