FINAL YEAR DESIGN PROJECTS OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2011/2012
Title: Underwater Camera System for Hull Inspection
Group size:

4 students

Supervisors:
Prof. Lilong Cai (email: melcai@ust.hk)
Prof. Vincent Li (email: emvli@ust.hk)
General Description:
Overhauling the hull is an important routine maintenance procedure for marine
vessels. Preliminary inspections are usually carried out to estimate the extent of
repair to be done. At present, the shipyards employ the practice of sending
divers to perform underwater inspection of the hull. However, the inspection
result will mainly depend on the judgments from the divers and this may have
deviations from the actual condition due to their experience/knowledge. Another
method is dry-docking which can facilitate detailed examination of the condition
of the hull. Yet, it is costly and time consuming.
Investigations have been made to see if guided underwater camera system can
be developed to gather the necessary information for the shipyards
maintenance planning.
Scope of Work:
This FYDP project aims to design/fabricate a low cost and reliable underwater
camera system to carry out preliminary inspection for the hull of vessels. The
functional specifications of the system are as follows:1. The camera system can work under sea water to a depth of about 6 meters.
2. It should be portable for inspection at various locations.
3. It should have maneuvering capability with control/video signal being
connected to a main
control and display panel via cables.
The project will involve the application of control theory, vision and motor
technology, software
development and hardware fabrication for the camera system.
4 creative and hardworking students will be ideal for a team to this project. Each
group member will look after the design and fabrication of specific parts and
coordination from the team leader is critical to the success of this project.
Please contact either Professor Cai or Prof. Li for project details if you are
interested.
Some examples of the underwater camera are shown below:-

FINAL YEAR DESIGN PROJECTS OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2011/2012
Title:
Development of a Capillary-assisted Evaporator Used
in Adsorption Cooling Systems
Group size: 4 students
Supervisor:

Prof. Christopher Y. H. CHAO (email: meyhchao@ust.hk)

General Description:
Capillary-assisted evaporators have drawn a lot of attention recently due to their high heat transfer
coefficient benefitting from the extremely thin evaporating liquid film. They are studied widely in
fundamental research on heat and mass transfer. Effort has been made to develop capillary-assisted
evaporators that have enhanced evaporation rate.
Existing systems, low pressure evaporators such as water evaporators, falling film evaporators and
methanol evaporators have two main problems: one is that the system becomes may become more
complex involving a circulating pump and liquid spray equipment; the other is the non-uniform
liquid distribution on the outside surface of the heat transfer tubes.
However, capillary-assisted evaporation systems can solve these two problems perfectly and thus
have the potential to be a more suitable heat transfer method for low pressure and compact
evaporators. Moreover, the evaporation coefficient could be greatly enhanced by at least 30-40%.
They also possess many advantages such as high heat transfer efficiency, high reliability, structural
simplicity and low cost. Most importantly, the special cooling power (SCP) of adsorption cooling
systems could be increased by 30-40% due to the large evaporating mass flow rate in capillaryassisted evaporators.
Scope of Work:
1. Design and fabrication of the capillary-assisted evaporator used in adsorption airconditioning systems
2. Design and fabrication of the capillary-assisted flow and evaporation inside circumferential
rectangular micro grooves, etc.
3. Experiments and performance evaluation (e.g. a comparison between the traditional
evaporator and capillary-assisted evaporator, heat transfer coefficient performance, etc.)
4. Test its performance under an application of an adsorption cooling system
Some of the above scopes will involve all students working together. Then the students will be
assigned individual tasks. Both laboratory-based experimental work and system fabrication in the
mechanical engineering workshop will be required.

FINAL YEAR DESIGN PROJECTS OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2011/2012

Title: Development of a Micro EDM System for Precision

Machining
Group size: 4 students
Supervisor:

Prof. Yongsheng Gao (email: meygao@ust.hk)

General Description:
In this project, a compact micro EDM system will be developed and tested for use in precision machining. To
achieve high surface quality in a machining process for micro features, micro machining of machining tools
will be necessary and electrical discharge machining (EDM) (Fig. 1-4) will be a suitable choice for such
purpose. Tooling is an important issue in precision machining which is widely used in many industries for
making precision parts.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

The students of the project team will gain knowledge and experiences in mechatronic and precision system
design and development.

