Student design competitions have become showrooms for young engineers eager to test their classroom lessons in real-life situations, to tap into a supportive network of fellow designers and to make an impression on corporate sponsors.

Last year's SAE Mini Baha team competed on one of the toughest courses in years.

"I've gained access to research opportunities and internships every summer since I became involved in the club," said Greg Glenn, a senior mechanical engineering student and president of UCLA's chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Last summer, Greg interned at Race Technologies and he plans to work at General Motors this summer.

For many of the competitors, going to regional conferences -- or even better, the nationals -- is a great chance to land their first engineering job by talking with recruiters from leading companies in the industry. "You get to hobnob with professionals from different fields, create presentations and funding proposals and generally network," said Joshua Levine, a senior aerospace engineering student and project leader of SAE's Aero Design.

It is not all about schmoozing with potential employers though, said Levine. "At least as important as the business aspect of being part of a design project is the experience of seeing engineering from start to finish," Levine explained. "Nothing puts your classes into perspective more than having to work on your own design."

UCLA has several thriving clubs that focus on a variety of engineering fields. Currently active groups are listed at http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/students/index.htm. Though each group fosters a different identity and focuses on various activities, students often find that by becoming involved in a design project, they gain the skills top recruiters are looking for, such as creativity, teamwork and communication skills.

"In a nutshell," said Ali Monshizadeh, a senior civil engineering student and chair of the American Society of Civil Engineers' (ASCE) steel bridge project, "it prepares you for future projects. You learn things you just can't in class. You implement plans, raise money and do what it takes to push a project forward."

Fundraising is certainly something every student group needs to master. All groups must find supporters who can help pay for materials, travel expenses, registration fees and other things. "You have to get sponsors, you have to learn how to write a funding proposal," said Levine.

Concrete canoe gets a paint job.

From design, to fabrication, to field testing and fundraising engineering students commit a great deal of time to their projects. Members of the ASCE concrete canoe team, led by civil engineering student Alex Nazarchuk, meet at a Marina Del Rey dock every weekend to practice rowing, and many exercise together to physically prepare for the canoe race. The team also experiments with finding just the right mix of materials to make their canoe seaworthy. "I even audited a graduate level concrete course so I could learn more about the best concrete mix to use," said Nazarchuk.

Preparation for competition often begins the day after the contest ends the previous year. The design specifications change each year for most of these competitions, so the students often have to wait for the competition rules to be published. Once they are, the students get down to work.

"The first thing we do is get completely familiar with the rules and specifications," said ASCE's Monshizadeh. "Then we brainstorm about the overall design and shape of the bridge." Monshizadeh's team gathers this month for the Pacific Southwest Regional Conference at Arizona State University to compete against students from engineering schools in California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii. Their challenge: replace a century-old bridge spanning an environmentally sensitive river that serves as a main conduit for a rural community whose economy depends on access over the bridge.

Meanwhile, the SAE Mini-Baja group spends weekends tearing around acres of open land owned by UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science machine shop supervisor Grady Columbia. "He invited us to test drive our car on his property outside Palmdale," said SAE president Glenn. "We were able to get some valuable practice before competition."

Brigham Young University will host student teams from more than 100 colleges for the Mini-Baja regional competition. Students will compete to design, build and race vehicles in order to win a contract from a fictitious manufacturing firm. Judges assess each team's car design, safety features, promotional plan and budget. There are also all-important road trials in maneuverability, acceleration, hill climbing and endurance.

Only the top one or two teams at a regional competition will advance to represent their school at the national level. Several regional events take place this spring. They include the ASCE Steel Bridge and Concrete Canoe contests, April 3-5; the SAE Mini-Baja competition, May 8-10; the SAE Aero Design competition, June 6; and the national Design-Build-Fly competition on April 25, where UCLA students from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics will enter their unmanned aerial vehicle for judging.

To find out more visit these web sites:

UCLA American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) http://aiaa.seas.ucla.edu/
UCLA Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) http://www.uclaracing.com/data/MB/media/newsletter_2003-03-07.pdf
UCLA American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) http://www.seas.ucla.edu/asce/2003/Home/index.html

 

-Chris Sutton 04/07/03