Four students from UNLV's Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering recently received Senior Design Competition awards for innovative projects that they completed during the fall 2001 semester.

Tim Ploeger, an electrical engineering major, and Kwame Coleman and Kyle Kisebach - both mechanical engineering majors - all tied for first place honors. Joe Crapo, an electrical engineering major, took third place in the competition, which is sponsored each semester by the college's Entrepreneur or E-club.

Ploeger created a Solid State Boost Converter, which is able to take power from batteries or a fuel cell and boost it to a higher DC voltage. Crapo's project, called the 1500 Watt Voltage Inverter, takes high voltage DC and generates 120/240 AC voltage. Used together, the boost converter and voltage inverter are designed to supply 1500 watts to a residence during a power failure. Both Ploeger and Crapo's projects were recognized for their efficiency, reliability, and cost effectiveness. The students' faculty adviser on this project was Yahia Baghzouz, professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Coleman and Kisebach teamed together to create a Mobile Upper Extremity Continuous Passive Motion Machine. The device can be used to help provide physical therapy for an injured shoulder joint by enabling the arm to be properly raised and lowered in a safe, repetitive motion for periods of time between 30 minutes and four hours. Advising the students was Mohamed Trabia, associate professor of mechanical engineering.

The first-place recipients each were awarded $750, and the third place recipient received $250. Judging the competition were Gary Fitzgerald, chief executive officer of EG&G Special Projects Inc., and Howard Kenig, president of V21C (Vision for the 21st Century).

The competition, which is underwritten by the Von Brimmer Foundation, was created in May 2001 to stimulate engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. Engineering students currently are working on projects for the spring semester's Senior Design Competition. The students will present their projects to the public May 8 in the Great Hall of the Thomas T. Beam Engineering Complex.

For additional information about these projects or the Senior Design Competition, contact Bill O'Donnell, research associate at UNLV, at 895-0954.