Student Projects
The Ultimate Hands On Experience
Class room discussion goes only so far in exposing MTSU students to the challenges
that they will face in the real world. Student projects at MTSU provide students with
a forgiving environment in which to test the skills and knowledge they acquire during
their time at MTSU.
Student projects not only enhance classroom learning but also teach students things
they ordinarily wouldn't learn in a class, like organizational, leadership, and communication
skills. Perhaps most importantly, the projects give students a taste of the engineering
team environment, and help foster effective working relationships.
Because of the competitive nature of each the events MTSU engineering students participate
in, students must use cutting edge technology and design methods in order to field
the very best entry possible. Often these projects serve as rolling test beds for
the latest innovations in various technical fields, and are accompanied by a great
deal of student research.
Experimental Vehicles Projects (EVP):
More on EVP More on Mini-Baja Latest Pictures
Project - Solar Vehicle
The annual Solar Bike Rayce USA is an international racing event held in Topeka,
Kansas, and sponsored by the Formula Sun Education Foundation. The Rayce attracts
stiff competition from around the world, and exhibits some of the most unique vehicles
ever to grace a race track.
Teams compete with vehicles that are powered by both solar and battery power. The
race itself is part endurance, part sprint, with vehicles approaching speeds of 60
Km/hr and traveling distances up to 100 Km.
MTSU's 2005 Solar Vehicle design features a super-lightweight, low drag carbon fiber
body, efficient NiMH batteries, and advanced power management and remote monitoring
systems.
The objectives of the event are to stimulate interest in science and technology and
to raise awareness of alternative energy.
2003 Performance: 
Solar Raider 1 - 1st Place in 200 Meter Sprint Race
1st Place in 100 Kilometer Race
2004 Performance:
Solar Raider 2 - Top Award for Innovative Design
1st Place in 200 Meter Sprint Race
2nd Place in 100 Kilometer Race
Solar Raider 1 - 2nd Place in 200 Meter Sprint Race
3rd Place in 100 Kilometer Race
2nd Place in Faculty Advisor Race
For more information on this project contact Dr. Saeed Foroudastan.
Formula SAE is a formula style race sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers.
The vehicles are open wheeled racers and must adhere to strict guidelines set forth
by SAE.
Entries are judged not only by their performance on the track, but also by their
technical and engineering innovation, with consideration given to project budget and
timeline. Teams are also required to show manufacturability of their concept, and
must prove their design on its merits before proving it on the track. 
The Formula SAE competition provides a complex and unique challenge to MTSU students,
who will enter their first race in 2006. For more information on this project contact
Dr. Saeed Foroudastan.
This event is sponsored by a generous donation from Jeff Lane, owner of Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, TN. Click here for more information on Lane Motor Museum .
The Blue Raider Baja team made a very strong showing in the last week of June in
Dayton, Ohio site of this year's SAE Midwest Mini Baja Competition. The Blue Raider
Baja team finished second in the rookie of the year vote and in the top 50% overall
out of 145 teams. Less than 50% of the teams were able to finish the four hours race.
MTSU finished the race. Design judging is broken down into eight categories, five
of which MTSU finished in the top 50, including a top 10 finish in serviceability,
a top 15 finish in power train design, and a top 30 finish in feasibility of mass
production.
The SAE Baja consists of three regional competitions that simulate real-world engineering design projects and their related challenges. Students are tasked to design and build an off-road vehicle that will survive the severe punishment of rough terrain.
The object of the competition is to provide SAE student members with a challenging
project that involves the planning and manufacturing tasks found when introducing
a new product to the consumer industrial market. Teams compete against one another
to have their design accepted for manufacture by a fictitious firm. Students must
function as a team to not only design, build, test, promote, and race a vehicle within
the limits of the rules, but also to generate financial support for their project
and manage their educational priorities.
The SAE Baja competition is one of the most popular engineering design competitions
in North America. With more than 400 universities competing world wide many of which
have been doing so for more than 20 years. The student members of the Baja team are
committed to laying the ground work for future MTSU engineering technology students,
and hope to help establish the Department of Engineering Technology at Middle Tennessee
State University as a premier competitor in engineering design competitions in North
America. For more information on this project contact Dr. Saeed Foroudastan.
