ISE Senior Design Symposium Award Winners

Project Abstract
The Blacksburg Inmotion facility produces electric motors and controls for use in vehicle systems. The launch of one of their newest production lines, the GSM line, was disrupted by The Covid-19 pandemic. Inmotion asked our team to address the lingering problems of disorganization, process waste, and lack of capacity to meet forecasted demand. Our team provided Inmotion with a 5S transformation, process analysis and recommendations to meet forecasted demand, and a package of documentation and sustainment resources to maintain the proposed solutions. These solutions raised The GSM Line’s 5S score from 1.4 to 3.0, and identified cost-effective methods to raise output by 450% over the next four years.

Project Abstract
Established in June 2022, start-up company Running Fox Solar aims to introduce solar power and electric vehicle infrastructure to the Delmarva Peninsula. With a limited budget and isolated location, our team was able to assist the company in the design and installation of a solar powered EV charging station in order to make the company profitable. Running Fox Solar looks to expand by becoming a solar utility for commercial and agricultural businesses and installing solar panels on existing buildings throughout an underserved area of the country. Our solution approach involves placing solar panels on the roof of an existing building then charging the tenants and EV charger users for electricity, ensuring a constant source of income for the company. This project was completed before the tourist season to expand Running Fox Solar’s revenue stream and footprint in the industry. Areas of impact for this project include customer experience/retention, cost savings, and reducing electric vehicle driver range anxiety in the Delmarva Peninsula.

Project Abstract
Republic Finance is a financial services company based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana that specializes in personal loans. Currently, Republic Finance receives a large portion of its annual origination volume through direct mail acquisition. These prospective customers are targeted using a Response Model; however, the current in-production model is not as accurate as they anticipated. To better predict the likelihood of response, the team built a more advanced response model using a gradient boosting machine. The new model was formed through multiple stages of feature selection and hyperparameter tuning and has an improved response rate of 1.2%. Compared to the current model, the team expects the new model to save Republic Finance $3.7M+ annually by eliminating excess mailing costs.

Project Abstract
MedStar Health is a high-reliability organization which takes pride in its commitment to maintaining quality and safety throughout its operations. Our project presents an opportunity to improve and standardize how MedStar Health Laboratories reports errors and patient safety events to prevent future errors from occurring. MedStar currently uses RL Solutions to report errors in laboratory procedures, but this system is not standardized, resulting in inconsistencies across their various hospitals. The absence of a standardized medical dictionary, suboptimal user interface, and delayed event reporting in RL Solution contribute to inconsistent event categorization, confusion among reporters, reduced efficiency, and hampered visibility and timely action. Our team worked on three different solution approaches: User Interface Changes, Standardized Data Dictionary, and Education of Frequent Users. The event reporting platform has been improved with a user-friendly interface that facilitates the work of lab employees, a standardized medical dictionary that promotes consistency in event classification, and comprehensive training resources readily available to frequent users, all of which enhance data quality and reliable event reporting at MedStar.