The interdisciplinary award went to Project Sight, an effort to improve access to prescription eyeglasses for children in developing countries. Their solution includes diagnostic glasses to help children identify their own prescription by simply turning a wheel until they can clearly read an eye chart. Then they select appropriate lenses from the included kit and pop them into frames that will fit nearly anyone ages 6-18.

“People in developing places have difficulty accessing quality eye care,” said mechanical engineering student Braden Anderson. “If we can empower them to do that themselves through a community-based kit that allows them to assemble their own lenses, that can change their lives and impact millions of people.”

Produced at scale, the team’s glasses could cost as little as a $1 per pair. 

Work to refine their design and prepare it for mass production will continue next semester. That’s because Project Sight is one of four teams that were part of a new initiative in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering called Design for Planet Impact where students create technologies to address challenges in Guatemala. Another team developed a filter for removing arsenic from drinking water and won the top prize among mechanical engineering teams.

Elsewhere at the Capstone Design Expo, a suite of sensors and software to warn bike riders of an impending breakdown was judged best among the electrical and computer engineering projects. A team of mechanical engineers and industrial designers who also had cyclists in mind won honors for their augmented reality glasses for riders 55 and older.

The top civil and environmental engineering team redesigned a busy intersection in Peachtree Corners, Georgia, to improve traffic flow and better protect students walking to and from a nearby school. Among aerospace engineering teams, judges picked a design for an all-electric urban air mobility vehicle.

Other posters, projects, and prototypes packed the concourse of McCamish Pavilion, including:

• Several designconcepts for a new U.S. Navy fighter jet.
• An automated tourniquet to help first responders or bystanders quickly and effectively stop blood loss in emergencies, combat, and other high-stress situations.
• Systems to improve operations at the Hyundai Metaplant in Bryan County, Georgia.
• Helping golf courses find the perfect spot for each hole’s pin to create the most competitive and entertaining tournaments.

Students also developed robots for farms and to help power companies maintain and repair the electric grid. Several teams offered guidance and optimization tools to Atlanta-area nonprofits so they can help more people more efficiently.

The Capstone Design program is supported by philanthropic donations that are part of Transforming Tomorrow: The Campaign for Georgia Tech, a more than $2 billion comprehensive campaign designed to secure resources that will advance the Institute and its impact — on people’s lives, on the way we work together to create innovative solutions, and on our world — for decades to come.

See all the winners from Capstone Expo below and visit expo.gatech.edu for more projects.