Penn State undergraduate student Megan Wolff presents her team's capstone project. Credit: Poornima Tomy/Penn State.
Learning Factory announces fall 2025 showcase winners
Jan 29, 2026
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State Learning Factory has announced the winners of its fall 2025 capstone project showcase. Over a period of 15 weeks, first-year cornerstone and senior-year capstone students worked in teams of four to six to design a product, process or service for a sponsoring business, firm or government office.
The in-person showcase was held on Dec. 11 at the Bryce Jordan Center, while a virtual showcase was held from Dec. 12-19 online. Student projects were judged by a panel of industry experts, past sponsors and members of the Learning Factory’s Industry Advisory Board. All projects can be found on the Learning Factory’s showcase webpage, and the winners are listed below.
First Place “Lockheed Martin Best Project” winners
Project: Aluminum Extrusion Tolerance Calculator III
Sponsor: Aluminum Association Inc.
Team members: Caden Matthews, Manas Munjial, Corey Ortiz, Cole Johnson, Victor An
Project: At Home Self-Testing of Breast Abnormalities Using Luminous Global Tech
Sponsor: Luminous Global Tech
Team members: Alex Frost, Wynes Chen, Andrew Diez, Aidan Edmondson, Grace Holmes, Madeline Olivo
Second Place “Best Project” winners
Project: End of Arm Tool for Naval Projectile Handling
Sponsor: Naval Surface Warfare Center – Dahlgren Division
Team members: Lauren Hayden, Victoria Walker, Keller Mardis, Jackoy Gayle, Yixi Wang
Project: Development of Assistive Technology for Immobile/Disabled Individuals
Sponsor: Entertainment Buddy LLC
Team members: Youssef Hanna, Richard Ray, Jaime Lagunas, Hang Pan, Isaac Goldman
Third Place “Best Project” Winners
Project: Automated Tool Imaging Station
Sponsor: Seco Tools
Team members: Davis Wagner, Evan Yang, Colton Middaugh, Ryan Lindenberg, Qiye Wu
Project: Measuring Radar Waveguides
Sponsor: Northrop Grumman
Team members: Ethan O’Neil-Hankle, David Lang, Joshua Robinson, Kevin Walsh
“People’s Choice” Winner
Project: Tire Positioner Pivot Arm Redesign
Sponsor: Fleet Equipment Corporation
Team members: Adam Marawan, Trevor Richardson, Karson Thatcher, Travis White, Mike Zsido
Online “People’s Choice” Winner
Project: Tire Positioner Pivot Arm Redesign
Sponsor: Fleet Equipment Corporation
Team members: Adam Marawan, Trevor Richardson, Karson Thatcher, Travis White, Mike Zsido
“Best Corporate” Sponsor winners
Sponsor: Sam Jones
Company: Northrup Grumman
Sponsor: Michael Mizenko
Company: Tailgater
“Lamancusa/Soyster LF Mentoring” winners
This article will be edited to include the Lamancusa/Soyster LF Mentoring award when it is announced and published on the Learning Factory website.
“Best K-12 Engagement” Winner
Project: Concept Development: Technical Design for Smart Shoes to Detect Obstacles and Uneven Surfaces to Help Prevent Falls
Sponsor: The Artful PM, LLC
Team members: Seth Jahnke, Owen McGroary, Casey Zhou, Syahmie Ibrahim, Nathanael Hackenberger
First place “Best Poster” winner
Project: Digital Twin of an Automated Food Assembly Robot
Sponsor: Hungry Group
Team members: Katelyn Collins, Ian Deal, Sarah Gilliland, Aaftab Jafri, Carlos Rodrigues
Second place “Best Poster” winner
Project: The Fan-tastic Project: Engineering for Performance Power and Peace & Quiet
Sponsor: Walmart Inc.
Team members: Jordan Satterfield, Alexander Malandra-Martin, Aaron Staronka, Archil Patel
Third place “Best Poster” winner
Project: An Assistive Device for Zipping a Winter Coat
Sponsor: Function Focused Care PMR+
Team members: Tai Valdes, Priyatam Gundapuneni, Meredith Lee, Daksh Kumar
First place “Best Video” winner
Project: Concept Development: Technical Design for Smart Shoes to Detect Obstacles and Uneven Surfaces to Help Prevent Falls
Sponsor: The Artful PM, LLC
Team members: Seth Jahnke, Owen McGroary, Casey Zhou, Syahmie Ibrahim, Nathanael Hackenberger
Second place “Best Video” winner
Project: VR Training for CLABSI Prevention During ICU Care Transitions
Sponsor: Dr. Vinciya Pandian and PSU Center for Immersive Learning and Digital Innovation
Team members: Matthew Carter, Amy Choi, Akmal Faiz Mohd Nizam, Mohamad Aiman Bin Zamri, Ben Rider, Emmaleigh Shinno
Third place “Best Video” winner
Project: Tailgater
Sponsor: Michael Mizenko
Team members: Charles Kelly, Emiliana Karduss, Alexia Minarro, Sean Mcmennamin
Share this story:
