The studies of first-year engineering students from the Ohio State Fundamentals of Engineering Honors Program culminated with a robot competition at St. John Arena May 22.
Teams of honors students entered robots they designed and built in a competition to simulate a mission where robots work with humans to complete tasks at a research station in Antarctica. Students set their robots in motion around specially built, 12- feet square courses with instructions to navigate the icescape, launch a weather balloon and retrieve a sled of equipment left behind by research station workers. The robot was also required to locate and extract an ice core sample. Two minutes were allotted for the completion of these tasks.
The 2008 champions of the robot competition were team members Shawn Hall, Josh Pax, Ashley Purdy and Ron Taulbee.
Other winning teams in the overall competition were second place, Robert Fidelibus, Andrew Garcia, Jack Leitzinger and Patrick Wentz; third place, Jordan Nader, Garrett Olson, Sonduong Phan and Jon Silliman; and fourth place, Brianna Hemeyer, Barbara Hubler, Rory Kennedy and Tony Kinsley.
Corporate sponsors of the competition include Honda, Shell, National Instruments, Procter & Gamble, Lockheed Martin, Eaton, Raytheon, Alcatel-Lucent, Northrop Grumman, ExxonMobil, Chrysler and Alcoa.
The competition highlights the college’s Fundamentals of Engineering for Honors Program, which combines lectures, projects and labs to introduce engineering disciplines and practices to students. Along the way, students learn team-building, project management and communication skills through oral presentations and research exercises; learn about all the college has to offer, such as participation in student-led projects like the Buckeye Bullet, a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle; and have interaction with senior faculty members and industry representatives.
“This kind of program really attracts students to Ohio State,” says Rick Freuler, professor of aerospace engineering and coordinator of the Fundamentals of Engineering for Honors Program, who cites an approximate 30 percent rise in retention of students who started and graduated in engineering in the last 20 years.
For more information about the Fundamentals of Engineering for Honors Program, go to http://feh.eng.ohio-state.edu.
