Adventures of a Mechanical Engineer: 2018 Extreme Engineering Challenge Edition

I finally had some time to sit down and write about my experience at the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. Specifically, about the time I didn't sleep for over 48 hours...

I had the opportunity to participate in the 2018 SHPE Extreme Engineering Challenge on Nov 7, 2018 in Cleveland Ohio. What is the Extreme Engineering Challenge?

We used smart technology combined with a sofa chair (TRONO) to deliver superior comfort at home.

I learned a lot from this experience. We had to basically create a prototype and a business plan in 24 hours with no sleep. It was a great introduction to real-life design problems. It, also, peaked my

development design interest. I really enjoyed the design of the concept process and hope to explore further opportunities in this area.

Participating in the extreme engineering challenge was super challenging, thrilling, and tiring. I was so thrilled to be able to collaborate with great future engineers from across the country and to be mentored by phenomenal 3M engineers. The grueling 24 hours really tested your brain power. You really figure out soon how precious caffeine truly is during those moments! I'm so glad I was able to apply some of my classroom learning to real life applications.

Extreme Engineering Challenge is a non-stop 24-hr competition interview and potential foot in the door to some of the leading engineering companies in the nation. The entire competition takes place in a 24-hour continuous period. Teams strategize to be able to perform the tasks necessary in the allotted time and add their intellect, creativity, imagination, and business skills to experience the entire engineering process. The challenger begin by signing up for the competition. Then all registered students participate in a mini-interview session, referred to as QuickXchange, where they speak and mingle with all the sponsoring company representatives for a maximum of 5 minutes each. The sponsoring companies have the option of selecting any participating student as a draft choice. The QuickXchange session is scheduled to last for about an hour. Immediately after the QuickXchange the company representatives, serving as Team Consultants, gather in the BOARD ROOM to begin the draft process. Here is where the teams are put together following a set of rules. Once the teams are established, the entire group of challengers, team consultants and Lead Corp of Engineers (moderators) will meet in a conference room to announce the teams, distribute the challenge packets, team colors, explain the rules and START THE CHALLENGE.

I was chosen to join the 3M team. Only 90 students were chosen out of 400. I spent 24 hours with my team figuring out how to design, develop a prototype, and market our product to a panel of judges.

We designed the concept of a chair that bridges the gap between the comfort of furniture and the sophistication of a smart home. Our target market was chosen: people who currently own a smart home system or are seeking to implement such a system to their home.

I can't end this post without saying this project was a team effort. It was so awesome to collaborate with other future engineers from across the country and to be mentored by amazing 3M engineers.

I think I can say I would love to do it again. Have I become an extreme engineering challenge addict?

So many exciting challenges to solve in real life.

IDEATE