Ostrow Air took home the top AE prize for improvements to commuter airline

Members of the Ostrow Air team pose with Buzz while accepting their $1000 prize money

Ostrow Air Wins for Best AE Capstone Project. Gregory Hopkins, Blake Finlayson, and Michael McCracken pose with Buzz as they accept their prize money for putting together the best aerospace engineering design project. Check out this slideshow of all the AE teams.

From finding just the right sized screw at Home Depot to designing car seats with sensors that increase safety and comfort, many of the 136 teams at this year’s fall Capstone Design Expo focused on products and services to improve consumer experience.  

In the end, two teams from ISyE tied for the top prize of the night: “Bacon and Eggs” and “Team 16 Emory Risk” shared the spotlight and $3,000 cash prize. This is the first time in the 10-year history of Capstone that two teams shared the top prize.

Coming in first in the aerospace engineering category (with a $1,000 prize) was the four-person Ostrow Air team, which set forth plans for better utilization of the more than 10,000 small and municipal airports that dot the country's landscape.

"There's a market niche for better utilization," said Greg Hopkins, who worked alongside classmates Alexander Ostrow, Blake Finlayson, and Michael McCracken on the award-winning plan.

"We wanted to create an experience that would allow you to order a flight like you might order an Uber or a Lyft ride. If people have to plan for a month to get a ride, they won't do it. Our plan would allow you to catch your ride the same day."

The team named their airline after Ostrow because, as Hopkins explained, "Alex was on vacation when we had to come up with a name."

That same theme of making the consumer's life easier was reflected across McCamish Pavilion. There was a 2-D wearable sensor that makes it simple for runners to access their smartphone, an app that provides a more transparent automotive service experience to car owners, and even a new way for visitors at the Mercedes Benz Stadium to more easily order their drinks and food.

One of the top teams, “Bacon and Eggs”, focused on system improvements for Waffle House to help the chain uphold their commitment to 24/7/365 quality customer service. The team optimized four areas for the restaurant, including restructuring the maintenance van inventory model, modifying geographic assignment of maintenance technicians, reprioritizing preventative maintenance procedures, and recommending a centralized maintenance management platform.

“Waffle House is one of those places where every time you go there, you can tell how much they care about their customers, and it’s really been an honor to help them out with that,” said Christopher Bush, ISyE. “All in all, winning feels like an absolutely amazing experience. Everyone talks about how hard it is for industrial teams to win Capstone, and we set out to defy that.”

For “Team 16 Emory Risk,” students focused on enabling doctors at Emory to provide better healthcare, upholding Emory’s value equation which is “Quality Over Cost.” The team combined Emory’s medical and financial data to provide physicians a way to better allocate their resources and inputs, such as medications and beds for patients.

“Our team is so excited to win, we are really honored to have worked with Emory Healthcare, which is an awesome client,” said Sarah Both, ISyE. “In fact, we had our final handoff meeting with Emory today, and they are incredibly excited and looking forward to implementing our work into their system to preserve resources and provide a better experience to patients.”  

Many student teams are poised to take their projects even further after Capstone, either applying for a patent or joining the CREATE-X program to take their business idea to market. And those focusing on the consumer have a distinct advantage in today’s business world that offers high reward to companies who invest in the customer experience.

2017 Fall Capstone Design Expo Winners

Overall winner – Tie

Bacon and Eggs - Waffle House maintenance handling system improvements

  • Rikhil Shah, ISyE, Duluth GA
  • Christopher Bush, ISyE, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
  • Viral Shah, ISyE, Duluth, GA
  • Nick Rogstad, ISyE, St. Simons, GA
  • Scott Larson, ISyE, Marietta, GA
  • Hasit Dewan, ISyE, Duluth, GA
  • Roshan Balakrishnan, ISyE, Atlanta, GA
  • Melina Blasetti, ISyE, Marietta, GA

Team 16 Emory Risk - Emory Healthcare Risk Modeling and Patient Quality Metrics 

  • Alice Jinks, ISyE, Columbus, GA
  • Sarah Both, ISyE, Columbus, OH
  • Madeline Gaffney, ISyE, Atlanta, GA
  • Thomas Ross, ISyE, Cumming, GA
  • Brandon Wells, ISyE, Cartersville, GA
  • Nathan Stefanick, ISyE, Vienna, VA
  • Matthew Creatore, ISyE, Chapel Hill, NC
  • Michael Senoo, ISyE, Hillsborough, NJ

Aerospace Engineering

Ostrow Air - Commuter Aircraft/Air-taxi Aircraft 2030

  • Greg Hopkins, AE, Fayetteville, GA
  • Alexander Ostrow, AE, Atlanta, GA
  • Michael McCracken, AE, Duluth, GA
  • Blake Finlayson, AE, Andover, MA

Biomedical Engineering

Liv'R Little - Laparoscopic Liver Maneuvering Device 

  • Shyam Nathu, BME, Johns Creek, GA
  • Aken Sanghavi, BME, Mumbai, India
  • Monali Shah, BME, Milton, GA
  • Asahi Murata, BME, Roswell, GA

Civil & Environmental Engineering

J2AD Engineering - Bridge Replacement - Lee St Over Heart of Georgia Railroad 

  • Jiyoon Oh, CE, Seoul, South Korea
  • Jessie Lei, CE, Vancouver, Canada
  • Austin Foo, CE, Ipoh, Malaysia
  • Donald Smith, CE, Imperial Beach, California

Electrical & Computer Engineering

Brighter SoluSuns -  Intelligent Triport 

  • Hoai Thuong Nguyen, EE, Atlanta, GA
  • Malik Barton, EE, Grayson, GA
  • Michelle George, EE, Longmeadow, MA
  • Marcus Fisher, EE, Atlanta, GA
  • Jeremy Deremer, EE, Atlanta, GA
  • Natalie Chu, EE, Atlanta, GA

Industrial Design and Mechanical Engineering

Rampion - Dance Ramp Assembly Optimization Project 

  • Julia Vorpahl, ID, Ellijay, GA
  • Enrique Garcia, ME, Caracas, Venezuela
  • Melissa Shi, ID, Nanjing, China
  • Jeffrey Ding, ME, Dallas, TX

Industrial & Systems Engineering

12 Textron Quality - Textron Quality 

  • Zhejing Liu, ISyE, Tainjin, China
  • Scott Berry, ISyE, Roswell, GA
  • Kerui Cui, ISyE, Suxi, Jaingsu, China
  • Andre Evans, ISyE, Dacula, GA
  • Saneel Prabhu, ISyE, Atlanta, GA
  • Conor Tanzman, ISyE, Wilton, CT
  • Ji Qi, ISyE, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China
  • Gordon Nail, ISyE, Swainsboro, GA

Mechanical Engineering

Blankity Blank - Material Handling Revolution

  • Brandon Will, ME, Circle Pines, MN
  • Michael Bailey, ME, Canton, GA
  • Austin Forgey, ME, McDonough, GA
  • Hannah Larson, ME, Roswell, GA
  • Lauren Perrine, ME, Potomac, MD

Interdisciplinary

Miracle on Techwood - Lockblox 

  • Ben Ibach, MSE, Jacksonville, FL
  • Ben Rothschild, ME, Atlanta, GA
  • Will Byars, ME, Columbus, OH
  • Mick Baker, ME, Sandy Springs, GA
  • Jake Salesky, ME