July 14, 2005

DENVER - Three recent engineering grads are leaving their mark at DU through their design of a finial that doubles as a windspeed indicator for the new Barton Lacrosse Stadium. Under the supervision of engineering Assist. Prof. Peter Laz, mechanical engineering majors Billy Grell and Allison Kelley and electrical engineering major Nathan Rowland developed plans for a mechanical anemometer, which will crown the stadium's spire and display the wind speed on a readout in the tower's conference room.

The anemometer design consists of a series of twisted vanes that revolve around a vertical rod. Magnets rotating with the vanes trigger a pulse whenever they pass a switch. The frequency of switch pulses is used as an indicator of wind speed, Grell explains.

Kelley and Grell developed the design of the anemometer, while Rowland focused on the circuitry.

To ensure that the anemometer lasts at least 200 years--the life expectancy of the new stadium--the students considered corrosion, fatigue, snow and acid rain when suggesting materials like gold-plated titanium. National Weather Service historic data for the Denver area indicated record wind speeds of 86 mph, which the students used as a benchmark for what the anemometer can withstand.

"We were looking for someone who could devise the anemometer for us and had the idea to ask the engineering department," University Architect Mark Rodgers says. The assignment was a perfect fit for the 8-credit design project course--a required class for all senior engineering majors, Rodgers says.

If the anemometer prototype passes aesthetic and functional inspections, the University, which funded the project, will hire a company to manufacture it.

The anemometer wasn't the only real-world project senior engineering students got their hands on during spring quarter. Twenty-six students worked on eight other projects, including how vibrations affect the structure of buildings and what forces particle collecting devices attached to airplanes endure during flight. Sponsors of the projects included the U.S. Navy, oil field service company READ ASA and collaborators at the University of Colorado Health Science Center.

"Most of our project sponsors this year were from outside the University--the students brought projects from their internships," says engineering Prof. Chuck Wilson, who teaches the course with Adjunct Prof. Bob Johnson. The projects help students learn to design solutions that solve customers' problems, Wilson says.