THE UKZN Mechanical Engineering Open Day to showcase innovative final year projects was held on Friday, 24 October.
The open day event allows UKZN’s final-year students to display their projects to evaluators, sponsors, parents and the public, to showcase the hard work and technical achievements of the final-year students. This display of projects is part of the requirements of the Design and Research Project modules. The projects were allocated to project groups, consisting of three of four students, at the beginning of the year.
These projects simulate a professional working environment in which students have to apply the engineering knowledge gained during their studies, to achieve specified project objectives while keeping within predetermined budgets. Assessment of the projects has been structured in accordance with the engineering outcomes required by the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA).
The 22 projects were on display and included a dual rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, a moving signal tracking system, a generic inspection station, a hydropower plant, an off-road vehicle for game reserves, a green building a 3D metal laminate printer, a solar car trailer, a space damper tester, a remote controlled solar powered vehicle, a water desalination and a flying car.