Novel way to sort chicks wins top honours at 2023 Product Design and Development Competition
Author: UNB Newsroom
Posted on May 25, 2023
Category: UNB Saint John , UNB Fredericton
The University of New Brunswick’s (UNB) J Herbert Smith Centre for Technology Management and Entrepreneurship has announced the winners of the RBC Product Design and Development Competition, which took place on March 30 as part of the Engineering Design Symposium.
UNB’s annual Engineering Design Symposium gives final-year engineering students from all disciplines, including Product Design and Development (TME 4025) students, the opportunity to showcase their innovative projects to the public.
The unique cross-disciplinary TME 4025 course allows students from a variety of engineering disciplines to come together to conceive, design and prototype a technical product that addresses a real market need. Under the guidance of technical leaders in industry, academia and government, teams get hands-on experience conducting engineering analyses and detailed product designs, developing tangible prototypes, validating customer needs and creating viable business plans.
This year’s cohort of six teams is among the largest to compete in the competition since the creation of the Product Design and Development course in the 2013-2014 academic year. The six teams were:
- KATO: Ahmed Helal, Kevish Ramaswmy, Ousman Beebeejaun and Tyler Travis
- Goose Golf: Matthew Ryan, Alex Khoshbakhtian, Ethan Beliveau and Brycen Munroe
- Tazooki: Jennifer Fung, Joan Panlican, Katharine Maxwell and Hannah Day
- Vision B: Tully Masterson, Mahmoud Ahmed, Ahmad Mahbob Agha and Abraham Prakkat
- Chick Pick: Logan Davidson, Ryan Whitney, Frederik Pare and Kez Dorji
- Fresh Start Farms: Phillip Curley, Maxime Noël, Brandon Saulnier and Majd Awadbeh
Chick Pick was the first-place winner with their automated solution to sorting baby chicks. They received a cash prize of $2,000. Goose Golf, an intelligent golf training aid, placed second, winning $1,000. The third-place winner KATO, an autonomous underwater vehicle that collects different types of data from research and marine biologists, won $500.
“Watching the students present the projects they have worked so hard to develop over the last eight months has been so exciting,” said Dr. Dhirendra Shukla, chair of the J Herbert Smith Centre and Product Design and Development instructor. “All of the students here have brought together four years of their engineering knowledge in cross-disciplinary teams to solve real-world problems they are all deeply passionate about. I'm inspired to witness such passion in our young engineers who will be leading the future of the discipline.”