Florida Tech Project Takes First at New Statewide Design Event

By  //  April 24, 2018

Held UCF’s College of Engineering and Computer Science in Orlando

A project that developed a system to ensure the movement of heavy equipment by the U.S. Navy does not damage the flooring or the equipment won the top prize at the inaugural Florida-Wide Student Engineering Design Invitational. (FIT Image)

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – A project that developed a system to ensure the movement of heavy equipment by the U.S. Navy does not damage the flooring or the equipment won the top prize at the inaugural Florida-Wide Student Engineering Design Invitational.

Held April 19 at the University of Central Florida’s College of Engineering and Computer Science in Orlando, the 2018 Design Invitational brought together more than two dozen engineering projects from nine Florida universities. As host university, UCF did not participate in the event; partner universities will rotate hosting duties each year.

The Design Invitational was developed by engineering deans from the universities to showcase the collective strength of engineering and computer science programs in Florida and the impact these institutions have in providing thousands of skilled engineering and technology graduates who enter the workforce prepared to meet the demands of the state’s rapidly-growing innovation economy.

The entry from students Chris Ballentine, Christopher Dixon, Kyle Koren, Adam Madison, Reid Neal and Quintcey Parrish, “Scuff Protection Interface (S.P.I.) Project,” was named Best Invited Project. It featured the innovative idea of splitting the scuff protection interface into two sections: the top section would be comprised of steel to weld to the mating surface, and the bottom section would be made of bearing-grade nylon to prevent damage to the contact surfaces.

Furthermore, “a reciprocal patterned geometry would be machined out of both the steel and the polymer to achieve maximum frictional forces between these surfaces,” the students wrote in their project description. “This design feature eliminated the use of fasteners and created ease of maintenance for U.S. Navy operators.”

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At Florida Tech’s senior design event, the Northrop Grumman Engineering & Science Student Design Showcase held April 6, “Scuff Protection Interface” won the President’s Cup Award for engineering and the Best in Show for mechanical engineering.

Florida Tech sent two additional projects to the Design Invitational in Orlando. They were:

  • CARACAL (3D Biomedical Reconstruction): This project, from students Pamela Forero, Daniela Friere, Cameron Hume, Prabhuti Kharel and Rahmatul Mahmoud, aims to facilitate the process of 3D bioprinting by controlling the internal environmental parameters of the printer, such as sterility.
  • Aerospace Wire-Repair Intelligent Systems Experiment (ARISE): Students Logan Giacco, Nicholas Cushing, Brace White, Archana Tikayat Ray and Ford Mattice designed an experimental payload that flew aboard a sounding rocket to test a wire repair method developed by NASA and Vencore in microgravity.

In addition to Florida Tech and UCF, other partners were Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Florida A&M – Florida State University, Florida Atlantic University, Florida International University, University of Florida, University of Miami, University of North Florida and University of South Florida.

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