HPMI researchers excel in international SAMPE competitions

An HPMI researcher won first prize in 3-D printing competition, another researcher is recognized for his leadership and an HPMI team competed for the first time in bridge competition at the SAMPE Conference in Baltimore.

HPMI Researcher and Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering (IME) PhD candidate Aniket Ingrole’s entry in the Additive Manufacturing Contest was awarded first prize at the SAMPE Conference in Baltimore in May. Aniket’s entry was judged against 18 other entries from universities around the world. The primary criteria were to create a column in which the height must be at least twice its width and exhibit the best strength to weight ratio. Although two other entries supported greater weight, the HPMI entry weighed less than a third of the entry that supported the most weight. Also, Aniket’s entry supported more than twice the weight of the second place entry. While Aniket won the individual completion, he acknowledged the help he had from HPMI and Bob Walsh of the NHMFL, who helped in the testing.

At the conference, HPMI Researcher and IME Masters student Kenneth Veliky was recognized for being one of nine winners from across the nation of the SAMPE Student Leader Experience Award. The SAMPE Student Leader Experience Award sends student leaders to the SAMPE North America Conference and Exhibition to network with peers and industry professionals and increase their understanding of the Materials and Processes community. While at FSU, Kenneth has performed outstandingly in academics, research and classes. He serves as President of the FSU SAMPE Student Chapter, which was established in 2013 and has grown to 27 active student members. Under his leadership, the student member involvement in SAMPE events has dramatically increased. Kenneth also serves on the HPMI safety committee and the HPMI events committee. He also submitted a technical paper that became a semifinalist in the competition for the SAMPE Master Student University Research Symposium Program Competition for the upcoming CAMX Dallas 2015.

For the first time, an HPMI team consisting of IME PhD candidate Kunal Joshi, Aniket Ingrole and Kenneth Veliky participated in the SAMPE Student Bridge Competition. This contest allows students to design, build, and test a miniature structural bridge using various composite materials in accordance with a set of defined rules. This is an international competition involving schools from around the globe. Students compete for monetary prizes and for the coveted SAMPE Student Bridge Champion trophy. Although they did not win their initial competition, the team stated that they learned from the experience and will be ready next round of competition.

Fig: Aniket Ingrole, Kunal Joshi and Kenneth Veliky hold the bridge that made for the SAMPE Student Bridge Competition