Vol. 19, No. 15

Dec. 16, 1999

Building a faster mousetrap

Students (from left) John Unger, Matt Baer, Justin Sadowski and Jonathan Blyer, in "Introduction to Mechanical Engineering," show off their team's entry in the Mousetrap Car Contest, conducted by faculty member Dick Wilkins. The course is designed to interest students in the field of mechanical engineering by giving them a foundation in the discipline and providing experience in engineering design. At this year's event, 23 four-member freshman teams participated, attempting to accurately predict how far their mousetrap-based vehicles would travel with added variable weights. This was the third annual event, Wilkins said, which is held at the conclusion of the course instead of a final examination. Photo by Jack Buxbaum