Student Design Competition Research Articles

IEEE SSCS-Benelux Holds Chip Design Competition for Students [Chapters

Presents recent SSCS society chapter news.

2015 IMS Student Design Competitions

2015 IMS Student Design Competitions

Cavity Resonators Do the Trick: A Packaged Substrate Integrated Waveguide, Dual-Band Filter

The 2015 Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S) International Microwave Symposium in Phoenix, Arizona, played host to a total of 16 student design competitions. One of these, sponsored jointly by the MTT-12 Technical Committee on Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Packaging and Manufacturing and the MTT-8 Technical Committee on Filters and Passive Components, was based on the design of a substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) dual-band filter.

2016 IMS Student Design Competitions

2016 IMS Student Design Competitions

Balanced\/Unbalanced Wideband: A Wideband, Bifilar Transmission-Line Balun

This article presents the design details of a wideband, bifilar transmission-line balun submitted for the student design competition for wideband baluns held during the 2015 IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S) International Microwave Symposium (IMS 2015) in Phoenix, Arizona, and sponsored by the MTT-17 Technical Committee on HF-VHF-UHF Technology.

Learning by Using Graphene Multilayers: An Educational App for Analyzing the Electromagnetic Absorption of a Graphene Multilayer Based on a Network Model

The app we describe in this article was presented as part of the student design competitions at the 2015 IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S) International Microwave Symposium. The objective of our particular competition, sponsored by the MTT-25 Technical Committee on RF Nanotechnology, was to develop an app) for handheld devices or personal computers that could not only support instruction in the principles and uses of electromagnetic theory as related to RF nanotechnologies but also apply to solving design problems.

DESIGN FAILURE MODES AND EFFECTS ANALYSIS (DFMEA) OF AN ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLE

Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) organizes a student engineering design competition named Baja in which an All-terrain vehicle (ATV) is designed and fabricated by undergraduate engineering students. ATV is a vehicle that can run on a wide variety of terrains and travels on low-pressure tires with a seat straddled by the operator. SAE BAJA involves designing and fabrication of a modified and scaled down smaller version of ATV. Starting from initial design and analysis to actual fabrication of ATV, everything is done by the students. As in any engineering design, there is a constant need to design a safe and sustainable vehicle. This involves predicting and defining all failure modes in the initial design step itself. An effective method of doing this failure analysis is DFMEA (Design Failure Modes and Effects Analysis), which is an extension of popular Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) technique and is done in the design stage. In this paper DFMEA technique is used to list out all modes of failure for various components of the ATV, its causes, effects and ways of preventing it. Risk Priority Number methodology of FMEA is used to find out the components which are more susceptible to failure and needs more attention than others.

Analysis of Using Ferrofluid as an Interface Material in a Field Reversible Thermal Connector

The electrical functionality of an avionics chassis is limited due to heat dissipation limits. The limits arise due to the fact that components in an avionic computer boxes are packed very compactly, with the components mounted onto plug-in cards, and the harsh environment experienced by the chassis limits how heat can be dissipated from the cards. Convective and radiative heat transfer to the ambient are generally not possible. Therefore, it is necessary to have heat transferred from the components conducted to the edge of the plug-in cards. The heat then needs to conduct from the card edge to a cold block that not only holds the card in place but also removes the generated heat by some heat transfer fluid that is circulated through the cold block. The interface between the plug-in card and the cold block typically has a high thermal resistance since it is necessary for the card to have the capability to be reworkable, meaning that the card can be removed and then returned to the chassis. Reducing the thermal resistance of the interface is the objective of the current study and the topic of this thesis. The current design uses a pressure interface between the card and cold block. The contact pressure is increased through the addition of a wedgelock, which is a field-reversible mechanical connector. To use a wedgelock, the cold block has channels milled on the surface with widths that are larger than the thickness of the plug-in card and the unexpanded wedgelock. The card edge is placed in the channel and placed against one of the channel walls. A wedgelock is then placed between the card and the other channel wall. The wedgelock is then expanded by using either a screw or a lever. As the wedgelock expands, it fills in the remaining channel gap and bears against the other face of the plug-in card. The majority of heat generated by the components on the plug-in card is forced to conduct from the card into the wall of the cold block, effectively a single sided, dry conduction heat transfer path. Having started as a student design competition named RevCon Challenge, work was performed to evaluate the use of new field-reversible thermal connectors. The new design proposed by the University of Missouri utilized oil based iron nanoparticles, commonly known as a ferrofluid, as a thermal interface material. By using a liquid type of interface material, the channel gap can be reduced to a few micrometers, within machining tolerances, and heat can be dissipated off both sides of the card. The addition of nanoparticles improves the effective thermal conductivity of base fluid. The use of iron nanoparticles allows magnets to be used to hold the fluid in place, so the electronic cards may be easily inserted and removed while keeping the ferrofluid in the cold block channel. The ferrofluid-based design which was investigated has shown lower thermal resistance than the current wedgelock design. These results open the door for further development of electronic cards by using higher heat emitting components without compromising the simplicity of attaching/detaching cards from cooling plates.

