Spring 2017 Tech Symposium & CITE $100K Competition

More than 65 student teams competed in the Spring 2017 College of Engineering Tech Symposium held in the Convocation Center on UTSA Main Campus. The event, which happens in both the spring and fall semesters, gives engineering seniors a chance to show off their Senior Design 1 and 2 projects and posters, which they have worked on throughout their senior year.

Mechanical Engineering Department Chair Hai-Chao Han takes a spin around the Convocation Center on one of the senior design projects developed for the Tech Symposium.

“I was so thrilled and impressed with the level of innovation and creativity our students displayed with their projects,” said Jill Ford, director of the College of Engineering’s Student Success Center. “As I was walking around viewing the projects and talking with our students, their depth of knowledge regarding their projects and professionalism in the way they presented their work and findings was evident and impressive. I felt very proud to be part of this college and the great work we are doing with our students, and I am so excited to see what our students will create next under the guidance of our senior design faculty and our corporate mentors.”

The top three teams from each of the college’s departments were recognized, and the top three college teams overall were awarded cash prizes of $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000.

A senior engineering student takes a look inside one of the projects.

“It was really great to have the chance to see all the student projects from departments other than my own,” said Nick Strope, senior civil engineering major. “I really liked the fact that there was an outside area, as well as the indoor area so that there was space for the bigger projects like the treadmill and race car to be shown off.”

The UTSA Center for Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CITE) $100K Student Technology Venture Competition was held in conjunction with the Tech Symposium. Six teams gave business presentations to pitch their innovations to a panel of professionals. Chiron, a student team that created a new type of gauze that has increased absorbency to prevent external hemorrhaging, won the top prize in the CITE competition. CITE is an interdisciplinary center in the Colleges of Business and Engineering and was established in 2006 to create a pipeline for UTSA faculty and students as well as the surrounding business community to develop new technology ventures.

A team member who helped design an automated concrete depth gauge shows off the team’s design to a judge.

Chiron was formed by UTSA students Madeleine Farrer, Hannah Jones, Brian Ruliffson, Jose Trevino, Alex Sutcliff, and William Baldridge. They found that because of an increased use of explosive devices in modern warfare, there’s also been a rise in military injury. The group set out to address the common problem of managing external hemorrhaging in combat wounds, especially traumatic amputations. Their gauze, ColdClot, uses three different methods to reduce bleeding: hemostatic gauze, super absorbent polymers, and an endothermic reaction to reduce the overall rate of bleeding across a large wound.

SPRING 2017 TECH SYMPOSIUM WINNERS

Tech Symposium Overall Winners

• 1st - Halberd/Pressure Ulcer Prevention using the Uprep Device
  U-Ter Aondo Jia, Mario Hernandez, Meryem Bousfiha, Casey Whitney, Spencer Arispe


Team Halberd and their Uprep Device won the overall Tech Symposium prize of $5,000. The team developed a device that can detect and prevent the formation of pressure ulcers in immobilized patients.


• 2nd - Automated Concrete Depth Gauge
  Martin Lopez, David Lindsay, Louis Hernandez, Alberto Munguia, Carlos Rodriguez, Hugo Fernandez
• 3rd - AmMech Engineering/Breast Intentions
  Leo Drew, Evan Veregge, Briegette Garcia, Gustavo Contreras

Biomedical Engineering

• 1st - FluoroDent/DentaSense
  Daniella Bojado, Steven DeLeon, Frank DeLuna, Alan Kosub, Destanee Miller, Alexis Arteaga
• 2nd - ColdClot/Chiron
  Madeleine Farrer, Hannah Jones, Brian Ruliffson, Jose Trevino, Alex Sutcliff, William Baldridge
• 3rd - abRISE
  Kennedi Wilson, Katie Alex, Travis Kotzur, Jasmine King, Abbey Vela

Civil and Environmental Engineering

• 1st - MIDY Engineering, LLC
  Dalia Nearez, Maureen Grecia Gonzalez, Ivette Gonzalez, Yajaira Costilla, Matthew Saldivar, Ilse Malagamba
• 2nd - Pearson-Cooper, LLC
  Pat Vargas, Vicky Sanchez, Trey Resendez, Ricky Chien, Nick Strope
• 3rd - Sirius Engineering
  Matthew Solum, Cody Cockayne, Matt Baker, T’Andre Smith, Anjulie Hira, Poni Loponi

Electrical and Computer Engineering

• 1st - Bluetooth Audio Splitter
  Leonardo Lopez, John Osborne, Michael Warmke
• 2nd - Wearable Multi-modal Caution and Warning System
  Carlos Aceves, Ryan Doemel
• 3rd - MemMigo
  Shiloh Fraijo, Hasan Tharwani, Ben Garrett, Evan Wright, Trevor Thompson, Devin Lewis

Mechanical Engineering

• 1st - ACME Engineering/Mobile Veterinarian Exam Table
  Lilian Johnson, Maesan Carley, Cameron Reynolds, Richard Conine
• 2nd - United Dynamics/Adjustable Automative Rear Mounted Airfoil
  Lukas Cotugno, Jonathan Gwinn, Clifford Labowsky, Eligio Molina
• 3rd - AmMech Engineering/Breast Intentions
  Leo Drew, Evan Veregge, Gustavo Contreras, Brieggette Garcia

CITE $100K Competition

• 1st Place - ColdClot/Chiron
  Madeleine Farrer, Hannah Jones, Brian Ruliffson, Jose Trevino, Alex Sutcliff and William Baldridge


Team Chiron took 1st place in the CITE $100K Competition with their innovation, ColdClot. ColdClot is an hemostatic wound bandage that combines hemostatic gauze, super absorbent polymers, and an endothermic reaction to reduce overall rate of bleeding across a large wound surface area.


• 2nd Place - FluoroDent/DentaSense
  Daniella Bojado, Steven DeLeon, Frank DeLuna, Alan Kosub, Destanee Miller, Alexis Arteaga
• 3rd Place - quadTECK
  Kristin Steinke, Tiffanny Bunnell, Erin Pollet, Carol Cordova, Tara Powers, Nicole Powers