2007 ASME Student Mechanism Design Competition(Graduate and Undergraduate Divisions)
Introduction
A student mechanism design competition will be featured at the 31th Mechanisms and Robotics Conference, which is part of the 2007 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences in Las Vegas, Nevada from September 4th to 7th. The competition has separate divisions for undergraduate and graduate submissions, and the finalists will present their work in two separate sessions at the conference. Award certificates and prizes of cash and software will be awarded to the winners at the conference luncheon.
Important dates
Letter of intent due: May 4, 2007
Project report due: June 29, 2007
Notification to finalists: August 6, 2007
Final competition: Sessions to be scheduled September 4-7, 2007
Eligibility
Any graduate or undergraduate registered as a full-time student through the Spring of 2007 in any university or school in the world is eligible to participate. Both individual and group projects are welcome. An individual may participate in several entries provided each submission is on a different subject.
The scope of the "mechanism" in this contest is rather broad. For the purpose of this conference, a "mechanism" is defined as: Any device that transmits a force or a motion in a deterministic way to perform a mechanical task. It may consist of rigid or deformable bodies connected with kinematic or flexural joints. It may be constructed of any type of materials, including smart and other active materials. It may be actuated by means of any transduction principle and employ any form of energy input. The size of the device can range from nano-scale to macro-scale. Contact the competition coordinators if you have any questions about whether your mechanism lies within the scope of this contest.
SubmissionSend one electronic copy of a letter of intent by May 4 o the corresponding undergraduate or graduate coordinator. It should include: - Project title.
- Name(s) of the participants and one contacting postal address and e-mail address.
- University affiliation.
- Category (undergraduate or graduate).
- 100-200 word description of the project.
- Faculty sponsor's signed letter stating the eligibility of the student(s) to participate (Scan and email the letter along with your letter of intent)
Send one electronic copy of the project report by June 29 to the corresponding undergraduate or graduate coordinator. It should include: A cover page including: (The judges will not see the cover page.) - Project title.
- Name(s) of the participant(s) and one contacting postal address and e-mail address.
- University affiliation.
- Category (undergraduate or graduate).
- Faculty sponsor's name.
- Faculty sponsor's signed letter stating the eligibility of the student(s) to participate.
Project description including: (Please do not mention your name(s) or affiliation anywhere in the project description.) - Brief background.
- Functional description of the mechanism.
- Clear statement of the novel features of the mechanism.
- Procedures used to design the mechanism.
- Benefits and possible applications of the mechanism.
- Acknowledgment of help received by the participant(s) from others including faculty, machine shop personnel, laboratory technicians, etc.
- All appropriate figures, tables, photographs, etc. incorporated into the document.
The Project description should be roughly 1,000 to 2,000 words in length, prepared with a word processor, and submitted in electronic format (MS Word or PDF). Participants may format the report in any way they like to maximize the readability and presentation of the technical content. Please contact the competition coordinators if you have any questions in this regard. Do not send demonstrative models or prototypes. If you are selected as a finalist, you can bring them to your oral presentation.
Judging- The letter of intent will not be evaluated. It is required only to enable the competition organizer to arrange for judging.
- The project reports will be evaluated by three judges chosen from both industry and academe.
- Up to five finalists will be selected from each of the two divisions, graduate and undergraduate. Finalists will be notified by August 6.
Criteria for choosing the finalists will be based on: - Creativity and novelty.
- Practicality.
- Integrity of analysis and design procedures.
- Manufacturability.
- Proof-of-concept (whether a demonstrative model is made).
- Quality of the project report.
- All finalists will be required to make oral presentations at the sessions devoted for this purpose at the conference. These sessions will be scheduled between September 4-7. Travel expenses to the conference will be the responsibility of the participant(s) or the faculty sponsor, although an effort will be made to allocate some money to help defray travel expenses.
- Each oral presentation will last 10 minutes, followed by 5 minutes of question and answer.
To determine the winners, the judges present at the oral presentations will consider the criteria listed above in addition to the criteria listed below: - Quality, organization, and technical content of the presentation.
- Demonstrative model (if one is made available).
- Manner in which questions from the judges and the audience are answered.
- Winners will be announced at the Mechanisms and Robotics Conference luncheon.
Awards
Award certificates and prizes of cash and software will be presented at the Conference Luncheon. The cash and software prizes will be distributed among the winners in both divisions. Attendance at the conference is required to receive an award, and each finalist entry with a representative at the conference will receive an award. Cash awards will range from $100 to $400. Additionally, an effort will be made to allocate some travel funds to be evenly divided among the finalists. These funds can be used to reimburse travel costs by submitting a written request along with receipts following the conference. In the event that not all finalists are able to attend the conference, the associated award and travel funds will be distributed to those in attendance at the conference, thus increasing the award amounts.
Award certificates and prizes of cash and software will be presented at the Conference Luncheon. The cash and software prizes will be distributed among the winners in both divisions. Attendance at the conference is required to receive an award, and each finalist entry with a representative at the conference will receive an award. Cash awards will range from $100 to $400. Additionally, an effort will be made to allocate some travel funds to be evenly divided among the finalists. These funds can be used to reimburse travel costs by submitting a written request along with receipts following the conference. In the event that not all finalists are able to attend the conference, the associated award and travel funds will be distributed to those in attendance at the conference, thus increasing the award amounts. Award certificates and prizes of cash and software will be presented at the Conference Luncheon. The cash and software prizes will be distributed among the winners in both divisions. Attendance at the conference is required to receive an award, and each finalist entry with a representative at the conference will receive an award. Cash awards will range from $100 to $400. Additionally, an effort will be made to allocate some travel funds to be evenly divided among the finalists. These funds can be used to reimburse travel costs by submitting a written request along with receipts following the conference. In the event that not all finalists are able to attend the conference, the associated award and travel funds will be distributed to those in attendance at the conference, thus increasing the award amounts. Update: (06/12/2007) SolidWorks Corp. has very graciously agreed to provide the SolidWorks Student Edition with COSMOS to those entering the ASME Mechanism Design Contest. To obtain a free copy of the software, go to
http://www.solidworks.com/pages/products/edu/SponsoredDesignContest.html?pid=106 Click on the "Click Here to recieve Sponsorship" button, enter "ASME Mechanism Design Contest" in the "Other" category. Students must have a faculty advisor and agree to use SolidWorks or COSMOS Analysis tools in their design. You are not required to use this software to design the mechanism but you are permitted to use it. Earlier on this page, it was mentioned that the winning team using Solidworks/COSMOS would be given a $500 award. That cash award has now been moved to the common pool of the award. There is no specific award for the team using Solidworks/COSMOS. Competition CoordinatorsUndergraduate divisionAnurag Purwar
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794-2300
Email:
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Phone: 631-632-8542
Fax: 631-632-8544 Graduate divisionCharles Kim
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Bucknell University
Email:
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Phone: 570-577-1846 SponsorshipPhilip A. Voglewede
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of South Carolina
300 Main Street, Room A219
Columbia, SC 29208
Email:
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Phone: 803-777-2310
Related Links2007 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences
31th Mechanisms and Robotics Conference SponsorsSolidworks MSC SoftwareHoneybeeOC RoboticsGMDayton T. Brown If you use, Solidworks/COSMOS, you can use the following logo of the Solidworks Inc. along with your project:
 
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Design Competition '07 
