The annual MTSU Engineering Technology Mech-Tech Expo will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday, April 29, on the Murphy Center track level.

The expo will be an in-person event, where the general public and MTSU community can see the projects and talk with the students about their creations.

State COVID-19 protocols remain in effect, requiring face masks and social distancing for all participants, following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

The expo is an annual celebration of applied engineering and technology where graduating students display and demonstrate their final senior projects, including experimental vehicles.

To find the Murphy Center and nearby parking, visit here. Visitors attending the expo should obtain a special one-day permit from MTSU’s Office of Parking and Transportation Services, which is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and located at 205 City View Drive, or print a visitor pass at https://mtsu.t2hosted.com; visitor permits are $2 per day.

A small sampling of technology on display will include:

• Automated greenhouses that monitor temperature and moisture for optimum plant growth.
• A hands-free system for monitoring a person’s body temperature to fight Covid-19 transmission.
• A robotic sack lunch machine that makes its own peanut butter sandwiches.
• Applied radar sensor and simulation technology for autonomous vehicles.
• A multisensor device for testing water.

John Rozell

“Teams and individuals have been working nights and weekends, testing and putting the finishing touches on their student projects,” said John Rozell, Engineering Technology director of research and development laboratories. “It has been  a tough year (because of COVID), but they have worked hard and pulled through, applying their knowledge and skills.”

Projects and posters will be judged and prizes awarded. T-shirts will be given away while they last.

Including engineering technology and its major concentrations, MTSU has more than 300 combined undergraduate and graduate programs. Engineering technology is one of 11 College of Basic and Applied Sciences departments.

—Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)

Experimental Vehicles Program students utilize specially equipped laboratories to prepare Baja, solar boat and lunar rovers for competition. An in-person Mech-Tech Expo featuring graduating senior projects will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday, April 29, on the Murphy Center track level. (Submitted photo)