UCF engineering students earned praise and some job offers after they competed at Siemens Global University Challenge in Germany this month.
Engineering giant Siemens sponsors the three-phase competition every year. It pits teams of the best engineering students in the world against each other for a shot at the top prize 麻豆精品 S� a trip to Germany to showcase their project and meet potential future employers. Siemens is based in Germany and successful plans are implemented at the company 麻豆精品 S檚 Berlin plant.
UCF was one of the five teams and the only U.S. team selected from 33 to travel to Germany for the final phase of the competition this year tagged 麻豆精品 S淓nabling the Digital Twin. 麻豆精品 S� For non-engineers, that 麻豆精品 S檚 a real-time way for teams to communicate during the conceptual, design and prototype process in product development.
The final round is a week-long process that culminates with a shark-tank-style innovation hackathon. Officials from the company were the judges.
The teams didn 麻豆精品 S檛 have to build a whole system, referred to as the digital twin. They only needed to present a working prototype of an idea that would enable the digital twin and that could be seamlessly incorporated within Siemens established manufacturing and quality-assessment process.
麻豆精品 S淭here was no actual winner or ranking, 麻豆精品 S� said Marcel Otto, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering at UCF and one of the team members. 麻豆精品 S淲e were all winners just being there. 麻豆精品 S�
He described the final leg of the year-long competition as professional and exciting.
麻豆精品 S淚 liked the supportive culture between the teams, the unique insight we got on-site in Siemens’ largest turbine-manufacturing facility worldwide. We worked late into the nights, coding, discussing our solution and models, 麻豆精品 S� Otto said.
Connecting the engineering plan to a business plan and being able to sell it was the biggest challenge, for team member Kevin Bauer-Escalante.
麻豆精品 S淏eing mentored in the art of presenting an effective elevator pitch was probably the most valuable takeaway from this unique experience, 麻豆精品 S� Bauer-Escalante said. 麻豆精品 S淲e had to learn the lingo that connects the engineering idea with the business impact. Nowadays it is necessary to build this bridge in your head between the two different schools of thought, the technical and the business. 麻豆精品 S�
Bauer-Escalante, who is pursuing a master 麻豆精品 S檚 degree in mechanical engineering, is also a graduate research assistant at UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 Center for Advanced Turbomachinery & Energy Research. He said he is still in awe of the experience and the opportunity the competition gave him to talk to some leaders in the industry. The trip also was his first one to Europe.
Team member Itza Beltran will graduate from UCF with a bachelor 麻豆精品 S檚 degree in mechanical engineering in May. Beltran said the competition was a way to get hands-on experience.
麻豆精品 S淭he competition was open to any major, with an emphasis in engineering and business, 麻豆精品 S� she said. 麻豆精品 S淐ollaborating between different fields is a key to success. I highly recommend students to get involved in projects or competitions where they can work with people from other disciplines. It is a rewarding experience. 麻豆精品 S�
Jayanta Kapat, CATER 麻豆精品 S檚 director and team coach, said participating in competitions like these benefits students because it gives them real-life feedback and opportunities to connect with industry.
麻豆精品 S淯CF did very well, 麻豆精品 S� Kapat said. 麻豆精品 S淥ur team just came back, with multiple job offers. 麻豆精品 S