Industrial engineering students minimize risk of injury in proposal for national ergonomic design competition, earn honorable mention
DETROIT (Aug. 13, 2013) - Equipped with knowledge from their engineering courses, two teams of Wayne State University industrial and systems engineering students received honorable mentions at the 6th Annual Ergonomic Design Competition for Student Teams, held in fall 2012. Sponsored by Auburn Engineers, Inc., the competition provided a unique opportunity for 40 student teams from U.S. universities to assess, design and present their solutions to challenging ergonomics problems.
Students Thomas Henry, Vilma Kocllari, Vatsal Patel and David Ridgeway participated as Motor City Ergonomic Design; Isaac Jones, Catherine Mitchell, Teresa Samek and Jeseekia Vaughn participated as Warrior Ergonomic Solutions. The team members were all students in an industrial engineering work design course taught by Darin Ellis, Wayne State College of Engineering associate dean of academic affairs and student services.
"The class prepared us by being challenging and relevant," said Henry. "The assignments in that class were fast paced and intense and so was the competition problem, so our group felt well prepared for the task."
To enter the competition, the teams submitted a solution to a preliminary design case problem. In the problem, teams were asked to evaluate gardening practices for ergonomic risk factors and to look for economical solutions for the risk factors. During this preliminary round, the teams could earn extra points by participating in lightning rounds, which posed short and entertaining ergonomics questions.
In the competition's final design phase, the teams participated in an intensive 48-hour design period. For this part of the competition, students investigated the ergonomic risk factors of folding pizza boxes and proposed solutions that would mitigate injury or make the process more efficient.
"Due to the fast- paced nature of this competition, we learned to collaborate with team members and trust their judgment," said Patel. "In the final stage, we were only provided two days to come up with a solution. We were able to divide up responsibilities and make a demo video, visit a pizza shop for observations and develop a final report. To get an honorable mention in Nationals meant a lot to our team and we would definitely participate again to try and get first place."
Watch the demo video below:
# # #
Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution of higher education offering 370 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 29,000 students. For more information about engineering at Wayne State University, visit engineering.wayne.edu.