Henry Ford College’s team of pre-engineering students have been named one of the 2025 Community College Innovation Challenge finalists for their SunSync project, curtains that collect and utilize solar power.
Henry Ford College has been named one of 12 finalists in the 2025 Community College Innovation Challenge (or CCIC). The challenge is being put on by the National Science Foundation in partnership with the American Association of Community Colleges.
The goal of the CCIC is to improve entrepreneurial thought among learners attending community college by creating challenges which encourage students to create new solutions to problems that already exist in the world. It also allows students to use their extant STEM skills, while learning new ones in order to make an impact on the world, and see in real time the translation of learning into action.
The CCIC teams are all made up of two to four students and a faculty mentor who helps lead them. The team representing Henry Ford College this year is made up of pre-engineering students Gregory Busuioc, Zaid Pharoan, and Jazmin Vazquez. Pre-Engineering Program Director Dr. Hassan Mohseni Nameghi is acting as the mentor for the team.
The Henry Ford College students designed and built a project called SunSync. SunSync is a self-powered, indoor smart blind system that takes in solar energy using seasons and uses machine learning to improve energy efficiency, comfort, and privacy. The team noticed the the world’s energy crisis is not improving, and that with a limited amount of fossil fuel reserves, increasing electricity costs, and relatively slow progress on renewable energies, a project like SunSync offering a cost-effective route to reducing energy costs and assisting with climate action would be a beneficial project in myriad ways, with the potential to change how homes operate all over the country.
The team looked at how blinds and curtains have served for a long time as ubiquitous home fixtures that manage indoor temperatures, light, and privacy. They noticed that more traditional options like roller blinds, venetian blinds, or manual curtains tend to be functional in a basic way, but lack efficiency and adaptability. Recently, motorized and smart blinds have come on the market, using voice assistants, mobile apps, and remote controls that have added a new layer of convenience. The team noticed, however, that these solutions are largely focused on adding automation, but not energy generation, conservation, or sustainability. These convenience features also use electricity to operate, adding still more burden to the power grid.
In an article posted on Henry Ford College’s website, team member Jazmin Vazquez explained the team’s thought process, saying, “Our idea is to improve on existing smart blinds by integrating solar energy generation and intelligent energy efficiency systems. We designed and built SunSync, which harvests energy from solar panels installed on the blinds and stores them in a battery, which will be used for lighting, charging small devices, and powering the smart system. SunSync uses a microcontroller to control the blinds. A temperature sensor functions similarly to a thermostat: When the room is cold, the sensor signals the motors to open the blinds and let in warm sunlight; when the room is warm, the blinds close to reduce heat. With a motion sensor, lighting comes up when the room is occupied.”
In order to ensure privacy for the user, SunSync uses a light sensor that registers the amount of light inside and outside simultaneously. When the outside light is lower than it is inside, the blinds will automatically close. The SunSync system also has a speaker that can broadcast an alarm or play music, a microphone used for voice control, and an app that allows the user to control the system from their smartphone. SunSync also uses machine learning that learns the user’s preferences and habits the more it is used, hopefully improving its efficiency.
Zaid Pharoan spoke more about how the system works, saying, “This provides convenience, comfort, and entertainment to the user. The blinds also have an on-board screen to adjust settings directly. Safety is ensured, as SunSync blinds do not connect to the power grid and act as an independent unit.”
The team hopes that SunSync will be able to benefit users all over the globe. At the basic user level, SunSync provides a cost effective and smart way to access lighting and electricity directly from the window. According to VTOMAN, a sustainable energy provider, lighting accounts for just over a tenth of residential electricity use, and the average household will generally spend up to 75% of their energy bills during peak use hours. SunSync aims to reduce these expenses by collecting solar energy during daylight hours, and providing electricity and lighting at night. The team has designed SunSync such that it will cost similar to motorized blinds that are currently on the market, even with its larger amount of features and benefits, therefore providing consumers with a higher rate of return on their purchase.
From a national perspective, SunSync will work to help stabilize the energy grid and enhance energy security. The less energy that can be consumed during peak hour electricity demand and enabling both energy storage and usage locally, it should ease the strain on the country’s aging energy infrastructure. When power outages occur, homes that have the SunSync will be able to operate the energy collected by the system independently. The team notes that if even a tenth of homes in the nation use the SunSync, it could equate to billions of dollars in energy savings.
From a global perspective, SunSync could help support climate action by lowering carbon emissions as its power is generated by the sun rather than fossil fuels. The World Nuclear Association has reported that electricity generation accounts for almost half of energy related emissions. While traditional renewable energy technologies tend to need large scale infrastructure, SunSync brings an innovative approach to cleaner energy by looking to the individual. It looks to enable individual houses to help slow climate change, reduce their production of greenhouse gases, and if adopted on a large enough scale, could help to reduce the amount of climate disasters.
Vazquez went on to talk about the long term effects of the project, saying, “SunSync is a product we designed to reduce carbon emissions and rising electricity bills, while also contributing to a more sustainable and eco friendly society. The purpose of our product is to be accessible while providing adequate tools for a smart and energy-efficient home. Adding small changes to your home can support a big change in the world. With SunSync integrated into homes, we can help reduce carbon footprints, lower bills, and build a more sustainable future.”
Gregory Busuioc chimed in, saying, “SunSync is real. We have built a working prototype and are ready to bring it to homes across America.”
Over the past 11 years, Henry Ford College has been part of the top finalists in the CCIC seven times, and is the only community college to have done so. Henry Ford College is also the only college in the state of Michigan to participate in this year’s CCIC event.
AACC President and CEO Dr. Walter G. Bumphus was quoted on the finalists this year, saying, “Congratulations to the 2025 CCIC finalists. The finalist projects showcase the incredible talent and creativity of the nation’s community college students. I am proud to stand with our partners at the (NSF) to provide this forum to advance these student leaders as they become our future scientists, entrepreneurs, and engineers, addressing real-world issues and positively impacting our daily lives.”
This month, the finalist teams will take part in an Innovation Boot Camp in the nation’s capital, and network with entrepreneurs and experts in marketplace dynamics, strategic communication, stakeholder engagement, and business planning. The Boot Camp will all lead up to a Student Innovation Poster Session on Capitol Hill with congressional stakeholders and other STEM leaders and a pitch presentation which will determine the top three winning teams.
Dr. Hassan Mohseni Nameghi spoke highly of the team and their success, saying, “Being a finalist in the CCIC for the seventh time reaffirms our commitment to success, our nurturing educational environment, and our outstanding engineering program. I am proud of our dedicated team of students at HFC who work hard to make this achievement possible.”
More information about Henry Ford College can be found on the school’s website.