The month of April has been very productive for the College of Technology, with its mechanical engineering technology students winning multiple awards in various events. On April 7, Cesar Moreno and Hector Bonilla received first and second place awards for their graduate presentations at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) 2018 University Technical Competition. They competed against students from several universities including Rice, Prairie View, Texas A&M, and Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Both students conducted research with Raresh Pascali, instructional associate professor in the mechanical engineering technology program. Moreno was awarded $ 1,000 for his “Assessment of Bolted Joint Assemblies” and Bonilla received $200 for his “CFD Model of PIG Motion in Pipelines.”
Student accomplishments continued on, as Cesar Moreno, Jason Arnold, and Hector Bonilla competed in the US heat of the Speak Out for Engineers on April 17. It is a competition that helps develop visual and verbal communication when explaining mechanical engineering subjects. Competitors must give a twenty-minute oral presentation on a subject followed up with questions and comments from the audience and judges. Cesar Moreno won first place for his topic on how direct tension indicators will affect bolted assemblies, while Jason Arnold was the runner up for his knowledge of the challenges of the Team Harvey Hybrid SAE Formula Hybrid Project. Both students will compete in the Americas Regional Final.
Another undergraduate group that is building an autonomo0us car for Shell Eco-Marathon was selected as one of the eight finalists in a video competition hosted by the University of Houston Energy Coalition.