July 29, 2025
By Mikey Fuller

The DesicCats won first place at the Summer 2025 Georgia Tech Capstone Design Mini-Expo held on July 22 with their Hygroscopic Dehumidification and Recovery Applications (HYDRA) prototype, a low-energy solution for improved HVAC efficiency in humid environments.

Team Microscope was awarded second place for their cost-effective holographic microscope design that can be 3D-printed for large-scale production to increase awareness of water-borne pathogens and highlight the necessity of water filters for locals in Guatemala.

Capstone Design is a culminating course offered to undergraduate students at Georgia Tech. Students work in teams to design, build, and test prototypes with real-world applications. The course also provides the opportunity to work with industry sponsors. At the end of each semester, students showcase their efforts at the expo with their final design prototype.

Team Desicats was led by mechanical engineering students Zain Ali, Juliette Hartmann, Philip Juras, Wallis McCrea, Javier Vollmayer, and Rebecca Zack and sponsored by Assistant Professor Bachir El Fil.

The Microscopes was sponsored by Ecofiltro, and consisted of mechanical engineering students Kai Adams, Yizhong Du, Jonah Feltman, Ahhyun Kim, Youssef Layous, and Aryan Naik.

Other teams that presented projects at this semester’s Mini-Expo included:

Angler Tech: designed ReelWell, a smart system for preventing bait fish death in tanks.

Card Shuffler: designed a universal card shuffling system for non-standard cards such as sleeved and other trading cards to be shuffled quickly, randomly, and without damage.

Drop by Drop: Global Impact in Lebanon: designed a water filtration system that addresses Lebanese households' need for readily available and cost-effective potable water.

Lebanon Waste Compactor: developed a compactor mechanism for public waste disposal receptacles to be used in Byblos, Lebanon.

See the full photo gallery from the Summer 2025 Georgia Tech Capstone Design Mini-Expo can be viewed on Flickr.

As a new semester approaches, the Woodruff School seeks to collaborate with external partners on projects for the Fall 2025 Capstone Design course. For more information on how to participate, visit https://mecapstone.gatech.edu/sponsors/.