Daniel Pack, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science, accepts a $15,000 commitment from Volkswagen from the company’s communications manager, Amanda Plecas, for support of student competitions. Volkswagen officials visited CECS for a facilities tour in September and were introduced to student engineering projects including the chem-e car, rocket and baja car teams.
The Chemical Engineering Club discussed its chem-e car project and explained the process in which they fabricate a vehicle that can be powered and stopped by chemical reactions. The car is required to start and stop based on chemical reactions. A power reaction activates the battery, and a stopping reaction signals the motor to stop. Students participate in the regional American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) competition.
The Mini Baja Team discussed its engineering design project and the type of competitions the team enters: Baja SAE® competitions that simulate real-world engineering design projects. Participating students design and build an off-road vehicle to survive the severe punishment of a competition course designed by Baja alumni of universities across the country and professional engineers from the automotive industry. The objective of the competition is to provide students with a challenging project that involves design, planning and manufacturing tasks of introducing a new product to the consumer industrial market.
The UTC rocket team explained how they develop and build models, perform simulations, construct prototypes, complete test launches and analyze post-flight data for competitions.
VW has given the College $160,000 since 2009 and the first gift to CECS since 2015.
UTC College of Engineering and Computer Science Student Organizations benefiting from the Volkswagen gift:
• 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing Group
• 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing Group
• AGC (Associated General Contractors) Student Chapter
• ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers)
• AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers)
• ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers)
• CompUTC (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – Computer Science)
• IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
• GiCS (Girls in Computer Science)
• ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers)
• NSBE (National Society of Black Engineers)
• SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers)
• SWE (Society of Women Engineers)
• Tau Beta Pi (Engineering Honor Society)
Baja Car Team
Chem-e Car Team
Leave a Reply