WVU engineering students sweep SAMPE Additive Manufacturing Contest

Brenden Guthrie, Jacob Winokur and Logan Melvinat the2018 SAMPE Conference and Exhibition.

Engineering students from West Virginia University’s Student Chapter of the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering swept top honors in the Student Additive Manufacturing Contest that was held during the 2018 SAMPE Conference and Exhibition on May 21-24, in Long Beach, California.

By Olivia Miller
Communications Specialist

Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

The national contest challenged students to design and create a 3D-printed vertical structure that could withstand a minimum load of 100 pounds during compression testing. Each structure received scores for weight, height and load supported before failure.

The grand prize of $500 was awarded to Logan Melvin, a mechanical engineering major from Weirton, whose structure supported 105 pounds before failing. Aerospace engineering majors Jacob Winokur (Chesapeake, Virginia) and Brenden Guthrie (Charleston), were awarded $300 and $200 for second and third place, respectively.

“To better understand how 3D printing works, the students printed and tested their structures at WVU before submitting their final design for the competition,” said Tomás Muchenik , an adjunct assistant professor at the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources . “The added understanding of manufacturing techniques and testing conditions placed WVU students at the top of the competition.”

Their dominating performance marked the first appearance of WVU students in the SAMPE contest.

SAMPE is a global professional member society that delivers information on new and advanced materials and processing technology by providing enhanced educational opportunities via conferences, exhibitions, technical forums, and publications.

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