Senior Design Capstone Engineering Showcase Competition (A Three Way Tie for BMEN!)

I am proud to share that our team won the senior design capstone project contests in a three-way tie on April 28, 2023, during my senior year. This accomplishment has solidified my confidence in my abilities and my dedication to my field.

Winning the senior design capstone project contest was undoubtedly one of the highlights of my senior year. The three-way tie was an incredible accomplishment for our team, and it solidified my confidence in my abilities and dedication to my field. Our project, "Predicting Renal Stone Formation through Urinary Calcium Monitoring in Microgravity," was one that we were all passionate about, and we poured all of our energy and knowledge into creating a functional and effective solution.

The context of our project was the prolonged exposure to microgravity environments, which results in elevated urinary calcium concentrations and increases the incidence of renal stone formation. We discovered that calcium levels that exceed 250mg are considered high risk for kidney stone formation and that there are no current treatment or diagnostic methods for astronauts who develop kidney stones while in space. This presented a significant challenge that required proactive measures to prevent and manage this condition for the well-being of astronauts undergoing long-term spaceflight missions.

Our proposed solution utilized Gold Nanoparticles (AuNP) conjugated with Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) to achieve a higher affinity towards Ca2+ ions. We found that urinary calcium concentration can be consistently used to determine a low, medium, and high risk of renal stone formation based on optical assessment of the color change induced by chemical reaction with AuNP. Our design was also reasonably integrated with an application that allowed for control of the device and storage of urinary calcium measurements using a tablet.

Our device goal was to provide early detection for kidney stone formation based on significant variation of calcium concentration in urine samples. This device can be used by astronauts who will follow NASA guidelines for preventive measures based on the concentration of calcium in their urine, including additional exercise, hydration, and dietary intervention. We envisioned our product to be marketed as packaged in a radiation proof container with at least six months of supply for long-term astronaut testing.

The experience of working on this project was both challenging and rewarding. We faced several obstacles along the way, including difficulties in designing and assembling the device and in conducting experiments to validate our hypothesis. However, we persisted, and our hard work paid off when we were announced as one of the winners of the capstone project contest.

In retrospect, this project was an excellent opportunity for me to apply the knowledge and skills that I acquired throughout my academic journey. It also allowed me to work collaboratively with my team members, share ideas, and learn from each other. I am grateful for this experience, which has prepared me for the challenges that I will face in my future endeavors.

In conclusion, winning the senior design capstone project contest was a significant milestone for me, and I am proud of what we accomplished as a team. Our project not only addressed an important issue but also provided a potential solution that can improve the well-being of astronauts undergoing long-term spaceflight missions. This experience has taught me the value of hard work, perseverance, and collaboration, and I will carry these lessons with me as I embark on my future endeavors.

University Honors Capstone Reflections

Semester 1

Reflection #1

• Explain your proposed project and its importance?

I am on a biomedical engineering capstone team partnered with NASA, and we are tasked to successfully fabricate a system, medical device, or medical procedure that mitigates the development of kidney stones in the urinary system when astronauts are exposed to microgravity environments. During spaceflight, many people know how no gravity is not healthy for our body, especially our bones. The calcium from our skeletal system is never used in space and "sheds" off into the bloodstream and is then filtered by the kidneys. Unfortunately, the Ca2+ binds to oxalate in the urine causing an exponential growth rate of kidneys that are uncomfortable and extremely painful to excrete. This project is crucial because it determines on whether NASA and astronauts will be able to conduct longer and further extraterrestrial spaceflight missions. Like the Orion missions to Mars.

• What issues will you address in the development of your project?

Some issue we plan to address is determining the best way to detect kidney stones before they become larger than 3 mm. Once they break this threshold, usually surgery extensive medication, or returning the astronauts home are the next steps that must be taken. So detecting abnormally high levels of calcium accumulating in the urine is a huge factor to consider. From here, a biosensor can inform astronauts to alter their diet and exercise routine to naturally dissolve and treat the kidney stones before they develop wider than 3 mm.

