Lessons from engineering competition could help save lives

  • Published
  • By Jeanne Dailey
  • Air Force Research Laboratory
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  The Air Force Research Laboratory recently held its third annual AFRL Collegiate and Service Academy Engineering Design Competition. Seventeen universities and three service academies participated in the event, which was held at the Arnold Engineering Development Complex located on Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. The competition fosters innovative solutions to an engineering challenge.

This year's challenge centered on a problem U.S. Air Force pararescuemen and other military units routinely face. Upturned armored vehicles, collapsed structures or downed aircraft must be lifted to rescue those trapped inside. Student teams were tasked with producing a single-man portable solution that would lift a 45,000-pound vehicle.

The AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland helped managed the project and participated
in reviews of the university designs during the school year.

"I am proud of the people of the Air Force Research Laboratory for putting on this productive and relevant annual engineering design competition," said Col. David Goldstein, director of the Space Vehicles Directorate. "It reaches students across the country and provides valuable hands-on experience for our nation's future engineers and scientists. And it's a great opportunity for our AFRL technologists to mentor up and coming technical leaders -- definitely a win-win for everyone involved."

Students from the mechanical engineering departments from all over the country joined the competition.

Devon Parker, a senior Air Force mechanical engineer at AEDC was AFRL's manager for the event. He set up a 40,000-pound bulldozer angled on a deep incline. As a safety precaution, the bulldozer was stabilized to prevent it from shifting and it was hooked to a 55-ton crane, which would be able to take up the load if needed. Over the course of five days, each team made numerous attempts to lift the bulldozer.

While several teams managed to get the bulldozer off the ground, the Auburn University team delivered the best solution. The team used an air bag system built from Kevlar and Vectran, which are both extremely strong synthetic materials.

In the Service Academy competition, the U.S. Air Force Academy designed and built a seven-stage hydraulic lift that used vegetable oil to transfer power. The team succeeded in lifting the dozer over 25 inches in two cycles -- the third win in a row for the Academy.

"Each school gets $20,000 to solve the problem. That's not a huge budget. With limited resources, several teams took an approach that a seasoned engineer wouldn't dream of," Parker said. "They make things work because no one told them they can't."