By Meg Peters
Review Co-Editor
In their first year under the new pre-engineering program at Lake Orion High School, nine engineering students qualified for the 81st’annual State Competition of the Michigan Industrial Technology Education Society (MITES).
Students debuted 20 mechanical design projects at the regional competition May 6 against 28 other districts in Oakland County.? Of the 20 designs, 15 mechanical design drawings qualified for the state competition, which took place’Wednesday,’Thursday’and’Friday’after The’Review’went to press this week.
The projects will compete with designs from 21 regions statewide at Saginaw Valley State University where students? projects will be on display during the statewide technology conference.
Qualifiers include Ben Brock, Cameron Buccellato, Jonah Kettman, Dominic Litwin, Alec Maresh, Kyle Roberts, Andrew Rutt and Kevin Wilker.
MITES, established in 1928, is a professional organization of industrial technology educators, offering educators and students alike workshops, conferences and competitions while promoting the many areas of industrial technology.
The competition saw work from 14 divisions ranging from architectural design to mechanical design, electrical design, and applied technology, with three dimensional printing becoming the hot category. ??
Dragon engineers competed against as many as 1,500 mechanical designs for the state championship title, according to Jim Stuef, LOHS Engineering Program Director, and MITES State Mechanical Design Division manager and Assistant Regional Director.
‘Competitions like this really drive the students,? he said.
The last time LOHS competed at the state level was in the 1990s.
Using three-dimensional design programs, students engineer the drawings for a three dimensional object or objects. Drawings can be as large as 24×36 inches, and consist of up to 350 parts, depending on the final product.
Students got creative this year with their drawings, which included those for a 350-part steam engine, 40-part fly fishing vice and even a Fiat rim.
‘Back in the old days, everything was drawn on paper with pencil. You never saw a 3D drawing. Now the kids are using 3D programs. Those models can be sent to 3D printers, and they can actually have a physical 3D part in their hand when they’re done. I have three students that have literally invented parts and want to print them out,? Stuef said.
In many instances, students will redraw photos of 2D images into the 3D design programs. Or, in other cases, students will only have a paragraph of verbiage to conceptualize their 3D designs.
‘That’s where the real critical thinking comes in,? he said.
So far more than 300 students have signed up for the LOHS engineering program this year, and Stuef sees the program expanding. ?
Students start out taking Industrial Design I and Industrial Design II, and Engineering Design I and Engineering Design II. From there they can advance to manufacturing and robotics classes, and down the road Stuef hopes to offer architectural and animation classes.
Currently the program has a CNC machine, a 3D printer, and 33 new computers, with a 3D laser on Stuef’s wish list.?
‘It’s a great tool to be able to build prototypes quickly. It cuts up to one-quarter of an inch of material following an x,y,z axis. There are a lot of high tech design projects students can use it for.?
If the demand for engineering classes continues to grow, as Stuef expects, additional instructors will be needed to meet it and continue building the program. ?
‘My biggest push, as a father of three daughters and having a wife as an engineer, is having women in engineering. You always want someone to enjoy what they do for a living, and there are many opportunities for women if they take the initial push.?
Senior Lydia Mattar just won a ‘Women in Transportation? scholarship for Saginaw Valley, and will be attending their engineering program in the fall.
‘That’s a pretty neat kudos for the females, and just for the program itself,? Stuef said.
For more information on the Lake Orion engineering program, visit’www.lakeorion.k12.mi.us.?