UTSA College of Engineering hosts Technology Symposium April 29

UTSA Tech Symposium

By KC Gonzalez
Public Affairs Specialist

(April 28, 2014) -- The UTSA College of Engineering will hold its second annual Technology Symposium showcasing innovative student projects. Sponsored by Boeing and Union Pacific, the symposium, which is free and open to the public, is 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 29 in the H-E-B University Center Ballroom on the UTSA Main Campus.

Technology Symposium highlights:

• Keynote by Jeff Clarke, UTSA alumnus and vice chairman of operations and president of client solutions for Dell.
• Exhibition of Senior Design capstone projects featuring 41 groups of students representing civil, electrical and mechanical engineering
• Center for Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship (CITE) $100K Student Technology Venture Competition, where 10 teams of business and engineering students will compete to win $100,000 in cash and in-kind services

For complete information and schedule, visit the UTSA College of Engineering Technology Symposium website.

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EVENT DETAILS

Keynote by Jeff Clarke
University Center Ballroom
8-8:30 a.m.

Jeff Clarke serves as vice chairman, operations and president of Client Solutions for Dell Inc. He is responsible for global manufacturing, procurement and supply chain activities worldwide. In addition, he is responsible for worldwide engineering, design and development and marketing of desktops, thin clients, notebooks, tablets, workstations and accessories for customers ranging from consumers and small and medium businesses to large corporate enterprises. He also leads global support and deployment, sales operations and commerce services functions that represent end-to-end customer delivery, operations and support for all of Dell’s business. His efforts ensure that Dell stays close to their customers and can respond quickly to any feedback, making it easier for customers to choose, buy and own Dell. Clarke also oversees IT globally for Dell and focuses on technology breakthroughs for the company and its customers.

Clarke joined Dell in 1987 as a quality engineer and has served in a variety of engineering and management roles. He moved into product development in 1989 and was promoted to director of desktop development in 1995. In 1997, he was responsible for launching the Dell Precision Workstation product line.

Subsequently, Clarke was vice president and general manager, Relationship Product Group, including the OptiPlex, Latitude and Precision lines of business. Under his leadership, all three businesses achieved No. 1 worldwide share positions. Before joining Dell, Clarke was a reliability and product engineer at Motorola, Inc.

He serves on the College of Engineering Advisory Council for his alma mater, The University of Texas at San Antonio, where he earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1986.

Senior Design Capstone Project Presentations
University Center Ballroom
8:30-noon: Senior design project viewing (Open to the public)
12:30-1:00 p.m.:  Senior design project awards

The Senior Design Capstone Projects are the culmination of the engineering undergraduate studies, enabling all senior engineering students to apply the knowledge they have accumulated throughout their programs to design, develop and implement innovative and relevant engineering products. Forty-one groups of students in civil, mechanical and electrical engineering will be featured.

Example Senior Design Projects include:

• NISD Middle School – An examination of the design parameters of a new middle school facility that considers the grading plan, drainage, utilities, roadway and structural components.
• EHS (Engineers Helping Society) – A medical testing protocol to quantify the strength of the quadriceps muscle after knee surgery.
• Ninkasi – A complete construction package to help a local growing microbrewery double their production capacity.
• DEVAWT – A vertical axis wind turbine that will generate electricity to power up city lights and traffic lights.
• Sensor Bot – A project designed to teach children pre-programming and to expose them to the engineering sciences based around robotic technologies. Sponsored by the San Antonio Children’s Museum.

CITE $100K Student Technology Venture Competition
University Center Ballroom
9 a.m.-noon: Project Viewing and Judging (Open to public)
1-3 p.m.: Competition
3-3:30 p.m.: Awards

Ten UTSA teams comprised of business and engineering students will compete for cash and business-related services at the $100K Student Technology Venture Competition, hosted by the UTSA Center for Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship (CITE), an interdisciplinary center in the Colleges of Business and Engineering.

Established in 2007 and held semi-annually, the $100K Student Technology Venture Competition at UTSA offers the largest award of all undergraduate business planning competitions in the nation. The competitors will offer new technologies poised to enhance health care, fitness and energy conservation.

Focusing on student entrepreneurial activities, CITE hosts the competition to give students hands-on experience as early stage entrepreneurs. Teams of senior business and engineering students work throughout the semester to develop a technology demonstrator and business plan to successfully develop a new company. The engineering students create a new technology product and the business students create the business plan for commercialization of the product.

The competition is the culmination of their undergraduate work and will be judged by a panel of academic, business and entrepreneurial experts. The top three teams have access to a prize pool of more than $100,000 in funding and in-kind services to launch their new company.

The founding sponsor of the competition is the Texas Research Technology Foundation (TRTF). New and continuing sponsors include Cox|Smith, Rackspace, the San Antonio Technology Center and Startech, and is supported by the following UTSA entities: College of Business, College of Engineering, Vice President for Research.

Competitors

ART (Advanced Research Technologies) developed the Simple Proactive Emergency Extraction Device (SPEED), an emergency backboard capable of adjusting to the shape of a person as found in a damaged vehicle so they can remain in that position on the way to the hospital.

BoardBaby designed a website that serves as an online corkboard for parents to keep the special moments of their children in one secure, convenient place.

da Vinci Technologies developed a patentable technology that simultaneously reduces air-conditioning and clothes dryer power consumption in homes in order to reduce both energy consumption and the energy bill.

ELIXIR designed a lumbar therapy belt that provides hot, cold and alternating therapy, coupled with a bladder that inflates within a back brace to increase pressure for therapeutic and heat transfer.

Extinction developed a sparring glove that incorporates a resistance band shock absorber that also serves as an exercise workout band.

Genie Innovation designed the ET Clean, a device that keeps the airway path clear of mucus that typically restricts oxygen flow to a patient after a tracheal intubation.

Velox Medical developed Oclus, a device that aids in endovascular surgery and recovery for a patient who has had a brain aneurysm.

Mediflow designed a smaller and more mobile machine for Sleep Apnea.

PalmKEG designed a device that, when paired with a vacuum-insulated growler, retains ideal pressure and temperature for transporting and dispensing beer.

Vitalassure IV developed a wireless device that monitors the flow of IV fluid to a patient.

For more information about the competition, visit the UTSA CITE website.

>> Learn more about the UTSA College of Engineeringand the UTSA College of Business.