Project Scope

Smart MAT Corporation is seeking an interdisciplinary engineering team to design, develop, and validate a functional prototype of an Autonomous Biosecurity Threshold System (ABTS).

Smart MAT is a digital, autonomous, biosecurity threshold system engineered to proactively prevent cross-contamination across the threshold by eliminating and neutralizing BioThreats and BioBurdens before they spread from exterior to interior spaces.

The prototype shall be engineered to manage the threshold’s liminal space where people transition from exterior to interior spaces through a managed, controlled, intelligent, responsive, protective, secured, and surveilled autonomous biosecurity system.

The engineering team shall design an autonomous biosecurity threshold system by integrating filtered Far-UVC 222 nm technology, autonomous sensing, embedded electronics, control logic, power management, mechanical design, safety systems, weather-resistant and anti-slip materials, eco-amiable and sustainable design principles, manufacturing methods, and complete system integration into a fully functional engineering prototype.

The prototype shall demonstrate the complete autonomous operational sequence:

Detect → Neutralize → Protect

Step On → Step Off → Step In

Primary Engineering Objectives
Design an autonomous biosecurity threshold system suitable for flush-to-door placement or embedded installation for exterior and interior applications.
Integrate filtered Far-UVC 222 nm technology into the prototype architecture.

Integrate autonomous sensing, activation, and system control to detect the presence of footwear, initiate the neutralization cycle, complete the programmed operation, and automatically reset for the next user.

Design a safe, serviceable, weather-resistant, anti-slip, eco-amiable, and sustainable engineering solution.
Accommodate future identification, classification, detection, and verification technologies.
Build, test, and validate a fully functional engineering prototype.

Demonstrate consistent autonomous operation, repeatable performance, and operational safety.

The sponsor will provide the problem definition, product vision, operational behavior, user experience, engineering requirements, research, concept renderings, images, videos, presentation materials, reference documentation, and performance objectives. The engineering team will determine the most appropriate engineering implementation, prototype fabrication, testing, validation, and technical documentation.

Background: In today's world, hackers prefer medical histories over personal finances because financial data is perishable, whereas medical records are permanent, unchangeable, and command a massive premium on the dark web. While banks use real-time fraud detection to freeze compromised credit cards within hours, a patient's medical file contains unalterable data - like Social Security numbers, genetic history, and diagnoses - that criminals can exploit for years. This durable identity profile opens the door to multi-layered crimes, including fraudulent insurance billing, prescription theft, tax fraud, and even personal blackmail. Furthermore, because hospitals prioritize immediate patient care over IT infrastructure, their sprawling networks are historically underfunded and a much softer target for data extortion than heavily fortified financial institutions.

Project Scope: Secure, Location-Bounded Medical Data Retrieval

Project Objective: The student team will design and engineer a secure, location-bounded prototype for accessing sensitive medical records within a controlled hospital environment. The system will leverage temporary, single-use encryption keys and spatial restrictions to ensure that medical data can only be decrypted and viewed under strict, pre-determined conditions, rendering traditional interception and data-logging attempts useless.
Technical Workflow & Architecture: The engineering team will implement an end-to-end data pipeline adhering to the following protocol:
1. Initiation & Key Generation: Scanning a digital access code will instantly trigger the generation of a unique, one-time end-to-end encryption key.
2. Secure Containerized Processing: This key is securely transmitted to an isolated Docker container housed within the primary medical server architecture.
3. Secure Retrieval & Volatility: The container uses the temporary key to securely fetch the requested medical records from the server database, after which the initial key is permanently destroyed ("thrown away").
4. Secure Data Return: To safely deliver the information back to the authorized viewing device, the system generates a separate, one-time return key to encrypt and transmit the data.
5. Spatial Access Control: The entire decryption and viewing process is bounded by a strict spatial geofence (such as a specific hospital room). The moment the viewing device leaves this predetermined physical boundary, the spatial lock triggers, the session is terminated, and the temporary data is permanently cleared from the device.
Key Technical Challenges for Students
• Developing a lightweight, high-speed protocol for generating and destroying single-use cryptographic keys.
• Configuring an isolated Docker container environment to manage server database communication securely.
• Implementing precise, low-latency spatial geographic tracking to enforce the boundary-based data wipe.
Skills Requested: To build this proof of concept, the student team will need a multidisciplinary skill set spanning cybersecurity, cloud architecture, mobile development, and hardware tracking.
Here is the condensed breakdown of the core skills required:
• Cryptography & Security Engineering: Expertise in generating and destroying single-use encryption keys (e.g., AES/RSA) and building secure, authenticated APIs.
• DevOps & Containerization: Proficiency in configuring, networking, and hardening isolated Docker containers to sandbox the server-side database communication.
• Full-Stack / Mobile Development: Skills in building application interfaces that scan digital codes, securely handle medical data in temporary memory (RAM), and force instantaneous data wipes.
• Indoor Geofencing: Experience working with indoor location technologies like BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) Beacons or UWB (Ultra-Wideband) to enforce strict, low-latency room boundaries.

