Collaboration on Engineering Technology Capstone Projects with the UNH University Instrumentation Center

Abstract

Collaboration with partners located in industry and at research centers has been the source of many high quality Engineering Technology senior capstone projects. A recent capstone project hosted by the University of New Hampshire (UNH) University Instrumentation Center (UIC) was focused on improving the efficiency of the process involved in producing large scale 3D printed models from images obtained with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The project was motivated by a desire to showcase new technical capabilities of the UIC, for both commercial and K-12 educational outreach purposes. The students focused primarily on automating to the extent possible the challenging tasks of converting a series of (SEM) images taken of complex specimens found in nature to a 3D CAD description suitable for generating instructions for a 3D printer via photogrammetry software. The methodologies and tools incorporated by the students is described and examples are shown of successful modeling efforts. The challenges remaining and opportunities to improve the technical process are discussed. The project is reflected upon in terms of its educational and professional development value for the students, the benefits to the sponsors and academic program, and lessons learned regarding collaboration on capstone projects and possible improvements that can be applied to this and other partnerships.