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ORU Prepares for Mechanical Engineers
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"The Great International Southwest Region X Combined Regional Conferences" will be held at ORU March 29-April 1, 2001. About 400 ASME members, including undergraduate and graduate students, faculty members, and professional engineers from Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and the country of Mexico, are expected to attend.
Dr. Dominic Halsmer Organizing the conference are Dr. Dominic Halsmer, chairman of the Engineering and Physics Department, Dr. Dick Martin, professor of Mechanical Engineering, Robert Miles, senior engineering major, and several engineering students.
"I knew how much work this would be when we submitted the bid last fall," Dr. Halsmer said, "but the Lord would have us invest the time and have a positive influence on the students and engineers who attend.
"We feel that the Lord has given us the opportunity to put this event on and show the mechanical engineering community what He is doing at His University."
Halsmer has several ideas for making the conference uniquely ORU, including morning prayer, a "high ropes" team-building experience, and 3-on-3 volleyball and soccer tournaments.
As always, the conference will feature two design competitions: the international competition, which is announced a year in advance and awards cash prizes, and the impromptu competition.
"The impromptu is one of the most enjoyable parts of the conference," Halsmer said. "Each team will be given a bag of supplies and a mechanically oriented problem, with 15 minutes in which to use all their creativity to devise a solution."
ORU engineering students are already working on the international project for next year: devising a semi-automated fishing pole system for a handicapped person so he/she can cast and reel in a line by sucking or blowing on a tube.
Also on the agenda for the March meeting are oral and poster competitions, leadership training, and industry exhibits. Halsmer plans to set up booths so that professional engineers can meet with and perhaps recruit students for engineering careers.
Arriving in town 3 weeks after ORU hosts the Society for Pentecostal Studies meeting (March 8-10), the ASME conference will give ORU another chance to let its light shine.