The rapid growth of commercial scale rooftop solar creates a logistical bottleneck: field crews must manually lift heavy photovoltaic (PV) panel arrays onto the roof, align them, and then perform all wiring. This “lift and install” step consumes ≈ 30 % of total crew labor time and introduces a high risk of injury.

The senior capstone team will develop a modular Solar Array Lift-and-Place (SALP) system that can lift a preassembled solar panel module from a flatbed trailer to the roof. The lift can easily be attached to the trailer and adjusted for different roof heights. The lift will be easy to operate and will provide a safe method to move the solar panel module from the trailer to the roof. By decoupling the heavy lifting operation from the final attachment, the system is expected to reduce on site crew labor by at least 20 % and improve overall site safety.

As a part of the coral resilience research program at Biosphere 2, artificial suspended reefs called Coral Reef Arks are being implemented as an innovative solution to significantly improve coral growth and survival relative to traditional restoration (>80% vs. 42% after 3 years). The technology behind Arks includes biomimetic fractal-based designs, inspired by natural structures to optimize surface area for coral attachment and hydrodynamic stability. In the Biosphere 2 Ocean, a 2.6-million-liter coral reef mesocosm whose environment can be precisely manipulated, Arks will undergo further testing and design iteration in a controlled environment. A wave flume shall be constructed to test Ark designs at scale for ocean storm conditions. The flume will be validated using previously collected data for the 2V icosahedron design from wind tunnel testing and computational fluid dynamics modeling.

The goal of this project is to produce an upper body vasculature model which can be used for simulated PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) procedures. The model should be able to support all parts of the procedure, including gaining initial access to peripheral vessels (from left or right arm), navigate through cephalic, brachial, and basilic vessels (in the arms), and terminate in the superior vena cava. The model should also support simulating malpositions, including intrajugular vein, azygous, and contralateral (across to the opposite brachial-cephalic vein) malpositions. The model also needs to incorporate a simulated EKG signal that mimics EKG behavior consistent with real placements and human electrophysiology. The model should also support troubleshooting, including movement of the arms/limbs and head. The vasculature should be non-rigid and low friction. In order to get an EKG signal, model may need to contain fluid including methods to drain, clean, fill, etc.

The model will be used with vascular access placement nurses in human factors or usability studies to assess new guided PICC technology in development. Therefore, the model should be incorporated into a manakin. The team will have the opportunity to test the feasibility of the model with the new technology in development throughout the Capstone Project.

Background: There is an immediate requirement to identify, acquire, and transition to a sustainable replacement or modernized support solution for the legacy Advanced Remote Control Systems (ARCS). The current proprietary software architecture is maintained by a specialized two-person team that will soon retire, creating an unmitigated single point of failure. Without a modernized solution or secure support transition, the organization faces a critical loss of autonomous and tele-operated vehicle capabilities.
The organization currently utilizes the ARCS to convert various platforms into unmanned systems. The system has been in use for decades and is highly adaptable, capable of integrating with wheeled or tracked vehicles utilizing either automatic or manual transmissions. The ARMY has been continuing to fund increased capabilities over the life of the program.
The ARCS architecture consists of:
1) Hardware: Mechanical actuators, installation hardware, and a precision electronic control system.
2) Software: Proprietary building blocks designated as K-Path™ and K-TRAC™.
3) Operational Modes:
• Autonomous Operations: The base station operator selects a pre-recorded path and downloads it to the vehicle. Upon receiving waypoints and arming actuators, the vehicle navigates autonomously. The base station tracks the vehicle and provides differential GPS/positioning correction data.
• Tele-Operations: The system allows operators to seamlessly switch from autonomous waypoint following to active joystick control (Tele-OPS) via a Graphic User Interface (GUI) on the base station laptop.
4) Dynamic Control: Operators can actively push operational parameters to the vehicle, including target speed, column spacing, parking distance, and detour direction.

