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An environmentally-friendly snow and ice removal system
designed by a team of five 2007 civil engineering graduates for the
Indianapolis Airport Authority has earned third-place honors in the
Federal Aviation Administration's first Airport Design Competition for
Universities.
Splitting the $1,000 prize will be Christopher Armstrong
of Des Moines, Iowa; Mark Johanning of Jasper, Ind.; William Kenny of
Eagle, Neb.; Roy McIlwaine of Indianapolis; and Robert Wilson of
Batesville, Ind. The team's faculty mentor was Michael Robinson,
assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering.
The team identified alternatives for effectively
removing snow and ice from airport operations for the Indianapolis
International Airport that meet Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
regulations. New deicing procedures are planned to prolong the life of
aircraft, but might be more harmful to the environment.
The FAA created the design competition to test teams'
ability to design projects in three areas: Runway safety, airport
operations and maintenance, and airport environmental interactions. The
technical challenges embraced many engineering and science disciplines
that were part of Rose-Hulman's senior-year design course. The
competition sought to provide a framework and incentives for quality
educational experiences for college students and to raise student
awareness of airports as a vital and interesting area for engineering
and technology careers.
The FAA received 34 proposals from 16 colleges and
universities. The vast majority of the work was done by student teams,
according to Mary Sandy, director of the Virginia Space Grant
Consortium, which managed the competition. The winning proposals were
selected by panels of FAA, industry and academic experts.
The design proposed by the Rose-Hulman team covered the
area of airport environment interactions. San Jose State University
(Calif.) submitted the winning team proposal on the topic “Feasibility
of Replacing Conventional Airport Lighting with Light Emitting Diodes.”
George Mason University (Va.), placed first in the area of runway safety
and San Jose State took top honors in airport operations and
maintenance.
Other colleges competing included Georgia Institute of
Technology, University of Alabama, University of Southern California and
University of Virginia.
Faculty and student evaluations of the competition
experience cited the outstanding educational opportunity offered by
working on real-world problems.
"The students liked being challenged to propose
innovative solutions and the impetus to interface with industry and
government experts," Sandy said. "As one faculty member noted, 'For the
majority of students, this was their first experience of working on a
collaborative team design project in which different academic
disciplines were represented and, as such, it was exciting to witness
the student development in such a challenging, yet rewarding
environment.'"
Another faculty advisor noted the importance of creating
"significant learning experiences outside the classroom which allow
students to engage in ‘real-world’ issues and seek innovative ways in
which to solve problems,” according to Sandy. And, one student
commented, ". . . this hands-on experience with industry experts and
front line managers has been priceless. It has really helped to open my
eyes up to the variety of issues that an aerospace professional has to
look at on a daily basis…it has also opened my eyes up to a broader
spectrum of opportunities in the aviation business world."
Additional information on the competition can be found
at
http://www.faa.gov/runwaysafety/design_competition.htm.
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