Mechanical Engineering Senior Projects 2008
2008 Baja SAE
Element One/ 2008 Formula Zero
2008 Formula SAE
Mumford Linkage
Pool Heater
Portable Automatic Scissor-Jack
2008 SAE Aero Design
2008 Baja SAE®
The Baja SAE® project gives undergraduate engineering students the opportunity to design and build an off-road vehicle that is judged in several categories, including speed, design, and engineering. Students were required to raise money to fund the project and their fund-raising goal was $15,000. The project was eight months long and the team will go on to compete with over a hundred other schools across the nation. This year’s competition will be held in Peoria, Ill., from May 29 – 31. Last year’s Baja team placed 11th overall in the hill climb category.
| Members: | |
| Anthony Celini Andrew Eyerman Nick Huston Greg Johnson Stephen Krajenke |
George Placinta Alex Rojas Bryce Tomas Benjamin Warren Robert Zielinski |
| Faculty Advisor: Harold Josephs | |
| Sponsors: | |
| Action Vacations Barbar Beauchamp DENSO FabriSteel Kawasaki Lawrence Tech Alumni Association Mitsubishi Electric |
MSC Mike and Diane Muyskens Suzanne Nelson Revolutionary Engineering Benjamin and Cheryl Warren Franklin Warren |
Element One/2008 Formula Zero
Element One is one of two teams in the United States entered in the 2008 Formula Zero Championship, Student Edition, to design and build a high-performance, fuel cell-powered vehicle. The team’s name, Element One, is a reference to hydrogen’s position on the periodic table. Element One has just completed the initial portion of the championship – an international design competition consisting of 12 universities.
The Element One team consists of undergraduate and graduate students from different colleges, cultures, and nationalities. This diversity provides a competitive edge in character, creativity, and innovation. Starting in August, the team will compete against universities from California, the United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands in four race events, starting with Rotterdam for the 2008 season.
| Members: | |
| Rob Bitel Kirby Bogard Joe Brandt Raj Daftuar Jeff Dempsey Ivan Dimitrov Adam Flaster Jon Graff Seanna Hannan Rob House Robert Jackson Trevor James Srikanth Kamarajugadda Thomas Kolberg Drushan Mavalankar Chris McCarthy Ben Miller |
Carlton Millinder Kris Mohacsi Patrick Morin Alex Popovich Renaldo Rasfuldi Jeff Rayburn Camille Robbins Ben Roberts Mike Samaroo Andrew Schembri Abhishek Singh Ciro Spigo Adrian Snyder Ryan Tucker Lalee Xiong Keqian Yao |
| Faculty Advisors: Frank DeHesselle, Robert Farrah, Robert Fletcher | |
| Sponsors: | |
| Ian Algie Ford Motor Company General Motors |
Johnson Controls The Samaroo Group UPS |
2008 Formula SAE®
In the Formula SAE® competition, student members conceive, design, fabricate, and race a small, formula-style, autocross racing car. Design restrictions regarding the frame and engine challenge the team’s knowledge, creativity, and imagination. The car, built over a one-year period, is taken to the annual competition where the team competes against approximately 120 other college and university teams from all over the world. Cars are judged on the performance characteristics of acceleration, braking, and handling qualities, as well as innovation, serviceability, aesthetics, comfort, and the use of common parts. Each entry undergoes a technical inspection and solo performance and high-performance endurance track trials in acceleration, skidpad, autocross, fuel economy, and endurance. The vehicle must be low in cost, easy to maintain, and reliable, and judges also consider each team’s presentation and engineering design, taking into account their problem-solving skills, innovative thinking, and teamwork.
Each year, the team analyzes past cars and improves upon the design. This year’s team will be the first to implement a turbocharger powered by eco-friendly E-85 fuel.
| Members: | |
| Deividas Alksninis Brandon Bansale Tommy Beethman Shaun Bentley Bryan Bishop Luan Bui Brian Cox Chris Csicsay George Florea Brittany Forgue Blake Frost James Gliwa Kevin Grasl Mitch Holland |
Louis Ianitelli Kevin Jacobs Rian Johnson Randall Lowman Michael Malaga Anthony Marshall Scott Proimos George Ritter Jonathan Ruszala Carolyn Snyder Zachery Volmering James Wolak Seng Yee |
| Graduate Advisors: Keith Abrahamson, James Browne | |
| Faculty Advisor: Badih Jawad | |
| Sponsors: | |
| CalsonicKansei DENSO Federal-Mogul Fraser Shipyards, Inc. MTU Detroit Diesel |
Takata TI Automotive Tico Titanium Toyota |
Mumford Linkage
The purpose of this project was to design, build, and test a Mumford Linkage for use in a common American automobile, the Ford Mustang. The Mumford Linkage is a rear axle centering device designed to improve passenger vehicle handling characteristics. Current research indicates that this linkage will improve the roll axis of the vehicle by laterally restraining rear roll center to a designated path, and thus improve the overall handling. The key business goal was to manufacture an affordable, easy-to-install, and reliable product that increases the handling performance of the owner’s vehicle.
Members: Jason Howson, Ray Lapierre, Rachel Thomas
Faculty Advisor: Vernon Fernandez
Pool Heater
Using a small, energy-efficient pump, water is circulated through a black rubber hose fixed to the hand rail of a swimming pool. As it travels through the hose, the water is heated by solar energy, thus allowing the pool water to be heated more efficiently and economically. Also, by increasing the temperature of the water, swimmers are able to enjoy more time in the pool.
Member: Chris Jones
Faculty Advisor: Vernon Fernandez
Portable Automatic Scissor-Jack
The portable automatic scissor-jack stand consists of three main parts: the jack, a DC motor, and a joystick-style control unit. Using a joystick-style controller, a DC motor raises and lowers the jack stand. The DC motor is powered by 12-volt source which adapts to the cigarette lighter output. All the functions are very basic and can be easily understood by any person. The scissor-jack supports any mid-range weighted vehicle.
Members: Vince Bommarito, JoeDon Breda, Robert Wood
Faculty Advisor: Kingman Yee
2008 SAE® Aero Design
The students designed, built, tested, and flew a radio-controlled heavy lift cargo plane during the SAE® Aero Design East Competition, held in April in Marietta, Ga. Given a set of constraints, the goal was to airlift the most weight possible. Some of the constraints this year included a maximum linear dimension (length plus width plus height) of 175 inches, an unmodified OS 0.61 FX engine to take off within 200 feet and land within 400 feet, and a cargo bay area of at least 5 inches by 5 inches by 10 inches.
The plane is a full-fuselage design with a T-tail. The wing uses an Eppler E420 airfoil with a 95-inch span and a slight taper to reduce drag.
Members: Ryan Beebe, Brad Belcher, Erica Bieke, Matt Elwart, Chris Jurczak, Victoria Wilds
Faculty Advisor: Andrew Gerhart
Sponsors: Bill Brown, Lawrence Tech Alumni Association, SeverStal North America, VITEC USA