A senior design team in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department recently had a project featured in the industry publication Control Design.
Electrical engineering students Benjamin Sprouse, Matthew Scally, Cooper Tedstrom, Nicholas Eckley and Computer Engineering student Matthew Lake make up the design team “Still Standing.” The group worked on a prototype to improve the distillation process for a local craft distillery.
“This project was proposed to the senior design class by F&S Industries as an opportunity to work closely with industry sponsors,” explained Sprouse. “The team members volunteered after reviewing all the potential projects and sponsors proposed.”
F&S Industries is an engineering services company that Sprouse runs with his business partner, Ray Fioravante. F&S Industries had worked with the distillery in the past, though for this project Sprouse stepped into a student role.
When distilling, minor variations in the process can affect the final product flavor. Manual control during this process takes time and can still have variation, but automated control can be expensive to implement. “Still Standing” aimed to develop a prototype that could be scaled up, was affordable and could be adjusted as needed by the master distiller.
“Still Standing,” the team name, was chosen as a tribute to the work and dedication they’d be putting into the difficult project, which took about a year and required the team to meet during the summer, though it was all worth it in the end.
“Ultimately, it was a very demanding yet rewarding project, and I’m sure I speak for the entire team when I say one of the best take aways is the professional experience and relationships I developed with my team members,” said Sprouse.
“I would like to encourage industrial sponsors to increase their involvement with programs like the senior design class at UCCS,” Sprouse added. “These projects provide a unique opportunity to work closely with promising young professionals while giving students an early look at what working in industry is like.”
Read more about the project in the Control Design article.
About the UCCS College of Engineering and Applied Science
The College of Engineering and Applied Science enrolls more than 1,700 students and offers 23 engineering and computer science degrees, ranging from bachelor to doctoral. The college is a Department of Homeland Security / National Security Agency Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense and works closely with the National Cybersecurity Center and with more than 250 aerospace and defense, information technology, cybersecurity and engineering organizations in the Pikes Peak region. Learn more about the College of Engineering and Applied Science at UCCS.