Newark, New Jersey
April 22, 2022
April 22, 2022
April 23, 2022
11
10.18260/1-2--40046
https://strategy.asee.org/40046
183
Henry Freligh is currently finishing his last semester at Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) studying chemical engineering. Henry plans on transferring institutions to finish his bachelor's degree in order to begin working in the field with interests in medicine, energy, research and development, management, and entrepreneurship.
Christian Ambrico is current studying mechanical engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Christian has a passion for cars and hopes to one day work in the automotive design industry as an engineer.
Ange Mendez is a first-generation Hispanic who is in her final semester as a Chemical Engineering student at RVCC. With an interest in helping a large number of people through medication, finding a cure to a rare disease, or finding solutions to get drinkable water to developing countries. She is the Executive-Vice President of the Society of Women Engineers at RVCC. Through this club, Ange has helped facilitate numerous projects that are aimed at inspiring young women to become involved in the STEM field.
Peter Stupak is President and Founder of the non-profit organization Main Engine Start that is dedicated to project-based learning for students of all ages to discover their passion for Science and Engineering and increase their self esteem and confidence.
Prior to creating his non-profit organization, Peter was an Associate Professor of Engineering and Physics at the Raritan Valley Community College from 2014 to 2021, and before that he enjoyed a 22-year career in the fiber-optics manufacturing industry, living, and working in 7 countries. Peter’s work involved him in Research and Development, Engineering and Manufacturing Management, and culminating in the construction, start-up, and operation of an optical fiber factory in Suzhou, China where he was also the Chief Technology Officer. He holds a B.S. in Chemistry and M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
The Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) project-based-learning “Authentic Engineering Experience” tasks groups of 2 to 4 students to solve a real problem for a real customer in one semester. All project activity is hands-on and “live” – without classroom lectures or Labs. Principles and skills are experienced first-hand. The student Team members are treated as Professional Engineers– not as students. The focus is for the student team to learn by doing. The practical objectives are to expose students, early in their careers to methods and techniques used in industry and give students authentic hands-on product development and teamwork experience to relate to potential internship and professional employers. Working as part of RVCC's Authentic Engineering Experience, a three-student team was tasked by the College's Facilities Department to solve the practical problem at hand: the unacceptable level of noise created by students "deadlifting" in the College's "Weight Room". The impact of the deadlift weights on the floor made it difficult for the Facility Department staff to conduct work in their offices, which are located directly below the weight room. The student team designed, fabricated, and demonstrated a fully functional prototype that “caught” the falling weight, absorbed the weight’s kinetic energy as elastic strain-energy stored in the twisting of a torsion bar that performed as a spring, and dissipated the stored energy using commercial shock-absorbers. The students worked to overcome multiple technical challenges including designing a “cradle” to capture the 200-400lb barbell weight without fracturing, calculating the optimum torsion bar dimensions to absorb and store the kinetic energy of the falling weight as elastic strain-energy, maintaining rigidity of the system to prevent warping of the device during the impact of the weight, rapid dissipation of the elastic strain-energy to allow the user to maintain their normal weight-lifting rhythm, and limiting the design dimensions to fit into in a highly constrained device footprint required by the “Deadlift” station within the College’s “Weight Room”. The resulting fully functional prototype effectively eliminated the unacceptable noise to the Facilities’ office, to the delight of the Facilities’ Staff, and to the Exercise Science Staff, who’s Weightlifting program had been shifted to after 5pm evenings. Throughout the project, the overwhelming emphasis was for the student Team to reach their own designs, experience their own failures and successes in earning their own know-how, resolve their own communications and scheduling conflicts, and to respond to customer critical comments of prototype product performance.
Freligh, H. A., & Ambrico, C. A., & Mendez, A., & Stupak, P. R. (2022, April), Deadlift Energy Absorption and Dissipation Device for Athletic Weight Room Paper presented at 2022 Spring ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference, Newark, New Jersey. 10.18260/1-2--40046
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