Current Issue Past Issues About YSM Subscriptions Advertisements Contact Us
78.4 - Summer 2005
From the editor
Articles
News
Features
Departmental notes
In Memoriam
Where are they now?
Undergrad profile
Book reviews
Opinions
25, 50, 100 years ago
Puzzle corner

Search YSM Articles
Advanced Search

> Summer 2005 > Features

Implementing Success
The Yale Engineering Design Team 		Printable Version
 

By Jose Fuentes

YEDT members at 2003 Yale Junkyard Wars event.
YEDT members at 2003 Yale Junkyard Wars event. (Credit: YEDT)

Never used a screwdriver before? Don’t worry, there are plenty of ways for you to contribute to the Yale Engineering Design Team (YEDT). What started as a passing remark by co-founder Jerry Morones has become an unofficial slogan for the team. All three co-founders—Jerry Morones, James Salzano, and Daniel Wiznia—emphasize the importance of tapping the most enthusiastic talent on Yale’s campus regardless of engineering background or experience. This innovative student-engineering group has made its name known with a diverse collection of students and an equally diverse group of ideas. Since its inception in 2002, YEDT has prided itself on creating an outlet for eager students to implement their ideas.

The twenty dedicated members of YEDT are divided into five groups, each with a specific project and goal. For example, the Bio-diesel Group, spearheaded by Sean Mehra, focuses on developing a vehicle fuel system that uses vegetable-oil rather than gasoline. “We don’t set limits for what kind of things we can work on,” Mehra states. Like others, members of the Bio-diesel Group mastermind their projects simply by bouncing ideas off of each other. Salzano explains, “If there is interest, we work on it. If no one likes it, we don’t work on it.” This simple approach allows the team to implement only those projects of interest to the members involved.

Max Sklar leads the Programming Group, whose current goals focus on designing a program that can simulate evolution by adapting to specified conditions. This program contains various animals that must make eating or mating decisions as they move across a game board. Based on the decisions made, the animals can 1) survive, 2) die, or 3) reproduce and pass hereditary traits onto their offspring. Sklar explains, “We are hoping to evolve animals that play the game in a smart way.” With the diversity in the group’s projects, any student can participate. One could imagine an ecology and evolutionary biology major, a statistics major, or even an economics major with interests in game theory all contributing to this simulation of evolution.

In addition to the opportunity to apply classroom knowledge to projects, YEDT provides a team-building experience not found in the Yale curriculum. Headed by Wiznia, the Wheelchair Group is designing an air-power assisted wheelchair that contains mechanical components created by a group of YEDT students last summer. These components are integrated into the wheelchair via an on-board computer. Wiznia’s group hopes to convert this team-building experience into a non-profit business. As he remarks, “This was an extremely rewarding experience because we were able to learn how engineers work in a team to design a product.” YEDT’s free-form structure also helps to create a lasting bond among members.

From the Programming Group to the Wheelchair Group, YEDT encompasses diverse ideas that are matched by an equally diverse group of students. “Despite such a wide range of majors, ethnicities, and experiences, we all think, build, laugh, and work together,” reveals Morones, who leads the Communications Group in building analog circuits to transmit FM audio. The group plans to make their analog designs both space- and power-efficient, so that the circuits can be integrated into wireless devices. At the same time, Morone’s team is accomplishing an even greater feat—integrating diverse members of the Yale community.

Such diversity in student support has been one of YEDT’s key goals. According to Salzano, the team has strived to create a “network of people who want to tackle engineering from different perspectives.” Clearly, the members of YEDT have kept to this mantra. From evolution to bio-diesel, the groups’ myriad interests contribute different perspectives to engineering. The team-building experiences offered by YEDT serves as the glue, holding this diverse group together. Such passion, creativity, diversity, and team building ensures that YEDT’s path to the future is bright.

Science Links

Copyright 2009 Yale Scientific Publications, Inc. - Disclaimer