Portland State Magazine Fall 2009

illlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll I MAKING IT REAL Senior Capstones give students a last and lasting experience. WRITTEN BY KATHRYN KIRKLAND PHOTOGRAPHY BY KELLY JAMES Imagine getting course credit while simultane– ously building career connections and answering a community need. This describes what Senior Capstones at the University are all about. In a Capstone project, teams of senior-year students with different majors work togethe r to solve- not just study-a community-identified need . The students think critically, apply what they 've learned, and oftentimes develop new skills while getting on-the-job training . More than 230 of these community-based research projects are completed each year, and 8 PORTLAND STATE M AGAZINE FALL 2009 Capstone students provide a huge part of the 1.3 million volunteer hours contributed annually by the University to the community- an estimated value of $21 million . From roof gardens to monitoring marine habitats, sustainability projects were a strong focus this past year. Many Capstones allowed students to see the practicality of their work, such as a 3-mm-thick fan prototype that was handed off to Intel. What follows are just a few of the projects taken on by graduating seniors this past spring . 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 Moving air in a tiny space BUILD A FAN char is nor quire as thick as rwo stacked pennies. Thar was the task given to four mechanical and materials engineering students for their Senior Capstone. Under rhe guidance of professor Chien Wern and mentored by Intel thermal mechanical engineer, Jered Wikander, rhe students created a rough prototype that their project partner Intel is now evaluating. Labeling the 3-mm-thick, air-moving device a fan does nor do it justice. There is no traditional radial device or rotating motor, says Wern. Instead a wire coil magnet causes a diaphragm ro vibrate and push air our. Ir is small, quiet, and could probably be mass produced for less than $3 a piece. Cooling small mobile computers is the intended application for the flat fan, bur Inrel engineers are work– ing to see if its design is viable. PICTURED Robert Casso