Students Earn High Marks in a Return to Engineering Competitions
Students from NJIT’s Newark College of Engineering have earned first, second and third place recognitions across steel bridge, chemical car and concrete canoe events held for inter-institutional competition.
The steel bridge regional competition made its return for the first time since COVID restrictions canceled the event in 2020 and 2021, and NJIT took home first place in the Metropolitan Region in the Construction Speed and Stiffness categories.
Team members include Kayden Bevando, Pedro Bandeira, Michael Brusca, Diego Cabrera, Vincent Campanella, Joel Florim, Thomas Hickey, Wairagu Kariba, Julien Kempf, Jorge Lucero, Liam Stobert and Joe Vitale. Additional support came from alumni including Thomas Nadolsky, Zachary Keator, Rocco Cioffi and Niyam Shah*.
For stiffness, a 2,500-pound load is applied and an aggregate deflection is measured. NJIT’s bridge deflection measured approximately .3 inches over a roughly 20-foot span, beating out its next closest competitor by nearly 25%. For construction speed, which measures the total time for the bridge to be constructed, the team assembled their bridge in 13 minutes, over four minutes faster than the next closest competitor.
“I was determined to finally participate in the competition since it was canceled during my sophomore and junior years,” said Kayden Bevando, a senior civil engineering major.
The bridge had steel donated from Acrow Bridge out of Parsippany, and fittings fabricated by Xometry. Additionally, parts like the jig plate and jig fitting were fabridated in NJIT’s Makerspace, with the construction and assembly taking place in the Civil Engineering Lab. Students had the opportunity to learn how to operate and perfect the use of industry-grade machinery, and gain valuable experience with welding and fabrication.
In a first for NJIT, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers held its Mid-Atlantic Student Conference at the university. The two-day conference hosts a career fair for students and several competitions, including a research presentation competition and Chem-E-Car performance competition.
NJIT took home first place in the team poster contest, consisting of Stephany Cabrejos, Allen Reed, Monica McEvoy*, Michael Maffucci, Mory Diane, Dennis Lema, Jennifer Quiros, Anh Tong, Irina Molodetsky, Antonio Antonucci and faculty advisor Roman Voronov presenting the technical aspects of their car.
Team captain Stephany Cabrejos emphasized the importance and impact of a visually clean and engaging poster. “I wanted to make sure that the audience, majoring in chemical engineering or not, had an easy time understanding our Chem-E-Car concept,” she said. Coupled with strong preparation by the team, they demonstrated a mastery of their concept to judges and other students alike.
Sophomore Ashish Kokkula*, with Kathleen McEnnis serving as his faculty advisor, earned second place for the individual research poster competition for his presentation on his research of the use of platinum nanoparticles to treat triple-negative breast cancer — an aggressive form of breast cancer that traditional chemotherapy is unable to effectively treat.
In the hotly contested performance contest, NJIT came home in second place in a field of 12 teams. Each team’s mission is to traverse a room at a steady roll and stop at the finish line when time is called. Its success rests upon two highly calibrated devices – a fuel cell to move and an intricate braking system to stop – that are both triggered by chemical reactions. The car that comes closest to the finish line before shutting itself off is proclaimed the winner.
NJIT’s car, the Hylander Requiem, which the team describes affectionately as “a fast and powerful bulky monster,” had a clever fuel system design.
“The car generates its own hydrogen and consumes it right away, which is a key safety feature. The lower the storage pressure, the less likely it is to explode,” noted senior Allen Reed, a team co-captain.
Also making its return to in-person competition was the American Society of Civil Engineers Concrete Canoe event. Concrete Canoe provides students a unique opportunity to gain hands-on practical experience while testing their skills with concrete mix designs and project management challenges. NJIT’s entry, captained by Elizabeth Mundkowsky* and Samantha Arcila*, came in third place in the Metropolitan Region.
The evaluation each time is divided into different categories: the project proposal (changed to follow a real-world “RFP” format), the enhanced focus area report that highlights a specific component of the proposal, a technical presentation, the final product prototype and the race demonstration.
“The students did an incredible job given the difficulties of trying to form and organize a team while still trying to figure out a new normal of life in a pandemic,” said Matthew Adams, team advisor and engineering professor.
* Denotes students of NJIT's Albert Dorman Honors College
