Next-Gen: Showcasing Forward-Thinking Engineering

Mouser Electronics is a Philanthropic Partner of the 2022 ExCEllence in Senior Design Showcase at the University of Texas at Dallas. This annual event is held for graduating seniors to showcase their capstone projects. The 2023 event is scheduled for May 18-19 at the University of New Mexico.

Mouser’s support for education runs deep. Founded by a high school physics instructor to meet his students’ need for components, Mouser sponsors student groups, schools and educational events at the local, regional, national and international levels. The global authorized distributor strives to be the go-to source for instructors and future engineers.

Mouser’s free Student Resource Center offers students a place where they can explore and engage with Mouser as they begin their journey into the field of electronic design. The page provides a wealth of news tidbits, blog posts, featured products, a STEM-focused Twitter feed, YouTube videos and other tech highlights.

The first ESD Showcase took place in May 2019 with 13 universities from Texas, New Mexico and Arizona participating. The team from University of Texas at El Paso was awarded the inaugural Best Engineering Design award. Major corporations supported student participation and judged the showcase submissions. This year’s competition is expected to draw students from up to 20 universities.

Coby Kleinjan, Mouser Electronics’ vice president of Americas sales and service, coordinates the event. We spoke to Coby to learn more about the showcase.

Digital Engineering: What is the Senior Design Showcase?

Coby Kleinjan: As we all know, electrical and computer engineering (ECE) students must learn an amazing amount. They must become proficient in electrical engineering basics as well as learn about leading technologies and applications, working to solve the broadest set of problems facing humanity. Bottom line: These engineers learn to make the world a better place.

DE: How did the design showcase come to be?

Kleinjan: ECE department leaders wanted to showcase the stunning array of capabilities in graduates and spotlight the wide range of design problems that ECE students tackled in the course of their senior projects. This is achieved through the ExCEllence in Senior Design Showcase.

DE: When did the design showcase start?

Kleinjan: The first showcase was in May 2019 with 13 universities from Texas, New Mexico and Arizona as an opportunity for ECE students to showcase their design and problem-solving skills in a friendly competition, and to connect faculty members at participating schools in meaningful ways.

The team from the University of Texas at El Paso was awarded the first “Best Engineering Design” award. The winners were Matthew Wood, Antonio Teijeiro and Sergio Felix for their ESPI Project.

DE: Who sponsors the event?

Kleinjan: The Showcase is supported by many major corporations, as well as by UT Dallas, the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association (ECEDHA) and the Electrical and Computer Engineering Foundation. As a corporate partner of ECEDHA, we were excited to help support this worthwhile event.

DE: What drives companies like Mouser to sponsor the event and coordinate it?

Kleinjan: Mouser is a very forward-thinking company committed to education and encouraging innovation and furthering engineering principles. Our roots were founded in education. There also is an element of sustainability and finding eco-friendly solutions that ultimately will help humanity.

This year’s competition attracted students from multiple universities. The showcase raises awareness for the study of engineering, and connects top companies with talented and energetic students, universities and their faculty mentors.