Projects

Our project focuses on redesigning Hoover Street between Westminster Boulevard and Hazard Avenue to improve safety and comfort for bicyclists, pedestrians, and drivers. The existing corridor mainly supports vehicle traffic and only has limited bicycle protection through Class III bike facilities. This creates safety and comfort concerns for people who want to bike or walk through the area. Our project matters because a safer street design can encourage active transportation, reduce conflicts between cars and cyclists, and make the corridor more accessible for the surrounding community. The people most affected are cyclists, pedestrians, nearby residents, students, drivers, and anyone using Hoover Street to reach local homes, schools, businesses, and nearby destinations. Our final design proposes a safer corridor with a Class IV two-way protected bikeway, improved pedestrian crossings, updated signal timing, and new traffic signal equipment. 

Background and Project Scope

The Problem

Modern electrical grids face a fundamental challenge: energy supply and demand rarely align. Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind are inherently intermittent, generating power when conditions allow rather than when consumers often need it. To bridge this gap, grid operators, remote facilities, and industrial users depend on energy storage systems that can absorb excess supply and release it on demand, a practice known as electrical load shifting.

Today, electrochemical batteries dominate this market. While effective, they carry significant drawbacks that limit their suitability in certain contexts: they degrade with each charge cycle, rely on toxic and expensive materials, present fire and chemical hazard risks, and impose ongoing replacement and disposal costs. For long-duration or emergency storage applications, these limitations are critical failures.

The Need

There is a clear need for an...

The Problem

Renewable energy sources like wind and solar generate electricity intermittently, often producing excess energy when demand is low and falling short when demand peaks. Today, the dominant solution for bridging that gap is electrochemical batteries. While effective, batteries carry significant drawbacks: they rely on resource-intensive mining of lithium, cobalt, and other minerals, degrade over time, pose environmental disposal challenges, and can be prohibitively expensive at scale.

Our Approach

PetrChu is a benchtop-scale hybrid mechanical energy storage system that demonstrates an alternative. The system combines two well-established storage methods into a single integrated platform:

Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES)

Air is compressed into a pressure vessel during periods of excess energy. When power is needed, the stored air drives a reciprocating piston engine connected to an alternator.

Pumped Hydro Storage

...

RC boats are widely commercially available, while RC submarines remain a costly, niche product. Therefore, the objective of this project is to transform an off-the-shelf 1:18 scale RC boat into a submersible submarine capable of underwater and surface maneuverability, and can dive to a depth of at least three meters before reliably resurfacing. Some goals in this include developing a ballast system to resist hydrostatic pressure and achieve buoyancy, sealing electronics to ensure waterproofing at high depths, and underwater propulsion.

InfraMed

Empowering post-stroke recovery with NIR.

THE PROBLEM

Reperfusion
without repair.

Ischemic stroke:

#1Cause of long-term disability.

#2Cause of death worldwide.

Current ischemic stroke thrombectomy procedures successfully remove the occluding blood clot but do not address or restore the downstream tissue and cellular damage caused by prolonged ischemia.

This project forecasted and analyzed the traffic impacts at two intersections along California Ave, which is expect to increase due to two future developments: a 2500+ housing unit area and a research park. Overall, the team recommends to build a traffic signal at California Ave/Innovation Dr and install a right turn overlap at California Ave/Academy Wy because without these improvements, they are both projected to fail to meet City of Irvine’s minimum level of service (LOS) when those developments open to the public in 2028. With these improvements, the intersections are projected to exceed the minimum LOS required, implying that these improvements will alleviate heavy traffic congestion at both intersections.

**Disclaimer: The housing development is real and is currently in development. However, the research park is a hypothetical scenario. The both the residential project and the research park have some hypothetical assumptions made - This study is...

A full-depth reconstruction of Taxiway Alpha at San Bernardino International Airport, designed to FAA standards and delivered as a complete bid set. Our team rebuilt the airport's main taxiway, along with parts of Taxiway Echo and A2, so it can carry a heavier future fleet for a 20-year design life.

