Virtual ECE Design Day

Find out which students were able to overcome the challenges of a virtual setting while completing their senior design projects.

May 18, 2021     Isabella Mormando

Each year seniors from the Electrical and Computer Engineering department here at NC State are required to complete a year-long course that focuses on conceptualizing and producing an original design project in teams. This year provided a set of new challenges that many previous students did not face, everything was done virtually. 

In previous years, teams typically hold their presentation of their final project in the McKimmon Conference & Training Center where judges and spectators can engage with team members and ask questions. Recent times have not afforded us the opportunity to conduct these events in person, so the teams took to Zoom to workshop and present their Senior Design projects. 

Despite the hardships presented to the class of 2021, each team rose to the challenge and shattered judges’ expectations. The senior design teams were split into six different judged groups based on technical design, project demo appeal, and functionality, presentation quality, etc. The results are as follows:

Group 1:

  • 1st Place: Project 21: Wall of Sound – Vectorized Acoustic Deterrence of Elephants Research
  • 2nd Place: Project 22: S.M.A.R.T. (SMART Modem and Router Toggle)

Group 2: 

  • 1st Place: Project 32: Naughty Nautiloids
  • 2nd Place: Project 29: Total Force Communication

Group 3: 

  • 1st Place: Project 08: Ad Hole – DNS Sinkhole
  • 2nd Place: Project 06: SmartHome PowerUp

Group 4: 

  • 1st Place: Project 31: Seeing the Invisible -Thermoelectric Cloud Chamber
  • 2nd Place: Project 28: Custom Health Status Monitoring (HSM) PCB Solution

Group 5: 

  • 1st Place: Project 02: Isolated USB
  • 2nd Place: Project 05: Wave Makers

Group 6: 

  • 1st Place: Project 07: Bass Cabinet Crossover Integration
  • 2nd Place: Project 1: App Configurable Hardware


The senior design awards are picked on students’ performance in various categories throughout the span of the project. The result are as follows:

Terrific Team Awards: for teams who showed amazing teamwork and worked cohesively

  • Thermoelectric Cloud Chamber 
  • The Golden Nautiloids
  • The Woof-pack

Technical Progress Award: the student who showed exemplary performance in technical design and development for their project

  • Neal Kordsmeier – “The Isolated USB”

Mechanical Design Award: for student/s who displayed exceptional mechanical design skills.

  • Skieler Capezza and Alexander Elam – 16 The Golden Nautiloids

Team Leadership Award: for the student who performed the team leadership role above and beyond expectations leading the team towards success

  • Kyra Anderson – S.M.A.R.T. (SMART Modem and Router Toggle)

ECE 484 Perfect Pitch Awards: for the best 3-minute project pitch by a team in ECE 484

  • 1st Place: Project 07: Race Car Power Distribution Module V2.0
  • 2nd Place: Project 04: FPGA for Robotics Education

Each senior design team demonstrated perseverance in undergoing such a large-scale project with a new set of constraints imposed by the pandemic. Their innovative thinking in the face of adversity provides hope for the future knowing these ECE graduates can take on anything that is thrown their way.

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