Tomato Drop, Job Fair and Research Expo Just Part of Engineers Week Activities
Rex Graham | February 25, 2008
Christopher M. Schmidt-Wetekam, a doctorate candidate, works on iHop.
A two-wheeled robot called “iHop” that was developed by Christopher M. Schmidt-Wetekam, a doctoral candidate in the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering, won top honors at the Jacobs School of Engineering’s annual Research Expo Feb. 21.
The robot maneuvers on wheels like other robots, but it can also balance on a pair of wheels in an upright position, quickly turn and roll, jump and even twist in mid-air and land without falling over. The robot’s gyroscopes and accelerometers feed to its tiny silicon brain sophisticated on-board attitude estimation and stabilization algorithms. Not only does iHop and a family of similar robots have potential as toys, but they can also be used to search for people stranded in a burning building or operate in a variety of other hazardous environments.
At the Research Expo, Dwight C. Streit, vice president of electronics technology for Northrop Grumman Space Technology, talked about the importance of engineering education to ensuring long-term economic strength during his luncheon keynote talk.
“I am extremely impressed with what’s going on here at UC San Diego as I think everyone is who has had a chance to look at the posters and see what’s happening with the school,” said Streit. “Engineering education ignites innovation here locally at the corporate level and at the national level and at the global level as well.”
The 2008 version of Research Expo, the 27th annual celebration of graduate student research in engineering, was one of six related events this year at UCSD held during National Engineers Week. The week’s events began Tuesday with Engineering Games, or E-Games, an entertaining and whacky competition, in which teams of undergraduate engineering students were challenged to quickly design a container to protect an over-ripe tomato and keep it from bursting upon sudden impact. As part of the competition, the juicy spheres, in their hastily designed and constructed containers, were dropped 120 feet from a helium-filled balloon. Each team’s performance was judged partly on the tomato-drop survivability.
Research Expo and a concurrent undergraduate research expo, called Eureka, were held Thursday. In addition to highlighting a broad range of cutting-edge research at the Jacobs School, Research Expo is designed to provide technology leaders, investors and engineering project managers with an opportunity to recruit top talent. The event was sponsored this year by three companies, ViaSat, Northrop Grumman Space Technology and Yahoo.
Friday, about 2,000 undergraduate and graduate engineering students met with recruiters representing 90 companies in a recruiting fair called Disciplines of Engineering Career Fair (DECaF). A student-organized engineers’ ball dubbed “Impulse” capped E-Week activities Friday evenings.
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