Area Boy Scouts Earn Drafting Badges in WMU Workshop

Boy Scouts from Vicksburg and Schoolcraft went to college to learn about engineering drafting. In two three-hour sessions at WMU’s College of Engineering and Applied Sciences’ Parkview Campus, 14 scouts examined engineering drawing from two perspectives, by hand and with computer-aided design (CAD).

Slobodan Urdarevik (left), the lead engineering graphics faculty member at Western Michigan University’s College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, assists David Pauli, 14, a ninth-grader in Vicksburg Troop 251, with AutoCAD drawing.

WMU’s Slobodan Urdarevik, the lead faculty member in the engineering graphics classes in the IME department, provided the instruction with the help of student teaching assistant volunteers. “Working with these scouts has been very exciting,” he said.

As part of the requirements for the drafting badge, the Scouts, who ranged from 11 to 15 years old, completed a third angle orthographic projection showing the front, top, and right side views of an object. “In order to draw any object either by hand or in CAD, we need to know these three views of a part,” Urdarevik said. “These are basic.”

By hand, the scouts learned to transfer measurements from the part to the drawing, to use symbols, and to show dimensions. They took width, depth, and height measurements of the part and determined the location and diameter of a hole in the part. “We learned drafting a design and a block on paper,” said David Pauli, 14, a ninth-grader in Vicksburg’s Troop 251.

One week later, the scouts returned to a WMU computer lab where they drew the same part they’d drawn the week before except that they used AutoCAD, an electronic drafting program. WMU students Jonathan Zolp, a second-year aeronautical engineering student from Paw Paw; David Schmidt, a second-year civil engineering student from Rochester Hills; and Jaime Rodriguez, a mechanical engineering senior from Three Rivers, volunteered to assist the scouts. All three presently serve as undergraduate teaching assistants (TAs) in the engineering graphics course.

Kris Peck (left, front), 12, a seventh-grader from Vicksburg Troop 251, gets AutoCAD assistance from David Schmidt, a second-year civil engineering student from Rochester Hills, while Logan Pauli, 12, also a seventh-grader from Vicksburg Troop 251, attends to his own drawing. In second row (left to right) are Deric Blanchett, 11, a sixth-grader from the same troop, and Jaime Rodriguez, a mechanical engineering senior from Three Rivers, and Cody Sherman, 12, a seventh-grader from the same troop. In the third row on the left is Andy Lovell (left), 13, from Schoolcraft Troop 254. Standing in the back of the room is Slobodan Urdarevik, the lead engineering graphics faculty member at WMU.

Many scout merit badges are introductions to various careers, and Urdarevik reviewed the Boy Scout merit badge book on drafting to be sure that the sessions would enable the scouts to meet all the badge requirements. “In a very short period of time, they learn many things very quickly,” he said.

“Coming here has been great,” Vicksburg Troop 251 leader Mike Gerry said.

This is the first time Urdarevik has offered the drafting sessions for scouts, but he is interested in providing instruction for other scouts to earn the drafting badge.

“I hope there will be more requests because I think learning about drafting is beneficial for the scouts, and it’s also good for them to come here to the college.” Those interested in scheduling sessions should contact him at slobodan.urdarevik@wmich.edu

---Story and photos courtesy of the Kalamazoo Gazette

WMU Chapter Wins Awards at Regional IIE Conference

The WMU chapter of the Institute of Industrial Engineers [IIE] won several awards last month at the 2007 IIE Region IV Conference held at Ohio State University, in Columbus, OH.

IME professors and IIE advisors Dr. Steven Butt, current IIE Region IV vice president, and Dr. Tycho Fredericks, current IIE Region IV assistant vice president for student development, accompanied 19 WMU students to the event.

Four WMU students won first and third place honors for two papers presented in the technical paper contest.

Seniors John Knapp, Michael Kruse, and Lawrence Pitcher took the top prize for a paper based on their senior design project. "Analysis of Forecasted Capacity Utilization Through a Simulated Environment of an Outpatient Pharmacy."

The paper explores a Southwestern Michigan hospital's outpatient pharmacy and uses work design and a simulated environment to develop models, analyses, and recommendations to improve the workflow and customer wait time.

To complete the project, the students used several exploratory tools to uncover the items that were adversely affecting productivity, efficiency, and customer wait time. The seniors will compete on May 20, 2007, at the national conference in Nashville.

Attending 2007 IIE Region IV Conference, left to right, front row: Benjamin Smith, Ella Lambrix, Alisha Hankins, Aarti Valsadia, and Krisana Gutierrez; second row: John Knapp, Robert Cookingham, Ashley Bazzana, Larry Pitcher, Dr. Steven Butt, Melanie Zaleski, Shannon Bowerson, and Michael Kruse; third row: Dimas Insani, Anthony Moguel, Matthew Pridgeon, Dr. Tycho Fredericks, Bryan Dopkins, Eric Drzewicki, and Jason Saksewski.

Senior Jason R. Saksewski won third place with “Process Design and Improvement: Primary and Finish Broaching Operations,” a paper based on his experiences as an intern.

The WMU group also won awards for having more students in attendance than any other travelling chapter and for travelling farther than any other chapter. “We are very excited about how the conference turned out,” said Shannon Bowerson, president of WMU IIE chapter.

Winning awards in the technical paper contest at the 2007 IIE conference are (left to right) Larry Pitcher, John Knapp, and Michael Kruse, who won first place and the right to compete at the national conference in Nashville in May, and Jason Saksewski, who won third.

Other IIE Region IV universities include Dayton University, Kettering University, Ohio University, Purdue University, University of Louisville, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, University of Michigan – Dearborn, University of Toledo, Wayne State University, Wright State University, and Youngstown State University.

This year’s regional conference, with its “Think Global” theme, included social networking, team-building events, a panel discussion on post-graduation opportunities, and several prominent speakers including Dr. Deborah J. Nightingale (MIT – Lean Aerospace Initiative), Dr. Scott Sink (VP, MTS Corp.), Dr. Seth Bonder (CEO, VRI), and Ms. Darlene Martin (GM, GE-Aviation) .