First’s. The first time you rode your bike without training wheels, the first time you spoke in front of a large audience, your first year away from home at college. Many times, First’s are not completely successful. That is not the case with the inaugural NFPA Fluid Power Challenge hosted at Joliet Junior College by Caterpillar, Inc., and Industrial Hard Chrome on November 14, 2014.
This event had 17 teams competing, which is impressive for an inaugural event. Teachers said that this event was “inspiring”and “the best way for them [students] to learn.”
The Fluid Power Challenge is a skills-based competition. Teams consisted of four students that were challenged to solve a real life engineering problem using fluid power.
As always, awards were given out to the winning teams in five categories: Best Portfolio, Teamwork, Best Design, Best Machine Performance, and Overall Champion.
But, in the end, all the students that participated won. They learned how to problem-solve, work in a team, and solve a real-world type problem. And for many of the students, this was a First for them as well.
Many thanks to Phil McCluskey, Randy Peterson, Ron Shinogle, Mark Landers and Patrick Crayhon of Caterpillar, Industrial Hard Chrome and everyone at Joliet Junior College for all of their work in making this event a reality.
If you are interested in hosting a Fluid Power Challenge event in your community, please contact Lynn Beyer at lbeyer@nfpa.com or (414) 778-3364.
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