Fourteen ASME Student Members to Face Off at the Old Guard Oral Presentation Competition

Harikrishna Patadiya of San Jose State University (shown here at the ASME District D regional Old Guard Oral Presentation Competition last April) will be one of the 14 ASME student members taking part in the final round of the competition next month in San Diego, Calif.

ASME student members from across the Society's various Districts will put their presentation skills to the test next month at the Old Guard Oral Competition finals to be held during the 2013 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition in San Diego, Calif. This year, students from England, India, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates and Colombia will join students from North America for the contest, which recognizes engineering students for their ability to deliver clear, concise and effective oral presentations.

During the final competition, to be held on Saturday, Nov. 16, the 14 finalists — all winners in the regional competitions that took place in their respective ASME Districts last spring — will each give 15-minute presentations on a subject that addresses a technical, economic or environmental aspect of engineering or other basic engineering theme. The presentation is then followed by a five-minute question-and-answer session.

The majority of each competitor's total score is based on the judges' evaluation of his or her presentation skills, including the ability to respond effectively in the Q&A period. The winner of the final Old Guard Oral Competition at Congress will receive $2,000, while the second-prize winner will receive $1,500. The competition's third- and fourth-prize winners will be awarded $1,000 and $500, respectively. One student will also be selected as winner of the Best Technical Content prize and receive $50. The top four presenters among the finalists will also be eligible to receive other Society awards.

Four of the competitors in this year's competition are from schools located outside North America: Manish Pokhrel, a student at the University of Engineering and Technology in Pakistan, who will give the presentation "Ornithopter — Flap and Fly"; Kristian Saull, a student member from Loughborough University in England, who will discuss "Automatic Neurosurgical Drill Unit with Force Control"; Alejandra Castelblanco, from Universidad de los Andes in Colombia, who will present "Heat and Mass Transfer Model for Amphibians"; and Deepan Kishore, a student member from India's Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, who will give a presentation titled "MEMS Technology for the diagnosis and treatment of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo."

Also participating in this year's contest are Jerry Wang of Yale University, who will discuss "Lagrangian Studies on Inertial Particles in Two-Dimensional Flows"; Matt Wahl from Union College, who will present "Technical Swimsuit Design Using Silica Aerogels"; Zachary Young of Cedarville University who will speak on the subject "Design of a Macrofluidic Cell Flow Chamber"; John Cote of the Milwaukee School of Engineering, who will present "Caterpillar 7495 Electric Rope Shovel — Alternative Boarding System"; and Thomas Larson from the University of Washington, who will discuss "Cell Phone Microscopy."

The other students competing are Harikrishna Patadiya of San Jose State University, with "Total Knee Replacement Testing Device"; Kyle Hampton from the University of Tulsa, with "Design and Analysis of an RC Airplane for the SAE Aero Design Competition"; Pablo Alejandro Rocabado Soria of Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Toluca, Mexico, with "CFD Analysis for Air Conditioning Ducts"; Andrew Rydalch from the U.S. Naval Academy, with "Drag Reduction Over SLIP Surfaces"; and Mason Chilmonczyk of the University of South Florida, with "Technical Design, Implementation and Control of an Atomic Layer Deposition Reactor into a Pre-existing UHV Analysis Chamber."

To learn more about the Old Guard Oral Competition, visit www.asme.org/events/competitions/old-guard-competitions/old-guard-prize-oral-presentation-competition. For information on the 2013 Congress and its schedule of events, visit www.asmeconferences.org/Congress2013.