Development of the Maglev Focus Fan

Jubal Noel, Verrazzano Class of 2023, completed major in Electrical Engineering BS

The development of the Maglev Focus Fan as a capstone project presented a challenging yet exhilarating experience that stretched my abilities to their limits. My partner, Jediah Noel, and I both share a deep fascination for magnetic levitation technology, and we aimed to revolutionize the conventional household fan by incorporating it into a futuristic design. This project served as an opportunity to apply all the engineering skills I had acquired throughout my academic journey, and it further enabled me to refine my critical thinking capabilities as I navigated through various obstacles.

Throughout the duration of this project, a significant portion of my time was devoted to researching and collating information. Given the limited availability of resources pertaining to our unique project, the process of sourcing relevant data was very challenging. Throughout these obstacles, I was able to acquire a host of practical skills, including the ability to effectively look through technical data sheets, select appropriate integrated circuitry, and synthesize key principles of physics in the realization of a novel design. Though several of my initial ideas regarding magnetic levitation were met with failure, it was ultimately my tenacity and persistence in pursuit of our objectives that drove me forward.

Despite encountering numerous obstacles along the way, I was able to persevere and surmount each challenge. Although we were not able to fully realize every envisioned feature for our fan design, a significant proportion of our original concepts were successfully integrated. Our Maglev Focus Fan leverages cutting-edge magnetic propulsion technology and incorporates several automated features that have the potential to revolutionize conventional household fan design. I am confident that the innovative concepts embodied in this project has the potential to shape the future of the industry in significant ways.

The capstone project proved to be a valuable learning experience that has equipped me for my future professional pursuits. I acquired a lot of skills that are essential to my career. Throughout the project's duration, I was challenged in various ways, but the rewards of overcoming each hurdle facilitated my personal and professional development. Overall, the experience was both challenging and rewarding, and I emerged from it with a newfound sense of confidence in my abilities to make a positive impact in my chosen field.

Gaining Confidence to Present Through Research

Jediah Noel, Verrazzano class of 2023, completed major in Electrical Engineering

When I first started college, I dreaded the thought of having to complete a capstone and present it at a conference. I never thought of myself as a good speaker, and I couldn’t envision myself accomplishing the task at that time. I ended up putting it at the back of my mind and eventually forgot about it until my senior year. However, upon completing the project (Solving Excessive Power Consumption in Fans) and seeing the amount of effort I put into it and the support from my peers and mentors, I was actually excited to present it at the conference. I loved the friendly environment and the opportunity to share and explain my research to the college community.

I’m grateful for the extensions given to my partner and me for submitting our capstone and poster. With the extra time given, I was able relieve stress and really make the poster and capstone the best they could be.

I’m thankful for both Professor Jessica Jiang and Professor Dwight Richards. Professor Dwight really helped give us direction with the research in our first semester. Professor Jessica Jiang helped in our second semester with the creation of our poster, and the finalizing of our project. Working with them both was a blessing and I'm happy they were my mentors.

I’m glad Dr. Neo Antoniades allowed my brother to be my partner. Normally, brothers aren’t typically allowed to work on the same project. However, since he knew us both from a previous semester and how well we worked together, he approved. Working together with my brother allowed us to learn from each other's research and test components together. We didn’t have to worry about having to meet up as we lived in the same household.

Overall, I’m just thrilled with our results, experience at the conference, and support from Verrazzano. I’m very proud of our efforts and accomplishment. Thank you Verrazzano and the College of Staten Island.

Researching the Prevalence of Microplastics in Marine Environments

Alexander Pascone, Verrazzano Class of 2023, completed major in Biology with minors in Chemistry and Biochemistry

From the start of college, I had no idea what I would write about for my capstone, which caused me to dread the experience. This all changed when I met Dr. William G. Wallace, my lab professor for a summer ecology course. He proposed the idea of me helping a master’s student that he was mentoring in the marine biology lab. I took him up on his offer and began to volunteer in the lab assisting with the process of separating small worms from samples of mud. It sounds incredibly boring, but honestly it was great.

I became familiar with the everyday processes of a biology lab, and was introduced to research regarding the impact of microplastics on marine organisms that was being conducted by Christine Bruno, a PhD. student who was being mentored by Dr. Wallace.