Scope of Work:
(1) Structure. The micro EDM system will of a wire cut type and will have a wire handling and application
sub system, a dielectric fluid delivery sub system, and a sub system for workpiece/wire positioning. A pulse
current generation sub system will also be used in the proposed micro EDM system.
(2) Requirement. A key requirement is to design and develop a micro EDM system under a spatial constraint.
The system size has to be limited to fit to a location of limited space. The micro EDM system is to be compact
for mobility.
(3) Background. Currently, an electroplating system is being developed. The electroplating system will be
used together with the micro EDM system for precision machining applications.
(4) Tasks. The tasks include literature review of the existing technologies and working principles,
specification development, concept design, detail design, modeling and analysis, mechanical system
manufacturing, test and adjustment, system performance evaluation under test run and machining conditions.

FINAL YEAR DESIGN PROJECTS OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2011/2012

Title: A Thermophotovoltaic System for Waste Heat Recovery

Group size: 4 students
Supervisor:

Prof. Baoling Huang (email: mebhuang@ust.hk)

General Description:
As a novel technology for thermal-electrical energy conversion, thermophotovoltaic systems are
attracting more and more interests and efforts in recent years. Similar to a solar cell, in which solar
radiation is converted into electricity directly, thermophotovoltaic cells can directly convert thermal
radiation into electricity. A thermophotovoltaic cell is normally consisting of a heat absorber, a
radiator, a radiation filter, a photovoltaic cell. Generally, the heat absorber absorbs heat from various
sources, e.g., waste heat, solar radiation, or even combustion, and transfer the heat to the radiator; the
radiation emitted by the radiator will be filtered so that only the part within a specified band can pass
through the filter and the other part will be reflected back to the radiator; the resulted narrow-band
thermal radiation reaches the solar cell and is converted into electricity. Unlike a common solar cell,
in which the surface receive radiation distributed over a wide range, the thermophotovoltaic module
will work with filtered radiations that matches the characteristics of the photovoltaic component the
best. By selectively emitting radiation in a narrow band range and recycling the radiation in other
regime, the theoretic efficiency limit of a thermophotovoltaic system can be as high as 54% for a
non-concentrated source and 85% for a concentrated source, much higher than that of a solar cell.
Thermophotovoltaic systems provide another effective approach to utilize solar energy or harvest
waste heat from the environment. They are expected to play an important role in meeting the energy
challenge in the future.
The proposed project is to develop a preliminary thermophotovoltaic system for waste heat recovery
and characterize its behavior. This project will involve numerical modeling, engineering
design/construction and experimental measurements.

Scope of Work:
1. Construct a numerical model to simulate and optimize the performance of
thermophotovoltaic systems.
2. Design a thermphotovoltaic system for waste heat recovery.
3. Build a thermophotovoltaic system using components available on the market and
characterize its performance.
4. Analyze the experimental data and suggest possible approaches to improve the
performance.

FINAL YEAR DESIGN PROJECTS OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2011/2012
Title:
Graphene Coated Microchannels for Electrokinetic
Energy Conversion:
I. Graphene Deposition
Group size: 3 - 4 students
Supervisor:

Prof. Jang-Kyo KIM (Email: mejkkim@ust.hk)

General Description:
Graphene is the award-winning wonder material which led to the Nobel Prize in Physics 2010 being awarded
jointly to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the twodimensional material graphene." Graphene is a two-dimensional monolayer of carbon atoms, and has been
developed very recently, immediately attracting a great deal of scientific attention. Their unique physical,
optical, mechanical properties have numerous potential applications in areas like nanoelectronics, sensors,
transistors, batteries, MEMS/NEMS as well as conducting polymers.
Streaming potential generated by the pressure driven flow in microchannels can be harnessed to produce
electrical energy. The hydrophobic nature of graphene surface enables it to possess an exceptional slip
property, hence has the potential to improve the efficiency of electrokinetic energy conversion. A graphenebased microfluidic device is proposed to explore this novel energy conversion.
Scope of Work:
Ultra-large size graphene sheets will be produced from the bulk graphite flakes using the well-established
exfoliation and expansion methods. These graphene sheets will be deposited layer-by-layer onto the microchannel surface using the Langmuir-Blodgett (L-B) deposition technique. The surface properties of graphene
coating will be systematically controlled by doping the graphene with a range of functional agents.
An energy conversion device based on grapheme coated microchannels will be designed and fabricated.
Streaming current and streaming potential will be characterized for pressure driven flow using a high pressure
controller. The energy conversion efficiency will be estimated.
This project will be carried out through close collaboration between two FYDP groups. One group will
develop a new technique to produce ultra-large graphene sheets with varying functional groups and deposit
these graphene sheets onto the micro-channel surface layer-by-layer.
The other group will be in charge of the design and development of the energy conversion device, and deliver
a simple demo to show the energy conversion process.