This event is sponsored by a generous donation from Jeff Lane, owner of Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, TN. Click here for more information on Lane Motor Museum .
The Great Moon Buggy Race is a NASA-sponsored event held annually at the U.S. Space
and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. College teams from across the nation test
their engineering skills by designing, building and racing their versions of the moon
buggy on the same track used to qualify the actual lunar rover.
The Moon Buggy project presents a unique design challenge. Each buggy is required
to collapse into a 4' cube (for transportation to space), must be human powered, and
able to be carried by two people. In addition, the vehicle must be able to handle
inclines of up to 30 degrees both forwards and sideways.
The 2004 team Moon Buggy showed extreme perseverance, working late into the night
for several nights before the event in order to complete their four wheel drive buggy.
2003 Performance:
4th Place Nationwide
2004 Performance:
'03 Moon Buggy -
5th Place Nationwide
'04 Moon Buggy -
1st Place in Tennessee
4th Place Nationwide
For more information on this project contact Dr. Saeed Foroudastan.
The annual American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Solar Splash is the World
Championship of solar-electric boating. The event itself takes place over 5 days,
the first day being spent entirely on a thorough technical inspection of each craft.
The remaining four days are occupied with on-water competitions, including sprint,
maneuverability, endurance and speed competitions.
Each craft is powered completely by batteries and a solar array. This power combination
on a watercraft creates its own interesting set of challenges. N 
ot only must the craft be very efficient hydro-dynamically, but it must use its power
extremely effectively.
The MTSU concept includes a hull made of space age composites and streamlined to
minimize hydrodynamic drag, an extremely efficient power-line, and an advanced power
management and monitoring system similar to that being implemented on the solar vehicle.
Because of the open nature of the rules, the MTSU team has developed many interesting
concepts, including the catamaran configuration (shown above) and even a hydrofoil
version. This years Solar Boat project will be the first of its type ever attempted
at MTSU. The team has high expectations for their design, and is determined to make
an impression when they compete next year. For more information on this project contact
Dr. Saeed Foroudastan.
MTSU's Department of Engineering Technology recently added a national championship
in robotics to its mantle of achievements.
Known for its Moonbuggies, concrete industry program, Formula 1 car and solar bikes,
ET had a student team capture first place in the 2004 International Conference on
Earth and Space March 7-10 in Houston.
MTSU defeated the other two finalists, the University of Illinois and Prairie View
A & M, for the championship.
"They perfected the robotics system to the extent that NASA may change the requirements
next time,"said Dr. Ahad Nasab, professor, ET. "They have been waiting for a group
to take it to a higher level. NASA will add something to the competition (requirements)
next year and make it more challenging."
Five students - seniors Aaron Dudley and Amy Black and sophomore Seth Holland of
Murfreesboro, senior James Barker of Elizabethton and alumnus Travis Martin of Murfreesboro
- were recognized April 2 in the Voorhies Industrial Studies building for their roles
in leading the team to the national crown.
Barker, who is an aerospace major, was the lone non-ET major on the team.
"We gained so much knowledge," he said. "It was a challenge, working through the
problem solving. We accomplished our goal."
"It was a whole lot harder than I expected," Dudley, the team captain, said. "The
competition was great. We found out we had a lot more creativity than we thought we
had."
Black said the group's greatest accomplishment may not have been the Flouor Daniel
Perpetual Trophy for Collegiate Competition in Extraterrestrial Robotics that it brought
back to Murfreesboro.
"We learned the value of teamwork," Black said. "There were a lot of different opinions.
... We figured out how to accomplish it. At the competition, we had all kinds of serious
problems the first day. We only had four hours to fix it. We were without a machine
shop. We were in a hotel."
Martin, who is married and the father of two children, completed the original design
in March 2002.
"They (current students) just modified it and made improvements to the electronics
and air system. Technology today is just booming."
Nasab said the event, which is co-sponsored by NASA and the Earth and Science conference,
is designed to mimic conditions NASA might encounter while trying to create a long-term
presence on the moon.
The MTSU students built a second, smaller robot with a camera to aid the steering
and driving of the larger robot, and this element led to them finishing first, Nasab
said.
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