Manufacturing And Design Education Through National Competitions

Abstract

Entering national engineering competitions provides an opportunity for students and faculty to take part in well-planned educational activities. Competitions such as the ASCE Concrete Canoe, ASME Human Powered Vehicle, IEEE Robotics, SAE Aero, SAE Mini Baja, and SAE Formula SAE are well established regional and national engineering competitions designed to encourage good project-based engineering education and designed to demonstrate that engineering can be fun along with being challenging. They are designed to allow students to learn elements of design, organization, planning, teamwork, manufacturing, and competition. At the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, multidisciplinary teams are established for all of these competitions as well as for solar car competitions and formally supported through the Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Production (CAMP). Team leaders are typically chosen from students who are members of CAMP. The teams are comprised of students at all class levels from freshmen through grad students.