Low-cost, transportable hydrogen fueling station for early market adoption of fuel cell electric vehicles

Thousands of public hydrogen fueling stations are needed to support the early Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) market in the U.S.; as of July 2014 there were 12. Government agencies are the largest investors in the U.S. hydrogen fueling infrastructure and are developing stations that cost anywhere from $1.8–$5.9 million each. To attract private investors and decrease dependence on government funding, a low-cost, mobile hydrogen dispensing system must be developed. This paper describes a transportable 700 bar hydrogen fueling station that has been designed with an off-the-shelf component cost of $423,000; less than 23% of the capital cost of current stations. The design utilizes liquid hydrogen storage and a novel cryogenic compression system which can be factory built for high volume, rapid production. These stations are contained in a standard 40 foot ISO shipping container to adapt to varying locational demand. The demand adjusted cost to sell hydrogen is estimated to be $9.62/kg. This paper presents the mechanical design and operation of the fueling station. This design won the grand prize for the 2014 Hydrogen Student Design competition and a complete report including an economic analysis and safety features is available elsewhere.

Communications education and training: industry certification and university accreditation [Guest Editorial

Student design competitions have emerged as a popular method for both professional associations and companies to engage engineering students and encourage them to join with like-minded colleagues to develop and test their engineering design and project management skills. By their nature, such competitions encourage a level and intensity of activity that is difficult to replicate in a design or project course. For many engineering students, participation can be a career-defining event.

Transistor Model Building for a Microwave Power Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor

This article describes the detailed development of a large-signal transistor model for a microwave power heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT). Based on the neurospace-mapping (Neuro-SM) technique, this model uses neural networks to map a coarse model space represented by the existing model simulations onto the fine model space represented by device measurements. This article tied for first place in the Microwave Transistor Modeling Student Design Competition at the 2014 IEEE International Microwave Symposium (IMS2014) held in Tampa, Florida.

WebLab: A Web-Based Setup for PA Digital Predistortion and Characterization [Application Notes

The WebLab that is described here was initially motivated by the 2014 IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society International Microwave Symposium's (IMS2014's) Student Design Competition on Digital Predistortion (DPD) Linearization, described in Accurate Linearization with Low-Complexity Models Using Cascaded Digital Predistortion Systems, by Barradas et. al on page 94 in this issue of IEEE Microwave Magazine. To make a comparison of DPD algorithm performance, it is necessary to have one device under test (DUT), a Doherty power amplifier (PA), and one measurement setup for everybody to use. This was not a problem for the finals of the competition because the competitors would all be physically present at the same location. However, for the preparations starting half a year in advance, this posed a serious problem. The solution we implemented takes advantage of the fact that most universities today provide a decent Internet connection for their employees and students. A remotely accessible WebLab seemed to be a viable solution to the problem of letting the competitors practice on the actual DUT using the same measurement setup before the final competition at IMS2014. We decided to construct a Web-based remote-controlled PA measurement setup that allowed any user (not only the competitors) to upload his or her own input data and download the resulting measured output data. The Web page and instructions for using it can be found at http://dpdcompetition.com.

Student Design Competitions at IMS2015

Provides a listing of current committee members and society officers.

Low-Noise Amplifier for Statistical Multiband and Multistandard Applications

The Low-Noise Amplifier (LNA) Student Design Competition has continuously evolved since its inception. Each year, students have been challenged to design an LNA with an increased emphasis on ruggedness, linearity, and broadband performance [1]-[5]. The 2014 IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S) International Microwave Symposium (IMS2014) continued this trend by requiring students to design an LNA receiver module for statistical multiband and multistandard applications in an effort to raise awareness about the complexity and nondeterministic nature of the topic. For the first time in competition history, the measurement frequencies were not predetermined and were decided on the day of the competition by two rolls of a six-sided die, with each side representing a frequency in gigahertz. This requirement prevented students from optimizing a design for a particular set of frequencies and instead called for a design possessing linear broadband performance from 1 to 6 GHz.

