Innovation & More, June 2013

The results are in for the 2013 SAE International Supermileage competition and the team from Penn State Erie, The Behrend College (Penn State Behrend), has successfully defended their 2012 win. The Penn State Behrend team’s car hit 1,290 miles per gallon, which was second best to the BYU team that managed 1,330. The deciding factor was the design phase of the competition where Behrend’s carbon-fiber bodied car outperformed the other teams enough to win first place. Read more from the Erie Times-News

Τ

The Tau Beta Pi Puget Sound Alumni Chapter will be having a meeting on Saturday, June 15, at Seattle University. At the meeting, additional leaders will be elected and plans will be made for the chapter’s yearly activities. In addition, Warren L. Pinkard (OR A 2012) will give a talk on “Interdigitated Back Contact Solar Cells.” For information on this event and other TBP alumni gatherings, visit the website

Β

The Denver Post recently highlighted a successful Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign by James D. Olander, MI G ’06, founder and designer of The Roost Stand. The product is “an innovative stand that transforms laptops into desktop-like machines, providing a more ideal eye-to-screen height level.”

Olander is manufacturing the carbon fiber stands in-house. He began working full-time on The Roost Stand in January (2013). He has previously worked for Lockheed Martin and oDesk. Click here to read the article and learn more about the retail price, Olander’s motivation to build the stand, and where to buy it.

Π