Second-year Ram Engineers spent their last week of summer devising solutions to the National Academy of Engineering’s (NAE’s) Grand Challenges for the 21st Century.
VCU Engineering’s second annual Sophomore NAE Challenge took place the week of Aug. 16-20. With guidance from graduate student mentors, sophomores worked to advance four of the NAE’s 14 game-changing goals for improving life on the planet.
The VCU Engineering dean and associate deans chose the first, second and third place winners.The grand prize went to Air Cobra, presented by Ishann Thakur, who received a cash prize and automatic acceptance into the da Vinci Pre-X program, which helps students pitch innovations to prospective investors.
VCU Engineering faculty, staff and students selected the People’s Choice Award winner, choosing Eye Candy.
Grand Prize
Project: AIR COBRA
Team: Trailblazer
Member(s): Ishaan Thakur
NAE Challenge Area: Engineer the Tools of Scientific Discovery
Second Place
Project: Cool 'n Clean
Team: Earth, Wind & Solar
Member(s): Lucas Diehl and Caleb Schwartz
NAE Challenge Area: Make Solar Energy Economical
Third Place
Project: Hydrogen! Refueling the Future of Transportation
Team: H₂
Member(s): Aaron Howard, Lauren Ntungwe and Peter Nunez
NAE Challenge Area: Restore & Improve Urban Infrastructure
People’s Choice Award
Project: Eye Candy
Team: The BMEs
Member(s): Feranmi Akande and Katya Zimmet
NAE Challenge Area: Medicine Based Topics