PACE Global Collaboration Race Car Project and PACE Emerging Market Engine Project

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Jesse Davis and Dr. C. Greg Jensen, Mechanical Engineering I have been involved with Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE) since January 2008. The goal of this organization involving industry sponsors and student teams is to teach and foster engineering collaboration in today’s global market. Various projects are undertaken in PACE, but […]

Development of a Simple Manufacturing Process for a Prosthetic Leg

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John Christiansen and Dr. Mark Colton, Mechanical Engineering Dept Introduction The purpose of this project was to develop a simple process to manufacture a useful and affordable prosthetic leg to be made available to below-­‐the-­‐knee amputees in a sub-­‐ Saharan African country. This project was motivated by a desire for learning and experience and also […]

Barrette Foundations

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Richard Christensen and Dr. Richard Balling, Civil and Environmental Engineering During the past 60 years, ever since the discovery of mass produced steel, the world has used this steel to produce buildings that touch the sky. These skyscrapers have become a point of competition and interest throughout the world. Each country tries to outdo the […]

Small UAVs for Perch and Stare Missions: Ground Locomotion and Self-launch

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Stephen Carlson and Dr. Jerry Bowman, Mechanical Engineering The mission of this project was the development of an Unmanned Air Vehicle capable of complete autonomy in a terrestrial environment. Using a jumping system for zero-distance take-offs and the addition of ground locomotion devices and energy harvesting systems, the vehicle could operate indefinitely without human assistance. […]

Moving Towards Technology Literacy: An Evaluation of Teachers and Curriculum

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Braden Boss and Dr. Geoffrey A. Wright, Technology & Engineering Education Many people struggle defining technology literacy. Some say that there is no “absolute definition of literacy” because technology literacy varies from society to society.1 No matter what society you belong to, how you define technology literacy depends on how you view technology and education. […]

Freeze-Thaw Effect on Mechanical Properties of Bovine Ligaments

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Alan Bordon and Dr. Anton Bowden, Mechanical Engineering My ORCA grant proposal was to study the effect that freezing and thawing a soft tissue has on the results of the mechanical property tests (i.e how strong) performed on the tissue. I was to study the effect of a single and multiple freeze/thaw cycles on the […]

The Development and Refinement of Constant-Force Mechanisms for Use in Future Applications

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Brent L. Weight and Dr. Larry L. Howell, Mechanical Engineering A compliant mechanism is one in which the mechanism’s motion comes from deflection of one or more of its members. Compliant mechanisms offer several advantages over rigid-body mechanisms. The member deflection characteristic of compliant mechanisms results in the ability to store energy directly within the […]

Mathematical Model of Friction Stir Welding

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Jeremy D. Webb and Dr. Russell Daines, Mechanical Engineering Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a semi-solid state joining process. The process utilizes a threaded pin tool “stirring” two aluminum plates together as it “sews” the seam together. One application of this process would replace the use of rivets to join aluminum paneling on commercial aircraft. […]

YSCAT—BYU’s Dock Based Scatterometer

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Brett T. Walkenhorst and Dr. David V. Arnold, Electrical and Computer Engineering Scatterometry is a method used today to track and predict global warming, storms, and other important factors in the earth’s climate. NASA currently has a scatterometer in orbit around earth called QuikScat. There are many useful applications of scatterometry, but there are still […]