Graduating students from Conestoga's Electronics Engineering Technology and Computer Engineering Technology programs shared working solutions to real-world challenges at their capstone Demo Day.
Students Besart Kalezic (left) and Eric Enns explain the phone-status indicator they created for a local company.
The event held April 11 at the Cambridge - Fountain Street campus featured six capstone projects, along with the announcement of leadership and academic excellence award winners and Best in Program capstone projects.
The student teams were on hand to answer questions from curious atrium visitors, backed up by a cardboard display on the project and the working system for people to watch in action.
“It was gratifying to see ideas turn into viable prototypes,” said Hamood-Ur Rehman, faculty member in the Electronics Engineering Technology program.
Best in Program Capstone Project Awards went to Electronics Engineering Technology students Besart Kalezic and Eric Enns for their phone status indicator and Computer Engineering Technology students Mat Regentov and Joel Thibert for ZephyrCore, an electronic system for wireless musical performance.
The awards were presented at Tech Showcase on April 23 where students demonstrated best-of-program projects from the School of Engineering & Technology and the School of Applied Computer Science & Information Technology.
The phone status indicator came out of a pitch by Clarion Medical Technologies in Cambridge for the students to design a system that indicates if the company’s technicians are available to help a customer.
“It was an actual industry problem that we got to solve,” Kalezic said.
The team designed a system that communicates at a glance if a technician is away, on a call or free to speak to a customer. That includes a simple column of indicator lights at each workstation and a computer display for the customer service representatives who forward calls for customer support.
The company provided feedback through the process and will put the system to use in their office. Enns said the project was about much more than just putting together some code and components.
“The design process, research and testing pulled from nearly all my courses at Conestoga. Going from having nothing but an idea to a functional project has been a difficult but amazing experience.”
The team that made the other top project also found the experience invaluable.
“The capstone project was a great chance to apply what I've learned the last three years, as well as to show my ability to succeed in the face of new and unexpected challenges,” Thibert said.
Regentov said it was an opportunity to put to the test all the skills learned in the three-year program. "I have gained a lot of knowledge and improved a lot of skills working on the capstone project.”
Other projects on display included a system to modernize vintage vehicles, equipping them with features found on current automobiles like a back-up camera, remote starter and blind-spot detection.
Julian Maltez, Jeff Chabot and Ben Martens bundled the most common features in an affordable, easy-to-install kit that starts with a key fob.
“This adds everything you could get in a newer car,” Maltez said. “Three wires total and you’re up and running.”
Adam Riddell and Aeryn Stegne designed a system that detects when traffic lights stop working and alerts the maintenance department when replacements are needed.Currently, the lights are often changed early as a preventive measure, but that focus on safety ignores the cost of waste from the lights and time changing them.
Recipients of five leadership and academic awards included:
• Electronics Engineering Technology Leadership Award - Besart Kalezic • Computer Engineering Technology Leadership Award - Mat Regentov
• Electronics Engineering Technology Academic Excellence Award - Owen Morrison
• Computer Engineering Technology Academic Excellence Award - Eric Enns
• Electronics Engineering Technician Academic Excellence Award - Zach Robinson
The Electronics Engineering Technology program teaches students to work with electronic, computer and communications equipment and systems. Graduates are able to design, build, test and repair communications systems. The program is about half lab work and half theory, giving students an advantage in the practical implementation of systems, software and circuits.
The Computer Engineering Technology program starts with the same foundation in first year. Students in this program graduate with the ability to design, build, test and repair a computer-based system or any part of one. Their strong electronics knowledge and skills enable them to take on many roles in industry.
Both programs are in Conestoga’s School of Engineering & Technology.