Schematic of graphene, and graphene-coated microchannel

FINAL YEAR DESIGN PROJECTS OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2011/2012

Title: Fabrication of Craniofacial Implants

Group Size: 4-5 students
Supervisor: Prof. David Lam (email:
david.lam@ust.hk)

General Description:
Craniofacial implants are used to mend the skull after trauma or surgery. Conventional titanium
implants are overly rigid, takes too long to make and costly. New developments are aiming to make
custom-fitted implants within 24 hours upon order by the surgeon. The project aims to develop the
joint machining system for the skull and the fabrication system for the polymeric implant.
Learning Objectives:
A) Biomedical CAD design
B) Joint design for optimal skull-implant integrity and compatibility
C) Plastic machining and fabrication
D) Testing and evaluation of components and assemebly
Scope of Work:
A)
B)
C)
D)

Biomedical CAD design from medical computer tomographic (CT) images (group)
Joint design and joint machining system on bones (2 members)
Plastic machining and fabrication (2 members)
Testing and evaluation of components and assembly (group)

Deliverables: Fitted implant on skull; joint machining system; implant fabrication process from
CAD.

FINAL YEAR DESIGN PROJECTS OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2011/2012
Title: Design and Prototyping of a Wired Micro Aerial Vehicle
Group size: 4-5 students
Supervisor: Prof. Ricky Lee (Office: Room 2556; Tel: 2358 7203; e-mail:
rickylee@ust.hk)
General Description
A micro aerial vehicle (MAV, or micro air vehicle) is a class of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) that has
a size restriction and may be either fixed-wing, rotary-wing, or flapping-wing aircraft. MAVs have been
built for hobby purposes, such as aerial robotics contests and aerial photography. More recently
development is driven by commercial, research, government, and military purposes. MAVs may allow
remote observation of environments inaccessible to regular devices. Figures 1 and 2 below demonstrate a
record-making MAV with a mini camera which was developed by a team at the Delft University of
Technology in Netherlands (DelFly Micro, http://www.delfly.nl/). In addition to aerodynamics and
control, such a kind of MAVs requires advanced packaging technologies for compact sizes and high
payload. This project intends to design and prototype a MAV similar to DelFly, but with simpler
functions and performance. As a starting point, the first generation will be a wired craft. Depending on
the outcome of the present project, a wireless version may be developed at a later time. Nevertheless, a
miniature camera head will be installed on the prototype and the relevant packaging technologies will be
implemented. Furthermore, a LED spotlight module may be added as a supplementary light source. The
schematic diagram of the targeted prototype is illustrated in Figure 3.

Scope of Work
This project consists of several essential elements, namely, components and parts sourcing, mechanical
design and assembly, rigid body dynamics and aerodynamics, electrical circuits and opto-electronics
packaging, and signal conditioning/processing. Participating students will develop design, assembly,
characterization, and analysis skills in this project. Both teamwork and individual effort will be
emphasized. Each student will be responsible for one of the following tasks:
1. Sourcing of Components/Parts: source and select suitable components and parts.
2. Mechanical Design and Prototyping: design and implementation of actuation mechanism/mechanical
structure.
3. MAV Dynamics: design and analysis of rigid body motion and aerodynamics of the MAV.
4. Circuitry and Packaging: design and implementation of electrical circuits and opto-electronics packaging.
5. Signal Conditioning/Processing: treatment of signals to actuator/LED and from mini camera.

Fig. 1: Overview of a MAV with

a Mini Camera
(Source: DelFly Micro)

Fig. 2: Assembly of Mini

Camera on the MAV
(Source: DelFly Micro)

Fig. 3: Targeted Wired MAV of

the Present Project

FINAL YEAR DESIGN PROJECTS OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2011/2012
Title: Wireless Alert System for Natural Disasters Using MEMS
Sensors
Group size: 4 students
Supervisor:

Prof. Yi-Kuen Lee(email: meyklee@ust.hk)

General Description:
Due to the global environmental change, there
are be more & more heavy rains, earthquake
(such as Tohoku earthquake occurred on 11
Mar 2011), typhoons and tsunami occurred in
the future. It is important to develop a new
wireless alert system for any nature disaster.
This project is to design and fabricate a new
wireless alert system using multiple MEMS
sensors. Low-power micro sensors with
wireless communication module will be
developed to continuously monitor any
possible events. This project is in
collaboration with the FYP group of Prof YuHsing Wang, Department of Civil Engineering, HKUST.
Scope of Work:
The design and manufacturing of this prototype are challenging. Each student will be responsible for one of
the following design and manufacturing:

