For the final course project, the student teams selected from three project types: (i) thermal insulator design, (ii) Lego* Mindstorms* competition and (iii) MSU Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities (RCPD) design. For the first choice, the student teams were to design, build and test a thermal insulator that would minimize
the temperature increase of a given volume of water exposed to a heat source. The prototypes were to fit within a specified test fixture. The second choice required the students to build and program an autonomous robot that competes simultaneously against other robots to gather high-scoring, colored balls. Points were awarded to teams based upon the values of the balls in the team’s goal area at the end of the competition. The third project type had student teams work with RCPD clients to design and build working prototypes to assist the clients in daily activities. Teams from each of the three project types will display their prototypes at Design Day along with a poster detailing their design concepts. Pre-college students will recognize the most outstanding projects with awards.