Our mission is to ensure that photoplethysmography technology delivers accurate, reliable results for people of all skin tones by developing rigorous, melanin-responsive validation standards that eliminate bias at the source.
"Proprioception," often described as the human body's "6th sense," describes one's ability to know where their body is relative to itself without additional sensation. Proprioception has been proven to be a powerful predictor of the effectiveness of physical therapy, and further, that it is a trainable attribute. For patients recovering from strokes, measuring and training proprioception is a powerful new supplementary tool to use on the road to recovery. While there is one device (the Ankle Measuring Proprioceptive Device) capable of assessing and quantifying ankle proprioception, it is large and difficult to transport, preventing clinical viability. Prospective benefactors and/or test subjects are forced to come to where the device is located to assess and research ankle proprioception. The Portable Ankle Measuring Proprioceptive Device (PAMPD) is a smaller, lighter medical device meant to be brought to clinics to train and assess a patient’s ankle proprioception.
PoseMotive is a wearable posture-monitoring system designed to help users improve their posture and body language through continuous feedback and data analysis. The system consists of 5 inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors embedded in a wearable garment that measure body orientation and motion. A microcontroller gathering all the data from these sensors and aggregating the information and forwards it to a web application via bluetooth. The application communicates to a backend system through wireless communication which processes the sensor data and classifies the user's posture into interpretable categories such as slouched, straight, leaning left, leaning right, and arm positioning such as open or closed. The overall goal of the project is to promote better ergonomic habits by helping users become aware of posture issues and correct them through consistent monitoring and feedback.
This project addresses the need for fast and reliable defect detection in pharmaceutical manufacturing, where traditional inspection methods often rely on human oversight or cloud based processing that introduces latency and inconsistency. Defects such as micro cracks, improper sealing, or temperature anomalies in vials can compromise drug safety, leading to costly recalls and potential risks to patient health. By leveraging edge computing, the system performs real time, on device analysis that reduces latency while also lowering data transmission requirements and overall carbon footprint compared to cloud dependent approaches. This work directly impacts pharmaceutical manufacturers, quality assurance engineers, and ultimately patients who depend on safe and properly handled medications.
A tiltrotor tri-coptor VTOL fixed-wing UAV engineered for search-and-rescue — currently undergoing airframe surface coating and final systems integration before flight testing.
The Mission
Modern search and rescue (SAR) operations face a critical tradeoff: ground teams are slow, and conventional fixed-wing aircraft require runway infrastructure that doesn't exist in disaster zones or remote terrain.
The Anteatairs solves this by engineering a tiltrotor VTOL UAV — a hybrid platform that takes off and lands vertically like a multirotor, then physically rotates its motors forward to transition into efficient fixed-wing cruise flight. No runway. No infrastructure dependency.
Built on a COTS fixed-wing airframe retrofitted with custom tiltrotor propulsion, with a scale fuselage modeled in Fusion 360, a purpose-designed payload delivery bay, FPV telemetry, and autonomous navigation — this platform is designed to rapidly deploy, survey large search areas, and deliver emergency first-aid supplies to...
An integrated diagnostic pad for the immediate detection of Premature Rupture of Membranes (PROM), empowering expectant mothers with a reliable, non-invasive safety net.
1 in 10 pregnancies suffer from PROM. Currently, mothers are forced to rely on inaccurate "look and smell" tests or face $1,800+ unnecessary ER visits for false alarms.
Premature Rupture of Membranes (PROM) is a medical complication affecting over 1 in 10 pregnancies (over 360,000 women annually in the U.S.). It occurs when the amniotic sac ruptures before the onset of labor. Because the leaked amniotic fluid looks and feels strikingly similar to common urinary incontinence or standard discharge, it is incredibly difficult to confidently identify at home.
Currently, there are no accurate at-home tests...
