Innovation on Display: EE Students Showcase Bold Senior Design Projects at 2025 Expo

From AI-powered skydiving analytics to handheld digital pets that track your campus health habits, Columbia Electrical Engineering students brought their best ideas to life at the 2025 Senior Design Expo. Showcasing a wide range of hardware-software systems, the annual event featured senior capstone projects that blend creativity, technical precision, and real-world impact.

Richard Lee, who serves as lab manager at EE department and has supported students with their senior projects, said: “It is fulfilling to see the culmination of students’ hard work and creativity crystallize at the Senior Design Expo. It’s a great chance for students to express their creativity and individuality while collaborating.” 

Here are eight of the standout projects that drew the crowd’s attention:

1. World of Tanks

Team: Darcy He, Junhe Zhang, Tracy Zhao
Advisor: Department of Electrical Engineering
An immersive RC car game that fuses laser combat with real-time Bluetooth control. Players “fire” lasers at opponents’ tanks, triggering a freeze penalty via photodetector hits. The project incorporates a 360-degree laser turret, ESP32-based wireless control, and an auto-aim system inspired by the Wii remote. Future enhancements include gesture-based aiming and improved physical interfaces.

2. TOMODACHI!

Team: Elena Casas, Frida Morales, Sarah Sanzebin, Xiyan Zhu
Advisor: Professor David Vallancourt
A nostalgic-yet-modern take on the classic Tamagotchi, this handheld device connects to friends’ pets via Bluetooth to play games like Werewolf and Snake. But it’s not just for fun—TOMODACHI! encourages healthier student lifestyles by rewarding exercise, sleep, and even dining hall meals with virtual pet happiness. Sensors detect motion and environmental changes to simulate bonding across campus.

3. SkySafe: Skydiving Analytics System

Team: Anshul Khazanchi Sinha

Advisor: Department of Electrical Engineering
Designed for thrill-seekers, SkySafe captures in-air telemetry during freefall and landing. The device mounts onto a parachute rig and logs data like altitude, orientation, and heart rate. It uses Bluetooth and a Kalman filter to sync with a mobile app that visualizes jumps, compares statistics, and suggests improvements via AI-driven coaching tools.

4. Multipurpose Sports Device (Track & Weights)

Team: Aidan Shinfield, Ben Hanley
Advisor: Professor David Vallancourt
A dual-function sports tracker that transitions between running metrics and weightlifting analytics. Athletes wear the device or attach it to equipment to collect real-time data on motion and acceleration. The data syncs to an SD card and can be used by coaches to assess form, training loads, and fatigue—all without disrupting performance.

5. Wearable Analog Synthesizer

Team: Helen Bovington, Daryl Choo, Anya Trumbach, Kayla Montgomery
Advisors: Professor David Vallancourt (EE), Professor Seth Cluett (Computer Music Center)
Music meets movement in this wearable EMG synthesizer. Housed in a fabric sleeve, the device converts muscle contractions and hand gestures into analog waveforms. Users can trigger sounds using flexor/extensor activity, with real-time signal processing powered by ESP32 and Bluetooth. A calibration system ensures accuracy across wearers and sessions.

6. Battery State-of-Charge and Health Monitoring System

Team: Nicholas de la Cruz, Mehmet Kutlubas, Hadley Pade, Elizabeth Scott
Advisor: Department of Electrical Engineering
This system ensures safer and more efficient battery performance by estimating charge and health states using a SAR ADC and Kalman filtering. The hardware logs charge-discharge cycles, detects abnormal patterns, and integrates into battery packs for devices like electric vehicles. Safety mechanisms and visual output dashboards round out the system.

7. Digital Chip Tester

Team: Shiya Matsushita, Jeffrey Phan, Alexander Oh, Robel Wondwossen
Advisor: Department of Electrical Engineering
Developed to streamline undergraduate lab testing, this diagnostic tool automatically identifies, tests, and displays results for logic chips like NAND gates and op-amps. Using an Arduino Mega and intuitive software, the tester simplifies complex signal validation, making it easy for students to verify chip health and functionality without external instrumentation.

8. LenScribe: Beamforming Subtitle Glasses

Team: Nicolas Alarcon, Alina Arreola, Claire Citadel, Alexander Gonzalez, Azi Ray
Advisor: Professor David Vallancourt
A groundbreaking accessibility device, LenScribe transcribes spoken words in real time and displays them on AR glasses. A four-microphone array uses beamforming to capture directional speech, which is processed via a Raspberry Pi and shown on a semi-transparent lens overlay. The project fuses audio filtering, speech-to-text AI, and wearable AR for inclusive communication.

Each of these projects represents months of research, prototyping, and iteration, and together, they exemplify the spirit of Columbia Engineering—engineering for humanity. Congratulations to the Class of 2025 EE seniors for pushing boundaries and sharing your bold visions with the world.