MSOE’s American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Student Design team took second place at the 2016 Student Design Competition held at Minnesota State University, Mankato, April 22-24, 2016. With this win they will be progressing on to compete at the ASME national competition.

Mechanical engineering seniors Clark Anderson, Sven Kirschtowski, Bilal Nyazi, Devin Runner, Arthur Siebel, Ou Yang and electrical engineering major Pascal Dettmann, designed and built a small machine that processes and launches three projectiles, each made of a standard A4 size piece of paper. The goal is to achieve the farthest distance and complete the task in less than five minutes. The team’s machine accomplished this by rolling up the paper inside a steel tube, crushing it into a dense cylinder using a ball screw that applied over 1,000 pounds of force, and throwing it using a slingshot style mechanism. Professor Mohammad Mahinfalah, Ph.D. is the team’s advisor. The project also served as the team’s senior design project, and will be on display May 27 during MSOE’s annual senior project day on campus.

The ASME Student Design Competition provides a platform for ASME Student Members to present their solutions to a range of design problems – from everyday household tasks to groundbreaking space exploration. Each team is required to design, construct and operate a prototype meeting the requirements of an annually determined problem statement.

The Student Design Competition showcases the extraordinary talents of mechanical engineering students while encouraging them to develop innovative ideas towards an improved quality of life for all. Each year, several teams compete at the regional Student Professional Development Conferences in select locations worldwide. Winners then proceed to finals at the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE). Cash prizes and awards are presented to winners at both regional competitions and the finals.

Justin Clough and Megan Kroll, both mechanical engineering seniors, participated in the ASME Old Guard Oral Presentation Competition. They each delivered a 15-minute presentation on a subject addressing a technical, economic or environmental aspect of engineering. A major portion of the total score is based on the judges’ evaluation of the student’s relative capability to communicate orally, including evidence of a talent to respond effectively during a five-minute question and answer period. Clough was awarded second place and the award for “Best Technical Content.” Kroll received fifth place.