STUDENT DESIGN & EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING CENTER WINTER 2010 - 2011 SDELC Gets New Director Dr. Roger A. LaBoube, Curators Teaching Professor MORE INSIDE: Emeritus of Civil Engineering, has been named Director of the Student Design and Experiential Learning Center. New Director 1 Dr. LaBoube holds B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Civil Kummer Design Center 1 Engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla and has received numerous faculty and teaching awards. Team Reports 2 - 6 He serves as Director of Wei-Wen Yu Center for Cold- Formed Steel Structures at the Missouri S&T, remains Solar Village 2 active in professional organizations and societies, is a Registered Profes- Student Profile 2 sional Engineer in Missouri and served as faculty advisor for the S&T Steel Bridge Team from 1991 until 2010. Dr. LaBoube’s goals as SDELC director Alumni Highlight 3 include increasing student participation in competition teams and experi- ential learning activities, strengthening the center’s corporate funding sup- Thank You Note 4 port, encourage more faculty participation as team advisors, and ensure that student team members learn, succeed, and have fun. Event Schedule 7 Donate 7 New Student Design Center The Kummer Student Design Center will soon be a reality. Renovation of Phonathon 8 the old Holsum Bakery building started in August and by Thanksgiving new concrete floors, upgraded electric lines, interior framing walls, and the classy-looking new brick exterior were complete. Brinkmann Constructors should have the new facil- ity ready for oc- cupancy in late January. Solar Car Student Profile rience to assume the team’s public relations duties. Soon I became the 2011 is déjà vu for the Solar Miners. Miriah Anderson’s engineering group’s vice president, and now The annual Formula Sun Grand Prix journey started in her high school’s my peers have chosen me to lead (FSGP) relocates to the Indianapo- FIRST Robotics Team. She says the team. Throughout this process lis Motor Speedway as part of the “through FIRST (For Inspiration and I’ve strengthened my leadership famed track’s centennial celebra- Recognition of Science and Tech- skills, created friendships, and tion. The “Brickyard”, was the start nology) I learned that engineering networked with many engineering point for the SunRayce ’97 cross- was much more professionals at competition. Our country solar car race to Denver. than sitting team members come from different The Miners will run Solar Miner behind a desk. I backgrounds and all have unique VII at Indy, and they’ll make major worked closely personalities, but we work very well changes to the car’s chassis, includ- with engineers, together to create a fully function- ing moving SMVII’s center of grav- business pro- ing robot, and that is what I find ity and redesigning the rear swing fessionals, and most rewarding.” arm to accommodate a third-wheel my teachers, braking system. all of whom “I also began to better understand the impact that the Student Design Big changes are in store for the ’12 became my role models. Robotics became my educational heart and and Experiential Learning Center American Solar Challenge. Univer- (SDELC) has on our student design sity solar racers will have to use those mentors, along with my FIRST experience, helped me see my fu- teams. The SDELC is one of the driv- ture in engineering. When I learned ing forces behind S&T’s most-visible about the Miner Robotics Team, student teams. Without the center that made my college decision so our teams wouldn’t have been as easy that S&T was the only school successful. The center staff helps us to which I applied.” develop the technical, business and interpersonal skills necessary for us “I quickly got involved with the S&T to succeed in our careers.” robotics team, using my FIRST expe- Solar Village silicon solar cells instead of mount- Responsibility for S&T’s Solar Village, which consists of four solar-powered ing the far-more-expensive gallium- homes designed and arsenide arrays. The lower costs built by the Miner Solar should expand the racing field as House Team, has been more schools will be able to afford transferred to S&T’s In- the project, and silicon’s lower effi- stitute for Environmen- ciency will require teams to concen- tal Excellence effective trate more on design and strategy Nov 1st. Inquiries regard- rather than simply spending money ing student housing op- on sheer power. portunities, public tours, In the meantime the Miners are and research should be directed to http://iee.mst.edu/. working hard to enlist and train new team members, and they’ll use We’re Online at: the FSGP to do just that. The track race