Every year, students in Materials Science and Engineering get into teams and create projects as a part of their senior design capstone class. These projects range across the full spectrum of the field of materials science and, year after year, display the intelligence and capabilities of MSE’s students. This year’s students are no different, and their Senior Design Capstone projects reflect a diverse array of topics in the field of MSE. 

Each team partners with a company or corporation to address a question or problem for the company. This year's partners are Southwire, Silpara, Serta Simmons Bedding, TLC Polymer Consulting/Airlife Corporation, Gerdau, Donaldson Filtration Company, and Ridgeline Flags. Teams of MSE undergraduates have worked to plan, test, and research to aid these very real companies with very real issues or questions. These teams receive specialized training from the Center for Effective Team Dynamics to ensure they have the tools necessary to succeed as a team and navigate any challenges the group work might present. Using MSE resources, they do hands-on research in labs and facilities around the school to work to find a solution to the proposed problem. This is one of the things that makes the Capstone special: the research is real and a valuable hands-on experience for students. As the semester winds down and we near the Design Expo, where these groups will present their work, we want to take a few minutes to highlight some of the fascinating work these MSE students are doing. 

One of the groups of students is working with Ridgeline Flags to improve the material the flags are made out of. Ridgeline produces oversized American flags, with many of the flags they create ranging from 60x30 feet up to 300x150 feet. That means their largest flags are essentially the size of a football field. Creating, maintaining, and repairing flags of this enormous size is a major task and these flags undergo a huge amount of environmental and weather strain as they fly in diverse weather conditions for extended periods of time. The team working on this project aims to redesign the material these flags are made out of, as well as the construction process to extend the life of these massive flags from just 45-60 days to at least 75 days. This focused work on textiles and textile construction is a wonderful example of how materials engineering goes into the seemingly mundane aspects of daily life. 

Another group is also working on the aspect of daily life with the Serta Simmons Bedding company. As high-density foam mattresses have become popular, these weighty mattresses have become an issue for shipping and handling. This group has been tasked with working to find a lighter-weight option for the next generation of mattresses that is significantly lighter but does not sacrifice any of the support or durability that Serta Simmons mattresses are known for. This group has tackled the issue by 3D printing geometries to fill with foams and other potential materials to reduce the weight and volume of materials used while maintaining structure and support. Along with this work, they are examining and reconsidering the materials of coils in innerspring mattresses. As they work to help take steps towards a new generation of bedding, their work helps us all realize the materials research and engineering that goes into the mattresses we sleep on every night, as well as the research these companies go through to design new products. 

Silpara Technologies, a returning sponsor of three prior capstone teams, is an example of how this research not only benefits students by giving them experience but also benefits companies, as this year’s project continues the research begun by these past sponsored projects. Silpara specializes in additives and materials to improve the durability and efficiency of natural rubber products. This group has been tasked with designing a more environmentally and health-friendly rubber-composite for car tires, which are currently produced in a way that has led to tires being identified as one of the fastest-growing polluting industries in the world. They aim to solve a problem with one of the potential material redesigns that holds the most promise for becoming a more eco-friendly tire. This work towards stabilizing the composite they’re working with would allow Silpara to help revolutionize the tire production industry. This group’s work in particular highlights the way materials science research often focuses working with existing materials to make them do new and innovative tasks. 

With other groups working on wiring cable redesigns, work on enteral feeding tubes, the creation of a machine learning model for steel development, and a redesign of membrane materials, each of the Senior Design groups is working to create something impactful in the world of materials. 

MSE invites you to attend the Spring 2026 Capstone Design Expo on April 28th at McCamish Pavilion to see the culmination of these students’ hard work as they compete against Senior Design students from all eight schools within the College of Engineering for a chance at the grand prize. Past Expos have yielded major steps forward in research and engineering for the industry sponsors, giving students real-world research experience and providing the industry with new and innovative technologies. MSE is proud of its Senior Design Capstone students, and we hope to have you join us in cheering them on at the Expo.