1. Packaging of the wireless sensor modules

2. Design computer programs for the micro sensors signal analysis and detection,
3. Testing the wireless sensor module in the laboratorys model,
4. Design computer control system for transmission of landslide warning signals via wireless
internet/mobile phone communication system.
References:
1. CEED of Hong Kong SAR website: http://www.cedd.gov.hk/
2. Landslides online video, RTHK production, 2008 (http://ustlib.ust.hk/record=b1028955)
3. ADXL330: Small, Low Power 3-Axis iMEMS Accelerometer, Analog Devices, USA
(http://www.analog.com).
4. Freescale Application Note AN3473: Freescale Zstar ZigBee 3-axes micro accelerometer
module: http://www.freescale.com
5. ZigBee specification: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZigBee; http://www.zigbee.org
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_T%C5%8Dhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami

FINAL YEAR DESIGN PROJECTS OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2011/2012
Title: DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE A MINI ROBOT FOR
DANCING
Group size: 4 students
Supervisor:
Prof. Yang LENG
Co., Ltd
(meleng@ust.hk)

Industrial Sponsor:

RADAR

The project is to design and manufacture a mini human-like robot that can dance with music. The
robot dancing is one of popular types of robot contests. The robot should perform a number of dance
movements when music starts. This design project includes several primary components: power
system, mechanical structure, control system, and aesthetic design. The manufacturing and
assembling of such robot are challenging. Its performance and functions are expected to reach a level
of commercial mini robot, or even better. Students will go through training of a product design and
prototype realization in this project. Both team work and individual efforts will be emphasized.
Individual team member will be responsible for one of the following design and manufacturing:
1.
Robot structure and function design
Design objectives: design the whole robot structure and
functions, and define the capabilities of the dancing
robot.
2. Power system and motion design
Design objectives: provide sufficient power supply for a 5minute dancing and sufficient movements and stability
in motion.
3.
Mechanical structure and aesthetic design
Design objectives: Make robot structure with sufficient
strength to support all components and minimize the
total weight of robot. Design the appearance of robot.
4.
Control system and synchronization with music.
Design objectives: Make automatic synchronized movements
with music.

Join the project, if you have confidence to make a remote control robot that is capable of
playing in a robot dancing contest.

FINAL YEAR DESIGN PROJECTS OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2011/2012
Title: Radio Controlled Flight Vehicle with a Vectoring Thrust
Propeller *
Group size: 4 students
Supervisor:

Prof. Zhigang Li (email: mezli@ust.hk)

General Description:
Remotely piloted aircrafts play essential roles in a variety of situations, such as search and rescue in
danger areas. One example is that they can be used to take photos with on-flight cameras of the
nuclear power plants destroyed by the earthquake/tsunami in Japan. A well designed model presents
a nice demonstration to attract young talents to join Mechanical Engineering.
Enlightened by the verticopter concept from Garrow Aircraft Company, this project is to design a
radio controlled (RC) flight model, as depicted in the picture below. The co-axial twin propeller is
mounted on a rotary bar near the center of gravity of the flight vehicle. The rotary bar allows the
propeller to rotate along the pitch axis, thus giving it a vectoring thrust capability. With gyro sensors
and sophisticated control systems, this RC flight vehicle is expected to perform vertical take-off and
landing (VTOL), hovering as helicopter, low speed as well as full speed cruise.
Scope of Work:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Design of the model, including the control system, model shape, motors and propellers.
Manufacture and integration of parts.
Trim the plane for expected performances.
Testing of the model.

(http://verticopter.net/vcimages/Verticopter_2-Seater_web.jpg)
* This project is proposed by a group of students.

