Samsung Austin Semiconductor sponsored capstone project takes home first place

After months of researching, planning, implementing and incorporating feedback, Texas A&M University engineering students displayed their hard work at the school's Engineering Showcase on April 26. As a Platinum sponsor of the showcase, Samsung Austin Semiconductor sponsored five capstone projects. The 28 students worked on projects ranging from pump failure models to developing a methodology to monitor power supply health. Along with scholarships and fellowships, the capstone element of our grant funding is one of the ways our Workforce Development team is working with the schools to develop the talent pipeline. For the second year in a row, one of the projects led by our Infra Technology team took home first place among 72 teams in the highly competitive Computer Engineering category for their "Diesel Generator Monthly Test Automation" project. The project was to design and demonstrate the ability to start and shut down a diesel generator after a pre-set time period from a mobile device. The product recorded critical parameters during the duration of the test and displayed a test report in real-time, as well as historical data from previous test runs. "The financial and safety benefits that a product like this could bring are not exclusive to the semiconductor industry, but rather any company or individual who routinely tests their backup generators can utilize this product for their own benefit," wrote Electrical Engineering student, William Appelt.

Derek Grant, a Texas A&M alumnus and senior manager on our Infra Electrical team, was a mentor on this project as well as a second project. "It is a real pleasure to work with capstone teams in general, but this one had a sense of team spirit that many do not, and it was evident in the final product," Grant said of the winning team. The Engineering Showcase had a total of 305 teams and nearly 1,500 students were involved. Along with Grant, several other employees also served as judges at the showcase, including Terrance Ault, Nathan Mara and Spencer Beaumariage. Congratulations to all the students on their hard work and dedication to the capstone projects this year!