Members of the Boise State University Mechanical Engineering Society display their awards at the conclusion of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Region VIII Student Conference held April 4-6 at Portland State University. Top Row (left to right): Lucas Dennison, Shaun Greer, Zach Bailey, Mike Myers, John Youngsman, and Craig Fischer. Mid Row: Lars Dorr, Pam Havey, Zach Parker, Rick Michaud, and Jose Lepe. Bottom Row: Melissa Ray, Nathaniel Haro, Yvette Barrios, Yasmine Morales, and Todd Haynes.

for full view of the images click above

BOISE STATE MECHANICAL ENGINEERS WIN MOST AWARDS AT CONFERENCE

At a regional engineering conference April 4-6, Boise State University mechanical engineering students earned the most awards, including top honors for their remote-controlled baja car. The Boise State Mechanical Engineering Society earned six awards, including four first-place finishes, and brought home $800 in prize money.

The annual American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Region VIII Student Conference was hosted by Portland State University and attended by 19 colleges and universities from around the Pacific Northwest. Region VIII is the largest ASME region and includes chapters from Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Alaska, British Columbia and Alberta.

In only its fourth year, the Boise State chapter placed in each event it entered, including first- place finishes in the two highest profile competitions � the Micro-Baja Car Competition and the Ingersoll-Rand Contest.

In the Micro-Baja Car Competition, student engineers designed and built a remote-controlled electric car for four events � a drag race, slalom course, baja course and oral presentation. The Boise State entry, named Horsepower II, was the only car still functioning after completion of the grueling baja course, which was the final event. Horsepower II won the overall competition by placing first in the drag race and baja events and third in the slalom course. This was a significant improvement over last year�s entry, Horsepower I, which finished in last place. The Horsepower II student engineers were Rick Michaud, Nathaniel Haro, Mike Myers, Zach Bailey, Craig Fischer and Lucas Dennison, all juniors in the mechanical engineering program.

The Ingersoll-Rand Contest is a chapter award that recognizes students� development as engineering professionals by their participation in technical events that expand on their academic pursuits, by building character and demonstrating good citizenship and by learning more about real world engineering. Points are awarded for a range of activities, including volunteering at science and engineering fairs, hosting tours and meetings, performing community service and presenting professional speakers at meetings. This year was the first in which Boise State competed in this contest.

Among the individual competitions at the conference, the Old Guard Poster and Oral competitions emphasize the importance of communication skills for engineers. Topics for these contests are related to technical, economic or environmental aspects of engineering. Boise State senior Yvette Barrios won the poster event for her poster based on biomedical pediatric orthopedic research, on which she is working with local orthopedic surgeons and several engineering professors. Senior Pam Havey took second place for her poster regarding direct methanol fuel cells, based on an ongoing senior design project that Havey is working on with three other mechanical engineering students. In the oral competition, senior Melissa Ray was honored with best technical content for her presentation regarding fluid dynamics research that uses computer software to model jet stream behavior.

The Boise State chapter also earned first place in the Section Continuity Competition for the way the students conducted their officer elections and made the transition to a new team of officers.

-30-

James Ferguson

Mechanical Engineering

208 426-3679

jferguson@boisestate.edu

Pat Pyke

communications and marketing

208 426-1987

Return to News home