Showcasing innovation at the Spring 2026 ECE Capstone Design Open House

On May 1, 2026, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison welcomed students, alumni, faculty, and friends of the program to the Spring ECE Capstone Design Open House. The event, held at the end of each fall and spring semester, showcases the culmination of months of hands-on work by student teams enrolled in the department’s capstone senior design courses, highlighting creativity, technical excellence, and real-world problem solving.

Visitors had the opportunity to interact with student teams, explore live demonstrations, and learn more about the innovative projects developed in three courses:

• ECE 453: Embedded Microprocessor System Design, taught by Teaching Faculty Joe Krachey
• ECE 455: Capstone Design in Electrical and Computer Engineering, taught by Assistant Teaching Professor Nathan Strachen
• ECE 554: Digital Engineering Laboratory, taught by Assistant Professor George Tzimpragos

The Capstone Design Open House highlights the importance of project-based, experiential learning in engineering education. Through these courses, students move beyond theory to design, build, test, and refine complex systems of their own design. They gain experience working in teams, managing project timelines, and navigating real-world constraints.

These experiences are essential preparation for careers in engineering, where problem solving rarely follows a textbook path. By engaging deeply with both hardware and software, students develop the technical confidence and adaptability needed to succeed in industry, research, and entrepreneurship.

Events like the open house also provide students with an opportunity to communicate their work to diverse audiences. Explaining complex systems to alumni, faculty, and peers strengthens both their technical understanding and their professional skills.

---

A panel of ECE alumni, along with course instructors, evaluated the projects and selected winners across several categories, bringing valuable industry insight and expertise to the judging process. The awards were presented by ECE Department Chair Susan Hagness.

Best Overall Project – Alumni Decision – Five-way tie!

• 2Wisc — developed a framework for creating pseudo-3D games on an FPGA, pushing the boundaries of hardware-based graphics
• voCoders — built a real-time FPGA-based vocal pitch correction system with vocoder functionality
• PerceptaXR — created a low-latency AR/VR headset integrating FPGA vision processing, gesture recognition, and scene understanding
• SonoViz — designed a 64-microphone acoustic camera capable of real-time beamforming and frequency-filtered sound visualization
• Guns n’ Lazers — engineered a deterministic laser control system using FPGA and TTL-triggered sequencing

Best ECE 453 Project

• Embedded Divas — developed an autonomous tennis training robot using OpenCV for ball tracking and a motorized catching system

Best ECE 455 Project

• Stim Squad — created a portable temporal interference stimulator capable of delivering precise dual high-frequency waveforms

Best ECE 554 Project

• voCoders — built a real-time FPGA-based vocal pitch correction system with vocoder functionality

---

A defining feature of the event is the involvement of ECE alumni, who return to campus to serve as judges, mentors, and ambassadors for the field. This year’s panel included leaders from a wide range of industries, including healthcare, energy, manufacturing, and technology.

Their participation adds tremendous value to the capstone experience. Alumni bring real-world insight, offer constructive feedback, and help students understand how their work connects to broader industry trends. For many students, these interactions spark new ideas, career interests, and professional connections.

The department extends its sincere thanks to this year’s alumni judges:

Bill Barbiaux – GE Healthcare, Principal Engineer – Retired
Bill Berg – Dairyland Power Cooperative, Chief Executive Officer – Retired
Cole Burek – Extreme Engineering Solutions, Embedded Hardware Engineer
Feida Chen – ABB E-mobility, Lead Power Electronics Engineer
Olivia D’Souza – University of Wisconsin–Madison, ECE PhD student
Alex Grotelueschen – Milwaukee Tool, Electrical Engineer
John Hester – Techtricity Corporation, President – Retired
Robert Lux – Capital Projects, Management
Cory Mueller – ATC, Consultant Control Engineer
Justin Reed – C-Motive Technologies, Head of Advanced Technology
Terry Sartori – GE Healthcare, Accuray – Engineering Project Manager, Retired
Alex Sharp – Extreme Engineering Solutions, Hardware Debug Engineer
Khailanii Slaton – University of Wisconsin–Madison, ECE PhD student
Bob Wolf – IBM, SAP HANA on Power Sales Exec covering North America – Retired
Forrest Woolworth – PerBlue / Playback Rewards, COO
John Ziehr – Rockwell Automation, VP Operations – Retired

Their continued engagement reflects the strength of the ECE community and its commitment to supporting the next generation of engineers.

The ECE Capstone Design Open House remains a cornerstone of the department’s commitment to experiential learning at each stage of the student experience. The event is a moment to celebrate student achievement, strengthen connections with alumni, and showcase the innovation that defines ECE at Wisconsin.

---