Linear Doherty PA at 5 GHz

At the 2014 International Microwave Symposium (IMS2014) in Tampa, Florida, the power amplifier (PA) design competition celebrated its tenth anniversary. Back in 2004, it was the first student design competition that the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S) organized and, since then, the only one that has been held regularly every year. We started to participate in this competition in 2012, which also happened to be the year when a significant change in the competition rules was adopted. Starting in 2012, the power-added efficiency (PAE) in the figure of merit (FOM) that is used to evaluate the PAs, FOM = PAE/4?f, was measured at a power level at which the intermodulation distortion (IMD) that the PA produces from a two-tone excitation first exceeds 30 dBc. With that new rule, not only did linearity start to play a major role but also the test signal changed from continuous wave (CW) to a modulated signal with a peak to average ratio of 3 dB.

Design of 1:4 Ultrawideband Hybrid Transmission-Line Balun

This article presents the 1:4 wideband balun based on transmission lines that was awarded the first prize in the Wideband Baluns Student Design Competition. The competition was held during the 2014 IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S) International Microwave Symposium (IMS2014). It was initiated in 2011 and is sponsored by the MTT-17 Technical Coordinating Committee. The winner must implement and measure a wideband balun of his or her own design and achieve the highest possible operational frequency from at least 1 MHz (or below) while meeting the following conditions: ? female subminiature version A (SMA) connectors are used to terminate all ports ? a minimum impedance transformation ratio of two ? a maximum voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) of 2:1 at all ports ? an insertion loss of less than 1 dB ? a common-mode rejection ratio (CMRR) of more than 25 dB ? imbalance of less than 1 dB and 2.5?.

A Compact L-Band Bandpass Filter with RF MEMS-Enabled Reconfigurable Notches for Interference Rejection in GPS Applications

In light of today's crowded radio spectrum and the high level of receiver sensitivity required to receive very weak signals, mitigating interference (cosite, intentional jamming, or from other sources) has become a very important topic of research. The recent controversy regarding the use of spectrum close to the global positioning system (GPS) bands is the motivation for the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society 2014 International Microwave Symposium (IMS2014) Tunable Radio-Frequency (RF) Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) Filter Student Design Competition, held in Tampa, Florida. Although there are frequency bands reserved for GPS,there is sometimes interference from undesired signals from a variety of sources, such as radio emissions in adjacent bands, intentional/unintentional jamming, and naturally occurring space weather. Ensuring the continuity of GPS service requires the protection of its spectrum from interference. This competition was intended to interest students in the design of innovative RF front-end solutions to address this issue. This article describes the work of the winners of the first-place award.

Stacked Yagi-Uda Array for 2.45-GHz Wireless Energy Harvesting

Wireless energy harvesting is currently a popular topic in radiofrequency (RF) engineering. Electromagnetic (EM) energy coming from different kinds of sources has to be collected by the harvester and efficiently converted into dc power. Practical applications include wireless charging systems and dc powering of RF identification (RFID) chips. Space applications were also investigated. Therefore, the third Wireless Energy Harvesting Student Design Competition was organized during the 2014 IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society International Microwave Symposium (IMS2014) in Tampa, Florida.

S2020102 学生フォーミュラ活動を通じた「ものづくり」と「ひとづくり」

Every year, we regularly participate in Student Formula Japan as a practical education system for manufacturing and human resource development. Student Formula Japan is a student design competition which is one of the Formula SAE series organized by SAE International. The competition consists of Static and Dynamic Events. In Static Events the car is judged based on the design and fabrication. Dynamic events include the skid-pad, acceleration, autocross, endurance and fuel efficiency events, where the car is driven by the students themselves. The activity of Utsunomiya University Formula Designers, the formula team in our school, offers a highly practical field and opportunities to students where the students can acquire various knowledge and skills of mechanical engineering, and develop their social maturity through communications with supporting companies and local communities. One of the most important issues of the team is to train drivers in an efficient way.

Annual student design competition in seattle

Annual student design competition in seattle