Yes, there were sleekly-designed bikes, robotic plush toys, Baja off-road vehicles, and augmented reality systems.

But I was most struck by a trio of student groups working on projects related to coffee and tea. Is this small engineering school in Needham turning into Starbucks U.?

Chris Fitzhugh was showing off an electric tea kettle — slim and sans handle — that looked like a bottle of Voss water. Dan Greeley had examined the environmental impact of drip coffee makers, finding that they waste lots of energy by over-heating the water, then cooling it down. 

And Ben Salinas, a senior at Olin, was showing off the Luminaire Bravo 1: a single-cup coffeemaker designed for the most discriminating java swillers. (That's Salinas in the photo above.) The coffeemaker lets the barista control the temperature of the water, the rate at which water flows into the filter, and also the brewing time — some baristas, Salinas explained, like to add water to the grounds, stop, and then start again. Coffee beans from different countries that are roasted in different ways need to be brewed differently, Salinas said. 

The Luminaire prototype is already in use at Barismo in East Arlington, and Salinas says he's planning to have a few more prototypes in the field by next year.

Why all the research-and-development interest in coffee and tea? Materials science prof Debbie Chachra, who helped the students organize the expo, says Olin students tend to dive into topics near and dear to their hearts… like caffeinated beverages.