FINAL YEAR DESIGN PROJECTS OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2011/2012
Title: High Power LED Array Thermal Management and Cooling
Devices
Group size: 4-5 students
Supervisor: Prof. Huihe QIU (meqiu@ust.hk)
General Description:
Recent market interest in LEDs is as lighting devices. However, as illumination becomes the focus,
power consumption has risen dramatically. For example, a cars headlamp with an under-the-hood
temperature of 85 to 100C and power dissipation of 42 to 90 W requires unique consideration for
cooling and reliability. In other applications, to get the same light output as an incandescent lamp, the
LED will often run on comparable power dissipation. However, the LEDs maximum allowable
junction temperature is limited to around 120 to 135C (up to 185C in recent developments). If we
compare these limits to an incandescent lamp, which allows filament operating temperatures of 1,500
to 3,000C, the thermal challenge for LEDs is the major obstacle to their successful implementation.
A novel cooling device for transferring heat from a heat source to a heat sink will be developed. This
cooling device using a phase change coolant, includes micro/nanostructured surface modification of
microporous array and wick for manipulate flows of the coolant in the liquid phase, via capillary
action, within the cooling device from the heat sink to the source. Surface modification techniques
and carbon nanotube method are promising technologies to enhance heat transfer for cooling high
power LED and solid-state electronic devices. The patterned surface design, nano structure
fabrication techniques are crucial to improve the effective thermal conductivity of cooling devices.
Different surface structure and heat sink designs will be evaluated and experiments will be
conducted to investigate and optimize the performance of cooling devices.
Scope of Work:
1. Micro/Nano Structured Surface Design for Electronic Cooling Devices
Design objectives: Surface wick and pattern design and fabrication. Micro/Nano structured surface
on the inner surface of a vapor chamber will be design and fabricated. Material selection will be
considered. Different heating surfaces patterned with micro/nano structures in a mini chamber will
be designed and fabricated.
2. Design of Heat Sink with Structure for High Power LED Cooling
Design objectives: Structure modification for a heat sink will be design and fabricated. Material
selection will be considered. Optimization will be performed using experimental data.
3. Thermal Management and System Design
Design objectives: A cooling fan and control circuit and thermal Management will be designed
integrating temperature sensors and flow meters.
4. Measurements and experiments
Design objectives: Measurement techniques will be developed for measuring the temperature, heat
flux, effective thermal conductivity and other cooling parameters of the newly developed system.
5. Analysis and System Integration
Design objectives: Design of methodologies for thermal analysis, heat transfer and fluid flow

calculation, system integrating, test and experimental results. The performance of vapor chambers
and heat pipes will be evaluated.

FINAL YEAR DESIGN PROJECTS OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2011/2012
Title: Portable Solar Cooker for Survivals beyond Catastrophic
Disasters
Group size: 4-5 students
Supervisor:

Prof. Moses Ng (Email: memoses@ust.hk)

General Description:
Catastrophic disasters such as the earthquake and tsunami
experienced recently in Japan often destroy utility supplies
including potable water and electricity that are vital to the
survivors. Hot food and boiled water are often preferred by
the survivors especially after prolonged period staying in the
rescue center before getting back to their normal lives. Solar
collectors capable of tracking the position of the sun can
provide convenience to prepare hot food and warm water in
the absence of regular power supply. Because disasters could
hit anytime and anywhere in the world, this project aims at
making a portable solar cooker that automatically tracks the
position of the sun continuously to achieve maximum
temperature for optimal cooking and boiling water.

Scope of Work:
(1) Solar Collector and Cooker Design
In realizing the portability of the device, smaller pieces of reflective materials will be assembled
to the designed shape of a solar collector to concentrate the thermal energy from the sun; and the
cooker will be placed at the focus of the solar collector for optimal cooking.
(2) Sun-tracking Movement
Computer programs positioning many celestial bodies are being applied in astronomical
telescopes with automatic tracking functions. These programs can be applied in this project to
track the position of the sun with respect to the fixed position designated to use the solar cooker.
Alternatively, sun-tracking sensor can be employed for similar function.
(3) Sun-tracking Mechanism of the Solar Cooker
Structure of the solar collector and cooker will be designed to enable the sun-tracking functions.
Gears and motors will be used to move the structure in tracking the position of the sun at different
time of the day and in different seasons of the year.
(4) Power Logistics
Power is needed to move the solar collector tracking the position of the sun, as well as operating
the electronic devices governing the movement. Batteries charged by solar photovoltaic cells are
the most convenient power sources for this device, especially after the disaster hits.

FINAL YEAR DESIGN PROJECTS OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2011/2012
Title: Green Energy by Thermal-induced Solid-solid Phase
Transition
Group size: 4 students

Supervisor:

Prof. Qingping SUN (email: meqpsun@ust.hk)

General Description:
The creation of pollution free green energy has become one of the main concerns in our modern
society, the whole engineering field and energy industry. This project aims to build a small green
energy generator made of thin shape memory alloy (TiNi) wires or micro-tubes. The project includes
several components: Design principles for the green energy generation, mechanical structure, electric
and thermal-fluid parts, design and manufacturing, and assembling and testing. They are all very
interesting, exciting and challenging. The performance and functions of the green engine and the
efficiency will be assessed so that it can be used for demonstration and to nicely attract the high
school students in the Outreach Day of the Department and the Engineering School. It will also be
considered to donate this device to the Hong Kong Science Museum. Students will go through a
series of training in both product design and prototype realization in this project. Both team work
and individual efforts will be emphasized. Each student or a group of students will focus on and be
responsible for one of the following work:
Scope of Work:
6. Design Principles, Criteria and Objectives: Physical and mathematical principles for

the green energy generator, and the estimated performance.

7. Selection of the materials and test characterization to evaluate the performance: to

complete the material testing and data acquisition.

