Argentine students accept engineering 'boat challenge'

Ashley Taylor, of the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity, introduced students in the Friends of Fulbright Argentina exchange program to the "boat challenge."

Student Matías Dogliani explains:

To keep learning about design process, data gaps and work team, Dr. Taylor Ashley and her team challenged us.

We had to work in teams of three people to construct a cargo boat. The challenge consisted of two rounds. At first we had to make a prototype with just one limitation: its base size. After trying this prototype with different loads in water we could see the strengths and weaknesses of our design. All three models were completely different from one another

Using the knowledge that we had acquired making the first prototype, we were asked to go on the second round. Here we had to improve designs so that they could take more weight, but also we had to consider some new limitations, too. Now the height was limited as well as the budget for the materials. Believe it or not we had to change many things from our original ideas, and we only had 30 minutes

The competition was about which boat could take more load and resist more time. Regardless of which team won, it’s worth saying that all teams incredibly improved their designs in terms of the cargo they could take. That is something that really impressed us since it was very difficult to leave behind our original boats and construct new ones: cheaper and with different sizes.

We have learned a lot about teamwork. Since we had a few minutes we had to split the task, listen to others' ideas, and learn from each other and from our previous mistakes.

Last but not least, we have also learned about design process and how to avoid data gaps. We could see that mistakes are part of the process and made us understand many things for future models. Data gaps in this challenge were also a big problem since if we had had all the information about the materials and its properties (and prices) we would have probably built a cheap prototype that worked better. In that case we could see that it would have been great to have the expertise of people of the area.

This challenge was amazing to us. We learned a lot but also we really had a great time. That’s why we would like to thank a lot to Ashley and Alex, who were in charge of the activity. We will take back home this moment and its learnings!

LCI students see the big strides made by Virginia Tech robots

Students in the LCI's Reading and Writing 450 classes toured the Virginia Tech Terrestrial Robotics Engineering and Controls Lab in Goodwin Hall this week as a part of a unit on robotics.

The lab's director, Alexander Leonessa, introduced students to Darwin, Charlie, and Thor and explained the robots' applications. Thor, for example, was designed for the U.S. Navy to put out fires at sea.

Classes were also treated to a special trip to Ph.D. candidate Vinay Kamidi's robotic locomotion lab, where he is working on algorithms to provide a variety of locomotive gaits to two dog-like robots that may have future applications in search and rescue, in hazardous environments, and as electronic guide dogs. Students were able to see both "dogs" in motion.

Finally, the group was joined by Kaveh Hamed, who explained the potential uses of robotics in medical technology, such as in intelligent prosthesis and in exoskeletons for those with mobility impairments.

The LCI students will be using information the learned during the tour in upcoming research papers on the positive and negative aspects of artificial intelligence and robotics.

LCI helps train South Korean engineers

Ten engineers from South Korea participating in a six-month civil engineering program at the Virginia Tech Research Center – Arlington began their studies with six weeks of intensive English training at the Language and Culture Institute in the National Capital Region.

For six weeks, the engineers learned strategies for producing intelligible speech, developed classroom presentations, participated in group work, practiced academic writing in the field (journals and citations), and explored Virginia Tech's extensive online resources through their research.

The skills acquired at the LCI provided the engineers with a strong foundation for the seminars, research, and writing they will perform during their training in procurement and projects.

Read more about the engineers and the VT-KPEA Global Engineering Program here.