Thursday - November 12, 2015

Supported by: Chevron, Shell, OEDK, Rice Alliance and RCEL

Fall 2015 - Winners


First Place - $1500
SpeakEasy - Intelligent Training System For Public Speaking



Our team is working on a software based personal trainer to assist people during their preparations for public speaking. SpeakEasy brings in the power of modern computer vision, speech analysis and virtual reality to give powerful feedback on your oration. It uses computer vision to analyze body language and facial expressions; speech analysis to comment on control of the voice; and Google Cardboard based virtual reality to simulate a real world scenario to help alleviate social anxiety.

Abhipray Sahoo -  ECE, Zichao Wang - ECE; Photo by Marilee Dizon


Second Place - $1000
Comfortably Numb - Comfortably Numb


We developed a compact and disposable device that uses an endothermic reaction to rapidly numb the skin before an injection. Through unique integration with a hypodermic needle, our device cools the entry site in thirty seconds without any chemical contact in order to achieve painless injections. With 16 billion injections given annually and 41 million Americans not receiving influenza vaccinations due to discomfort from receiving shots, our device has the potential to improve millions of lives around the world. 

Andy Zhang -  BIOE, Matthew O'Gorman - MECH, Mike Hua -  MECH, Akhil Surapaneni -  BIOE, Greg Allison - CS; Photo by Marilee Dizon


Third Place - $750
Tube Much - Novel Endotracheal Tube Design


Endotracheal tubes (ETT) are used to administer general anesthesia and to ventilate the lungs during surgical procedures.. An estimated 51.7 million intubations are performed yearly in the United States using endotracheal tubes. Current ETT designs must compromise between a diameter that allows visibility and provides sufficient airflow to the lungs. This compromise makes intubation difficult and leads to complications that ultimately become major medical and financial burdens to the patient.. Our team has been tasked with designing an endotracheal tube that minimizes patient discomfort and eases the intubation process.

Lisa Sampson -  BIOE, Erin Anderson - BIOE, Corin Peterson -  BIOE, Ronal Infante -  BIOE; Photo by Marilee Dizon


Fourth Place - $500
OutSTENTing - Redesigned Ureteral Stent


The purpose of our project is to redesign a stent removal method that will eliminate the need for general anesthesia in pediatric patients undergoing a cystoscopy. We intend to either redesign the stent itself or the entire removal process. By redesigning this, we can make a significant impact not only on the field of pediatric urology but urology as a whole.

John Chen -  MECH, Valeria Pinillos - MECH, Margaret Watkins -  MECH, Eric Yin -  BIOE, Allen Zhao - MECH; Photo by Marilee Dizon



Fifth Place - $250
revIVe - An Infusion Pump for Low Resource Settings


In the developing world, healthcare workers must choose between delivering IV fluids at an uncontrolled rate or withholding fluids from patients. If the IV fluid flow rate is too fast, the patient risks experiencing kidney failure and possible drug overdose. In turn, if the flow rate is too slow, the patient does not receive enough fluids. Our device aims to provide a solution to delivering large, exact volumes of fluid with a precise flow rate. We will work with Rice 360 and global health specialists in the field to design and test our device for use in developing countries.

Joao Ascensao -  BIOE, William Zhu - BIOE, Paulina Popek -  BIOE, Gabrielle Fatora -  BIOE, Katie Powers - BTB; Photo by Marilee Dizon


Most Investable - $750
Shell Shock - Shell Shock


The goal of our project is to develop a method using additive manufacturing, namely 3D printing, to create supports to increase the stiffness or improve the resistance to shock loading. Shock loading is currently solved by using encapsulants, a resin that the board is covered with and allowed to harden to increase the stiffness. However, if thermal loads or thermal cycling is present, the encapsulants introduce large amounts of thermal stress. Our goal is to develop a better method.

Courtney Hesse -  MECH, Jared Elinger - MECH, Michael Donatti -  MECH, Nick Frederking -  MECH; Photo by Marilee Dizon



Contact us

Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen
Rice University

6100 Main Street MS 390 | Houston, Texas | 77005

Phone: 713.348.OEDK

Email: oedk@rice.edu

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