U-M ME 150-Year Anniversary Student Project – An Opportunity to Make Your Mark
This year, the University of Michigan (U-M) Mechanical Engineering (ME) department will celebrate its 150th Anniversary! As a tribute to engineering achievement and excellence, we’re inviting you to create a spectacular example of student imagination. The idea behind this competition is to spark creativity among our students culminating in a winning design concept to be announced/revealed in September 2018 during the 150-year celebration weekend. Afterwards, the final winning design concept will eventually be fabricated and permanently installed/displayed in the U-M ME building. The winning student or student team representatives will also be invited to attend the ME 150-Year Gala Dinner to be held at the Henry Ford Museum on September 22, 2018.
In this competition, we are looking for a well-developed vision for a design, one that should consider originality, public engagement, feasibility, safety and cost of fabrication (budget not to exceed $10,000 and fabrication of the winning design to be done later). There is no additional criterion restricting your design.
- A work of mechanical art (like the Rubik’s Cube currently displayed in GG Brown)
- A sculpture (a physical phenomenon, a mechanical device, etc.)
- A demonstration of an ME concept (such as the inverted pendulum exhibit in GG Brown)
- An educational platform for ME X95
- Or anything representative of the department
Submissions should include:
- A 1-2 page summary of your vision
- An explanation of why the proposed design is relevant to the ME Department
- An explanation of how it commemorates the 150-year Anniversary
- An approximate budget
- How people would interact with it (if applicable)
- Spatial constraints
- How many people are on your design team and how many people will be involved in fabricating the design
- How many people are on your design team and how many will help to fabricate your project?
In your submission please indicate if you would be able/willing to participate in the construction process. Teamwork and collaboration are strongly encouraged.Any undergraduate, graduate or any postdoc that is currently, or was once enrolled as a student is encouraged to participate.
Any undergraduate, graduate or any postdoc that is currently, or was once enrolled as a student is encouraged to participate.
All submissions will be evaluated by a committee of faculty, staff and students between March 20th and April 3rd of 2018 to recommend the most promising designs as finalists. Submissions will be sorted on the criteria of creativity, inclusivity and feasibility by this committee before the top entries are released to the student population for voting. In particular, designs that incorporate a lot of people in the design or manufacturing process are looked upon favorably.
Projects submittals are due by Monday, March 19th.
Voting by the students for the winner will occur between April 3rd and April 17th.
A team of students will likely fabricate the winning concept during the 2018-2019 academic year for permanent installation in our building thereafter.
Depending on the nature of the winning submission, the winner or realized design will be revealed in September of 2018 during the 150-year celebration weekend.
Submit project proposals here: http://ummecheng.in/me150-student-project
Questions should be sent to me150designcomp@umich.edu.