With 255,300 gas-powered vehicles registered in Washington, DC, in 2024, the nation’s capital still shows a strong preference for these vehicles, surpassing registrations of all electric and hybrid types that same year. The interactive data visualization dashboard, vehicletrends.us, built by data analytics master’s student Nithin Sarva with associate professor John Helveston, enables policymakers to visualize EV data and trends like this, helping them develop effective strategies to promote EV purchases.
This dashboard was just one example of the many projects exhibited across the Science & Engineering Hall on April 24 at GW Engineering’s 2026 Research & Development (R&D) and Senior Design Showcase.
Founded by GW Engineering alumnus Randolph “Randy” Graves in 2007, the R&D Showcase has grown into a prominent annual event. It provides undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, and research scientists a platform to practice presenting their work to general and technical audiences. Notably, in 2022, the showcase expanded to include senior design/capstone projects.
The event featured 73 research posters on the first floor of the Science & Engineering Hall. Meanwhile, on the floor below, visitors could hear from undergraduate seniors about their capstone projects. Working in teams, these students collaborated to address real-world challenges, honing their technical expertise, project management, and problem-solving skills throughout the year.
The capstone projects “Reel Freedom” and “Golf Prosthetic: Project SERVE” exemplified GW Engineering’s emphasis on user-centered design. Each team developed a prosthetic for a real client to help them regain accessibility and the independence to do the things they love: fishing and golfing. Both told attendees that developing these prosthetics required open communication with the client to ensure their needs were met.
This overlap further illustrates the potential for cross-disciplinary collaboration among students from GW Engineering’s six academic departments. Besides discussing their own work, presenters interacted with peers from other disciplines to gain insights from each other’s expertise.
As Lijie Grace Zhang, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and associate dean for research, aptly said in her opening remarks: “Today’s conversation might lead to tomorrow’s collaboration.”
To explore more of the innovative projects on display at the R&D Showcase, check out GW Today.