Niner Engineers provide efficiency solution to a world leader in power tools
When fall 2024 arrived at UNC Charlotte, five senior Niner Engineers didn’t just get a textbook assignment — they were handed an actual production problem by Bosch Power Tools. The challenge: design a new system to reduce quality defects and ergonomic risks in a packaging process at the company’s Lincolnton, North Carolina, plant.
Over the course of two semesters, the students — a multidisciplinary team advised by Christoph Kossack, teaching assistant professor of mechanical engineering — dove deep into the existing process. They studied every step, designed new equipment and human methods, and finally, built a functional prototype for Bosch. Their goal was a new approach that would make the factory floor more efficient and safer, with a system scalable to other Bosch locations.
Industry Support and Real-World Impact
The project, titled “Design for Automation of Saw Blade Presentation,” offered a crucial connection to professional engineering. Freddie Rivas of Bosch Power Tools served as the team’s industry adviser, meeting routinely with the seniors and even attending the Senior Design Expo in May, where the team demonstrated the solution on the prototype equipment.
“The quality of students we’ve seen here in this design have been of a very, very high caliber,” Rivas said.
The benefits of working directly with a major corporation on a current factory challenge were clear to the students. Matthew McGrew, a member of the team, explained the perspective gained. “The advantage of working with Bosch was we got to see how our project would impact the workflow in the factory and how that impacts the real world with a big increase in efficiency.”
The Bosch Challenge
The core of the problem lay in the manual packaging of reciprocating saw blades. Machine operators were required to manually count and insert the blades, a process that frequently led to quality defects and raised ergonomic concerns due to the repetitive motion.
The senior design team’s task was to mitigate these issues by designing and constructing a prototype system to accurately count the correct number of blades and present them smoothly to the machine operator. The students used CAD modeling, vacuum suction processes, control systems and other advanced skills to solve the complex challenge.
“It’s been great having Bosch as our industry supporter. I’m happy we were able to come up with a design to help them improve their process.”
Luke Gutman ’25 B.S. in mechanical engineering
Their final solution minimized the source of quality defects and ergonomic issues, resulting in a system that was both more efficient and safer. This virtual demonstration of their challenge and solution won second place for Best Project Video in UNC Charlotte’s May 2025 Senior Design Program.
The Niner Engineer Team
The five seniors on the project all graduated in May and were immediately hired in engineering roles.
- Noah Bryant, B.S. in mechanical engineering (hired by Leidos, defense and space manufacturer)
- Camden Dellingner, B.S. in mechanical engineering technology (hired by US Conec, telecommunications corporation)
- Carlos Gomez Mijangos, B.S. in computer engineering (hired by GenSpark, IT Services and Consulting provider)
- Luke Gutman, B.S. in mechanical engineering (hired by Victaulic, industrial machine manufacturer)
- Matthew McGrew, B.S. in electrical engineering (hired by Burkert, USA, automation machinery manufacturer)