A safer and more intuitive epinephrine auto-injector redesign
Anaphylaxis is a life‑threatening emergency, and epinephrine auto‑injectors are the only proven first‑line treatment. Yet despite their importance, they’re often not used when they’re needed most. With 1 in 20 Americans experiencing anaphylaxis and early epinephrine shown to reduce hospitalizations by 26%, it’s deeply concerning that 62% of patients never receive the injection during the reaction. At the same time, more than 6,800 accidental injuries occur each year due to confusing device orientation, difficulty knowing when the injection is complete, and limited safety features that leave users exposed to needles. These issues highlight a critical gap: epinephrine auto‑injectors can only save lives if people can use them safely, confidently, and correctly.
Current epinephrine auto-injectors are difficult...
The Carlsbad Desalination Plant is the largest saltwater desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere. The project’s primary goal is to redesign the intake system capacity to increase from 50 million gallons per day (MGD), which is 10% of San Diego’s daily potable water demand, to 299 MGD. The design must fulfill the California Ocean Plan Amendment (OPA), specifically the Desalination Amendment, which was added in 2015. The Amendment requires that new or expanded seawater desalination facilities implement the best available site selection, design, technology, and mitigation measures to minimize the intake and mortality of all forms of marine life.
Design components include the large organism exclusion devices, travelling band screens, spray wash pumps, and a debris sorting station. This project will decrease San Diego County’s reliance on imported water that must be transported from long distances and remove strain from the limited groundwater supply. Currently, San Diego...
A science-backed wearable designed to reprogram movement
The problem is not effort.
The problem is execution.
Sports are built on complex movements. Athletes learn those movements through thousands of repetitions. When the movement is trained incorrectly, the body can repeat stress patterns it was not meant to withstand.
In volleyball, poor swing mechanics can lead athletes to rely too heavily on the shoulder instead of using the full body. Over time, repeated poor mechanics can contribute to pain, frustration, performance plateaus, and overuse injuries.
The hardest part is that every rep strengthens the pattern. Once a movement becomes automatic, athletes can understand the correction and still fail to apply it during full-speed play.
Athletes Need Two Things to Improve...
...
The RepHlux project aims to develop an improved, minimally invasive medical device for diagnosing Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), helping to prevent long-term health complications through more effective monitoring.
Current acid reflux monitoring methods rely on either battery-powered capsules or wired catheter systems. Battery-powered devices tend to be bulky and have limited operational lifetimes, while catheter-based systems can cause significant discomfort for patients. These limitations create a need for a more patient-friendly and reliable solution.
RepHlux addresses this gap via a belt-and-capsule transceiver system that uses radio frequency communication to transmit data between the capsule and an external belt reader. By eliminating the need for batteries and wires, the device enables real-time monitoring while improving patient comfort.
This project features an improvement in signal retention and upgraded specifications from previous works on a battery-less acid reflux monitor paper.
Stroke survivors frequently experience upper-limb impairment, with 55–75% losing fine motor control, and recovery often plateaus within six months, highlighting the need for accessible, high-repetition rehabilitation tools. Because proprioception—the body’s sense of limb position and movement—is commonly impaired after stroke, improving it is critical for restoring hand function. This project addresses that need by developing REX0, a dual-glove wearable rehabilitation system that enables motion mimicry, allowing movements from a patient’s healthy hand to be replicated on the impaired hand for proprioceptive training. The system aims to improve long-term rehabilitation outcomes for stroke survivors who require effective and engaging therapy for hand motor recovery.
Rancho Mission Viejo is a master-planned community in southern Orange County spanning 20,868 acres, established in 2005 on a former family ranch. Under the Southern Subregion Habitat Conservation Plan (SSHCP), 75% of the land is preserved as open space, with the remaining 25% designated for residential and commercial development. This project assumes the community is in its early stages of development, where a roadway network has yet to be established. As development progresses, traffic demand is projected to increase significantly, placing strain on Ortega Highway (SR-74) as the primary route through the area. Without a planned roadway network, continued growth will result in increased congestion, reduced levels of service, and safety concerns for future residents and commuters.
Anteater Transportation Engineering, sponsored by HDR, was tasked with designing a roadway network to provide an alternative route to Ortega Highway, improve internal traffic circulation, and support the community's long-term...
