Civil and Environmental Engineering Students Win Alumni Cup

On a rainy Friday afternoon, an enthusiastic crowd of students, faculty, staff, and alumni lined the spiral staircase in the Kim Engineering Building to watch the 2014 Clark School Alumni Cup. For the second consecutive year, students from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering took home 1st place.

Aerospace Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering took 2nd and 3rd place, respectively.

The Alumni Cup is an annual engineering design competition that was started in 2012 by the University of Maryland Alumni Association, Engineering Chapter. The event takes place each year during National Engineers Week, a week-long celebration held to increase awareness of the field for the general public, students, educators, and parents.

A week before the Alumni Cup, teams of undergraduate students from each of the Clark School’s eight academic departments were tasked with designing a machine that could move a CD/DVD at least 2 feet, insert it into a CD/DVD drive, and play the contents of the CD/DVD. With a small stipend, the teams were able to design, build, and test their machines before the competition.

From open flame to lasers, the teams incorporated elements from their respective engineering disciplines into their machine design.

After three exciting rounds, the panel of judges announced the Civil and Environmental Engineering team as the winners with the best overall design, presentation, and team spirit.

The members of the winning team include:

Tess Niehoff, Senior—Infrastructure
Emily Kriz, Junior—Infrastructure
Jamey Campbell, Junior—Environmental & Water Resources
Jonathan Schneider, Junior—Transportation & Project Management—Team Captain
Jacob Schaperow, Sophomore—Transportation & Project Management
Demetra Tzamaras, Sophomore—Infrastructure
Benjamin Siebert, Freshman—Environmental & Water Resources
Michelle Solomon, Freshman—Environmental & Water Resources

Special recognition is deserved for the event organizers and judges:

Event Co-Chairs
Elisabeth Goldwasser, BS ’02 Mechanical Engineering
Kevin Schoonover, BS ’06 Aerospace Engineering

Judges
Jim Kinkead, Clark Construction
Michael Garzon. BG&E
Matthew Diehl, BG&E
Russell Werneth, NASA
Tim Tormoen, University of Maryland Alumni Association

Volunteers
Ralph Wheeler, Engineering Alumni Chapter Board
Jeff Marcus, Engineering Alumni Chapter Board
Theresa Wolfe, Amethyst Technologies
Leora Pushett

View photos from the 2014 Alumni Cup.

Watch videos from the 2014 Alumni Cup.

Published March 8, 2014