Four Purdue University Calumet civil engineering students collaborated to earn first place for designing the stiffest bridge in the steel bridge competition at the recent Great Lakes Student Conference for engineering students at Trine University.

Designing the bridge

Students Mohammad Yasin of Merrillville; Loai Obaidat of Midlothian, Ill.; and Chen Luo of Guangzhou, China with help from Kevin Phelan of Munster designed a bridge that was recognized for having the least deflection with respect to maximum loading conditions, according to competition rules. Their bridge was 17 feet long with a 3½ feet long cantilever section, per rules specifications.

“The students had to strike a design balance among categories that included aesthetics, engineering economics, construction time, bridge weight, design load capacity and structural member deflection,” Purdue Calumet Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering Robert A. Rescot said.

Other engineering degrees offered

In addition to civil engineering, Purdue Calumet offers baccalaureate degree engineering study programs in computer, electrical and mechanical engineering, as well as an interdisciplinary master’s degree offering with concentrations in computer, electrical and mechanical engineering.

Mohammad Yasin, Loai Obaidat and Chen Luo work on their bridge.

For the third consecutive year, a team of Purdue University Calumet engineering students recorded a top five finish at NASA’s Great Moonbuggy Race.

Mechanical engineering majors

Mechanical engineering majors Cody Eitzen of Munster and Maria Frebis of Murfreesboro, Tenn. drove their Purdue Calumet buggy to a fifth place finish in the 48-field College Division of the 20^th annual competition in 5 minutes, 14 seconds. A second Purdue Calumet moonbuggy driven by Dustin Atwood and Andrea David, both of Crown Point, placed 20^th.

Additionally, for the second consecutive year, Purdue Calumet won the Featherweight Award for entering the lightest buggy to complete the course in 10 minutes or less.

International competition

The international competition challenges teams of college and high school students to design, build and race a lightweight, human-powered vehicle similar to the Apollo lunar rovers developed by NASA four decades ago for use by U.S. astronauts during moon exploration trips.

During the race, two students, male and female, power and maneuver their moonbuggy over an approximately half-mile course comprised of obstacles—craters, pits and gravel mounds—that simulate the same lunar surface conditions and challenges Apollo-era astronauts and engineers experienced during the 1960s. The student teams seek to record the fastest combined time for vehicle assembly and traveling the course, while minimizing on-course time penalties.

“In designing, constructing, testing and racing a moonbuggy vehicle, our students do exactly what an engineer might be expected to do in the real world,” Purdue Calumet Professor of Mechanical Engineering and faculty advisor Harvey Abramowitz said. “What they found along this journey is that none of the steps they took is quite as simple and straight forward as they may have expected.”

New twist

A new twist to the competition this year, buggies could include a telemetry system. Electrical engineering students Bryan Lopez of Griffith and Clayton Yankauskas of Lafayette designed the Purdue Calumet system, which the students also used as their senior design project under the guidance of Professor Don Gray.

Other Purdue Calumet engineering students assisting at the competition were Daniel Bonner of Chicago, Shaun Andres of St. John and RJ Gladstone of Dyer.

Among others assisting on campus were mechanical engineering technology students Trevor Fishback of Schererville; Aaron Kolb of Forest Park, Ill.; Daniela Ramirez of East Chicago; and Mike Trnka of Gary, along with School of Technology Laboratory Administrator Rick Rickerson.

A Purdue University Calumet instructional design graduate student has received a complimentary scholarship to attend the American Society for Training & Development (ACTD) International Conference and Exposition in Dallas, Tex. May 19-22.

Selected from 78 applicants

Dan Gibson of Crown Point, one of seven scholarship recipients selected from 78 applicants, will join more than 8,000 worldwide attendees perusing research, content and resources related to training and development professions.

“Dan’s selection as a scholarship recipient is a tribute to him and the (Purdue Calumet) instructional technology program,” Associate Professor of Education Janet Buckenmeyer said. “Students in our program set professional goals and pursue careers as training educators in K-12 schools or in fields such as healthcare and business.”

Gibson’s responses to two essay questions—one concerning his professional goals and the other about how the ASTD can benefit him—helped him earn the scholarship.