The critical vulnerability of the current ARCS platform is its sustainment model. The core software (K-Path™ and K-TRAC™) is proprietary and solely supported by a two-person technical team. With the imminent retirement of these subject matter experts, the organization will lose all capability to maintain, troubleshoot, patch, or update the ARCS software. Because the software is proprietary, the organization cannot easily transition support to another contractor or internal personnel without extensive reverse-engineering or licensing disruptions. Once the support team departs, any software failure, hardware incompatibility, or cybersecurity vulnerability will render the ARCS inoperable.
Failure to field a replacement or establish a sustainable software architecture will result in the total loss of the organization's remote and autonomous vehicle control capabilities. This will severely degrade mission readiness, particularly for operations requiring unmanned vehicles for hazardous environment navigation, testing, or automated convoy operations (as indicated by the system's column spacing capabilities).
Project Scope: To mitigate this risk, the organization requires a modernized Remote Control System solution that meets the following baseline criteria:
1) Functional Parity: The new system must maintain or exceed current ARCS capabilities, including real-time Tele-operations (joystick control) and the ability to adjust dynamic parameters (speed, spacing, routing) on the move.
2) Platform Agnosticism: The system must remain highly adaptable to a diverse fleet of wheeled and tracked platforms with varying transmission types.
3) Sustainable Architecture: The required solution must eliminate single points of failure in personnel. It should ideally utilize Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) principles, commercially available software with robust vendor support, or fully acquired data rights to allow for competitive maintenance contracts.
4) Modernization: The system should upgrade aging base-station hardware/GUIs and ensure the new software architecture complies with current cybersecurity and network defense standards.

Design and build a quadruped robot that can walk continuously for 30 minutes, detect and avoid obstacles, obtain a speed of 3 mph with 6-inch high steps while carrying a 5 lb payload.

This project will design, build, and validate a servo-actuated electronically controlled continuously variable transmission (E-CVT) for the University of Arizona Baja SAE vehicle. The system will replace the existing mechanical CVT with a pair of variable-diameter sheaves driven by servo motors to control the transmission ratio in a closed loop across the engine's operating range. Unlike prior teams, which actuated the sheaves through a hydraulic system, this project uses direct servo actuation to eliminate the hydraulic fluid circuit, reducing the risk of additional failures. The scope is limited to the transmission actuation and control system, the competition spec engine will not be modified, and real-time telemetry will be driven from the team's current electrical system with the addition of any necessary sensors not already integrated in their system.

This project will develop, integrate, and validate an electronic throttle control system for the University of Arizona Formula SAE internal combustion vehicle. The system will replace the mechanical throttle linkage with a rules-compliant drive-by-wire throttle body, accelerator pedal position sensing, throttle position feedback, actuator control, and fault-detection logic. The project scope includes selecting and mounting the required sensors and actuator hardware, designing the electrical interface to the engine control system, implementing plausibility checks for redundant pedal and throttle signals, ensuring the throttle returns to idle during power loss or detected faults, and documenting the system for Formula SAE approval.

This project will design and prototype a modular transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) coil positioning system for supervised research use. The system should begin as a high-stability analog/mechanical arm that can hold a TMS coil in place after positioning with minimal or no drift, while providing approximately 270-degree placement coverage around the participant’s head. The device should be compatible with MagVenture TMS coils and, if feasible, designed with a modular interface to accommodate additional common coil form factors in the future. The system should support either a freestanding base or a stable mounting interface to an existing preamp/cooling cart or related equipment stand.
The longer-term purpose of the platform is to support closed-loop and reinforcement-learning-based neuromodulation experiments in which software can command coil position changes between predefined stimulation sites. Therefore, the prototype should also include a digital upgrade path: neuronavigation-compatible infrared optical tracking, software/computer communication capability, and a modular path toward robotic or motor-assisted repositioning. A technician manual-override mode is required so that small corrections can be made without the operator having to fully support the coil weight. The capstone deliverable is a supervised laboratory prototype and engineering platform, not a clinical or unsupervised medical device.

***This project is conducting remote interviews. Please see remote interview sheet on BrightSpace (D2L) to schedule a time to speak to the sponsor.***