21 Students Earn Accolades at Fall CETA Design Expo

Held at the Francis X. and Nancy Hursey Center for Advanced Engineering and Health Professions, the expo featured 45 innovative projects from students ranging from first-years to seniors.

Seven of the projects were singled out for exemplary work, with 21 students taking home top honors in their divisions.

The expo is held each fall and spring, and gives students a chance to present projects intended to help others or solve a problem. Working in teams of two to four, more than 150 students created prototypes of their inventions.

But it's the next step that makes the CETA Design Expo more than a simple showcase. The teams are expected to pitch their ideas - just as they would in the real world - to a group of judges that include industry professionals, faculty and staff, and student ambassadors.

The projects are judged according to six standards:

• Performance: Did the product work as designed?
• Creativity: How creative was the final product?
• Level of Difficulty: How complex was the product?
• Experimental Verification: Was the product performance evaluated according to a set of criteria?
• Poster Presentation: Was the project goal clearly illustrated?
• Oral Presentation: Were students well-rehearsed and well-prepared?