This has been a great week for things I'm passionate about in the fluid power industry. I've had a chance to share news about hydraulic hybrid developments and have seen a lot of cool news about educating and attracting girls into the engineering field. (Disclaimer, I am not an engineer but I still think it's a good movement!)
So the latest news from Daman Corp. about its sponsored Fluid Power Challenge next month caught my eye. Once again, I wish I could attend this event, as I've been wanting to attend a Challenge since the National Fluid Power Association established them, but with deadline that week and two small girls at home, I have to pass once again.
Local Manufacturers, and educators will join forces with Daman's Fluid Power Challenge December 7, at Notre Dame's Stepan Center. The event is a competition that challenges 16-20 teams of four from each of South Bend's Junior High Schools to solve an engineering problem using fluid power. They work in teams to design and build a fluid power mechanism capable of solving the work related task.
The competition focuses on developing mechanical and fluid power skills, and additionally, exposure to project and resource management, team collaboration, and the challenges of working to a dead line. The teams will have a finite amount of time on competition day to reconstruct their machines from a new set of materials and compete. The goals are established to encourage students to select more engineering courses in their high school curricula and to keep their options open for technology-based post-secondary studies.
Visit www.nfpa.com for more details on the Fluid Power Challenge.
