{"id":55308,"date":"2026-04-21T13:56:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:56:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/case\/?post_type=news&p=55308"},"modified":"2026-04-24T11:48:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T15:48:55","slug":"civil-and-systems-engineering-seniors-design-community-centered-solutions-for-their-capstone-course","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/case\/news\/civil-and-systems-engineering-seniors-design-community-centered-solutions-for-their-capstone-course\/","title":{"rendered":"Civil and systems engineering seniors design community-centered solutions for their capstone course"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seniors\u00a0in the\u00a0<\/span>Department of Civil and Systems Engineering<\/span><\/a> (CaSE) are spending their final year turning classroom knowledge into community-focused engineering designs. The CaSE capstone projects are culminating academic assignments that require teams to address real problems through actionable engineering solutions. The students are divided into two teams according to their major\u2014civil engineering and systems engineering\u2014with both groups working with their designated clients to improve life for Baltimore City residents.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Rehabilitation\u00a0of\u00a0a Southwest Baltimore rowhome<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

The civil team, which includes Abigail Aranda-Lopez, Wendy Holguin, and Emely Pacheco, is collaborating with Community Law Center (CLC) and Fayette Street Outreach (FSO) on a preservation engineering project at 23 North Smallwood, the site of a vacant rowhome with the front fa\u00e7ade as its only standing structure.<\/span><\/p>\n

The group\u2019s client in this scenario, FSO, provides a community center and neighborhood programs to improve residents\u2019 safety, health, and economic well-being. They are also collaborating with CLC, which acts as a community land trust and revitalizes vacant properties to increase homeownership among city residents.<\/span><\/p>\n

After the team\u2019s kickoff meeting with CLC and FSO at the beginning of the year, the students were tasked with designing a stabilization and anchorage system to preserve the existing fa\u00e7ade and convert the debris- and tree-filled lot into an open-air performance and dance space that\u2019s accessible to residents. During this design phase, CLC is pursuing land acquisition with the hope of eventually providing a complete rehabilitation so that the space can be restored to a home.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

From left to right: Abigail Aranda-Lopez, Wendy Holguin, Emely Pacheco<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe met\u00a0with\u00a0FSO at the start of the\u00a0spring\u00a0semester\u00a0to\u00a0ask what they wanted\u00a0as part of the\u00a0fa\u00e7ade\u00a0stabilization\u00a0and foundation design,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Aranda-Lopez. \u201cIn addition to sharing design specifications with us, we found that they\u00a0really wanted\u00a0to understand the\u00a0whole process. That\u00a0made us\u00a0begin to\u00a0think about how things\u00a0would\u00a0play out in real-world design development.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In preparation for developing concept designs, Aranda-Lopez, Holguin, and Pacheco visited the North Smallwood site to complete a condition assessment. Their report concluded that the fa\u00e7ade was structurally sound and able to be preserved as part of their final design. With guidance from Professor John Matteo\u2014founder and principal of Matteo Ferran Structural Engineers\u2014the team began collecting site measurements, researching preservation techniques, and building a design matrix to compare several concepts in terms of cost, constructability, feasibility, schedule, aesthetics, and client constraints.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we began the project, I\u00a0was genuinely surprised\u00a0by\u00a0how many steps it takes to stabilize a building before it can be used,\u201d said Holguin. \u201cThe approach goes beyond engineering.\u00a0I\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0think about providing a step-by-step process\u2014from clearing trees in a basement to repointing brick\u00a0even\u00a0before\u00a0reaching\u00a0the point\u00a0of\u00a0building temporary shoring.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The team\u2019s work has progressed from assessment into preliminary design. In March, they presented a design concept to FSO and are now refining a 3D Fusion model while working through the structural calculations. Their proposed approach includes a reusable shoring system to support the fa\u00e7ade, a first-floor platform and foundation system, and a short, protective roof about one-quarter of the length of the house to shelter the shoring system.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A