8. Mechanical design and performance control, especially on how to achieve an easy

observation:
components.

to finish all the required mechanical, electrical and thermo-fluid

9. Manufacturing process: to produce all required components.

10. Assembly and testing: to demonstrate that the designed and manufactured green engine

can perform all the designed functions for the purpose of demonstration.
Job assignment among the team:
All the 4 students are required to participate in the theory, design, fabrication and tests processes but
with different focus of concentration. The project leader will coordinate the whole project.

FINAL YEAR DESIGN PROJECTS OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2011/2012
Title: Design and Manufacturing of a 24-hour Pedal Kart
Group size: 4-5 students*
Supervisor:

Prof. Kai Tang (email: mektang@ust.hk)

General Description:
This will be a Cathay Pacific sponsored large project. The objective is
to design and manufacture a single-man pedal kart that will represent
Cathay Pacific to participate in the 2012 Hong Kong 24hr Charity
Pedal Kart Grand Prix. The current design has many serious
drawbacks and limitations. The new design and the final
manufactured kart will be expected to overcome them and greatly
raise the standard and quality of the kart.
Scope of Work
1. Conduct a full analysis of the existing design, including its driving system, the transmission
system, the steering system, the braking system, and the body structure.
2. The current single wheel driving mechanism has a serious asymmetric structure problem
which causes noticeable shaking when the kart is in high speed. A detailed analysis,
preferably using FEM, will be performed.
3. The current kart would shake noticeably when driven 10 hours or longer. A FEM analysis on
this will be performed.
4. The shape of the front cover (hood) currently is arbitrarily designed without any
optimization. A wind-tunnel test on the shape will be performed, to investigate the
aerodynamics of the geometric shape.
5. Based on the outcomes of 1 5, the students will study and propose a few design alternatives,
and eventually come up with a new and complete design for the entire kart including: (a) the
driving system, (b) the transmission system, (c) the steering system, (d) the braking system,
(e) the body structure, and (f) the front cover.
6. The entire design must be done using a CAD tool, e.g., SolidWorks, and stored in CAD files
for archive.
7. Design and add an electronic odometer on the kart; it will be used to record the rounds made
by the kart during the race.
8. Finally, the manufacturing of the newly designed kart.

_______________________
* The 5 students have already been assigned to this project based on an early selection conducted in early March.

FINAL YEAR DESIGN PROJECTS OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2011/2012
Title: Active flexible RFID Tag by Printed Electronics
Group size: 4 students
Supervisor:

Prof. Jingshen Wu

(email: mejswu@ust.hk)

General Description:
The students working on this project are required to design and fabricate an active RFID tag using printing
technology. The RFID tag will consists of a battery, a RFID chip and an antenna on a flexible substrate. The
RFID tag is expected to have good sensitivity in 3-5 meters.

Scope of Work:
The team should have four students working in the following four subjects. (1) Design and prepare flexible
substrate by printing technology; (2) design and fabricate antenna and receiver; (3) packaging and assembly
of the RFID tag and (4) computer software and system test.
Although each of the four students will focus on one of the four subjects, however, the success of the project
depends very much on good team work.

P. 20

FINAL YEAR DESIGN PROJECTS OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2011/2012
Title:
Graphene Coated Microchannels for Electrokinetic
Energy Conversion:
II. Device Development
Group size: 3 - 4 students
Supervisor:

Prof. Shuhuai Yao (email: meshyao@ust.hk)

General Description:
Graphene is the award-winning wonder material which led to the Nobel Prize in Physics 2010 being
awarded jointly to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the
two-dimensional material graphene." Graphene is a two-dimensional monolayer of carbon atoms, and has
been developed very recently, immediately attracting a great deal of scientific attention. Their unique
physical, optical, mechanical properties have numerous potential applications in areas like nanoelectronics,
sensors, transistors, batteries, MEMS/NEMS as well as conducting polymers.
Streaming potential generated by the pressure driven flow in microchannels can be harnessed to produce
electrical energy. The hydrophobic nature of graphene surface enables it to possess an exceptional slip
property, hence has the potential to improve the efficiency of electrokinetic energy conversion. A graphenebased microfluidic device is proposed to explore this novel energy conversion.
Scope of Work:
Ultra-large size graphene sheets will be produced from the bulk graphite flakes using the well-established
exfoliation and expansion methods. These graphene sheets will be deposited layer-by-layer onto the microchannel surface using the Langmuir-Blodgett (L-B) deposition technique. The surface properties of graphene
coating will be systematically controlled by doping the graphene with a range of functional agents.
An energy conversion device based on grapheme coated microchannels will be designed and fabricated.
Streaming current and streaming potential will be characterized for pressure driven flow using a high
pressure controller. The energy conversion efficiency will be estimated.
This project will be carried out through close collaboration between two FYDP groups. One group will
develop a new technique to produce ultra-large graphene sheets with varying functional groups and deposit
these graphene sheets onto the micro-channel surface layer-by-layer.
The other group will be in charge of the design and development of the energy conversion device, and
deliver a simple demo to show the energy conversion process.

