College Design Students Take 1st and 3rd in National Competition
1st Place Winners. Photo courtesy of Rotor Clip
Two teams from the College’s BS in Design program were first and third place winners in the recent Rotor Clip 2017 Ring-A-Majig contest.
First Place Design
The first place winners included Erik Panarusky, Sam Poindexter, John Rayner and Zachery Rogers. Each team member received $500 in prize money. In addition to their prize money, the team is invited to take a free trip to Rotor Clip in Somerset, New Jersey, to tour the company and attend the Atlantic Design and Manufacturing trade show at the Jacob Javits Center, New York City, June 13-15, 2017.
Third Place Design
The third place winners included Joshua Steadman, Alex Senatore, Cedric Steele II and Colby Scott. Each team member received $125 in prize money.
All the winners were students in Dr. Ranjeet Agarwala’s junior level Rapid Prototyping course. All are also BS Design majors pursuing a mechanical technology concentration. The BS in Design is among five undergraduate and two graduate programs accredited by the Association of Technology, Management and Applied Engineering (ATMAE) and administered by the Department of Technology Systems, College of Engineering and Technology.
The fivefold objective of the contest was to: inspire critical thinking in the process of finding solutions to problems, demonstrate how retaining rings are cost efficient and effective alternatives to traditional fasteners, apply sound engineering principles to the design process, foster individual and team initiative and spirit, and engender pride in the final design and satisfaction in the joy of discovery.
The entrants were tasked to design an actual device fastened entirely by retaining rings. Specifically, each was tasked to design a device that uses 10 retaining rings and a wave spring in the way each was designed to function. The components would be fastened on shafts and in housings/bore specifying the correct retaining ring and wave spring for the application.
Rotor Clip is a U.S. manufacturer of retaining rings, wave springs and self-tightening hose clamps serving the global automotive, distribution and general industrial markets. Through its affiliation with ATMAE, the company’s goal is to support education in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) through programs that expose students to “real world” situations and encourage them to pursue careers in manufacturing. ATMAE, the other co-sponsor, is comprised of college and university educators, administrators, students, and industry professionals that sets standards for academic program accreditation, personal certification, and professional development for educators and industry professionals involved in integrating technology, leadership and design.