December 2, 2025
By Tracie Troha

The George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering joined eight schools from three colleges on Dec. 1 to celebrate the culmination of undergraduate innovation at the Fall 2025 Capstone Design Expo. Held in the McCamish Pavilion, the event brought together more than 620 students studying engineering, industrial design and computer science to present their projects developed in their Capstone Design course to address real-world challenges, serve communities and demonstrate potential commercialization.

This semester’s expo featured 118 teams, including 42 representing the Woodruff School, each demonstrating creativity and problem-solving. The mechanical engineering teams showcased innovations ranging from industry-partnered design solutions to technologies aimed at sustainability, health, mobility and accessibility. Attendees met student teams, reviewed prototypes, and learned how collaboration and iterative design shaped each project.

Team Ramblin’ Mech, composed of Woodruff School students Grace Clopton, Evan Goldstein, Paxton James, Amber Mistry, and Virginia Weston, took home the award for best overall mechanical engineering project.

Ramblin’ Mech designed a safe, affordable, and durable household water filtration system compatible with the Ecofiltro system to remove arsenic from drinking water in rural Guatemalan communities.

Mechanical engineering students Braden Anderson, Kathleen Coleman, Patrick Ferris, and Alexis Laryczower were members of Team Sight, the winner of the best interdisciplinary project, along with industrial design majors Katherine Britt and Rebecca Scarbrough.

Project Sight focused on improving access to prescription eyeglasses for children in developing countries. Their solution includes diagnostic glasses to help children identify their own prescription by simply turning a wheel until they can clearly read an eye chart. Then they select appropriate lenses from the included kit and pop them into frames that will fit nearly anyone ages 6 to 18.

“People in developing places have difficulty accessing quality eye care,” Anderson said. “If we can empower them to do that themselves through a community-based kit that allows them to assemble their own lenses, that can change their lives and impact millions of people.”

Coleman added that winning the best interdisciplinary award made her “excited for graduation and going forward.”

“This is the culmination of my degree, so being able to go out on a high is very exciting,” she said. “Everyone’s project is so great, so we certainly didn’t expect to win this award.”