A 3D model of the stabilization design for 23 North Smallwood<\/p><\/div>\n

The\u00a0final deliverable package with the\u00a0group\u2019s\u00a0condition assessment, drawings, and cost estimates will be usable by contractors and engineering teams\u00a0should\u00a0CLC and FSO\u00a0acquire\u00a0the land and\u00a0secure\u00a0the necessary\u00a0funding.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur client is a nonprofit, so cost matters,\u201d said Pacheco. \u201cEven after we complete our project, CLC will continue to rehabilitate vacant homes, so we\u2019re working towards a sustainable and reusable design that can be used in the preservation of other rowhome fa\u00e7ades.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Optimizing\u00a0public transit\u00a0to\u00a0support\u00a0Baltimore City high school\u00a0riders<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Systems engineering majors Diana Arizmendi, Benjamin Casino, Charmi Daas, and Diran Jimenez, are tackling a different Baltimore challenge: unreliable public transit for City Schools students. Working with Johns Hopkins University Professor Julia Burdick-Will, whose research shows that frequent bus transfers and unreliable service contribute to low first-period attendance, the group is building an optimization tool that will improve transit routes and ride times for high school students.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cStudents who depend on public transit to get to and from school don\u2019t have options that are consistently timely or reliable,\u201d said Jimenez. \u201cThere are direct links between reliable transportation and improved academic performance, but neither the Maryland Transit Administration nor City Schools have direct responsibility for a student transit system.\u201d <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A

Left to right: Diran Jimenez, Diana Arizmendi, Benjamin Casino, Charmi Daas<\/p><\/div>\n

The team is using ArcGIS mapping of census tracts and existing bus routes to better understand existing commuting patterns and student rider experiences. They\u2019re now developing and writing the code for a genetic algorithm, an optimization technique that iteratively evolves to find optimal solutions based on specified criteria. The group says that their algorithm combines strong route segments and introduces small random changes based on parameters like stop locations, number of buses in operation, start and end points, travel times between stops, roadway constraints, school schedules, and vehicle capacities. As part of the code, they\u2019ve added penalties for scenarios they want to avoid, such as ride times longer than 60 minutes and multiple transfers. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe want the solution to be simple\u00a0and inexpensive to\u00a0implement,\u00a0but also\u00a0flexible so students can adapt if they miss a bus,\u201d\u00a0Casino\u00a0said.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re looking at scenario metrics, cost analysis, and equity in terms of making sure that\u00a0times are averaged among riders to prevent\u00a0one student from having a 15-minute commute\u00a0while another has a 60-minute commute.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Arizmendi, Casino, Jimenez, and Daas\u00a0are evaluating\u00a0various\u00a0options\u00a0to improve the student rider experience,\u00a0however\u00a0they anticipate that their final solution will be a combination of\u00a0modifying\u00a0MTA routes throughout\u00a0the city\u00a0and supplementing routes with dedicated yellow buses, which\u00a0they say\u00a0could lead to improvements for other\u00a0riders.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cImproving student transit would likely have the effect of improving transit for all riders,\u201d said Daas. \u201cTransit affects access to opportunities, and low-income neighborhoods are disproportionately harmed by unreliable service. Our project is focused on high school commutes, but better routes and reliability\u00a0benefit\u00a0the whole community.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\"On

Current bus routes, census tracts, and high schools in Baltimore City (left) and an overlay of current and optimized bus routes (right)<\/p><\/div>\n

The group says that their genetic algorithm will be transferable, so it can be reused by MTA year-to-year to incorporate changes in student ridership, routes, and driver schedules. It can also be updated to accommodate other parameter changes, like school start times, roadway closures, or even broadening the scope to accommodate middle school commuters. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSystems engineering is all about the tools you have at your disposal, narrowing parameters, and asking thoughtful questions, so that you can take a large-scale, nebulous problem and design evidence-based solutions,\u201d said Casino. \u201cThese can be scaled and applied to almost any challenge.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Both\u00a0teams are\u00a0finalizing\u00a0their solutions\u00a0in time for\u00a0<\/span>Design Day<\/span><\/a> on April 28, where they will present their methods and final designs. The event is open to the public and attendees are asked to\u00a0<\/span>register\u00a0here<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-55308","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","news_categories-student-experience"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCivil and systems engineering seniors design community-centered solutions for their capstone course - Department of Civil & Systems Engineering<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/case\/news\/civil-and-systems-engineering-seniors-design-community-centered-solutions-for-their-capstone-course\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Civil and systems engineering seniors design community-centered solutions for their capstone course - Department of Civil & Systems Engineering\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Seniors\u00a0in the\u00a0Department of Civil and Systems Engineering (CaSE) are spending their final year turning classroom knowledge into community-focused engineering designs. 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