Winners of 13th annual Techxpo Design Showcase announced

Winners of the 13th annual Techxpo Design showcase have been announced. 

Seventy-eight student research and design projects, represented by 175 undergraduate and graduate students, filled the HPER Complex at Montana Technological University on Thursday, April 25, 2024.

Techxpo is a campus-wide event aimed at showcasing the hard work, innovation, and excellence of students. Exhibits included projects in science, engineering, and mathematics. A panel of industry professionals judge the students’ projects, and the top project in each category is awarded a cash prize.

The 2024 event is sponsored by Freeport McMoRan, NorthWestern Energy, Water & Environmental Technologies, Ash Grove Cement, Sibanye Stillwater, Montana Precision Products, and Montana Tech’s Research and Graduate School. For more information, visit https://www.mtech.edu/techxpo/.

ONE SEMESTER PROJECTS

First Place:
An Investigation of the Influence of Random Packing on PFC3D Simulations of Unconfined
Compression, Brazilian, and Three-Point Bending Tests
Madison Haydn-Myer, Geological Engineering

Second Place:
The Genomic Annotation of Streptomyces Phage Anedea
Casey McConnell, Biological Sciences

TWO SEMESTER PROJECTS

First Place:
Investigation of the Mechanism behind Increased Phage Infectivity of Escherichia Coli Siderophore
Mutants when Pre-treated with Iron-doped Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticles
Jenna Jordan, Chemistry

Second Place:
Chlorination of Cobalt in Cemented Carbides
Garrett Wanner , Metallurgical & Materials Engineering

COMPETITION PROJECTS

First Place:
Concrete Canoe
London Benson, Avery Londo, Maria Burke, Ian Johnson, Civil Engineering

Second Place:
SAMPE Composite Bridge Project
Derek Pearse, Dylan Yarger, Sky Stefonic, Konor McClafferty, Mechanical Engineering

GRADUATE PROJECTS

First Place:
Silver Bow Creek Microbial Metal Biogeochemistry
Paul Helfrich, Earth Science & Engineering PhD

Second Place:
Enhancement of the Mechanical Behavior of Nitinol Wire by Addition of a Polymer Matrix Composite
Coating
Baylie Phillips, Metallurgical & Materials Engineering

CHANCELLOR AWARD WINNERS
UNDERGRADUATE PROJECTS

Innovation:

TechMatrix
Ethan Messner, Myles McClernan, Clay Fulk, Dustin Marquardt, John Johns, Electrical Engineering &
Computer Science

Professionalism:

Autonomous Sediment Sampling: Innovating Environmental Exploration at the Berkeley Pit
Elijah Byrd, Emma Anderson, Jeff Guthrie, Mechanical Engineering

Scientific Insight:

Investigation of the Mechanism behind Increased Phage Infectivity of Escherichia Coli Siderophore
Mutants when Pre-treated with Iron-doped Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticles
Jenna Jordan, Chemistry

GRADUATE PROJECTS

Innovation:

Enhancement of the Mechanical Behavior of Nitinol Wire by Addition of a Polymer Matrix Composite
Coating
Baylie Phillips, Metallurgical & Materials Engineering

Professionalism:

Food Web Selenium Accumulation Could Impact Fish in a Recovering Aquatic Ecosystem
Ellaine Abena Heneba, Chemistry/Geochemistry

Scientific Insight:

Process Heat Pyrolysis via Selective Solar Absorbance
Maxwell Triepke, Materials Science PhD