• What interests you about your capstone project?

I am interested in this capstone project because this problem has never really been fully addressed; not even by NASA, however, I am eager to learn the different solutions, ideas, and medical device treatments that our team brainstorms. This can give NASA a huge boost in solving the kidney stone complication during spaceflight thus more advanced devices can be innovated in the future.

• What skills or abilities do you want to hone in the development of your project?

Some skills I hope to hone in on are time management, presentation, authentic research, communication, creativity, Excel data manipulation, and SolidWorks CAD drawing. Eventually, our team will utilize these skills during the prototyping phases of our medical device.

• How does this project connect to your core values?

My core values are communication, creativity, and adventure. This project aligns perfectly well with me since I am already very fascinated with space and how the environment affects the biology of our bodies. Our team is doing a good job at staying on task and ensuring that the necessary deadlines are met. I look forward to putting some creative thought into our project that helps us stand out when presenting to NASA and our peers.

• What are three words that come to mind as you create your project?

Space, Detection, Engineering

Reflection #2

• How did you choose your capstone topic?

Our professors created a list of topics with randomized groups. Our team selected the project on Renal Kidney Stone Mitigation in Space to address the problem that NASA faces with rapidly growing kidney stones that are a detriment to the efficiency and quality of microgravity activities and space travel.

• How did you determine the approach or theories guiding your project?

The approach for the project was to create a prototype that integrated with the current Waste Management System and collected some sort of urine sample from each astronaut to test the concentrations of calcium. In microgravity, liquids do not flow normally so it is important to induce some kind of vacuum or pressure gradient that keeps the urine flowing.

• How are you growing through the process of developing your capstone?

Our team is coordinating with our NASA sponsor and external sources to develop proof of concepts and background material. From here, a list of ideas in a pugh matrix will be created and our final device selection will be chosen based on a variety of components, feasibility assessments, ethics, and WMS microgravity integration.

• What are your plans for collaboration on your project?

The current model for collaboration is in person and via zoom depending on the urgency of a particular deliverable. Our team currently works on organizing data, materials, external sources, and logistics of how our capstone device project will be assembled into a primitive prototype.

• What has excited you throughout this process?

The novelty that our project requires. Microgravity is a very limited and challenging field to research. Given that our team is able to overcome the various challenge that are posed against us, I am excited for the potential success that our device will inspire.

• What has discouraged you throughout this process?

I would say that the broad scope and limited knowledge that our problem statement is able to address is somewhat discouraging. Since there is limited research and background information about how fluids coordinate in microgravity or even how operations on the ISS occur, there are a lot of assumptions and trial and error factors that make up the most of our brainstorming.

Reflection #3

• How are you incorporating your previous learning experiences into this project?

Our project requires some experience with coding, SolidWorks, Excel, PowerPoint, and engineering design processes. I incorporate these skills every day when I interact with my team members. Then of course there are the traditional interpersonal skills, communications, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. This project is something that has stumped many professionals in industry and all the above skills are required for our team’s success.

• How will this project prepare you for future endeavors?

This project will prepare me for my future by bestowing exposure to an engineering design team environment. Engineers are often presented with problems that can complicate or innovate the future. Having this experience early on is extremely useful for biomedical engineering career building, growing skills sets, and developing exposure to career field experience in the medical device profession.

• What are some connections between your project and current events?

Due to some confidentiality issue concerns there is little that I can disclose here. However, some connections between our project and some current events are renewable and sustainable resources. As well as the current events with space travel and scientists developing ideas and methods to improve long term extraterrestrial travel.

• How has your project transformed your thinking this semester?

This project has really transformed my way of thinking. Simply by exposing me to the inner networking’s and processes that occur at NASA. I have learned more about how successful engineering design happens when the engineer focuses more on the user specific needs rather than the completion of the project. In short, understanding the end applications and improvements a device should offer to a user can give insight to how the device can be developed in an efficient manner.

