Winning streak

Trine students earn top engineering awards

 

ANGOLA, Ind. – Trine University captured three of 19 awards – more than any other certified or affiliated school in North America – at the Foundry Educational Foundation College Industry Conference Nov. 17 and 18 in Chicago.

 

Trine also holds the distinction of winning more scholarships than any other university over a six-year period, beating some of the country’s top engineering schools such as University of Michigan, Virginia Tech and Purdue University.

“The cast metals education Trine students receive is second to none,” said VK Sharma, Ph.D., dean of Trine’s Allen School of Engineering & Technology. “We expect more accomplishments in the future, especially with the opening of the Center of Excellence for Metals and Materials Processing, which will modernize Trine’s nationally ranked cast metals laboratory and support undergraduate education and graduate-level research.”

Paulding, Ohio, native Cody Wolfle won the American Foundry Society Saginaw Valley Chapter Endowed Scholarship. He is a senior mechanical engineering major, a member of Tau Beta Pi Engineering Society and vice president of Pi Tau Sigma Mechanical Engineering Honor Society. In addition, he has been named to the president’s list four semesters.

He served as a process engineering intern at the Iron Dynamics Division of Steel Dynamics Inc. in Butler, Ind., in 2010 and 2011. Among other responsibilities, Wolfle developed a Rotary Hearth Furnace control scheme to maximize heat transfer to charge material. In 2009 and 2010 he was named a development co-op engineer at the Knee Division of Zimmer Inc. in Warsaw, Ind. He assisted in many stages of development for various surgical instruments – from initial concepts and prototypes to final print reviews and design documentation.

Sand Creek, Mich., native Alexander Croll, a senior mechanical engineering major, received the Paul Carey Memorial Scholarship. In addition to playing varsity basketball since 2008, Croll is a member of Delta Chi fraternity, the Trine Materials Society, Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honors Society, Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society, Pi Tau Sigma National Mechanical Engineering Honors Society and Phi Eta Sigma National Freshman Honors Society.

In 2011, he served as a maintenance intern at General Motors in Defiance, Ohio. He implemented preventative maintenance job plans and assisted in equipment number assignments. In 2010, he served as a tire and shock technician for Goodyear Racing Tires/Penske Racing Shocks in Brooklyn, Mich. While there he inspected racing tires for NASCAR. He also worked to assemble, maintain and troubleshoot custom racing shocks.

Elkhart, Ind., native Keith Ripplinger, a senior mechanical engineering major, received the Badger Mining Corp. – Clifford Chier Scholarship. He is currently the secretary of the Materials Society and Delta Chi fraternity at Trine. He has been a member of the Tri-State Delta Delta chapter of Pi Tau Sigma since 2010. He is a founding member and currently the vice chair of Trine’s chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

 

He served as a metallurgical intern at Webster Industries in Tiffin, Ohio, this summer. He said the experience helped him learn basic foundry skills – from pattern repair and production to metallography of white and malleable iron. He also served as an Auto CAD operator at Fisher Welding Inc. in Three Rivers, Mich.

 

“Our students continue to compete and win on an international stage,” said Darryl Webber, Ph.D., Trine’s Foundry Educational Foundation key professor in the Wade Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. “I am impressed with their commitment, aptitude and dedication. I look forward to the day they return to my office and tell me about all of their accomplishments.”

 

To share your news, contact Trine University communication specialist Lindsay Winslow Brown at winslowbrownl@trine.edu.