The UCI engineering facilities and students rely on a large number of room keys including things for labs, workshops, and specialized project spaces. Currently, key distribution is handled manually by staff members who must approve requests, check out keys, and track returns. This process is often slow, inefficient, and difficult to keep organized. A more efficient and automated solution is needed to streamline the key checkout and return system, reduce staff workload, and improve overall organization. This project addresses this need by developing an automated key vending machine that securely stores and dispenses keys through a digital request and approval system, improving accessibility, efficiency, and trackability for all students, staff, and faculty who rely on these facilities.

Kiwi Logistics aims to design and build an autonomous warehouse robot capable of navigating a structured indoor environment, detecting obstacles, and operating within an inventory management workflow. Current warehouse operations depend significantly on extensive physical labor to lift and transport inventory, often leading to a high risk of workplace injury or long-term health problems. The goal of our design is to present a scalable, easy-to-use autonomous inventory management system that tackles the risk of manual labor without eliminating human jobs in warehouse operations.

Kiwi Logistics aims to design and build an autonomous warehouse robot capable of navigating a structured indoor environment, detecting obstacles, and operating within an inventory management workflow. Current warehouse operations depend significantly on extensive physical labor to lift and transport inventory, often leading to a high risk of workplace injury or long-term health problems. The goal of our design is to present a scalable, easy-to-use autonomous inventory management system that tackles the risk of manual labor without eliminating human jobs in warehouse operation. 

Team E2 collaborated with AKM Consulting Engineers to redesign the Leahy Well to achieve a 3,000 GPM water capacity and to develop on-site treatment for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) via Ion Exchange (IX) for the Bellflower Somerset Mutual Water Company (BSMWC) in Bellflower, CA. 

PFAS is a broad term used to describe the thousands of variants of the man-made, synthetic chemicals that are used in everyday products such as non-stick pans, hydrophobic clothing, and consumer goods. When presented in high concentrations and ingested through drinking water, PFAS can be associated with adverse health effects such as cancer, high blood pressure, and liver damage.

The project incorporates 3 on-site cartridge filters to remove Total Suspended Solids (TSS) from the water influent before it is treated through 4 Ion Exchange tanks to reduce PFAS concentrations via anionic exchange to undetectable levels that comply with current Environmental...

The Light Show Drones project was developed as an affordable and environmentally friendly entertainment system for personal events and small gatherings. The system consists of three drones that perform synchronized light displays and simple autonomous flight maneuvers, providing an engaging visual experience while remaining easy to operate for users with little or no prior drone experience.

Each drone was custom-built using a MOD-L frame, a Matek F405-WMN flight controller, T-Motor F1404 3800KV motors, and a Raspberry Pi Zero W co-processor. The Raspberry Pi runs Python-based software that coordinates flight operations and controls the attached WS2812B RGB LED strips. Navigation is supported by BE-880 GPS modules, while communication is handled through 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi for telemetry and 802.15.4 wireless links for rapid light-control signaling. The total replication cost for each drone was kept below $700.

Testing showed that the drones could maintain autonomous hovering within a...

Clinical Need

Autologous fat grafting is widely used in reconstructive, cosmetic, and regenerative medicine due to its biocompatibility and regenerative potential from adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) and stromal vascular fraction (SVF) populations. However, current fat washing methods are highly manual and operator-dependent, contributing to inconsistent graft retention rates of 20-80% and reported cell viability losses of up to 30-50% during preparation and handling. These inefficiencies can prolong operating room time, increase healthcare costs, and reduce clinical outcomes by compromising adipocyte and stem cell survival. Therefore, there is a clinical need for an automated, scalable, and standardized adipose tissue washing and processing system capable of rapidly preparing large tissue volumes while preserving cellular viability and producing reproducible, high-quality graft material.

The current Sayenza platform can only process approximately 50 mL of adipose tissue per wash cycle, which is sufficient for small procedures and nanofat applications but...

Our project address the need for reliable, low-cost communication in areas where traditional networks (cellular or internet) are unavailable, unreliable, or compromised (such as during natural disasters, remote outdoor activities, or infrastructure outages). The project's goal is to create a decentralized, off-grid messaging networks using low-power LoRa radios, enabling users to communicate over long distances without centralized infrastructure. This project can be impactful for a wide range of individuals who depend on consistent access to communication in challenging or unpredictable environments, which can include outdoor enthusiasts, emergency responders, rural communities, and anyone requiring secure, infrastructure-independent communication.

