Fashionable engineering

Students showcase engineering inventions at mall

By Katrina Garcia
The Collegian

A mousetrap car zooms in between the feet of children in a place that looks like a museum. But these youngsters weren’t at the Met— they were at Fashion Fair Mall, where Fresno State engineering students held the annual Engineers at the Mall exhibit Saturday.

The car, a project from an introductory engineering course where students create a car with only the trap and specific dimensions, was just one of several examples featured at the mall.

“The reason we do it is for the interaction with the kids,” computer engineer Tom Pittenger said of the engineering showcase. Pittenger said the school of engineering holds the annual exhibit to promote the various engineering majors, which include civil and electrical.

“The school of engineering is trying to get its name out there and get a good image,” Pittenger said.

Pittenger is the project manager of a new concept that could eventually end up at Fresno State. What started off as a project to create a micro mouse to navigate its way through a maze turned into a “macro mouse” that, if perfected, could transport disabled students and faculty from class to class.

Called the “Bulldog Bot,” it would replace golf carts currently used to take people to and from their classes.

It can avoid pedestrians and stay on sidewalks with its “sonar eyes.”

The autonomous robot also knows when it needs to be recharged and can do so by docking itself to a wireless charger. The Bulldog Bot is even able to figure out the best path to travel to reach its destination.

Pittenger said the Bulldog Bot is a work-in-progress, as his team has been working on the robot for a year and a half. But one thing that is up and running now is a website dedicated to the robot, where its up-to-the-minute status is posted online at BulldogBot.com.

Mechanical engineers brought their Formula Society of Automotive Engineers competition car from two years ago. While it wasn’t able to complete one of the races because it overheated, mechanical engineering major Austin Regensberg said the school plans to enter another car into this year’s competition, held in June.

The exhibit is part of the College of Engineering’s participation in National Engineers Week, which took place February 19-25.

Iris Marban, a computer engineer major, said National Engineers Week is important because it promotes the field of study, and engineers are always in demand.

“We’re trying to inspire children at a young age,” civil engineer Denise Soria said. “You see doctors, you’re taught by teachers, but you don’t see engineers. This is a good way to promote engineering.”

Comment on this story in the News forum >>