The College of Engineering will showcase student projects today and tomorrow during its free, annual Senior Capstone exposition.

Senior engineering students in the Capstone Design class spend September through June undertaking substantial engineering projects on topics of their choice, using knowledge from other classes to find a practical application for technology. Today’s presentation will feature senior students in the fields of computer science, electrical engineering and computer engineering, while tomorrow’s portion of the event will consist of mechanical engineering presentations.

Mechanical engineering professor Stephen Laguette, who is responsible for the Mechanical Engineering half of the exposition, said the event is a way for the general public to see what types of projects the engineering department has been working on.

“[It’s] an opportunity for those outside the college to see what’s been done,” Laguette said. “For example, this year we have a vehicle that competed in the Shell Echo marathon. We also have a team that worked with Engineers Without Borders, so all of these projects are going to be on display Friday.”

Awards will be given for Most Marketable Design, Most Innovative Design and Best Technical Presentation. Judges include faculty and independent industry personnel invited to the expo.

Laguette, who has been involved with the event since his arrival at UCSB in 2005, said all of the industrial judges this year are UCSB alumni.

“This year, I’m very proud that all of our industry judges are former [UCSB] students who participated in this event,” Laguette said.

The event will last from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday.

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