Bubble Box is an interactive musical instrument that turns visible fluid motion into sound. The project was developed for the E-SONIC new instrument competition, where engineering design is used to create original instruments that are playable, expressive, and visually engaging. Bubble Box addresses the challenge of making a fluid-based instrument that is not only interesting to watch, but also repeatable enough for a performer to control during a live demonstration.

The final design uses water pulses to generate vortex rings inside a transparent chamber. These vortex rings travel through the water and perturb a flexible membrane connected to a sensor. The sensor signal is processed by an Arduino-based electronics system and converted into musical notes. The result is an instrument where the performer can “play” vortex rings, creating a direct connection between fluid motion, visual rhythm, and sound.

Mag‑Vengers is a senior design project in collaboration with a local defense company that focuses on remote data collection at impacted areas using drones. The team aims to advancing drone functionality through the use of electropermanent magnets and has developed a lightweight, durable drone attachment system embedded with EPMs to create a strong, switchable magnetic latch. Controlled electronically, the latch can be turned “on” or “off” to securely hold and individually release six (or more) sensor pucks during high‑speed flight.

The project’s goal is to deliver a fully functional prototype that is reliable, aesthetically clean, and easy to modify for future teams or organizations. Through the utilization of EPMs, the team aims to reduce size, weight, and power (SWaP) requirements. Over the course of two academic quarters, the team has applied skills in CAD modeling, simulation, prototyping, and documentation to design, test, and refine the system. Milestones...

Lightning strikes pose a threat to aircraft structural integrity as well as the pilots and people aboard aircraft, due to structural damage and electromagnetic interference from the lightning strike. Lightning strike protection (LSP) is a critical requirement in modern aircraft structures, particularly for carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites, which exhibit low electrical conductivity compared to  metallic materials. During a lightning strike event, intense localized Joule heating occurs and rapid temperature gradients within the material form. Due to the anisotropic conductivity of CFRP, where carbon fibers are conductive but the polymer matrix is insulating, current flow becomes highly non-uniform, leading to localized hotspots. Delamination, in particular, occurs due to rapid thermal expansion of the matrix and vaporization of entrapped gases, which generate internal pressure between plies and weaken interfacial bonding. To mitigate these effects, conductive pathways must be incorporated into CFRP laminates to safely dissipate electrical energy and prevent catastrophic...

The BioMiNT Lab at UC Irvine has developed a microfluidic platform that uses AESOP technology to deliver genetic material into cells, which engineers them to fight diseases like cancer. Ex vivo cell and gene therapy has the potential to save lives. Despite having a successful prototype, the problem is that the platform is currently made from Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a silicone polymer that has an operation time of 10 minutes and cannot be mass-produced quickly or at a low cost. In addition, FlexDym, another industry-standard material in biomedical engineering, has been used and is faster than PDMS, but it comes at a higher cost. Team FloBoss’s objective is to transition this platform from PDMS and FlexDym to the Polypolypropylene thermoplastic. This material extends the operation time, increasing the throughput, lowering manufacturing costs, and enabling large-scale production. In addition, new designs by Team FloBoss are creating higher throughputs and extending the...

The BioMiNT Lab at UC Irvine has developed a microfluidic platform that uses AESOP technology to deliver genetic material into cells, which engineers them to fight diseases like cancer. Ex vivo cell and gene therapy has the potential to save lives. Despite having a successful prototype, the problem is that the platform is currently made from Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a silicone polymer that only lasts about ten minutes during operation and cannot be mass-produced quickly or at a low cost. Team FloBoss’s objective is to transition this platform to one of the following thermoplastic materials: Flexdym, Polystyrene (PS), and Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA). These materials will extend the operation time, increasing the throughput, lowering manufacturing costs, and enabling large-scale production. Scaling up this technology allows cell-based therapies to be more accessible to hospitals, medical professionals, and the patients who need this care the most. 

Over 2 million cancer cases are projected in the United States in 2026.

While we aren’t inventing a cure, our team is helping accelerate cancer research to make future breakthroughs possible.

In collaboration with Kino Discovery, MicroJAMBRs' goal is to explore a more efficient pathway to isolating single cells for research through an innovative injection-molded microfluidic device.

