ASU engineering students win big at MS&T Conference competition

 

POSTED ON Dec 17, 2018

 

First-year engineering students at Arizona State University won big at the 2018 Geodesic Dome Competition of the Materials Science and Technology Conference in October, marking the first time an ASU team took the No. 1 spot.

The five-member team competed against upperclassmen from eight other universities.  The challenge was to build a cost-effective but strong dome inspired by the ASM Geodesic Dome in Ohio.

The ASM, a professional organization for materials scientists and engineers, had its famous structures in Ohio built in 1958. The dome is said to be the world’s largest open-air geodesic dome.

Domes submitted to the Geodesic Dome Competition competition could be made of any material, but not cost more than $300 to build.

Dome of the Devils team members, Beilee Kagen, Katrina Santos, Blake Povilus, Ryan Dell’Olio and Alicia Vozza, are all first-year students at ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.

Santos, who studies material science and engineering  told Hayley MacDonell, student sci/tech writer at the  Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering,  that when reporting costs, they had to include services as well as materials. “The best part of the entire experience was networking with professionals and students,” Santos said. “I also met with different companies to enquire about internships and what they look for in students.”

Kagen, a materials science and engineering major, worked for 17 hours over two weeks to fabricate the dome. The structure, which cost only $12.72 to create, went on to withstand 11,000 pounds at the Materials Science and Technology conference in Columbus, Ohio.

The Dome of Devils won the $1,000 first-place award and the attention of the materials science community.

The team formed in an Introduction to Engineering course taught by research specialist Shahriar Anwar for a class project similar to a challenge presented by ASM International.