MECHANICAL ENGINEERING SENIORS WORK ON HIGH-VALUE DESIGN PROJECTS AT THE NORFOLK NAVAL SHIPYARD

Five ME seniors, Jennifer Easterling, Mathew Burton, William Rice, Lloyd Eicher and Henok Yeshi , accepted a challenge from NNSY to design a special-purpose cart to lift antenna pieces from a truck bed and a related stand for the storage of the antennas which can be of various sizes. This new design is to improve the methods of transportation and handling of bulky objects, a task which has been a major burden for the operators at the shipyard for some time. This is a win-win arrangement for our ODU students and the shipyard personnel: Our students working on expanding their design skills, and the shipyard getting valuable ideas for work improvement. The team's effort and contribution have convinced  the shipyard personnel that this work arrangement is beneficial for both parties, so much so that two other projects have already being initiated for the coming Spring 2011 semester. Dr. Han Bao is the faculty advisor for the ODU students and Mr. Michael Hansley, Lean Implementation Division Head, is his counterpart at the shipyard.