helps keep teams sharp, serves www.facebook.com/SandTDesign as a test bed for new designs and systems, and gives new drivers and design.mst.edu support crews valuable solar racing experience. experiencethis.mst.edu www.twitter.com/STBob Alumni Highlight Mike Eckert, ME ‘09 Engineer, Tesla Motor Works Advanced Engineering team, “My story is a bit unusual because I didn’t apply to Tesla. They came looking for me simply because I was chief engineer on Missouri S&T’s highly-ranked FSAE team. During a phone call with Tesla executives I was given an immediate offer based solely on my FSAE knowledge and experience, and just two days after completing my last FSAE race I was in Los Angeles ready to start an exciting career.” “I am part of a small group of highly specialized engineers comprising the Vehicle Engi- neering and Design team. My work at Tesla highly parallels the Formula SAE experience at Missouri S&T. Quick, informed decision making, high-level knowledge of every facet of the vehicle, the ability to learn and apply new things very quickly, and extensive knowl- edge and reliance upon computer-aided design software are all part of my daily tasks.” “I work with former Formula 1, IndyCar, LeMans, and other race-industry engineers and even solar car veterans. There are at least five former FSAE chief engineers working at Tesla, attesting to the value of such a program. The long hours and fast-paced environment are nothing new to a Formula SAE graduate, and some of my Detroit-honed coworkers were very impressed with my ability to wear so many hats. Few of them had ever seen someone who could both TIG weld and run a finite element structural analysis!” “My S&T design team experience, often hard, tiring times mixed with the good, has really paid off. I often think about it when I pull up to my apartment each night, located just across the street from the sandy shores of Hermosa Beach, CA. I have my S&T Formula SAE design team experience to thank for it.” Advanced Aero Airplane team member Anan Tak- separates on descent, takes photos, roori says “AAVG has helped me measures temperature, baromet- Vehicle Group understand the concept of propul- ric pressure, relative humidity, UV Every year SAE Aero officials throw sion and aerodynamics better than radiation, and solar irradiance even new autonomous design require- just formulas and lectures. This is after landing. The photos must ments into the heavy-lift competi- the first step to my future and I am remain in a specific orientation tion’s flight manifest. For 2011 the hoping this will help me fulfill my relative to the sky and ground, and Miners must build a durable aircraft dream of becoming the first scien- we’ve built some simple prototypes that does more than just carry tist to land on Mars.” to determine the best way to keep heavy cargo; the plane the instruments in the has to measure its own correct orientation dur- take-off and landing ing descent and land- distances, fly well with a ing.” payload and utilize on- USLI offers both a chal- board braking systems lenge and an opportu- to bring the landing roll nity for the AAVG rocket to a controlled stop. team. The top-five USLI Dave Althuis says ”Last teams must advance to year we didn’t get the larger Level II rockets in recording of the take-off 2012 and launch at the distance working so we have some The NASA-sponsored 2011 Univer- NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center catching up to do. We’ll also use sity Student Launch Initiative (USLI) Wallops Island (Virginia). Those pro- two engines, mount a twin vertical project will operate very differently jectiles must attain a 10,000-ft alti- stabilizer/rudder system for better than before. Chief USLI engineer tude and might “land” in the nearby performance, and get away from Jason Brown reports “This year Atlantic Ocean, so teams must plan the blended wing design.” NASA’s Space Mission Directorate for a water recovery if they hope to provides a deployable payload that bring their projects home. Engineers Without agement and maintenance tasks. the community doesn’t have the S&T’s EWB students are even writ- knowledge or resources to fix these Borders ing a Spanish-language operation issues. The Miners will return to David Malawey, Team Leader for and maintenance manual to leave tackle those problems using gabi- the Nahualate clean water project, behind in their partner villages. ons, stone-filled baskets to stabi- explains that the Miners “don’t Tacachia, Bolivia lize soil and prevent erosion, and impose a U.S.-based engineering EWB teams aren’t afraid to pull develop a plan to divert the surface solution to problems in developing out of a project if they determine water away from the homes.