Nanoline 2014 contest deadline is Oct. 18

Purdue’s College of Technology will host the second annual regional competition for the Phoenix Contact Nanoline Contest.

Registration deadline is October 18. 

“The neat thing about this contest is Phoenix Contact’s approach to sponsorship,” said Alka Harriger, co-coordinator for the contest and professor of computer and information technology. “Most of the supplies are provided by the sponsor, or they can be purchased with a supplied gift card. The only cost to the teams is transportation costs to Purdue and other incidentals.”

Last year’s competitors created a variety of projects, highlighting the capabilities of Phoenix Contact’s controllers. They included a replica of Star Wars’s R2-D2; an interactive LED table, which can operate as a game or a device to display messages; an affordable wind-energy generator; and a hot dog cooking machine.

“Success in the Phoenix Contact Nanoline Competition relies heavily on problem-solving skills,” said Brad Harriger co-coordinator for the contest and professor of mechanical engineering technology. “It gives  participating students a hands-on introduction to controls, and hopefully gets them excited about using technology to solve real problems.”

Regional winners move on to the national competition in Harrisburg, Penn., in February 2014. There, the grand prize is an all-expenses-paid trip to Germany to present the project at the Hanover Fair’s TectoYou hall. Hanover Fair is the world’s largest industrial tradeshow. TectoYou is a hall dedicated to promoting engineering and technology careers to young people.

Last year’s regional winners placed second and fourth in the national competition among a pool of almost 20 teams.

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