Armour College of Engineering students, alumni, faculty, staff, and industry representatives gathered in The John T. Rettaliata Engineering Center for the Armour R&D Expo on April 15, 2015. The event, planned to occur annually, showcased the work of undergraduate students who participated in the Armour R&D program during the 2014-2015 academic year via poster presentations.

Armour R&D is part of the Armour College of Engineering Distinctive Education Program and promotes the concepts of innovation and entrepreneurship amongst our undergraduate engineering students. Armour R&D consists of two programs: Program for Undergraduate Research Education (PURE) and Mentored INovation and Development (MIND). Students selected to participate in PURE had the opportunity to gain valuable research experience working with an Illinois Institute of Technology faculty member. Those selected under the MIND program developed new technology based on research findings.

Forty-four Armour R&D participants presented posters representing research and development projects within the four engineering themes (water, health, energy, and security). Winners were selected by a panel of judges that included Armour faculty members, as well as Ph.D. students from all engineering departments. The judges rated projects based on context, clarity and overall visual presentation.

An awards ceremony was held after the poster competition to award the highest scoring presenters during each semester. Each of the winners received a trophy that was laser engraved in the Armour College of Engineering Machine Shop by Craig Johnson, Head of Machine Shop & Coordinator of Student Fabrication and Design Studio.

View the photo gallery from the Expo

A call for proposals to participate in the summer 2015 Armour R&D program will go out on Monday, May 11. Students can get an early start by searching their department website to find out which faculty members are conducting research in their area of interest. Students that plan on participating in Armour R&D are strongly encouraged to attend the Spring 2015 proposal writing workshop on Thursday, April 30, in order to receive feedback and tips on how to write the best possible project proposal.

Award winners with Dean DePaola and members of the Distinctive Education Council

Spring 2015 Winners
The team of Szu-Chun Chen (BME/ChE, 4th year) and Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Papavasiliou received the Highest Overall Score Award for their health-themed PURE project “Effects of Angiogenic Peptide Loaded Nanoparticle on Scaffold Neovascularization.”

The team of Bader Jarai (ChE, 3rd year), S.C. Johnson Professor of Chemical Engineering and Director of the Center for Complex Systems and Dynamics, Fouad Teymour and part-time faculty, Omar Khalil received a High Score Award for their energy-themed PURE project “Development of a Method of Quantitative Fractionation of Algae Bio Composites.”

The team of Isabel Arias (BME, 4th year) and Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Eric Brey received a High Score Award for their health-themed PURE project “Role of Growth Media Conditions on the Mineralization of Vascularized Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering.” The team had also won the High Score Award during the fall 2014 Armour R&D Expo.

The team of Hang Yin (EE, 5th year) and Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Joohee Kim received a High Score Award for their security-themed MIND project, “A Vision-Based Vehicular Distance Measurements System.”

Fall 2014 Winners
The team of Joaquin Lares (ME, 4th year) and Matthew Spenko, associate professor of mechanical engineering, received the Highest Overall Score Award for their security-themed PURE project, “Vehicle-Terrain Interaction.” The team had previously won a High Score Award during the summer 2014 Armour R&D Expo.

The team of Cameron Ketchmark (EE, 4th year) and Joohee Kim, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering received a High Score Award for their security-themed PURE project, “Improving Feature Descriptors for Pedestrian Detection.”

The team of Yanxin Li (ChE, 3rd year) and Vijay Ramani, Hyosung S. R. Cho endowed chair professor of chemical engineering received a High Score Award for their energy-themed PURE project, “Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Catalyst for Solid-State Alkaline Water Electrolysis.”

The team of Isabel Arias (BME, 4th year) and Eric Brey, professor of biomedical engineering received a High Score Award for their health-themed PURE project, “Role of Growth Media Variation in the Formation of Mineralized Tissue In Vitro.”