Tag: Hopeman School

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Senior Design Project: Designing an Airplane

As a student in the Calderwood School of Arts and Letters, I am unfamiliar with the inner-workings of the Hopeman School of Science and Engineering. So I decided to talk to one of my mechanical engineer friends to find out a little bit more about their senior capstone projects.

Every year, Grove City College mechanical engineering students complete a year-long capstone design project. Students work over two semesters in groups ranging from six to nine people to completely design, and in some cases, build a product. The projects vary depending on the interests of the students, but you can find a few past examples in this blog post. This year the projects include a mobile greenhouse, an underwater robot, a turbulence tank to study oceanographic organisms, and an airplane.

The projects are very different from normal classwork, but are much more hands-on. They require a different kind of work compared to just studying for a test or writing a paper. Some projects are more research based and some have a set of specifications to meet.

My friend is a part of the team designing an airplane. Although they do not have the funds or the time to completely build a plane from the ground up, they are designing every piece of it and hope to build a significant portion of it. This is very time intensive – it requires at least eight to 10 hours of work each week from each team member. The students are not entirely on their own, however. Each team has a faculty adviser who answers questions, provides technical help, and ultimately grades the project.

Obviously, each project is different, but they all reflect topics that the students are interested in. The goal is to provide a very practical, hands-on experience for the students. It is a real-world application of the engineering process, regardless of the specifics of the project. Although the projects are difficult, my friend assured me that they are a fantastic learning experience and a very practical transition out of college and into the real world.

 

 

 

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STEM Majors Branching out with BEST Robotics Competition

Imagine an arena full of middle school and high school students cheering nonstop for five hours straight on a Saturday morning. What is possibly worth waking up early and yelling for on a weekend? The amazing talent and hard work of students from all over the region battling robots would definitely justify this incessant cheering.

Each year, Grove City College hosts the BEST Robotics Competition through the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics departments. This STEM-based curriculum is a well-loved priority of Grove City College, that highlights the strengths of college, middle school, and high school students interested in engineering based professions through robotic design. With the leadership of Dr. Mike Bright, Mrs. Stephanie Adams, and Mrs. Danielle Bryan, both students and faculty were able to help make this event a success as volunteers and judges at the Wolverine BEST competition on Saturday, Oct. 29.

The BEST Robotics stands for Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology. These competitions are done on a national level each year to challenge students to create a robot that competes in a game and embodies “boosting” of engineering, science, and technology through their designs. This year’s theme was “Bet the Farm,” so students created a robot with the ability to plant corn seeds, harvest and deliver ripe corn, tomatoes, and lettuce. Robots were also required to corral and secure pigs, as well as feed them, and turn on a water valve. The complexity of this year’s robot was a challenge to all, but equally an amazing learning opportunity for younger and older students to learn teamwork, collaboration, and application of engineering design. 

Not only is this a great opportunity for younger students to learn about practical engineering, but it is also such a gratifying experience for our students and faculty to spread the importance of academic recognition. Dr. Mike Bright explains, “The thing that motivates me is seeing students get the recognition that athletes receive, but for working on technical and academic endeavors.” As this competition takes months to plan, Bright continues, “It can be tense and frustrating in the weeks leading up to the competition, but the energy from the students on Game Day makes it all worthwhile. It is particularly gratifying to walk through the pit area and see students and teachers helping other teams to get their robots ready or patched up so they can run again.”

Students on game day serve as volunteers, judges, and coaches to help teams get their robots prepared. Junior Mechanical Engineering major Matthew Batten has been involved as a coach for the Grove City Homeschoolers “Spartans” Team for the past two years. He explains, “as a Mechanical Engineering major, I thought that helping the team would be a great opportunity to serve the community… I’ve also really enjoyed helping high school students get a taste of real engineering.” According to Batten, the creation and final production of the team’s robots is a rewarding experience that he is proud to experience. Batten continues, “The competition is exciting, and it’s really neat to see six weeks of work come together and watch the guys on the team show what they can do.”

This competition is just one example of how our engineering department involves students of all ages to get excited about engineering design. We are thankful as a campus community to be able to host such an event every year, that emphasizes the importance of the STEM careers on our campus.

To learn more about the competition and how to get involved, visit BEST Robotics Inc.