Monday, 7/2/2018
150 students participated in the largest Iberian
competition that brings together the courses of Mechanical, Product and Polymer
Engineering.
The Dynamic Mechanisms Festival, which took place
on June 4 and 5, counted with more than 150 students in tests to launch
projectiles and minicar in descents and accelerations. The competition was the
culmination of the work accomplished during the semester and the result of the
theoretical studies carried out.
The mechanisms performed take into account the
principles of mechanics and seek the best performances, creative solutions,
innovative design and environmental sustainability in three different tests,
where students were evaluated, but also awarded for the best work done. The
students also had the support of several sponsors, with materials, equipment
and technical solutions. For Paulo Flores, Professor of the Mechanical
Engineering Department, "the idea is that already in the first year the
students have challenges of a practical nature".
The initiative, which already has a dimension
comparable to events in the United Kingdom, emerged a decade ago, in a more
contained register, with Professor José Luís Alves proposing to the students
open projects, that is, with several possible solutions, through physical and
virtual prototypes, adapting the complexity to their academic level and their
connection to the profession, thus valuing evaluation and learning in practical
contexts.
In this edition, and for the first time, besides
the course of Mechanical Engineering, the initiative also had the participation
of students of the courses of Product Engineering and Polymers Engineering as
guests.
