Splicetoday

On Campus
Jun 02, 2008, 06:08AM

Ok, Now We Understand What's Cool About Engineering

Engineering students have always struck us as kind of crazyily driven, socially awkward kids who are really good at math and are fascinated by the mechanics of bulldozers. Yet at Ohio State they get to do something that makes us totally jealous of all that math and awkardness: design their own roller coaster.

The students had to construct an open-loop roller coaster with two 25-foot lengths of 1/4-inch flexible plastic tubing and a circuit board. Each coaster had to include loops, a bump and rise, a curve and a straight-away track. A large plastic marble was dropped onto the coaster and had to safely make it to the box at the end of the coaster.

Jeff Gramke, manager of facilities, engineering and construction for Kings Island, was one of the judges. While at Kings Island, he spent three years designing and constructing The Beast, a roller coaster that is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

"You get to see physics, structural, gravity and momentum parts that relate to all engineering," he said. "I hope they learn to enjoy engineering - it's not just about hard math."

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