Mechanical Engineering Students Build Devices That Build Society

Utah State University is reaching new heights, literally.

A senior design team of six students is building a rocket projected to launch 240,000 feet in the air, release 200 pounds of thrust and move at Mach 4. The rocket is called Unity IV.

This is just the beginning, however, of what students are doing in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (MAE). With almost 400 students currently enrolled, MAE challenges students to invent and develop new ideas for the future. MAE focuses on various technological developments that can aid each person in society today.

Clair Batty, MAE department head, said, "We create the machines that serve us, any machine you can imagine. We invent, design and serve. You can't do it without us."

The engineering curriculum begins with a strong emphasis in computer programming, mathematics, physics and engineering fundamentals, together with English composition and economics. The balanced nature of this program not only allows graduates to be immediately productive upon graduation, but also aids them in keeping up with new technological developments, according to an MAE pamphlet.

Batty said, "The curriculum is challenging. We have a heavy dose of math, chemistry and physics to build the basis of mechanical engineering. A lot of people love it. It becomes very life-fulfilling."

Adam Richards, a graduate student majoring in mechanical engineering, said he has always known it was a good program.

"A lot of people look down on people who stay at the same school for their graduate degree, but our program is pretty much top notch and I'm glad I stayed here," he said.

MAE has five major areas of focus: Advanced Mechanics, Dynamics and Controls; Advanced Computational Fluid/Thermal Dynamics; the Advanced Material and Manufacturing Laboratory; Utah Space Flight Research Center and Innovative Products Realization Center, he said.

Adam Dissel, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, said, "No university approaches the heights we are reaching to."

MAE is known internationally for conducting experiments in the Utah Spaceflight Research Center, hosting the Society of Automotive Engineers Mini Baja Race in April 2002 and interning with multinational companies and government laboratories.

Joan Smith, MAE department adviser, said the aerospace and space dynamics program is internationally known.

"Many of the [mechanical engineering students] come to Utah State because of this program," she said. "It's very broad but basic, and [students] can [work] anywhere in the U.S. and be fine."

Steven Neville, a graduate student in the mechanical engineering program, said it was very intimidating at first.

"I have really come to respect the faculty and the whole program. It is really geared toward the students and getting experience," he said.

Aside from building the Unity IV rocket, other projects have been taking shape this semester. Several students are building a thermo-acoustic device aimed at reducing the temperature 50 degrees, much like air conditioning.

The entire device is made from two radio speakers, a 2-inch PVC pipe and two 2-inch stacks made of overhead transparencies and fishing line. It has no moving parts and can be used as an air conditioner.

Another group of students is building a Center for Self-Organizing and Intelligent Systems (CSOIS) six-wheeled vehicle. The first version of the vehicle is remote-controlled and has a zero turning radius. It will eventually be used to put under a scissor lift, used by janitor and construction workers to reach high places, and will be controlled with a joystick.

MAE has also formed an ongoing partnership with the business department. The engineering students are designing products for manufacturing and the business students are in charge of marketing those products.

Recently, in honor of the 100th anniversary of powered flight, one of the MAE senior design teams is participating in the design and construction of a unique replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer, according to the MAE pamphlet. The aircraft will eventually be flown across the United States.

By Marie MacKay; mmackay@cc.usu.edu
Photo by Ryan Talbot