On the surface, this weekend’s commencement ceremony signals the next step for nearly 200 graduating NIU engineering students.
But inside the NIU Convocation Center last Friday—where many of them soon will cross the stage—the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology’s Senior Design Showcase made one thing clear: for these Huskies, those professional journeys are already underway.
In all, 197 seniors across 60 teams unveiled projects that bridged classroom theory with real-world application while showcasing technical expertise, creativity and collaborative problem-solving.
The annual event draws well over 1,000 attendees and was recently dubbed “the Super Bowl of engineering” by a local television station.
Of CEET’s six departments and programs, mechanical engineering is the largest; it was only fitting, then, that its 28 teams represented the largest on hand. There were also 22 interdisciplinary teams (covering four disciplines—electrical, mechanical, biomedical and mechatronics), six engineering technology teams, and four industrial and systems engineering teams.
Teams displayed solutions through detailed posters, tangible prototypes and digital artifacts at their respective tables.
A week after another extraordinary performance at the National Fluid Power Association competition held in Rockford, the fluid power bicycle team from the NIU at RVC mechanical engineering program engaged visitors.
Although it did not “three-peat” on the heels of their 2024 and 2025 predecessors who snagged Grand Champion laurels, the NIU at RVC contingent posted a faster speed than those previous units while also receiving the presentation award, the judges choice award for workmanship, the best use of electronics award and finishing second in the sprint race.
Other projects spanned a wide range of focus areas, including industrial automation safety, autonomous robotic systems, advanced manufacturing processes and sustainable engineering solutions.
All the teams received feedback from professional industry evaluators and Engineering and Technology Alumni Society (ETAS) volunteers judged teams that had advanced to compete for awards in the following categories: Problem Solving, Application of Engineering Concepts, Innovation and Commercial Viability.
The winning teams were:
Problem Solving: Biocomposite Degradation Testing Apparatus, with team members Nicholas Kocher, Victor Lopez and Christopher Alesi.
Client: the NIU Bioplastics Lab and the Illinois Soybean Association.
Faculty advisors: Engineering Technology Assistant Professor Mahdia Vaezi and graduate advisors Ian Janusz and Ryan Mueller.
Application of Engineering Concepts: Formula SAE Team Brake Rotor Design and Flywheel-Based Test Stand Development, with team members Alexander Boyden, Austin Coyne and Cody Marko
Client and faculty advisor: Bobby Sinko
Innovation: Campus Security Patrol Robot, with team members Kyla Davis, Huy Vo, Saood Alazemi, Jack Wojcik and Arash Jizan.
Client and faculty advisors: Peter Lin and Mansour Tahernezhadi.
Commercial Viability: Guide Rail Deburring 6 Axis Robot Arm, with team members Mauro Smith, Michael Duraski and Kate Jassman.
Client: Hiwin
Faculty advisors: Y.J. Lin and Mansour Tahernezhadi.
The course instructor for the mechanical engineering component of senior design was Associate Professor Iman Salehinia. Speaking of the Formula SAE team, he said their work “integrated design, analysis, manufacturing, instrumentation and experimental validation in a very impressive way.”
“Many other mechanical engineering teams delivered outstanding projects that were also award-worthy,” Salehinia added. “These projects resulted in working prototypes, validated designs or engineering analyses that can directly help industry sponsors with decision-making and future product development.”
The same truth applied to other projects, noted CEET Dean Dave Grewell.
“What always stands out at Senior Design is how quickly our students rise to professional expectations,” Grewell said. “These aren’t classroom exercises anymore. They’re solving real industry challenges, working directly with sponsors and creating solutions that have genuine potential beyond graduation.”
Over 20 companies sponsored teams as they provided a more immediate connection between academic learning and industry application.
Corporate sponsors included Alloyd, Americold Logistics, Assurance Technologies, Inc., Aurora Specialty Textiles Group, Air Transport Services Group, Bucher Hydraulics, Car-Mon Products, Collins Aerospace, Crandall Stats & Sensors, Danfoss, G&W Electric, Hiwin, Hydraulic Technologies, MC Machinery Systems, Molex, MTH Pumps, the National Fluid Power Association, Trane Technologies, Weldcoa and Woodward.
Fermilab, a longstanding partner of NIU, sponsored six mechanical engineering projects ranging from cryogenic systems to advanced instrumentation. These projects gave students exposure to high-level scientific infrastructure and the complexities of large-scale experimental environments.
For more information about Senior Design, visit NIU’s Senior Design page.
