Recently, a team of 19 College of Engineering (COE) undergraduate students of Globex Design Program participated in a presentation workshop held at the University of Toronto (UT). The team was led by Professor Kefu Huang, associate dean of COE for undergraduate education and Professor Pingchou Han, assistant dean of COE for global education and director of the program.

Together with their teammates from UT Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (MIE), the COE students participated in poster presentations at the UT Great Hall of Hart House.

During the welcome ceremony held in the evening, MIE Capstone Design awards were conferred to the recipients. COE students Nan Luo and Gedi Zhou, along with their UT teammates won third prize for their project “Vent Dehumidification System for Aircraft Cabins”.

“In this Bombardier sponsored project, we designed a vent dehumidification system for Bombardier aircraft cabin. We produced a corresponding model and it works very well. It can run low noise and reduce the ambient humidity effectively,” noted Nan Luo.

“As our project is well recognized by the judging committee, we have also been invited to participate in the next level of the design competition at the Ontario Centre of Excellence (OCE) scheduled for May 27-28 in Canada,” Luo added.

In the oral presentation session afterwards, five of a total eleven presentations involved PKU students, including: 1) Smart Shopping Solution by The Smart Cart Team, sponsored by Siemens China and accomplished by students from UT, PKU and National University of Singapore; 2) The Music of Oil Drilling by Team Sonification, sponsored by Schlumberger China; 3) Star Trek’s Food Replicator is closer than you think by Team Savoury; 4) Brownian Caves by Team Karst Geo-model, sponsored by Schlumberger China; and 5) Vent Dehumidification System for Aircraft Cabins by Team Bombardier, sponsored by Bombardier Canada.

During the visit, Prof. Huang and Prof. Han, along with Chair Professor of Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, UT, Prof. J. W. Zu and Capstone Design Coordinator Prof. M. Munro, evaluated the outcome of joint design projects and confirmed future cooperation.

Starting in 2008, the Globex Design Program in the College of Engineering focuses on a cross-cultural design theme by requiring undergraduate students to work jointly with international students in teams of 4-8 people on a design project provided by a multinational company.

For the time being, a firm collaboration has been established with Stanford University, University of Toronto and National University of Singapore etc.

Sponsors of Globex Design include top companies around the world, such as Siemens, Schlumberger, Bombardier and Boeing etc.

“The program utilizes the most advanced experience of the first class universities in the world. I believe it will eventually benefit the Peking University Students,” says Professor Han.