Department of Mechanical Engineering
Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering
Your support of the Department of Mechanical Engineering fuels innovation and empowers every level of our student body. Gifts are directed by the Department Head to meet emerging needs, whether strengthening undergraduate and graduate programs, advancing groundbreaking research, or launching bold new initiatives. This flexibility ensures your generosity reaches the areas of greatest opportunity and creates a lasting impact across the entire department.
Senior mechanical engineering students engage in a transformative year-long capstone design experience, bridging the gap between academic learning and professional engineering careers.
The Senior Design Project is a dynamic two-semester course that connects senior-level students with industry sponsors to address real-world challenges. These partnerships empower students to develop innovative solutions while gaining invaluable professional experience.
Working in collaborative teams, students apply engineering principles to design, build, and test creative solutions, often competing in prestigious intercollegiate competitions. Through these hands-on projects, students refine critical skills, preparing them for successful careers and making a meaningful impact on industries and communities alike.
Fuel innovation, empower future engineers, and solve real-world challenges by sponsoring a CSU Mechanical Engineering senior design project. With award-winning faculty, cutting-edge resources, and the unparalleled creativity of our students, your partnership drives progress and creates lasting impact. Together, we can transform your industry’s needs into groundbreaking solutions. Contact us today to spark the next big idea!
At Colorado State University, engineering students are creating life-changing solutions through innovative senior design projects. One remarkable example is “Lamar’s Wish,” where students Nick Olmsted, Ella Olander, Ian Haaf, and Tyler Nordengren partnered with Make-A-Wish Colorado to grant Lamar, a 13-year-old boy from Denver with physical limitations, the gift of independence. The team designed a groundbreaking sensory toy tailored to Lamar’s unique needs, allowing him to interact with his surroundings independently for the first time. By incorporating Lamar’s favorite things—music, lights, basketball, and doors—the students created a device that empowers him to explore his world and experience the joy of making his own choices.
This project is a testament to the creativity, dedication, and compassion of CSU’s engineering students. Through their hard work, they transformed a dream into reality, creating a solution that not only impacts Lamar’s life but also has the potential to benefit other children with similar needs. These students exemplify how engineering can be a powerful force for good, driving innovation and making a lasting difference in the lives of others.
Seven senior mechanical engineering students at Colorado State University are collaborating with Xcimer, a laser fusion company, to develop a groundbreaking prototype for a dual-shutter system. Carly Shofer, Alex Henningfield, Safian Alam, Erik Jonasson, Erik Laursen, Derek Beuerman, and Anthony Lombardo are designing a high-precision mechanism that allows a laser to pass through a vacuum chamber within three milliseconds. Their innovative work, combining advanced materials and precision engineering, is pushing the boundaries of laser fusion technology and showcasing the impact of CSU’s senior design projects.
At Colorado State University, senior mechanical engineering students are creating real-world solutions that make a lasting impact. One such project is the redesign of an electric motorcycle frame for ROAM, an African company focused on sustainable transportation. Students Gabriel Castro, Taylor Meland, George Poggemeyer, Jim Mayberry, and Wesley Holmes have developed a lighter, stronger, and more efficient frame to meet the needs of Kenyan communities, where motorcycles are essential for personal and commercial use.
The redesigned frame increases durability, reduces manufacturing costs, and improves usability, allowing motorcycles to carry heavy loads while remaining affordable and easy to maintain. These innovations directly address the challenges faced by users and manufacturers, creating a product that will improve lives and support local economies. ROAM plans to implement the students’ design, showcasing the real-world impact of their work. Through this project, CSU students are demonstrating how engineering can drive meaningful change and empower communities.
Wanda Roche’s life changed in 2013 when a collision with another bicyclist during a tour threw her into a ravine and paralyzed her from the chest down.
She bought a wheelchair that allows her to exercise her upper body. But with the hills around her Fort Collins home, she couldn’t safely brake or turn.
Late last summer, she called the Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering. Now, with a little help from some mechanical engineering students, she’s ready to face the hills in her neighborhood.
The mechanical engineering graduates – Shura Al Maawali, Younis Al Masoudi, Billy Anthony and Drew Caldwell – took on the project with support from Lab Support Engineer Steve Johnson, redesigning the wheelchair to allow for better braking and steering.
Trying his first few leg-pumps on his brand-new swing, Dylan Bush’s face said it all.
The closed-eyed joy of Bush, a Fort Collins man with autism, was well worth the Herculean efforts by Colorado State University engineering students over the last few weeks to complete the custom-designed and built swing. It’s now permanently installed in Bush’s mother and stepfather’s front yard, punctuating a year’s worth of work for the students, and the end of a very unusual final semester.
“One of the biggest things that drew us to this project was how we could see the immediate impact,” said student engineer Paige Floyd. “There was this specific client in need, we were working with a loving family, and we would be able to see a final product that could be installed and used. That was very motivating for us.”
Fuel innovation, empower future engineers, and solve real-world challenges by sponsoring a CSU Mechanical Engineering senior design project. With award-winning faculty, cutting-edge resources, and the unparalleled creativity of our students, your partnership drives progress and creates lasting impact. Together, we can transform your industry’s needs into groundbreaking solutions. Contact us today to spark the next big idea!