Medieval Launch Competition sponsored by the Stevens chapters of ASME and Tau Beta Pi
Stevens Students Shoot for the Stars with Old Designs
Andrew Scagnelli
Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: Campus News
On Wednesday, April 16, the Stevens chapters of ASME and Tau Beta Pi sponsored their first annual "Medieval Launch Competition" on the Palmer Lawn. More than ten teams, comprised of well over forty participants, went head-to-head in building the best artillery piece using only wood, weights and rope.
The event was run by Michael Gendreau, the President of ASME, Brendan Gregory, the Vice President of ASME, Patrick Alfonzo, the Secretary of ASME, Sharukh Aayeedi, the Treasurer of ASME, and Michael Munley, the President of Tau Beta Pi. Alfonzo felt that this year's event, which centered more around construction than in previous years, would garner more interest than previous events, which included an egg drop competition and a paper airplane competition, and would get everyone more involved due to the greater need for both design and build skills.
After a mandatory design period and time-limited build phase, the teams launched lacrosse balls across Palmer Lawn to see who could launch the furthest. The designs varied greatly, with many centering on simple trebuchet designs. More esoteric designs included a weird merger of trebuchet and catapult, a ballista and an original design using tension in a wound rope suspended in a frame.
The winning design was a classical trebuchet, which recorded a maximum launch distance (the greatest of three tries) of 79'-11". The build and design team was made up of Abel Alvarez, Matt Edwards, Chris Merck, Andrew Bjerke, Richard Tomasheski, Danielle Bisson and Andrew Kruegel. The second place distance was 65'-5", and the third place distance was 61'-1".
With the success of the launch competition this year, next year's event will be greatly anticipated, and should draw an even bigger crowd once its topic is announced next Spring.
The event was run by Michael Gendreau, the President of ASME, Brendan Gregory, the Vice President of ASME, Patrick Alfonzo, the Secretary of ASME, Sharukh Aayeedi, the Treasurer of ASME, and Michael Munley, the President of Tau Beta Pi. Alfonzo felt that this year's event, which centered more around construction than in previous years, would garner more interest than previous events, which included an egg drop competition and a paper airplane competition, and would get everyone more involved due to the greater need for both design and build skills.
After a mandatory design period and time-limited build phase, the teams launched lacrosse balls across Palmer Lawn to see who could launch the furthest. The designs varied greatly, with many centering on simple trebuchet designs. More esoteric designs included a weird merger of trebuchet and catapult, a ballista and an original design using tension in a wound rope suspended in a frame.
The winning design was a classical trebuchet, which recorded a maximum launch distance (the greatest of three tries) of 79'-11". The build and design team was made up of Abel Alvarez, Matt Edwards, Chris Merck, Andrew Bjerke, Richard Tomasheski, Danielle Bisson and Andrew Kruegel. The second place distance was 65'-5", and the third place distance was 61'-1".
With the success of the launch competition this year, next year's event will be greatly anticipated, and should draw an even bigger crowd once its topic is announced next Spring.