Event features research, award-winning designs, innovative coursework

The College of Technology hosted an open house to showcase its high-tech software and equipment, award-winning designs and its advanced research in Van Deusen Hall Saturday.

The event invited alumni to get a first-hand experience of the innovative classes offered by the College of Technology.

“The College of Technology has a rich history to which we owe a debt of gratitude as well as the hard work and effort to make it ever stronger and even more relevant,” said John DeCola, Director for Institutional Advancement for the College of Technology.

Among several displays at the open house was a construction management lab. Neal Konesky, senior construction management major, showed a large wooden foundation for a model home. The foundation is the start of the program’s design for a Habitat for Humanity house the Construction Management Student Chapter will help build in Canton. Though the model’s foundation is only partially completed, the group plans to build the entire frame for the Canton home this October and November.

New technology the college showcased included a 3-D scanner and a 3-D printer. Adjunct professor Brian Jones said that the scanner is able to take several pictures of a 3-D object and slowly piece each picture together to form a cohesive 3-D image.

This technology can be used for graphic animation, reverse engineering – analyzing the components of a finished product – and manipulating a 3-D object to serve a different purpose.

Senior technology major Jessica Tinker said once the 3-D image is fully loaded to the computer, the 3-D printer is able to reproduce the prototype. Fine layers of powder are bonded together to form the desired object, and it is then dipped in a sealant to harden and protect its form.

An award-winning hydraulic bike mechanically operated by fluids was showcased at this year’s event. Senior aeronautics major Colin Christman was the head researcher for the Chainless Challenge, a technology competition sponsored by Parker Hannifin.

Five members of the Chainless Challenge team worked collectively on the bike’s design by using low pressure hydraulic pneumatic cylinders. Though this hydraulic system does not increase the speed of the bike, 12 mph, it does allow for the bike to store additional energy by using an accumulator or bladder. With this excess energy, a biker is able rest for several miles while the hydraulic system pedals on its own.

The bike won first place for innovation and novelty and first place for the most cost-efficient bike, winning the College of Technology a total of $4,500 in prize money.

“The program itself is a blast,” said Christman. “You can only sit through lecture, sit through lab and basically only retain what is in the book. This is practical application of what you learn in class and really helps that stick. I’m just happy I could be at Kent State and have an opportunity to do this.”

Contact College of Technology reporter Abbey Linville at [email protected].