Capstone Design Project Course 2022 held jointly with Taiwan Tech

Students from Tokyo Tech’s School of Engineering, School of Materials and Chemical Technology, and School of Environment and Society completed Capstone Design Project Course 2022 together with students from the College of Engineering, College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and College of Applied Sciences at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (Taiwan Tech) between August 10 and 31, 2022.

The Capstone Design Project Course, which began in 2018, consists of a hands-on design project that allows students to apply their engineering design knowledge and skills during the final stages of their bachelor program studies, but also functions as an exchange program between Tokyo Tech and Taiwan Tech. Participants include undergraduate students studying in the Global Development Engineering Program (GDEP) at Taiwan Tech, who take all their classes in English, and bachelor-level students affiliated with one of the three Tokyo Tech Schools mentioned above. After taking lectures related to the project theme given by faculty members of both universities, the students are divided into several teams at both Tokyo Tech and Taiwan Tech. Each team designs and prototypes a mechatronics system which is evaluated in a final competition.

In the past, Tokyo Tech students also spent one month at Taiwan Tech, but this component of the course has not been possible in recent years due to COVID-19. The program was completely cancelled in 2020 and 2021 for the same reason. This year, the program was conducted fully online for the first time.

The project theme in 2022 was "Development of a vehicle driven by a fuel cell with hydrogen gas obtained by electrolysis of water." Twenty Taiwan Tech students and six Tokyo Tech students joined this program. Between August 10 and 16, all participants took the following lectures on the fundamentals and design of fuel cell vehicles given by Tokyo Tech faculty members:

The final competition was held by online at both universities on August 31. Assistant Professor Chang, deputy chairperson of GDEP, served as the chair of the final competition. To kick things off, each team delivered a presentation on the key points of their design. The specified running distance of between 10 and 30 meters was determined by lottery. Each team had to adjust the amount of hydrogen gas needed for the specified running distance.

The presentation and appearance of the vehicles were evaluated by other participating students and faculty members. The difference between the specified and achieved running distance was also quantitatively evaluated. After a tough contest, the following team from Tokyo Tech was selected as the winner:

The competition ended with an awards and course completion ceremony, where all participating students received certificates of completion signed by deans from both Tokyo Tech and Taiwan Tech. Students from both universities also earned credits for their participation in Capstone Design Project Course 2022.