April 29, 2003

Sonic Death Monkeys “Move On Up” to First with ASME Regional Design Win

A student design team in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at North Carolina State University won first place in the recent ASME Regional Student Design Contest. Pictured are (back row, left to right) Dr. Hamid Davoodi, design team faculty advisor; team member John Dyess; Dr. Mohammad N. Noori, professor and head of mechanical and aerospace engineering; Dr. Richard R. Johnson, ASME student chapter faculty advisor; (front row, left to right) team members Luke Davis, Joe Grappe and Ang Uy. (Photo: Kathi McBlief)

The Sonic Death Monkeys, the student design team in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, won first place in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Regional Student Design Contest held at Richmond Community College March 28 through 30. The four students on the ASME student section team were Joe Grappe, rising senior; John Dyess, rising senior; Luke Davis, junior; and Ang Uy, senior. Their faculty advisor for the project was Dr. Hamid Davoodi, director of undergraduate administration in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

The theme of this year’s contest was the mining industry, and the title was “Moving On Up!” All student teams were required to simulate a system to harness energy stored in mountain streams to lift ore from the bottom of an open pit mine. Two liters of water served as the energy source, and approximately 3.2 kilograms of long gain rice served as ore. There were three aspects to the project: transfer of water, rice and energy. The ultimate goal was to move the simulated ore to the top of a 50-centimeter-high ramp.

The ASME student section at NC State is a member of Region IV. Approximately twelve schools entered the contest and ten physically competed. Only four managed to propel the rice up the ramp. The Sonic Death Monkeys was the only team with two successful runs, thereby outstripping runner-up Old Dominion University by 2,000 points.

The win earned the team the right to compete in the national competition in November in Washington, D.C.

— mcblief —

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