Dedicated students, distinguished colleagues and dear friends,

Happy Friday!

“Eureka! Eureka!” is what Archimedes, the ancient Greek mathematician, exclaimed in excitement when he discovered buoyancy in a bathtub. The upthrust experienced by an immersed body, known as Archimedes’ principle, is the concept behind the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Concrete Canoe Competition. The idea is to make the seemingly unfloatable float!

For 52 years, S&T civil engineering students have designed, built and raced their concrete canoes with great success, culminating in their 2nd place in international competition this year. The students’ recent success is another in a series of global competition successes achieved by S&T student design teams this year. S&T mechanical and aerospace students’ back-to-back first place finishes in the Mars Rover global competition, and the S&T Rocket Design Team’s historic success in launching its student-built liquid-fueled rocket, highlight a trend rather than episodic achievements.

As I find myself congratulating different teams for their achievements, I often wonder what the magic sauce of success is. It is certainly more than rigorous curricula in fundamentals of engineering and science education, or well-equipped design studios, or state-of-the-art makerspaces that S&T students enjoy. It is also about multi-disciplinary, carefully composed, professors-of-practice-coached teams that adhere to solid project management principles. I have personally witnessed how design teams come to life not only through synergies of expertise that range from design to material selection, data analytics, design of experiments, risk mitigation, rigorous testing and evaluation of alternatives, and critically important compliance assurance with all competition rules and regulations.

The completeness and quality of the projects’ final reports alone are impressive from many perspectives. They detail for judges how data-driven, experiment-based decisions were made and implemented, not only based on proven engineering principles but also with consideration of parameters such as economic viability, environmental impact, human factors, manufacturability, in-the-field reparability, and end-of-life salvage and disposal considerations. The reports highlight how the complete system and every element of design integrate multiple factors, resulting in the assembly of stronger, more resilient prototypes to ensure competition success.

For me, as our design teams routinely prepare for international competitions, S&T’s history of engineering and science comes to life. From our first century as Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy (MSM), to University of Missouri-Rolla (UMR), to Missouri S&T today, our competitive teams have made their mark on national and global stages. And as our design teams imprint their marks as winners of international competitions, they preserve our history, honor our alumni and inspire future generations of students to learn from the past and create their own successful destinies.

As Archimedes discovered his game-changing principle by exploring the natural world, engineers have proven that discovery is the essence of science and engineering is the essence of innovation. And as our student design teams continue to build on a legacy of success, they recognize that the future is built on a solid foundation of rigorous education, mentorship and technological leadership.

Here at S&T, we continue to invest in our students so they can think beyond their time, form dream teams and win challenging global competitions. And perhaps more importantly, to discover their own “eureka” aha moments. 

Warmly,

-Mo.
 
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• Missouri S&T earns four national awards from civil engineering honor society

Mohammad Dehghani, PhD
Chancellor
mo@mst.edu | 573-341-4116

206 Parker Hall, 300 West 13th Street, Rolla, MO 65409-0910
chancellor.mst.edu