SINEW (System for In-space Nanothermite External Welding) is a novel space welding process that offers improved ease of use, versatility, and safety over traditional methods. It has potential applications in construction and repair projects in low Earth orbit and on the Moon. A metastable mixture of aluminum and iron oxide nanopowders is bound by a fluoropolymer matrix, which is applied to the weld zone then ignited to fuse metallic parts together. An induction weld preheater allows temperature fine-tuning, improving process and quality control.

Client: Haroon B. Oqab, Columbiad Launch Services CEO

Faculty Advisor: Jean-Pierre Hickey, John Wen

The Drone Divers are pleased to present our project titled “Energy Replenishment in Surveying Drones.” This exciting new technology allows clients to replenish the power supply of an autonomous drone without the need for human interference or adjustment. The purpose of this project is to allow for a sizable increase in the operational time of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) while on the same stroke saving money in the form of time and resources that would otherwise have to be allocated towards energy replenishment.

Faculty Advisor: Michael Collins

The lack of affordable, research-grade performance measurement devices for wheelchair athletes inhibits research aimed at improving the performance of Canada’s paralympians. Working with the Canadian Sport Institute Ontario as a client, the team has designed and built a research-quality wheelchair ergometer at low cost. The system includes a custom-built eddy current brake and a feedback control system to regulate the power output of the athlete. This ergometer will be used to help train Canada’s top wheelchair athletes.

Faculty Advisor: Sean Peterson

As a global pandemic has emphasized, handwashing is very important: proper hand hygiene can help to prevent contraction of diseases and limit their spread to others. However, most people are quite bad at handwashing, often due to improper techniques ingrained as habits from childhood. We have designed a handwashing teaching tool directed at primary aged schoolchildren, with the goal of building correct handwashing habits when those habits will stick, using Leap motion tracking and a software interface to gamify the educational experience.

Faculty Advisor: Andrew Milne

Residential fires pose serious risk to communities and human life, generating billions of dollars of damage every year. This is especially true in low-income areas with fewer public resources and fire prevention measures in place. For our capstone project, we have created an inexpensive, easily operated device that will increase the capacity of low-income communities to effectively control household fires. By reducing the resources needed to respond to and suppress fires, these communities will be more readily able to decrease injury and property damage.

Faculty Advisor: Cecile Devaud