2005 ASME Student Mechanism Design Competition
(Graduate and
Undergraduate Divisions)
Introduction | Eligibility | Submissions | Judging | Awards | Coordinator Contact | Links
Official Anouncement [PDF File]
Competition Results
Undergraduate Division
1st Place: Cam-Based
Infinitely Variable Transmission
Students(s):
Derek Lahr
Advisor: Professor Dennis Hong
School:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
2nd Place: Cardan Stepping Hand Truck
Students(s):
Ben Abruzzo, John Martin, Dan Salman,
Tom Wedlick
Advisor: Professor Bijan
Sepahpour
School:
The College of New Jersey
3rd Place: Smart
Crutch
Students(s):
Daniel Ursu
Advisor: Professor Nitish
V. Thakor
School:
The Johns Hopkins University
4th place: A
MedEvac Extraction Device
Students(s):
Zachary Sabato, Jonathan Sente,
Sajeel Shiromani, David
Williams
Advisor: Professor Paul Oh
School:
Drexel University
Graduate Division
1st Place: Customizable
Automotive Suspension System with Independent Control of Stiffness, Ride-Height
and Damping
Students(s):
Hrishikesh V Deo
Advisor: Professor Nam Pyo
Suh
School:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2nd Place: The
Controllable Stiffness ‘Jack Spring’
Students(s):
Kevin W. Hollander
Advisor:
Professor Thomas G. Sugar
School:
Arizona State University
3rd Place: Compliant
Mechanism Based Material Design using Micro-Molding
Students(s):
Ching-Jui Chang, Po-Ting Lin, Bin Zheng,
Jack Wang (Undergraduate Student)
Advisors:
Professors Hae Chang Gea &
Yen-Wen Lu
School:
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
4th Place: Kinematic Design of a Mirror Positioning System for PV Arrays
Students(s):
Daniel Nartey Brown
Advisor:
Professor Pierre Larochelle,
School:
Florida Institute of Technology
Congratulations to
all the participants!
Introduction
A student mechanism
design competition will be featured at the 29th
Mechanisms and Robotics Conference
Important dates
Letter of intent due: May 6,
2005
Project report due:
July 1, 2005
Notification to finalists: August 12, 2005
Final competition: Sessions to be scheduled September 24 -28,
2005
Eligibility
Any graduate or undergraduate registered as
a full-time student through the spring of 2005 is eligible to participate.
Both individual and group projects are welcome. An individual may
participate in several entries provided each submission is on a different
subject.
The scope of the "mechanism" in
this contest is rather broad. For the purpose of this conference, a
"mechanism" is defined as: Any device
that transmits a force or a motion in a deterministic way to perform a
mechanical task. It may consist of rigid or deformable bodies connected
with kinematic or flexural joints. It may be
constructed of any type of materials, including smart and other active
materials. It may be actuated by means of any transduction principle and
employ any form of energy input. The size of the device can range from nano-scale to macro-scale.
Contact the competition coordinators
if you have any questions about whether your mechanism lies within the scope of
this contest.
Submission Information
A. Send one electronic copy of a letter of intent by May 6 to the corresponding undergraduate or graduate coordinator. It should include:
● Project title.
● Name(s) of the participants and one contacting postal address and e-mail address.
● University affiliation.
● Category (undergraduate or graduate).
● 100-200 word description of the project.
● Faculty sponsor's signed letter stating the eligibility of the student(s) to participate (Scan and email the letter along with your letter of intent)
B. Send one electronic copy of the project report by July 1 to the corresponding undergraduate or graduate coordinator. It should include:
1. A cover page including: (The judges will not see the cover page.)
● Project title.
● Name(s) of the participant(s) and one contacting postal address and e-mail address.
● University affiliation.
● Category (undergraduate or graduate).
● Faculty sponsor's name.
2. Faculty sponsor's signed letter stating the eligibility of the student(s) to participate.
3. Project description including: (Please do not mention your name(s) or affiliation anywhere in the project description.)
● Brief background.
● Functional description of the mechanism.
● Clear statement of the novel features of the mechanism.
● Procedures used to design the mechanism.
● Benefits and possible applications of the mechanism.
● Acknowledgment of help received by the participant(s) from others including faculty, machine shop personnel, laboratory technicians, etc.
● All appropriate figures, tables, photographs, etc. incorporated into the document.
The Project description should be roughly 1,000 to 2,000 words in length, prepared with a word processor, and submitted in electronic format (MS Word or PDF). Participants may format the report in any way they like to maximize the readability and presentation of the technical content. Please contact the competition coordinators if you have any questions in this regard. Do not send demonstrative models or prototypes. If you are selected as a finalist, you can bring them to your oral presentation.
Judging
- The letter of intent will not be evaluated. It is required only to enable the competition organizer to arrange for judging.
- The project reports will be evaluated by three judges chosen from both industry and academe.
- Up to five finalists will be selected from each of the two divisions, graduate and undergraduate. Finalists will be notified by August 12.
- Criteria for choosing the finalists will be based on:
● Creativity and novelty.
● Practicality.
● Integrity of analysis and design procedures.
● Manufacturability.
● Proof-of-concept (whether a demonstrative model is made).
● Quality of the project report.
- All finalists will be required to make oral presentations at the sessions devoted for this purpose at the conference. These sessions will be scheduled between September 24 - 28. Travel expenses to the conference will be the responsibility of the participant(s) or the faculty sponsor, although an effort will be made to allocate some money to help defray travel expenses.
- Each oral presentation will last 10 minutes, followed by 5 minutes of question and answer.
- To determine the winners, the judges present at the oral presentations will consider the criteria listed above in addition to the criteria listed below:
● Quality, organization, and technical content of the presentation.
● Demonstrative model (if one is made available).
● Manner in which questions from the judges and the audience are answered.
8. Winners will be announced at the Mechanisms and Robotics Conference luncheon.
Awards
Award certificates and prizes of cash and software will be presented at the Conference Luncheon. The cash and software prizes will be distributed among the winners in both divisions. Attendance at the conference is required to receive an award, and each finalist entry with a representative at the conference will receive an award. Cash awards will range from $100 to $400. Additionally, an effort will be made to allocate some travel funds to be evenly divided among the finalists. These funds can be used to reimburse travel costs by submitting a written request along with receipts following the conference. In the event that not all finalists are able to attend the conference, the associated award and travel funds will be distributed to those in attendance at the conference, thus increasing the award amounts.
Competition Coordinators
Undergraduate division
Dennis Hong
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
105 Randolph Hall
Email: dhong [at] vt [dot] edu
Phone: 540-231-7195
Fax: 540-231-9100
Graduate division
Peng Song
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Rutgers, The State University of
98 Brett Road, Engineering Building B-242
Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8058
Email : pengsong [at] jove [dot] rutgers [dot] edu
Phone: 732-445-0732
Fax: 732-445-3124
Related Links
2005 ASME International Design Engineering Technical
Conferences
29th
Mechanisms and Robotics Conference
Sponsored by:
