NJIT's First-Year Engineers 'Dive' into Design, Shaping the Future at Annual Showcase
The spirit of innovation and hands-on learning was in full force at the Newark College of Engineering's (NCE) annual First-Year Engineering Design Showcase, a highlight of National Engineers Week. This popular event, a testament to NJIT's commitment to early-stage practical engineering experience, saw NCE’s brightest first-year minds — 180 presenters on 51 teams — show their innovative projects.
NCE Dean Moshe Kam emphasized the distinctive approach NJIT takes in introducing design to its students. "The significance of this event is that it takes first-year students and puts them in the arena of design right away," he stated. "There is a tendency in some schools to say to the entering engineering student, “We are glad you are here, but…please go away for two years. Study mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, and come back to the engineering college when you are ready to work with us.” That's not our approach. At NJIT we ask students to start working on design as soon as they come in."
This philosophy sets NJIT apart, providing students with invaluable practical experience from the very beginning of their academic journey. "We’re not the only ones in the world who do that, but it nevertheless really distinguishes us from many other schools, where students do not see design, in some cases, until the last year," Kam explained. "And we basically insist on the fact that they have hands-on design right at the beginning and fill the knowledge gaps along the way."
Very cool to do this as a first-year student.
The showcase demonstrated students' ingenuity and teamwork, amplified by NJIT's unique access to its 21,000 square-foot Makerspace. As New Jersey's largest educational Makerspace, it equips students with industrial-grade equipment, machinery and tools, fostering hands-on learning and sets the stage for innovation.
NCE professors nominated the top students in each first-year design class to participate in the showcase. The nominations were based on the originality, creativity and quality of the emerging projects. The projects, ranging from improvements to existing designs of commercial objects to altogether new innovative solutions to technical challenges, demonstrated the breadth of talent and inventiveness within NCE's first-year class.
This year’s winning team, Lyla Dion (Mechanical Engineering), Maryam Mahgoub (Mechanical Engineering), and Kemi Folami (Electrical and Computer Engineering), impressed judges with a design titled “Shark Proof.”
Dion explained that there exist many designs for prosthetics for swimming. However, not all of them move in a natural way, and most are not affordable. They created a prototype that addresses these issues, and provided free-access files that anyone could use to implement the prosthetic design on a 3D printer and use it.
“Accessibility and affordability were key considerations for our team,” said Mahgoub. “A really big selling point of our model is that it's ‘one size fits most,’ aside from the parametric modeling and the CAD files, so it could be mass manufactured and then adjusted by each user to fit their dimensions.”
Folami emphasized the project’s design process and the potential impact. “It's definitely very cool to work on this as a first-year student. It allowed us to use very advanced technology to make the final product. I am looking to continue this project, just seeing where we can bring it, especially with the goal of accessibility. I think this is definitely something very new … this can open up a new age of open-access. A lot of people could benefit.”
Top Finishers
A project titled “Moist Meter” was the first runner up. It was conceived by Andrew Shestak, Ricky Julien and Ibrahim Feknous (Electrical and Computer Engineering). The group designed a prototype that monitors, reports and adjusts plant soil moisture levels and the surrounding humidity — two factors that greatly impact plant health.
With an eye on entrepreneurial opportunity, the group projects that green-thumb vacationers could be a major future target audience for the Moist Meter. It would ensure their plants stay well-nourished and healthy while they are away.
Rounding out the top three was Juan Carlos Martinez Montijo (General Engineering) and his ultrasonic eyewear project. The project aims to improve the daily lives of visually impaired individuals by creating affordable, discreet sensory glasses. These glasses are equipped with ultrasonic sensors and vibration motors, and complement traditional mobility aids like guide dogs and canes. The glasses detect obstacles in the wearer's path, both directly ahead and to the sides, and provide tactile warnings through vibrations. This system offers a hands-free, non-intrusive alternative, aiming to provide users with a greater sense of independence and spatial awareness.
