MENOMONIE — Working on motor skills has a very different meaning for engineering students at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
Through a partnership between Stout and Polaris Industries, an automotive industry company, the university’s engineering department received a donation of two new Indian Motorcycle engines: one air-cooled and one liquid-cooled. The connection between industry and the university began about a decade ago, said Professor Devin Berg of the Department of Engineering and Technology.
Although the bond initially started between a family member of one of the students, Berg said it has only grown from there because this donation helps support what they are trying to do at Stout. He said his current goal is to work with students to try to develop a way to integrate both engines into some courses.
“In our engineering programs we cover things like heat transfer and fluid dynamics and things like that, which are relevant to the design, testing and understanding of engines,” Berg said. “What the students working with me are doing is developing a test setup that allows us to run these engines in a controlled environment, where we can use them in different conditions, take measurements and record data that we can get back out of the machine . engines and use that as a tool to teach some of the principles that we cover in our engineering curriculum.”
As he works toward that implementation, he says students are helping develop an engine test system and standards that will allow them to operate the engines in a number of environments and laboratory settings. Berg has hired two senior students to assist with this development, Charles Lenk and Lucas Lirette.
While Polaris’ support with the engines is extremely helpful, working to place these engines in a classroom still requires peripheral costs to develop companion technology. Berg’s work is also supported in this capacity through the John “Jed” Copham Memorial Professorship, as the endowed professorship honors Copham, a 1997 graduate who owned Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota, by the faculty and staff of the technical to support the department with projects related to cars and motorsports.
Berg said with this support they can create an environment where engineering students gain hands-on experience.
“Hands-on is one of the things we focus on at Stout,” he said. “The ability to take some of the theory we have learned in our engineering courses and see it put into practice and application can be very useful in making the connection between the sometimes difficult to understand technical theory and the real world things our students see. on a daily basis… Being able to make connections in that way is, I think, very helpful from a learning perspective.”
Expanding on the topic of career potential, Berg said, “We are fortunate in engineering at Stout that our students have many job opportunities and many places they can go with their careers. But one of the things that can definitely help them on that path as they transition from students to working professional engineers are those hands-on experiences; things they can point to in a job interview and say, “Hey, not only did I take my classes and learn the basics of engineering, but I also have experience starting and completing a project with these specific results.” And I think that can really demonstrate to a potential future employer that this student has some of that real-world experience before he or she even graduates.”
Their hope for the future is that the two engines are something they can use in the classroom as they continue to look for ways to implement them.
“The support we get from companies like that from time to time really supports the things we’re trying to do…” Berg said. “Connection is also super valuable because that’s our goal: to provide our students with these real-world, real-life experiences. Our collaboration with a company like Polaris helps enormously.”
