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LSU College of Engineering highlights research growth; students present infant-seat alarm device
Summary
Dean Vicki Colvin described record research awards, fundraising for a new construction and advanced manufacturing building, rising enrollments and student retention. Two electrical engineering graduates presented a capstone device designed to alarm when a child is left in a car seat.
Vicki Colvin, dean of the College of Engineering at LSU, told the Board of Supervisors' Research and Agriculture Extension Committee that the college expects to exceed last year’s record for research awards by more than 10 percent come July 1 and has raised more than $40 million toward a new Construction and Advanced Manufacturing Building.
Colvin said the college’s freshmen interest in engineering, construction management and computer science is up more than 10 percent, and the college graduated more than 1,000 bachelor of science students this year. She noted about 60 percent of engineering graduates stay in Louisiana and expressed a goal to increase retention and in-state employment for graduates.
Colvin then introduced two recent electrical engineering graduates, Trevor Pero and Victoria Aronde, who presented their senior capstone project: an infant-car-seat alarm prototype they described as designed to reduce heatstroke deaths. Pero said the team built "a key chain fob ... that is a one-of-a-kind device" that communicates with a weight pad under the car seat and "sounds an alarm when the key chain fob is no longer in range of the weight pad system, and there's a baby still detected in the car seat." Aronde said the device was created after their sponsor, David Jenks, asked the team to develop an affordable retrofit system following a family tragedy; she said the system is intended to be less expensive than integrated alarm car seats and is designed for retrofitting existing seats.
Both the dean and the students described the capstone model as a commercializable prototype; Trevor and Victoria said next steps include exploring patent opportunities and partnerships to move the device toward market availability. Committee members thanked the students; no formal board action was recorded for the capstone presentation.
Colvin also summarized engineering program strengths, including hands-on training, notable partnerships with the Office of Research and Economic Development that helped secure a National Science Foundation award of more than $6 million, and the college’s fundraising and industry connections that support the planned facility.
