Engineering Students Pitch Fire-Fighting Solutions at E-Week’s Newest Event
From left, Nick Li, Ruize Tian and Cory Tsan won first place ($300) at E-Week’s Design and Pitch Scramble for their fire-fighting and prevention device, the Flame Shield Sentinel.
March 12, 2025 – The one-day Design and Pitch Scramble challenged engineering students to think on their feet and create a solution to a real-world problem in just 24 hours. The contest was the UC Irvine Engineering Student Council’s newest addition to the series of events held during National Engineers Week.
The prompt was released via email at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 25, and students had to present their creations the next day at 5 p.m. in the McDonnell Douglas Engineering Auditorium. Twenty-nine undergraduate students participated, and teams were comprised of one to four people from various engineering majors. Students presented their projects to their peers, vying for first place and a $300 prize.
The challenge was to design and pitch fire prevention mechanisms or products, offering solutions for when local water systems fail. Teams were required to present their pitch to a panel of judges with a fully formulated idea, a solid foundation of background research, a computer-aided design (CAD) model and a proposed budget. They were judged on efficacy, cost, practicality and design completeness. The four judges included biomedical engineering Professor Elliot Botvinick, Associate Professor of teaching in mechanical and aerospace engineering Natascha Trellinger Buswell, wildfire turbulence graduate student researcher Ajinkya Desai and graduate student researcher Clara Jones.
The winning team consisted of computer engineering majors Nick Li and Cory Tsan and math major Ruize Tian. Their creation, the Flame Shield Sentinel, is a fire detection device that mitigates flames when they start and warns firefighters of the exact location. The tiny device, an upside-down cone-like shape, mitigates fires with a 360-degree hour-long spray of ABC powder, or monoammonium phosphate and ammonium sulfate -- the same substance in fire extinguishers. Each device would contain a sensor and propagate information to a local transmitter that would then reach the fire station. The team demonstrated their code and how firefighters would see alerts. They estimated the production cost of one Flame Shield Sentinel would be $13.20.
“With our device, wildfires will be more manageable,” said Tian. “They will be cheaper and more reliable to resolve. This device lasts about five years on average, doesn't cause any natural obstructions and will be able to notify the fire stations quickly so that many more lives are saved.”
From left, Abhishek Gautam, Tair Khuzekov and Raghav Gate won second place ($200) for their device called Aqua Guardian.
The second-place team, made up of computer engineering majors Abhishek Gautam and Raghav Gate, and biomedical engineering major Tair Khuzekov, won $200 for their project called Aqua Guardian. They proposed repurposing the drainage system so that the water flow reverses, rerouting water to firefighters instead of continuing to fill up water treatment plants. The three-part plan would use valves inserted into drainage pipes to reverse the flow and direct the water, flow pumps to push the water from the reservoir through pipes and a control system installation to direct the water appropriately. This would be done using axial flow pumps, and the estimated cost for one pump would be $350,000.
“Our cities already have ongoing infrastructure overhauls that are conducted regularly, so we could add our system along with these regular checkups,” said Gautam. “We are able to provide inexhaustible sources of water for the purpose of firefighters.”
The third-place team won $100 for their project, the Inferno Helmet. Inspired by the design of the F35 helmet, team members Ashley Roselynn Vincent, premed biomedical engineering; Jayla Kwong, electrical engineering; and Sahil Kulkarni, computer engineering; came up with an interface that uses a two-way communication system between the firefighting plane’s pilot and air traffic control.
From left, Ashley Roselynn Vincent, Jayla Kwong and Sahil Kulkarni won third place and $100 for their device, the Inferno Helmet.
Placed in the helmet, the hardware and software interfaces consist of real-time data integration to reduce manual coordination and improve response time. Data would be projected on the inside of the visor to display the optimal flight path, fire stages and wind patterns.
“What makes our product different is that it basically integrates all the data that's collected autonomously into one centralized system, so the pilot can get all the information in one row,” said Vincent. “As opposed to what currently exists, which is that all the data is collected separately.”
ESC Vice Presidents Milk Sun and Cadence Chen created the Design and Pitch Scramble, which was modeled after and replaced Life Tank, an event for first-year students to create a marketable product addressing a real-world problem to be presented to a group of judges. This year’s event upped the ante with a strict timeline.
“I was really surprised by the quality of presentations and the quality of projects that were produced in 24 hours,” said Sun. “I'm thoroughly impressed by what the students were able to do.”
– Cassandra Nava
