For most students presenting projects at NIU’s College of Engineering and Engineering Technology Senior Design Day, being grilled by a panel of industry experts is the easy part.
To reach that point, team members spent months engrossed in computerized design and modeling, welding, building, testing and just plain getting their hands dirty as they put to work what they have learned in their time at NIU. It is the kind of applied, hands-on learning that has made the program a favorite of Chicago-area industry that recruits NIU engineers.
The nature of the projects is limited only by their imaginations. This spring, the devices on display included:
Other students tackled projects that didn’t require fabricating machinery but which could change the way major corporations do business. They took on real-world problems for area industry, working to streamline and improve industrial processes.
The grueling process has become a tradition in the college. It’s one of the keys to CEET’s reputation for producing engineers who are steeped not just in theory but who also understand how to put their knowledge to work.
- Joe King, NIU Public Affairs
- Photos by Wade Duerkes, NIU Media Services