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Taking Off

Spitting blue flames and emitting a high-pitched whine, a gas-powered turbine engine roared to life in the engineering courtyard.

"It was interesting to have a hands on experience," said team member Tad Miller. "I think it's great we have a physical prototype that we can show off."

A team of seven SIUC seniors, all majoring in mechanical engineering, presented a fully functional gas turbine engine, with a shaft speed reaching a maximum of 70,000 RPMs, to their class and professors Tuesday night.

"We wanted to do something really special, something we could be proud of," said team member Ryan Mueller.

Along with Miller and Mueller, Adam Campen, Lindsay Connell, Jacob Loy, Robert Rhea and Joshua Steffen made up the team who participated in the project.

For their required yearlong senior engineering design class final project, the seniors designed and built a jet engine. Team member Ryan Mueller first had the idea to bring the jet engine to life. Mueller said he was considering doing the project on his own time, but then decided to propose the idea to his peers for their class.

"I rounded up a few people, and they all sounded real interested," he said. "We wrote a proposal for our teachers, and they said we could do it, so we started from there."

The team began their work in early January and was able to complete a full test run by Jan. 17. They have spent the rest of the year completing the project.

"Not only does this work, but we had this done ahead of schedule," Miller said.

The jet engine was made for demonstrational and educational purposes only. The advantage of the design was its easy manufacturability. The majority of parts from the jet engine are readily available at auto shops. The team even disclosed that the oil pump for the project was found at a discounted price on Ebay.

"This is one of the most successful projects I've seen," said Team Faculty Adviser Dale Wittmer.

Wittmer said at first the actual task of building the jet engine left some professors skeptical.

"They made it work even though theoretically it shouldn't," Wittmer said. "They were told by a couple of educated people that they couldn't actually do this."

He adds, "Sometimes they do it in spite of their professors."

Kay Purcell, an electrical and computer engineering professor, agreed with Wittmer. Purcell has been involved with SIUC's engineering program since 1986 and was impressed by the team's success.

"Most of the projects don't work," she said. "This was a very fine team that did very fine work."

Mueller said his professor's praise meant a lot to him.

"These are the people I look up to, especially Dr. Wittmer," he said. "He's a very smart man who knows a lot about everything."

In response to the pessimistic comments made by professors, the students said they only worked harder.

"I'm pretty bull-headed," Mueller said. "I don't like people telling me I can't do something. It made me want to do it even more."

Both Miller and Mueller said they had nothing but appreciation for their team.

"You had to put a lot of trust in people to get their part done," Miller said. "We got it to run, and we're pretty proud of that fact."

"It's a good way to cap off a four year degree," Mueller added.

 

 

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