Solving Real-World Problems at Penn Engineering Senior Design

Fundamentally, to be an engineer is to create: The word “engineer” comes from the Latin for devising, and for being clever.

On May 1, Penn Engineers demonstrated their creativity at the 2026 Senior Design Project Competition, with projects ranging from robots for inspecting HVAC ducts to a pacemaker powered by the heart itself.

“The projects were all outstanding,” says Bradley Richards (C’92, LPS’17), Director of Alumni Relations at Penn Engineering, who leads the event. “We had over 70 Penn Engineering alumni judges, participating virtually and in-person, representing seven decades of graduates. This is a new record for alumni engagement for this capstone program at Penn Engineering.”

Four winners received awards, in categories ranging from social impact to technological innovation.

Judges’ Choice Award

OMI

Students: Lauren Lee (MEAM’26, GEng’26), Kelly Fay (MEAM’26, ROBO’26), Elizabeth Qian (BE’26, GEng’26), Vidhya Kalimani (MEAM’26, ROBO’26) and Destynn Keuchel (CIS’26, MSE’26, GEng’26).

Advisor: Sid Deliwala, Alfred Moore Senior Fellow and Director of Lab Programs in Electrical and Systems Engineering (ESE)

The Judges’ Choice Award, which recognizes overall excellence, went to OMI, short for Oral Movement Interface.

Every year, more than a quarter of a million people suffer spinal-cord injuries, but less than 30% of them recover motor control.

Most existing products that help users with limited mobility to interact with the world around them have significant drawbacks; controlling, say, a robotic arm with a breathing tube requires a strong diaphragm, and blinking to type text is extremely time consuming.

Designed to fit like a retainer, OMI features a tiny joystick at the roof of the mouth that allows users to control both digital and physical devices by moving the tongue and repositioning the head.

Leadership Award

Eterna

Students: Ashley Tang (ENG’26, GEng’26), Elizabeth Modano (M&T’26), Dominic Olaguera-Delogu (M&T’26, GEng’26), Saurav Gandhi (M&T’26, GEng’26), Shivi Jain (CIS’26), Valerie Ang (M&T’26)

Advisor: Tania Khanna, Senior Lecturer, ESE

The Leadership Award recognized Eterna, which uses radio signals to create a more modern climate-control system for museums to better preserve their holdings.

Last year, hundreds of items at the Louvre were damaged when a valve opened, releasing moisture into an enclosed space. Eterna is designed to prevent such issues by using radio signals to transmit data about temperature, humidity and UV exposure.

According to the team, the system is the first major advance in the technology used to monitor museum display conditions since the 1980s.

Technology and Innovation Award

Cardion

Students: Cesar Ruiz de Castilla (BE’26), Anjali Shukla (BE’26), Andrea Perez Pizarro (BE’26), Ella Nevo (BE’26), Nicholas Manuto (BE’26)

Advisors: Erin Berlew (Gr’22) and Michael Siedlik, guest lecturers in Bioengineering

The Technology and Innovation Award went to Cardion, which developed a pacemaker that recharges itself using the mechanical energy of the heart’s own beating.

Traditional pacemakers have to be surgically replaced every five to seven years when their batteries run out, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

By contrast, the Cardion team estimates that their prototype pacemaker could last for more than two decades, making pacemakers not only less invasive, but more cost-effective, to boot.

Social Impact Award

TremorTrack

Students: Anika Koul (BE’26, GEng’26), Dev Patel (CIS’26, GEng’26), Evan Grove (ESE’26, DATS’26), Rohan Shah (CIS’26, DATS’26), Simon Roling (NETS’26)

Advisor: Boon Thau Loo, RCA Professor in Computer and Information Science and Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Global Initiatives

The Social Impact Award went to TremorTrack, for developing a wearable device that tracks key symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

Today, more than 10 million people live with Parkinson’s worldwide. Tracking symptoms like tremors between doctor visits is largely a manual affair, making it harder for clinicians to understand their patients, and for patients to understand themselves.

TremorTrack runs on the Apple Watch, which uses the device’s built-in accelerometer to track patient movements. The app continuously monitors symptoms, with the goal of helping patients and clinicians collect the data needed to create more informed treatment plans.

Alumni interested in volunteering as judges for next year’s Senior Design Competition can contact Bradley Richards at rbrad@seas.upenn.edu. 

Pictured at top: Team OMI receives the Judges’ Choice Award, flanked by Lyle Brunhofer (ENG’14, GEng’14), Vice President and Senior Design Chair of the Engineering Alumni Society; Jan Van der Spiegel, Professor Emeritus in ESE; and mentor Sid Deliwala, at left; and Vijay Kumar, Nemirovsky Family Dean of Penn Engineering, at right. (Credit: Bella Ciervo).