Stairways are a fundamental barrier for autonomous ground vehicles. While wheeled robots excel on flat terrain, navigating multi-step staircases remains one of the most mechanically demanding challenges in mobile robotics. Team 28 set out to address this by designing and building a fully autonomous, six-wheeled stair-climbing robot capable of carrying a payload up the 19-step Engineering Gateway staircase at UC Irvine.
Our design utilizes the rocker-bogie suspension system, which is a solution first developed by NASA for their Mars Sojourner rover to maintain continuous wheel contact across uneven surfaces without the need for active stabilization. The project was driven by a practical need: demonstrating that a compact, low-cost ground vehicle can reliably navigate real-world stair environments, with potential applications in search and rescue, building inspection, and last-mile delivery in infrastructure-limited settings.
Additive manufacturing has greatly improved rapid prototyping and small-scale production, but post-processing steps such as support removal, surface finishing, and print-bed cleaning remain largely manual and labor-intensive. These tasks introduce inefficiencies, inconsistencies in product quality, and potential safety risks due to exposure to chemicals like acetone used in vapor smoothing. Scrappy addresses this problem by developing a robotic system capable of automating these post-processing operations. By reducing manual labor and human exposure to hazardous materials, the project aims to improve safety, repeatability, and overall efficiency within additive manufacturing workflows.
The San Joaquin Marsh (SJM) is a constructed wetland located in Irvine, California within the Newport Bay watershed. A prominent feature of the habitat is the natural wetland treatment system, where urban runoff and groundwater travels through a series of ponds with vegetation, and the effluent (clean water) makes its way towards upper Newport Bay and the ocean. One major pollutant of emerging concern present in the marsh is selenium (Se), a naturally occurring element in the surrounding foothills around the area. At high levels, Se can be toxic to native aquatic plants and animals present in these ecosystems. This project quantifies the amount of Se removal via volatilization. Acrylic chambers were designed, assembled, and deployed clear at Pond 3 in the SJM to capture volatilized Se from bulrush and cattail utilizing carbon filters via a vacuum pump. The constructed chambers enclosed water and plants, allowing data collection over a...
SmartCan is a smart sorting bin designed to identify and collect recyclable materials using computer vision. Improper waste disposal and low recycling rates contribute to environmental issues, while individuals with mobility limitations may face challenges in properly disposing of waste. This project addresses both concerns by creating an autonomous system that can detect recyclable objects and move toward them. By combining accessibility with sustainability, SmartCan aims to promote cleaner environments and make recycling more convenient for a wider range of users.
According to an article by the American Chemical Society:
"Sports physiology will likely benefit from a technology able to account for high-resolution temporal lactate changes according to the intensity of the physical activity, rather than discrete information from centralized lab-based analysis.”
Lactate is a byproduct of muscular metabolism and an indicator of workout intensity. This market gap exists due to the difficulty in isolating and measuring specific chemicals in sweat, such as lactate. Currently, lactate sensors on the market are usually invasive and require lab analysis. This leaves a large market gap for non-invasive, real time lactate sensors, among athletes as well as the average consumer.
SmartSweat proposes an electrochemical lactate sensor working in combination with a mobile app to provide real-time lactate analysis on the user's sweat.
The signal strength necessary to identify small radar cross sections of miniature drones has resulted in most modern radars designed for this task being highly expensive and energy-intensive, rendering them impractical for use in an instructional setting and pushing university curricula to lean toward simulation as opposed to real-world testing. We are designing a cost-effective, energy-efficient phased array radar module using the ADALM-PLUTO software-defined radio (SDR), capable of detecting unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at short to medium ranges. The proposed model may act as a replicable instructional platform for radar experimentation and a foundation for small-scale research in UAV detection and target classification.
