Bosch Rexroth’s R&D Team Collaborates with Clemson University for Mechanical Engineering Capstone Project

For the Spring 2025 semester, a class taught by Senior Lecturer, Jay Northington and Associate Professor, Dr. Chris Mabey, partnered with Bosch Rexroth’s R&D team, sponsored by the Assembly Technology business area.

Clemson students were tasked with designing an emergency brake system for Bosch Rexroth’s eVT and presenting not just a working prototype, but also a component list, cost breakdowns and cost to scale, FMEA and FEA analysis, testing data, bill of materials, and next steps or recommendations for bringing the idea to life based on their initial findings.

In addition to a kickoff at the beginning of the semester, a team from Bosch Rexroth including, Project Manager Matthew Brown, R&D Leader Bryant Boyd, and Mechanical Design Engineer Nick Hoidas, provided the project requirements to the students, as well as met with them mid-way through the semester to offer guidance on their progress.

On April 24, 2025, a team from Bosch Rexroth went to Clemson University to see the final presentations and demonstrations of the student’s work. Four teams of between 4-5 students conducted a 35-minute presentation overviewing the project, their timeline, challenges encountered and the data requirements, followed by live demonstrations of the working demonstrations.

Overall, the instructors were happy with the complexity of the project and how it challenged their students to think outside the box.

The Bosch Rexroth team had the opportunity to ask the students questions about their build and challenge them on specific design choices. The collaboration represents Bosch Rexroth’s commitment to engaging with the next generation of engineering talent and fostering innovation and the team is excited to continue their collaboration with Clemson University on future Capstone Projects.