Name: James Shanley ’26
Major: Electrical Engineering
Hometown: Douglassville, Pennsylvania
Objects: Portable guitar amp (senior design project), guitar and guitar case
Meaning Behind the Objects:
Shanley and his senior design project partner spent the past year creating a battery-powered guitar amplifier from scratch as part of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering’s Senior Lab I (ECE 257) and Senior Lab II (ECE 258). Shanley will join the miniature device technologies division at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory as an electrical and computer engineering intern this summer and will pursue his master’s in electrical engineering next year at Lehigh. He treasures the amp in addition to his guitar and guitar case that’s covered in stickers he’s collected at Lehigh and beyond.
Since his early days on campus as an electrical engineering student, James Shanley ’26 dreamed of an opportunity to combine his interests in guitar and electrical engineering. His vision came to life through the portable guitar amplifier he made as part of his senior design project in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering’s (ECE) Senior Lab I (ECE 257) and Senior Lab II (ECE 258).
“I had this [idea] in the back of my mind since freshman year to do something like this, and I’m very happy that it ended up working out and I was able to do it,” he said.
Shanley and his project partner spent the past year creating the battery-powered guitar amp from scratch, applying their knowledge and skills, and conducting independent research to navigate building its circuitry and wooden enclosure. The project was a first-place winner in the ECE Undergraduate Paper Contest and the 2026 IEEE Walter B. Morton Student Paper Contest.
Shanley will join the miniature device technologies division at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory as an electrical and computer engineering intern this summer and will pursue his master’s in electrical engineering next year at Lehigh. He treasures the amp in addition to his guitar and guitar case that’s covered in stickers he’s collected at Lehigh and beyond.
“This whole project was a learning experience,” Shanley said. “It was a very long process, but we had a lot of fun doing it.”
The Class of 2026 reflects on the keepsakes, memories and milestones that shaped their Lehigh experience. Through personal stories and meaningful objects, these Future Makers share moments of growth, discovery and connection. Read the stories behind the keepsakes, or view the expanded photo essay.
