Herff College of Engineering announces Senior Design Expo winners
(Pictured: Team HMAACK)
April 27, 2026
Dozens of teams of students wrapped up year-long projects at the Senior Design Expo on Friday, April 24.
The Senior Design Expo showcases the capstone projects of Herff seniors. Interdisciplinary teams spend an entire year working with a company to create a solution to solve a real-world problem. Herff College of Engineering Dean Okenewa Okoli implemented the Senior Design Expo after arriving at the college in 2023.
“It’s an interview process that lasts about nine months,” Dean Okoli explained. “Nothing beats that. An internship is three months; at the most, you get a summer out of one semester. But with this, you have two semesters where you are locked down, doing something for a purpose. Nothing beats that experience. The students learn how to present, they learn how to argue their case and they learn how to solve problems.”
Forty total teams competed in the 2026 Senior Design Expo. Winners were selected in three categories: Excellence in Poster Presentation, Excellence in Oral Presentation and Excellence in Overall Senior Design. Team HMAACK, made up of Mallory Martin, Ariadna Mendoza, Charlotte Rector, Kayla Simmons, Holly Hoffman, Averie Irons, won first place in overall senior design and tied for the spot in poster presentation, while finishing third in the oral presentation category. Their project consisted of creating a ground-up design of a 3,000-square-foot temperature-controlled storage facility at Baptist Memorial Hospital.
See the full list of first, second and third place winners in each category below.
Excellence in Poster Presentation
First, second and third place winners in poster presentation| Award | Team | Project | Team Members |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fist Place (tie) | HMAACK | Ground-up design of a 3,000 square foot temperature-controlled storage facility at Baptist Memorial Hospital | Mallory Martin, Ariadna Mendoza, Charlotte Rector, Kayla Simmons, Holly Hoffman, Averie Irons |
| First Place (tie) | ShutEye | Eyelid Closure Device | Timothey McDaniel, Paula Meier, Daniah Rizeq, Kartik Rustogi |
| Third Place | Stripes and Pipes | Stripes & Pipes Automated Solution | Angelica Martinez, Albert Stanley, Brandon Rodriguez, Donovan Moore |
| Honorable Mention | Shear Genius | Smart Adapter | Wyatt Walorinta, Caleb Taylor, Sophie Nieder, Elaina Moore |
| Honorable Mention | Live and Grounded | Cyclist Early Warning System | Jeremy Ballentine, Sahid Castor, Andre Doyle, Tyler McAdams, Isaiah Triplett |
Excellence in Oral Presentation
First, second and third place winners in oral presentation| Award | Team | Project | Team Members |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Place (tie) | The Suspension is Killing Me | Tiger BAJA Suspension and Steering System | Caleb May, Isabella Selvera, Olivia Ganavazos, David Maybee |
| First Place (tie) | A.O.N. Innovations | IR Triage Scanner Robot | Mitchell Haggard, Hitham Rizeq, Demarcus Maggitt, Ramses Alvarez, William Lopez |
| Third Place | HMAACK | Ground-up design of a 3,000 square foot temperature-controlled storage facility at Baptist Memorial Hospital | Mallory Martin, Ariadna Mendoza, Charlotte Rector, Kayla Simmons, Holly Hoffman, Averie Irons |
| Honorable Mention | Mechanical Engineering Tigers (METs) | Universal Pump Test Stand | Seth Bowers, Kole Crenshaw, James Crunk, Carson Brimhall |
| Honorable Mention | Dust Busters | Ultrasonically Enhanced Vacuum with Transducer Assisted Cleaning | Adeel Khawaja, Santiago Lugo, Jaden Palmer, Rama Sura |
| Honorable Mention | Astro Duck | Astro Duck Rescue Robot and UAV | Alexandria Pride,Emma Ronai, Alexis Luna, Rohith Rajeev |
| Honorable Mention | Flaps and Furious | 2025-2026 AIAA Design, Build, Fly | MyHanh Lee, Bryan Mendoza, Xiaofeng Tan, Callie Brigance |
| Honorable Mention | Safari Slingers | Prototype-based Catapult | Stephanie Beloria, Joshua Springer, Corterreus Bedford, Brian Zhao, Ryan Gore |
Excellence in Overall Senior Design
First, second and third place winners in Excellence in Overall Senior Design| Award | Team | Project | Team Members |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Place | HMAACK | Ground-up design of a 3,000 square foot temperature-controlled storage facility at Baptist Memorial Hospital | Mallory Martin, Ariadna Mendoza, Charlotte Rector, Kayla Simmons, Holly Hoffman, Averie Irons |
| Second Place | The Suspension is Killing Me | Tiger BAJA Suspension and Steering System | Caleb May, Isabella Selvera, Olivia Ganavazos, David Maybee |
| Third Place (tie) | School Guardians | Privacy Screen Kit | Juan Guerrero, Tanya Prahalathan, Flavie Dubé, Derian Williams |
| Third Place (tie) | ShutEye | Eyelid Closure Device | Timothey McDaniel, Paula Meier, Daniah Rizeq, Kartik Rustogi |