Engineering Design and Development (EDD) students gave their final presentations on Thursday, Apr. 22, and Friday, Apr 23. After their preliminary design review, which occurred mid-school year, they used the constructive criticism they received to work on improving their solution. During the presentation, teams provided updates of their design process including their prototyping phase and a summary of the project they had been working on all year. 

“My students grew tremendously as engineering and as professionals throughout this year. Their projects progressed from problems that they saw in the world to a huge number of brainstormed solutions to solid ideas with models and sketches into prototypes that were thoroughly tested,” EDD teacher Mr. Bailey Hulsey said. “The students practiced that whole engineering design process while getting more consistent with time management, documentation, and decision making. The biggest improvements can be seen by looking at their presentation slides from October and comparing them to their Final Project Presentations – they’re much more visual, interesting, and memorable.”

Arjun Kurkal ‘21, Eric Breyer ‘21, Joseph Nuccitelli ‘21, and Antonio Ayala ‘21 are passionate about solving the issue of delayed ambulance times as it could save the lives of many critical patients. They spent a lot of their time brainstorming, designing, and testing prototypes. Wanting to help particularly those in suburban neighborhoods, which face the challenges of windy roads and traffic, the team came up with The Ambulance Drone. Not only does it carry emergency instructions but also medical equipment so those around the patient can begin assisting the individual in critical need before the EMTs arrive. Currently, the drone has autopilot, takeoff, landing, and malfunction safety protocols as well as a functional GPS.

“Not only did we choose a problem we thought is a prominent issue in our society today, but a solution that would test our skills and teamwork to succeed,” Arjun Kurkal ‘21 said. “Reflecting on this year, I can confidently say we learned a lot through this process: we accomplished a task we were not entirely sure we would be able to achieve.” 

With the school year coming to an end, many EDD students plan to continue their projects by doing more research, solidifying their designs, and possibly even asking sponsors to put their solutions on the market for customers to access. The Ambulance Drone team has plans to improve their drone during the coming months. Specifically, they want to revisit their physical design and make small modifications on their computer-aided design (CAD) model, in hopes for better space planning, structural integrity, and weatherproofing. 

“Regardless of what they choose to do with their projects, my students have worked hard to develop great ideas, strengthened their professional skills, and I couldn’t be more proud,” Mr. Hulsey said.

Build Bash: An Engineering Extravaganza, an event hosted by Mr. Hulsey, is taking place on May 22nd between 10am-2pm. The event is open to anyone interested in learning more about engineering or just want to have some fun. There will be a potluck picnic alongside the chance to participate in model rocket competitions, drone races, robot races, egg drop competitions, 3D-printing, and more.