Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A robot designed and built by a Mississippi State industrial technology student team again is national champion in competition sponsored by the Association of Technology, Management and Applied Engineering.
All members of the campus ATMAE chapter, the nine-member group was among 12 university teams from around the United States involved in the challenge. The event was part of the association's recent 2009 convention in Louisville, Ky.
The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based association sets standards for academic program accreditation, and personal certification and development for educators and industry professionals involved in integrating technology, leadership and design.
"Each school's entry was graded in the categories of performance, construction and presentation," said Mickey Giordano, one of the team's three faculty advisers.
"Last year, we were hoping to do well and we won," Girodano said. "This year, we had the pressure of trying to repeat, but our students did a great job and again were victorious."
For their latest achievement, the team received a $1,000 prize to help with the construction of next year's robot, a $300 training robotic kit, a trophy, and some high-end computer design software. In addition, the victory enables two industrial technology majors to spend a week in Dayton, Ohio, receiving specialized robotics and automation training at Rixan Associates Inc.
"The Rixan training normally costs nearly $1,200 per person," the industrial technology instructor from Maben explained, adding that ATMAE also is providing each student with a $750 travel stipend.
Associate professor John E. Wyatt of Starkville and Southampton, England, and instructor Jerry Mize of West Point were the other advisers accompanying the team to Louisville.
The winning MSU team includes (by hometown):
KOSCIUSKO--Senior Bradley W. "Brad" Jones, concentrating in manufacturing and maintenance.
LAKE--Junior Adam A. Brown, concentrating in manufacturing and maintenance.
LOUISVILLE--Senior Trenton G. Cockrell, concentrating in manufacturing and maintenance.
MOSS POINT--Senior Cory A. Greenough. [No concentration listed.]
STARKVILLE--Sophomore Andrew P. "Andy" Langford and senior Charles T. "Chad" Stowell, both concentrating in manufacturing and maintenance.
VERNON, Ala.--Senior Jonathan W. Mosley, concentrating in manufacturing and maintenance.
WINONA--Senior Steven D. "Pokey" Prewitt, concentrating in manufacturing and maintenance.
YAZOO CITY--Senior Richard L. Morgan, concentrating in industrial automation.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For additional information, contact Mr. Giordano at 662-325-1610 or mgiordano@colled.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.