Innovation on Display: Wright Engineering Students Showcase Creative Projects at Annual Ideas Competition

Around 200 engineering students from Wright College brought their innovative ideas to life at the 2024 Engineering Ideas Competition on Tuesday, December 3. Nearly 40 teams of students competed in the 6^th annual competition, which is held to give them the opportunity to share their ideas and research, and gain valuable experience in presentation and shared scholarship.

The presenting teams came up with a wide-range of useful solutions, including a wearable patch to prevent anaphylactic shock, a device to quickly save cars that have been submerged in water, navigational glasses for the visually impaired, and more. Each group laid out their project design and summary on a large presentation board, and a panel of judges walked around the atrium at Wright College as the students presented their ideas to the experts.

Several City Colleges leaders including Chancellor Juan Salgado, Provost Dr. Mark Potter, and Wright College President Dr. Andrés Oroz also joined to view the hard work put on display by the students. The winner of the competition will be announced in the coming days.

In addition to the excitement of the annual event, several engineering students celebrated scholarships they have received through the City Colleges of Chicago Foundation, including 15 students who were acknowledged for receiving awards from the Greer Foundation. The cohort of students will receive $1,500 per semester while at City Colleges and $2,500 per semester when they transfer to complete a bachelor’s degree in engineering. Elizabeth Luviano, an aspiring astronaut from Belmont Cragin who is studying aerospace engineering at Wright, was one of the recipients.

“Ever since I came to [Wright College], I feel like I have found my purpose,” Elizabeth said. “The [Greer Foundation] scholarship is helping me so much. It covers me so I can study without feeling the pressure of where am I going to get the money from next.”

Elizabeth’s future plans include transferring to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to earn her bachelor’s degree and continuing her education in a master’s degree program. She dreams of one day working for NASA.

After an acknowledgement of the Greer Foundation scholarship recipients, another student was surprised with a scholarship on the spot. Hinelben Patel learned she would be taking home a $5,000 check from Transit Capital Partners (TCP) through the company’s partnership with the City Colleges Foundation.

To learn more about the City Colleges of Chicago School of Engineering, visit www.ccc.edu/engineering.