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Semester 2

Reflection #4

• What is the biggest obstacle you have encountered this far in your project?

So far the biggest obstacle that our team has encountered is the physical detection and set thresholds for calcium ion concentration in urine samples. Our team has bounced from electrode probes, electrical potential difference methods, spectroscopy, nanoparticle manipulation, and optical imaging. Unfortunately with all these options, the problem arises of feasibility. What can we do within our budget but also serves as a decent form of detecting our necessary calcium concentrations.

• What has gone well with your project?

Some parts that have been going well are our team collaboration. Compared to last semester, our team has done an exceptional job at communicating and completing assignments on time. Although there are some areas of improvement and instances where not everyone is on the same page, compared to last semester there has definitely been some significant improvement. The project is still in the planning stage and design has not started at the moment.

• What kind of roles have you taken on during the creation of your project?

Some roles that I have taken on are lead Solidworks designer, presentation creator, and devil's advocate. My goal is to help our team stay organized, have detailed work, and consider the possible options or design potential. Lately, the device casing design has not been consistent due to the consistent changes to how we hope our device will address the medical device problem. With microgravity environments, many physical assumptions that we presume on Earth are not applicable in space. Therefore, there are several regulations, requirements, and additional considerations that our team has taken into account. As primary design lead, I am responsible for ensuring the feasibility and practicality of the project's development.

• How has this project reinforced your goals?

The development stages of our project are helping us reinforce our goals by applying biomedical engineering applications to real-world scenarios. The application of calcium concentration detection in the biomedical and cellular engineering traits aboard the international space station is an impeccable goal. Our team works diligently to perform FDA, ISO, ASTM, and IEC standard examinations and testing of our prototype subsystem components to ensure that the device is properly built and documented. Some future goals that may develop are full prototype testing, application of gold nanoparticles for calcium concentration detection, and refining the design and modeling of our prototype for easy user use and compatibility with WMS ISS systems.

• What would you do differently if given the opportunity to start over?

Truthfully, I believe that the research, background intuition, and beginning engineering design phase were instrumental in placing us in the design stage our team is currently in. I would not say that I would prefer to start over if the opportunity were to present itself, but it would be ideal to understand specific resources, people, and website references earlier on so that our team could begin the design stages sooner. Ideally, more dedicated research and understanding of how the problem could be addressed through different prototype procedures would be a great opportunity at the beginning of our capstone advancements.

Reflection #5

• How has your confidence grown as you develop expertise throughout your project?

My confidence has grown significantly since my engineering group started our capstone project. So far, we have successfully fabricated gold nanoparticles that cooperate with EDTA for Ca2+ attachment and measurement. This is promising because it is a critical factor that ensures the success and functionality of our medical device for detecting calcium concentration in the presence of urine in microgravity environments.

• What has caused you to feel a sense of accomplishment during your process?

The compilation of our subsystems and their respective components has made a tremendous sense of accomplishment thus far in the capstone project development. Our main focus for right now is refining the optical detection and nanoparticle fabrication subsystems for our medical device. Once those components are well established, then our team may begin the next steps of designing storage and casing for the medical device systems and components.

• What has caused you to feel a sense of concern during your process?

A major sense of concern simply stems from time. Should we have collaborated and brainstormed this ideation earlier in the semester or last semester, there may be more realistic goals and expectations to have our project completed on time. However, although it is very possible should everything perfectly aligns in place, there is some concern that some components of our medical device may not fully function or be completely attuned to their specifications before the finalization of our project during the engineering project showcase.

• Why does this project matter to you?

This project matters because many projects designated to NASA are optimized to spinoff technologies. These spinoff technologies optimize the main components of a specific medical device or instrument and apply them to additional healthcare necessities and user needs. In short, there is immense potential for this device to be a pivotal innovation in space travel and healthcare treatment.

• How has your awareness of a particular issue grown throughout the process?