After the summer semester ended, I set up a meeting between Christine, Dr. Wallace, and me. At this meeting we deliberated and came up with the idea of measuring the impact of microplastics on the settling velocity of fecal strands from marine grass shrimp. During this process I researched the prevalence of microplastics in marine environments and was absolutely floored to find out that 33 billion pounds of plastic enter the ocean annually.

When I began preliminary research, I continued to familiarize myself with the operations of a biology lab and took a lab safety course and finally began conducting research. I looked forward to gathering data every day to uncover the results of the spread of microplastics.

During this entire process I realized how enjoyable research can be and I am forever grateful for the opportunity that Dr. William Wallace, Christine Bruno, Brittany Stanton, and of course, the Verrazzano Honors Program provided.

AI and Machine Learning with Robotics

 Avi Szczupakiewicz, Class of 2023, completed major in Engineering Science

The journey began with brainstorming for everyday problems and common issues. After reaching out to a former teacher and mentor, I was given the answer which was about people in their school putting recyclables in the wrong bins. I decided that Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning with Robotics was the answer.

Through my research, I found a program that allowed me to capture videos of the items I wanted to be trained and recognized. Unfortunately, the program lost support, and I couldn't export the file, so I had to scrap that idea. I then found a Google Colab file that allowed me to create an Object Detection Model, but it was a slow and tedious process that had to be done manually.

After hours of manually training the model, I had the files I needed. I then reused many parts the school already had, including a Raspberry Pi 3, rails, and a motor, which helped me save money. However, I had to purchase a few bins, a second motor, and a stepper driver, and I already owned the rest of the necessary parts like wires and plugs.

I believe that future adaptations of this project could benefit from a Raspberry Pi 4 as AI is computationally demanding. At the current state of the project, I have the proof of concept working on a small scale and in the future it could be adapted to full sized bins and in every school and office.

Overall, I learned that senior projects are an essential milestone in the academic life of students, culminating all the knowledge and skills they have acquired throughout their academic journey. Through the development of the Smart Recycle project, I gained knowledge of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and hardware components including cameras, sensors, motors, and microcontrollers, as well as the development of custom software to control and coordinate these components.

I am confident that the Smart Recycle project has the potential to improve the efficiency and accuracy of recycling, reducing contamination and promoting sustainability, and I am proud of the work I have accomplished throughout its development.

Researching Pre-Eclampsia and Its Effects on Non-Hispanic Black Women (NHBW)

Michelle Avila, Verrazzano Class of 2023, completed major in Nursing

When I first began thinking about doing my capstone project, I was not sure what route to take. As a nursing major and someone who was interested in different types of nursing, I wanted to research almost every new thing I learned.

It wasn't until after my maternity rotation that I fell in love with maternity care and was very interested in investigating this specific area. I had a patient who was diagnosed with a pregnancy issue known as pre-eclampsia, and I was curious to learn more about it. During lectures when this topic came up I not only learned the pathophysiology but I learned that non-Hispanic Black women (NHBW) are more prone to this issue.

After I completed this class I knew I wanted to investigate this topic further. During the next semester, I took a women's health class, which dived into the many health disparities and inequities women face, specifically non-Hispanic Black women. I learned about the social determinants of health that affect these women, which in turn leads to a decrease in their quality of life.

After taking this class and getting to know my professor (who became my mentor), I knew that I wanted to find a correlation between pre-eclampsia in NHBW and the effects that the social determinants of health have on them.

As a nurse, a want to ensure that I am always providing the best quality care possible and am following current standards and evidence-based practice. I wanted to shed light on this issue because it is so crucial for nurses to be aware of the many health disparities NHBW face and how we can provide effective care and refer them to available resources.

If I were to further this research, I would love to be able to bring this awareness to institutions for nurses to utilize. Implementing new education for nurses to be aware of the social determinants of health impacts on women would aid with improving disparities and the high morbidity and mortality rates women face.

This capstone allowed me to branch out of my comfort zone and dive deep into the literature. It taught me that as a nurse I have a huge role to play in access to healthcare and that I can be a valuable resource for many women in need.