Stairs remain one of the biggest obstacles for mobile robots, limiting their usefulness in real world environments. While robots excel on flat surfaces, they struggle with the vertical challenge of staircases. Our project addresses this problem by designing a robot capable of quickly and reliably climbing the Engineering Gateway stairs at UC Irvine while transporting a standard 0.5L water bottle. The core challenge is balancing torque, traction, weight, and stability to achieve a controlled ascent without flipping or stalling. This matters because first responders need robots that can access upper floors in collapsed buildings. Delivery companies need robots that can reach front doors beyond ground level. Individuals with mobility impairments could benefit from assistive devices that navigate stairs in their own homes. Our specific task of climbing the Engineering Gateway stairs with a water bottle serves as a testbed for these broader applications. The problem we are tackling affects...
Current delivery devices and services are optimized for flat terrain and struggle with stair-like obstacles. StairForce One is a remotely operated tracked vehicle designed to transport small payloads up steep staircases without physical tethering. The system uses a dual-track drivetrain and distributed wheel and distributed gear support to maintain stability and traction while climbing. StairForce One successfully transported a 0.5 L (16.9 oz) water bottle up UCI Engineering Gateway stairway in less than 30 seconds with 50% power, demonstrating reliable ascent and remote operation. This project highlights the potential for compact stair-climbing vehicles in last-mile delivery, accessibility support, and emergency logistics.
Impervious surfaces introduced by site developments generate higher flows and volumes of surface runoff during storm events compared to undeveloped conditions, where precipitation would be more likely to percolate into underlying, native soils. This excess surface runoff mobilizes constituents such as sediments or nutrients along its path, ultimately discharging into receiving water bodies. The University of California, Irvine’s Department of Campus Planning & Sustainability has requested consulting services to develop best management practices (BMPs) for treating surface water runoff quality and managing runoff volumes associated with campus redevelopments. The requested BMPs will be designed to accommodate the runoff generated by the construction of new amenities for the UC Irvine Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders (UCI MIND). The UCI MIND site plan currently consists of two 0.36-acre buildings that will function as mixed-use research facilities and office spaces and will be located on the UCI campus by the...
Most commercially available 1:18 scale RC boats are designed solely for surface operation, lacking the structural integrity, waterproofing, and buoyancy control needed for submersion. While RC submarines are available as niche hobbyist products, they tend to be expensive, specialized, and limited in depth capability. This project aims to bridge that gap by converting an off-the-shelf RC boat into a functional submarine, applying engineering principles to address challenges in waterproofing, ballast design, and underwater propulsion.
Aviation is a major contributor to global climate change, accounting for approximately 2.5% of global CO₂ emissions and roughly 5% of total anthropogenic warming when non-CO₂ effects are included. Without intervention, aviation emissions are projected to double by 2050, yet Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) currently represents only 0.2% of global jet fuel consumption. This project addresses the urgent need to scale up SAF production by designing and evaluating a commercially viable bio-ethanol-to-jet (ETJ) fuel process. The aviation industry, airlines, passengers, and the broader global community concerned with climate change are all directly affected, as are agricultural and biofuel producers who stand to benefit from an expanded market for bio-ethanol feedstocks. By demonstrating a technically sound and economically feasible pathway to produce low-carbon jet fuel, this project contributes to the decarbonization of one of the hardest-to-abate sectors in the global economy.
A mechanical, surgeon‑friendly tool designed to standardize closure tension and reduce recurrence.
Ventral hernia repair makes up about a third of all hernia surgeries in the United States. However, recurrence rates remain high, between 45% and 73% within 5 years, leading to costly re-operations.
There is no widely adopted method for measuring suture tension in the operating room. This leads to variability across surgeons, techniques, and suture types, impacting patient outcomes.
The project addresses the challenge of making analog signal processing and synthesizer operation accessible to beginners, since conventional synthesizers are often costly, highly complex, and difficult to interpret without prior technical knowledge. To address this, a modular educational system called Synthesizer Blocks was developed, in which individual signal-processing functions such as waveform generation, filtering, mixing, and amplitude modulation are implemented as physically interchangeable blocks. This architecture enables users to assemble signal chains while directly observing waveform changes through built-in test points, supporting a clearer understanding of electrical engineering fundamentals. The scope of the project included the design, fabrication, and validation of PCB-based functional modules capable of producing audible output while serving as a hands-on instructional platform for signal processing concepts.