The awareness has grown immensely. There are several factors of calcium bone loss and degradation that affects numerous patients that may not even experience microgravity effects. Although there is minimal research conducted in this specific field of interest due to its complexity. Unfortunately, this attribute and lack of prior knowledge forces our team to prioritize our imagination and innovation. Our device components are constantly changing and being better refined for the user's need in calcium concentration detection.

• What have you enjoyed most about your project?

I have enjoyed the fabrication of nanoparticle components the most during the longevity of this project. This by far was the most rewarding experience after synthetically creating nanoparticles and utilizing my excel experience to determine statistical and quantitative analysis for various concentrations. I also admire our team's general collaboration and innovation capacitance throughout this project.

• What would you change about your process?

I would only change the communication essence and the mutual comprehension between diverse ideas and proposals. Many times when a concept such as microgravity calcium concentration and its effects is not fully or properly understood, ideas and concepts tend to be overlooked because of their 'impractical-ness' or 'specificity'. Many members have these sorts of ideas or lack thereof and it causes a dynamic disturbance in the team's workflow for pursuing tangible problems with appropriate assumptions.

Reflection #6

• How has your understanding of the project topic evolved?

So far our project has evolved from a simple idea, to scratch paper, to a mock device with poor dimensions with an attached Ca2+ electrode, to an upcoming finalized prototype. The final design will consist of nanoparticles that show a gradient of color change based on the concentration levels of calcium in solution, a sensor to read the RGB values of the solution color gradient, a casing to house all the equipment that is 3d printed with various components, and supplemental urine bags, caps, and algorithms.

• How will this experience help you in the future?

I think this experience will help me in the future by introducing me to how research like this is used in industry and the development of innovative ideas. Our idea was totally novel and required a lot of figuring things out for the first time. In fact, we are on track to even publish a paper based on our nanoparticle novelty with EDTA and Ca2+ concentration.

• How will you celebrate yourself upon completing and presenting your project?

Our team will likely have a huge relief and celebratory satisfaction when our project is fully complete. We will be presenting at a BMEN table in the Zach building to present our device to the masses at the Engineering Project Showcase somewhere around late April. In addition, our team was also requested by our NASA sponsor to present our device development and findings to the Johnson Space Center in Houston around May 8.

• What is next in the pursuit of your long-term goals?

My nest pursuit is to finish my summer 2023 courses and fall 2023 courses to graduate in December 2023. I am hoping to achieve my sociology minor by the end of the summer and my math minor by the end of the fall to complement my biomedical engineering degree. After that I hope to leave a good impression on my summer internship company with MERCK so that they may hopefully sponsor me for a full-time position and for my master's in management and information technology systems.

• Knowing what you now know, what advice would you give yourself a year ago?

I would say patience is my biggest advice. I tend to and still tend to, over-commit and worry about the wrong things in life when in fact eventually it will all fall into place. I know that I still have work to do to improve myself but that doesn't mean I shouldn't enjoy the work-life balance of college life. Sometimes it's good to have a break and other times it's a good thing to be ambitious. Finding a happy medium where my goals are achieved and my relationships are in harmony is something that I have learned in the past year to really prioritize.

• What advice would you give a student beginning their capstone project?

Some advice that I would give is to not try to solve the problem immediately. Projects like these usually take time to develop. In the beginning, it is important to brainstorm as much as possible and find research to back your findings and claims. That way you can build upon your ideas which is what engineers like to call innovation. Once you begin to innovate you begin to recognize the gaps and considerations that you may have not thought of before in the brainstorming phases. So again patience and be creative when starting your capstone.

• How did you leave your mark?

I left my mark by successfully setting the stepping stone for NASA to detect significant calcium concentration changes in astronaut urine during prolonged exposure to microgravity environments in space. This technology is most likely going to continue to be redefined and developed for a fully functioning device that may be used on the next space mission. Ideally, this device will help control centers and astronauts monitor their calcium levels and recognize any dietary changes or exercise regimes that need to take place in order to ensure a positive correlation for safe calcium levels.