Schematic of graphene, and graphene-coated microchannel

P. 21

FINAL YEAR DESIGN PROJECT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

(2011/2012)
Title: Demonstration and Characterization of Vibration-based
Energy Harvesting
Group size: 4-5 students
Supervisor:

Professor Wenjing Ye (Email: mewye@ust.hk)

General Description:
Sensor networks and mobile devices have become increasingly important in our daily life. Central to the
development of these systems/devices is a practical self-powering approach. Energy harvesting from
vibration provides an economical and eco-solution to power low-power electronics. In this project, students
will have an opportunity to extract electrical energy from vibration using a commercially available
piezoelectric scavenger from AmbioSystems LLC. The energy harvesting mechanism utilizes axial strains
produced inside the piezoelectric material during vibration. The aims of this project are: (1) to demonstrate
energy generation from a vibration source, and (2) to study the correlation between the bending mode of the
piezoelectric scavenger, which can be altered by design, and the amount energy it generates. It is hoped that
through this exercise, students will acquire a general knowledge of energy harvesting principle and
implementation skills.

Scope of Work:
(1) Background study and literature research
a. Piezoelectric materials
b. Applications and related work
(2) Demonstration of energy generation
a. To design and manufacture a fixture to attach the piezeoelectric scavenger to the vibration
source available in the UG lab
b. To design and implement a circuit for the measurement of the electrical energy
c. Testing and measurement
(3) Characterization
a. To study the relationship between the energy output and the frequency of the vibration source
b. For a given input frequency, find the optimal bending mode that provides the maximum energy
by tuning the piezoelectric scavenger with weights.

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FINAL YEAR DESIGN PROJECTS OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2011/2012
Title: Wind Power for Lighting
Group size: 4 students
Supervisor:

Prof. Matthew M F Yuen

(email: meymf@ust.hk)

General Description
Wind power is a renewable energy that provides only an intermittent supply of energy. Like solar
energy, it is entirely dependent on the weather condition. To make the intermittent energy useful, it
is necessary to connect to a stable power source, such as a battery system. The battery system will
provide a DC power supply to appliances such as LED lights. This has the advantage that it
eliminates the driver normally required to convert AC power to DC power for the LED lights. This
infrastructure provides a more efficient system to power LED lights and at the same time harvest
the wind power effectively.
The project requires the study on wind power battery charging technology, adoption of DC power
distribution system based on standard such as Emerge Alliance 24VDC Occupied Space Standard,
and intelligent LED lighting system design.

Generator
LED
Lights
Battery
Rack

DC Power
Distributio
n Network

LED
Lights
LED
Lights

A schematic of the system is shown in the above figure.

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Scope of Work:

Power generation and energy storage using battery system

o Working with two local companies, a wind turbine company and a battery company
to design the battery charging system for the battery power supply system
o Assist in putting together the system at test it in both laboratory and site set up at
HKUST
Direct Current (DC) power distribution network
o Review the current status of DC power distribution network
o Design and configure the DC power distribution system for supplying power to
outdoor LED lighting units at HKUST.
Light Emitting Diode (LED) Lighting system
o Design intelligent light sensitive LED lighting system with good moisture-proof
design
o Test the reliability of the LED lighting system using DC power distribution network
Overall system design for renewable energy powered intelligent building
o Review the available technology and configure the overall system specification
o Adapt the design for use in intelligent building

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FINAL YEAR DESIGN PROJECTS OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2011/2012
Title: Prototype of Piezoelectric Shoe
Group size: 4-5 students
Supervisor: Prof. Tongyi ZHANG (email: mezhangt@ust.hk)
General Description:
Energy is a hot research topic which concerns the development of the civilization, especially in this
era of energy intension. Compared to huge infrastructure to gather energy from some gigantic and
intensive energy sources, such as hydraulic power station, recent development has raised great
interest in gathering energy which was neglected or usually regarded as useless, for example, to
gathering the energy from mechanical vibration of the railway, or the collect the energy from
human body. This kind of energy gathering concept provides a new way to save/reuse energy and
thus support the sustainable development of civilization. Piezoelectric materials are within the
family which can translate mechanical energy into electric energy. The 2010~2011 FYDP group
designed and fabricated a prototype of piezoelectric shoe to collect the energy from the walking of
human being. Every step of walking will do work to the device and the energy was collected and
stored, which can supply the power to a small energy consuming device, such as light bomb. The
2011-2012 FYDP will continue working on it. Lead-free piezoelectric materials will be used to
design new piezoelectric shoes. The power of the energy collector/generator should be improved to
a higher level. Smarter design and more precise fabrication will be carried out to make piezoelectric
shoes tiny, powerful, reliable, and beautiful.

