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June 2018
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Students’ work was judged according to four main areas: Poster and Methodology; Exhibits or Prototype; Presentation and Interview and Overall Accomplishments and Commercial Viability. When this social media correspondent interviewed First Prize winner Dillon Chong, he was overwhelmed by the sudden attention, saying: “I didn’t expect all this.” Nonetheless upon subtle prompting, he explained that he built his prize-winning 3D printer to educate Trinidadians about its endless possibilities: “Anything you can think about making, you can print a plastic 3D model for.” His advice for aspiring engineers was to “Try to challenge yourselves, do something outside the box so you could actually become better by doing something you didn’t think you could do.” Creating a Cadet class electric go-cart was a no-brainer for second place winner Joshua Deonarinesingh who spoke about his love for racing, cars and anything to do with motor sports in general. Deonarinesingh knew by creating a cadet class of go-cart, he would enter his creation into a popular class of vehicles used by professionals and motorsport enthusiasts alike. Similarly, Ispahani Hosein alongside one of his supervising technicians, Marlon Dolloway, Senior Laboratory Assistant, exhibited a bamboo canoe because of his love of kayaking. Hosein did not compete in the contest, but was one of the main attractions because of his canoe’s sleek bamboo frame and outer waterproof polyvinyl canvas. Hosein came up with this idea as a cheaper, more lightweight alternative to the existing plastic kayak design. “The bamboo canoe is 47 lbs. and can hold up to 250 lbs. I tested it myself in the deep waters of Chaguaramas.” The third place winner was Lynessa Leonard. Her modifications to an existing design put her invention, a rotating soil compactor, in a class of its own. Literally. The initial model was done by another student, Anika Taylor, three years ago and Leonard’s updated design includes a rotating and balance effect to induce vibration resulting in the first ever soil compactor to do this on an international scale. The machine is used to measure the density of soil by means of measuring the soil compaction in order to determine the maximum density and load that can be applied to the soil. The ramifications of this are integral to the construction and agricultural industries. Leonard was quick to add that “We had a lot of help, from the department and supervisors to the chief technicians. If it wasn’t for them, we would never be able to finish these projects.” When asked what she would tell other women interested in creating solution-based machines, she humbly stated, “If you can dream it, you can achieve it. Just try hard with whatever you do.” The video featuring all of these students is available at The UWI St. Augustine YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/uwistaugustine. Jeanette G. Awai is a freelance writer and a Marketing and Communications Assistant at The UWI St. Augustine Marketing and Communications Office |
On a regular Friday afternoon, the Marketing and Communications Office posted a video of the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing’s 2018 Exhibition themed Engineering for the Future on its UWI St Augustine Facebook page. In less than two days, the video earned over 5,000 views and 100 shares by people praising the work of final year students who exhibited, including the top three students who won prizes for the Final-Year Capstone Project Contest.