7th and 8th Grade Students Dive into Mechanical and  Hydraulic Engineering Concepts

MISHAWAKA - Local seventh and eighth grade students from John Young and South Bend Community Schools will be participating in the 2013 Fluid Power Challenge hosted by Daman Products Company, a manifold manufacturing facility based in Mishawaka, Indiana. The event will be held at Stepan Center on the campus of the University of Notre Dame on Friday, December 6 from 9 am to 2 pm.

"The Challenge offers area middle school students the opportunity to experience project-based, discovery-filled, hands-on education concerning fluid power and mechanical engineering concepts," says Larry Davis, president of Daman.

The program also gives support and resources to teachers for a science and technology curriculum in a learning environment where math and science are fun. All students use the same tools and an identical kit of supplies to recreate their unique mechanisms, which they use in the competition to pick up weighted objects and place them on a platform.

Students Prepared in October Workshop Days Held at Daman Products

Last month, on October 17 and 18, middle school students from John Young and South Bend Community Schools attended onsite Workshop Days at Daman. Students started the workshops with a breakfast and hydraulic assessment which tested their current understanding about fluid power. Davis facilitated two sessions presenting how to build a pneumatic lifter and the basic fundamentals about fluid power.

Afterward, the Fluid Power Challenge assignment was given: design and build a machine that will rotate, lift and grip per the Challenge guidelines, along with the judging criteria, thus challenging the teams to create their solutions for Challenge Day on December 6. Student teams will be graded in a number of areas, including portfolio ideas, design, hydraulic and mechanical knowledge gained and teamwork.

National Fluid Power Association Partnership

Since 2008, the NFPA (National Fluid Power Association) Fluid Power Challenge has offered middle school students the opportunity to experience a hands-on education concerning fluid power and mechanical engineering concepts. Through the Challenge, NFPA hopes to encourage students to select more mathematics and science courses in their high school curricula and to keep their options open for technology-based, post-secondary studies.

This engineering learning experience is practiced by various sponsored groups around the country. The Michiana group, hosted by Daman Products, was generously sponsored by, Tuesley, Hall, Konopa LLP; Imagineering; the University of Notre Dame; Womack Machine Supply; Sapa Group; Machinery Systems Inc.; Einstein Bagels; Marcos Pizza; and Optimization Consulting. Individual sponsors include, Jack Davis, Daman Products; Stan Wood, Daman Products; and Robert J.Urbanski.

Stay tuned to hear about The Challenge results!