Valve access project wins top honors at Fall 2024 Capstone Design Showcase

A team that created a solution to simplify seasonal water release operations at a Jefferson County park won the top prize at the Fall 2024 Capstone Design Showcase, the culmination of a yearlong design experience for seniors at Colorado School of Mines.

“Our client, Jefferson County Open Space, came to us with an open-ended problem and with their support and the support of our project advisers, we were able to generate multiple designs and select the one that fully suited their needs,” said team member Tyler Burt.

Staff at Pine Valley Ranch Park regulate water levels and comply with water rights directives by operating a gate valve 15 feet from the shoreline. The staff access and manually operate the valve from a canoe, which comes with risks and is inconvenient. Valve Access Project created a custom gearbox with a 15-foot-long extendable drive shaft that allows park staff to use the extendable shaft to turn the valve from shore. The team’s design requires minimal maintenance and prevents environmental contamination, as well as being vandalism resistant.

The Valve Access Project team looked at their challenge holistically, tackling the problem of water management as well as taking the park’s main function into account.

“The project was more than just simplifying safe operation of the valve,” said team member David Hansbarger. “Pine Lake is often used for recreation, and we wanted to keep the landscape as beautiful as it is now.”

Capstone Design is a signature student experience at Mines that tasks student teams with producing creative, client-driven solutions to real-world problems. Paired with sponsors from the community, students combine their knowledge in civil, electrical, mechanical, environmental and design engineering to create projects that address realistic, multidisciplinary challenges. The year-long experience ends with Capstone Design Showcase, where teams present their ideas and prototypes to sponsors, judges and members of the Mines community.

"The win means a lot to the team,” said team member Andrew Merz. “It is always nice to see a result of all the hard work that was done. We were excited to win just as much as we were excited to install the gearbox. We hope that the gearbox can be helpful for the Jeffco employees for years to come." 

Members of the winning team include Burt, Hansbarger, Merz, Charles Dupras, Mitchell Hiddessen and Connor Wilde. The team’s faculty advisers were Kristoph Kinzli, teaching professor of civil and environmental engineering, and David Grimm, adjunct professor in underground construction and tunnel engineering. 

Watch the Valve Access team’s video about their Capstone Design project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1urQzxO5UI

Second place at this semester’s showcase went to the Mines Park Greenhouse Thermal Management team, which made a series of improvements to the Mines Park greenhouse, including installing thermal regulation, overhead trellises and replacing faulty components, to increase use by residents. 

Mines Park Greenhouse Thermal Management team members included Jeysa Wright, Lauren O’Sullivan, Andrew Jones and Madeline Fox. The team’s faculty adviser was Marie Stettler Kleine, assistant professor of engineering, design and society. The project was sponsored by Lauren Poole, campus sustainability coordinator at Mines.

Third place went to the Autonomous Lunar Cargo Rover team, which designed and built a lunar cargo rover with autonomous ability to aid astronauts on the Moon. 

Autonomous Lunar Cargo Rover team members included Aaron Fanganello, Grant Barbone, Farima Molaei, Gavin Graff, Glenn Moore, Ethan Hansen, Luke Scott and Jacob Carman. The project was sponsored by Mines Aerospace Interest Group.

Capstone projects were also recognized for their innovation, societal impact and proof of concept:

• Best innovation: Self-Driving Ice Drilling Robot for the Martian South Pole
• Best Societal Impact: Organic Waste Grinder for Vermicompost
• Best Environmental Impact: Organic Waste Grinder for Vermicompost
• Most Inspiring for Kids: Project Pinball
• Best Proof-of-Concept: Valve Access Project

The Fall 2024 Broader Impact Essay winners were:

• First place: Taylor Wayne for “Empowered and Employed by Space”
• Second place: (tie) Sean Raines for “Benefits of Glade Reservoir” and Davian Sandoval for “Gambling, Neuroscience, Earth: The Unforeseen Trifecta of Pinball Impacts”
• Third place: Maddie Fox for “Feeding the World, Failing the Hungry”