Fig.1 Sketch of the piezoelectric shoe with a power generator, and the sketch of power
pulse under impact test.
Scope of Work:
The project has two streams: material research and device fabrication.
For material research stream, the major objective of this work could be:
To fabricate flexible lead-free piezoelectric composites.
To characterize the performances.
To make a simple prototype for piezoelectric energy generator.
For device design fabrication, the major objective of this work could be:
To improve the design to be more fit to human body.
To select a more powerful material and make it to a suitable shape or structure.
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To design and fabricate the circuits, and assemble all the components to an energy
generator.

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FINAL YEAR DESIGN PROJECTS OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2011/2012
Topic: Design and Development of a Fuel Cell Powered Mini
Ship
Group size: 4 students
Supervisor: Prof. T.S. Zhao (Email: metzhao@ust.hk)
General Description:
A growing number of portable consumer electronics demand small, lightweight power sources with
high power density and energy capacity. However, even with the advanced technology, current
state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery is still hard to keep pace with these growing power and energy
demands. As an appealing candidate for portable application, the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC),
offers the potential to satisfy the energy requirement due to its unique features such as high-energy
density and conversion efficiency, low cost, instant recharging and safety. Typically, the
conventional DMFC operates at active mode, in which liquid pumps and gas blowers or other
auxiliary devices are indispensable for supplying the fuel and oxidant, and removing the products
from the system. Such auxiliary devices not only complicate the fuel cell system but also consume
the electricity generated by the fuel cell, thereby lowering the net power output. Thus, the
conventional DMFC is unlikely to meet the requirements for powering portable devices. This
project is to develop a mini ship powered by the passive DMFC, which only utilizes the natural
convection, diffusion and gravity to achieve the supply of fuel and oxidant as well as the removal
of products. The newly-developed fuel cell can offer many advantages, including the high
efficiency, low cost, simple system and rapid recharging.
Participating in this project, students will benefit from the followings:
Opportunity to work in Prof. Zhaos interdisciplinary research group
Different engineering disciplines
Different talents (group leader, research, reporting, etc.)
Develop project skills
Communication (oral, written, project documentation)
Teamwork
Project management
Participate in hands-on design of complex system
On the technological frontier
Outcome uncertain couple with research
Scope of Work:
The project is to develop an a high-power density passive direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC)
powered mini ship, which is running on the methanol solution stored in the fuel cartridge and air
from the surrounding environment in a passive mode. The work will include design, fabrication,
and test of a DMFC stack and integration with a mini ship into a prototype. Each student will focus
on a key component of the DMFC stack. He/she will study the mechanical and electrochemical
phenomena occurring in the component and come out his/her optimal design and fabrication of the
component. Finally, all the group members will participate assembly and performance test.
Student #1: Overall system design of the fuel cell powered mini ship
Design objectives: A student, acting as the group leader, is required to lead the group to come out
with the overall system design. The design can be different versions and all the pros and cons of the
P. 27

different designs must be presented in the final report. Particular attention has to be paid to the
balance between the size and the output power as well as the balance between the size and the runtime.
Student #2: Membrane assembly electrode (MEA) fabrication and characterization
Design objectives: MEA is the key component of the DMFC. Student#2 will work together with a
PhD student to fabricate and optimize the MEAs for the DMFC stack. In particular, the MEA
should be designed to attain low crossover rates of methanol and water.
Student #3: Design and fabricate the fuel cell stack
Design objectives: Passive methanol delivery system will be adopted in the mini ship. To extend
the run-time of the mini ship on a single charge, methanol delivery system should be precisely
designed to achieve higher energy efficiency (i.e. lower methanol crossover) with higher
concentration methanol solution stored. Student#3 will accomplish the design work together with
Student#1 and fabricate the require components by himself/herself.
Student #4: Design and fabricate the case
Design objectives: The student will design and fabricate the case for this prototype based on the
fuel cell stack design as well as the electronic design. The student will finally assemble all the
above components with the help of Students#1, #2 and #3.
All Students: Fuel cell assembly and performance test.
All the students will participate assembly and performance test.

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