November 16, 2012
University of Wyoming mechanical engineering students Kodi Dixon of Gillette, front,
and Daniel Barkhurst of Encampment, prepare their vehicles for a test run. They designed
self-propelled devices that earned third place during the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers recent international design competition in Houston, Texas. Other team members
were Cody McKinney of Pinedale and Tyler Stingley of Powell. (UW Photo)
Student engineers at the University of Wyoming were the top United States team and
third overall during the recent American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Student
Design Competition in Houston, Texas.
UW's team members were Daniel Barkhurst of Encampment, Kodi Dixon of Gillette, Cody
McKinney of Pinedale and Tyler Stingley of Powell, all students in the UW Department
of Mechanical Engineering. They qualified for the international event by winning last
spring’s regional event in Baton Rouge, La.
They designed four small vehicles, all powered by a different fuel source, to run
sequentially down a short track in the least possible time. Each device had to contain
a unique, on-board energy source and trigger the motion on the next device. The designs
had to meet a rigid set of guidelines.
Institut Superieur de L’Aeronautique et de l’Espac, an engineering school in Toulouse,
France, won the first-place award in the “Energy Relay.” The Indian Institute of Technology,
Bombay, finished second in the competition.
“The Student Design Competition has a long and successful track record within ASME
for enabling students to grow their skills in engineering design, teamwork and problem-solving
beyond classroom learning,” says Marc W. Goldsmith, ASME president. “We congratulate
all contestants for an event which was exciting and fun-filled.”
The ASME Student Design Competition was held in conjunction with the society’s International
Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition.