Why is isolating cells so important?

Isolating cells for study, or single-cell analysis, is used in cancer research to examine gene expression, protein signaling, and mutations of cells in a tumor, allowing researchers to track treatment resistance and develop more targeted therapies.

In addition to oncology, single-cell analysis is useful in immunology, regenerative medicine, and pharmaceutical research markets.

The single cell analysis market is projected to exceed 1 billion dollars globally over the next decade.

With the help of Kino...

The United Nations estimates that 400 million tons of plastic are produced annually leading to 4.83 trillion microplastic (MP) particles floating in the ocean.  When ingested by humans, MPs cause inflammation, endocrine disruption, and DNA damage. MicroMola is a semi-autonomous floating near-surface robot designed to reduce microplastic density and support ocean health monitoring efforts by agencies like the EPA and Orange County Water Board. The main objective of the robot is to reduce the microplastic density in a body of water with minimal maintenance. The key impact is filtration of MPs as MicroMola possesses the potential to help reduce the risk of MPs to human health and ocean ecosystems. During fall quarter, the initial design of the MicroMola was completed by determining a bill of materials, calculating the necessary power budget, and discussing the protocols for communication. In the following Winter Quarter, the objectives achieved were: completing a working...

The Multi-Port Exhaust Emissions Sampling Probe was built to improve the accuracy and versatility of exhaust gas sampling in H₂–NG combustion testing. It has multiple independently controlled sampling ports so that emissions can be sampled at various positions within the exhaust stream without having to move the probe. The design uses modular fittings (Swagelok), which allow the system to be easily assembled or disassembled and to be scaled up to accommodate different experimental test rigs. Each port is attached to a solenoid valve system that is controlled by an Arduino and DAQ interface to automatically switch between sampling positions. The probe is also able to be moved in three dimensions to provide complete coverage of the measurement area and to allow for adaptation to different combustor geometries. This system is more efficient and repeatable and has higher spatial resolution than previous systems for emissions diagnostics. It will serve as...

               Narcotic Network aimed to design a lightweight device that provides quick and accurate medication delivery to patients living within 0.5 km of a pharmacy. Although Amazon Prime and FedEx Overnight offer one-day delivery, current commercial methods remain costly, inconsistent, and impersonal, especially outside urban areas. Therefore, underserved patients in suburban and exurban regions need novel medical delivery methods. The Narcotic Network Autonomous Delivery Drone, a 1.9 kg quadcopter, autonomously carries up to 0.5 kg of medication of various forms to patients who are unable to leave their homes. By transporting medication directly from pharmacies to elderly and terminal patients who need frequent medication refills, Narcotic Network enhances the customer experience by ensuring personalized, prompt delivery of high-priority medicine.

The Problem

Labor, measured by hand.

Manual cervical exams remain the standard for tracking labor progression.

Cervical dilation and effacement are still assessed much as they were a century ago: manually, subjectively, and intermittently. A clinician performs a physical exam, interprets findings based on experience, and records a discrete value in the chart. These exams are inherently uncomfortable for patients, carry a risk of infection with repeated assessments, and exhibit meaningful variability between providers.

Between assessments, there is little to no visibility into how labor is progressing. Exams are typically spaced one to four hours apart, creating extended gaps where changes go unobserved. During these intervals, clinicians must rely on indirect signs or wait for the next exam to reassess progression. Opportunities for timely intervention can be delayed, contributing to avoidable complications.

NeoFusion — a fully mechanical syringe pump for neonatal care in low-resource settings

Introduction

Neovi Medical is a team of engineers dedicated to developing innovative medical solutions for low-resource countries. Our flagship product, NeoFusion, is a fully mechanical syringe pump designed to address neonatal mortality in regions with limited infrastructure and unreliable electricity.

Needs Statement

There are approximately 6,500 newborn deaths every day. Although many of these deaths are preventable with proper access to quality healthcare, the world continues to see a health crisis that disproportionately impacts low-resource countries, with 98% of newborn deaths occurring in these regions. The WHO has identified syringe infusion pumps as necessary medical devices in low-resource countries. Syringe pumps are able to deliver precise amounts of medications, fluids, nutrients, and electrolytes to neonates, and they are critical in helping preterm babies...