Gliding to Greatness

Never underestimate the power of persistence—that’s what student members of the NYIT-Old Westbury chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) learned on their way to earning top finishes in the Boeing Flight Competition at the NSBE National Convention held March 21 – 25 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Ultimately, the team took first place in the overall competition and second place in the distance competition.

The students were tasked with constructing a glider using one sheet of 3” x 36” balsa wood. The week before they left for the conference, the mechanical engineering majors, including senior and president of the NYIT-Old Westbury NSBE chapter Anthony Alexander, junior Hashim Gray, sophomore Joel Lopez, and freshman Amoako Darkwa, began building the glider. However, in addition to spring break and an unexpected Nor’easter, the students ran into a few issues.

Members of the NYIT-Old Westbury NSBE chapter with Assistant Professor Dorinamaria Carka, Ph.D.

For example, without access to a laser cutter, they decided to use a box cutter to cut the wood. “[That] proved to be insufficient regarding precision,” explained Alexander. They then moved on to a band saw, but that, too, was a challenge since none of the students had experience with one. “Eventually we found a laser cutter, but after a few test flights, the glider broke and we had to cut it again,” said Alexander. They weren’t able to use the laser cutter (because the Machine Shop was closed during spring break), so they used an Exacto knife instead. “It took Joel Lopez two and a half hours to cut the glider. [However,] his cutting lead to the winning creation,” Alexander said.

With glider in hand, the four students, who were joined at the conference by eight other members of NSBE and their chapter advisor Dorinamaria Carka, Ph.D., assistant professor of mechanical engineering in NYIT School of Engineering and Computing Sciences, arrived in Pittsburgh where they presented their design. The competition was composed of two parts: the Team Presentation and Design awards, and the Distance awards; in addition one team was given an Overall Award.

In the distance competition, the team’s glider flew 98 feet, 3 inches from launch pad to landing, which earned them second place. “We screamed in delight as we walked up to receive our award,” said Alexander. Immediately afterward, they received even better news. “To our surprise, we heard ‘And the Overall Award goes to the team with the best presentation and design as well as a great performance in the flight competition: New York Institute of Technology, Old Westbury!’ It was truly a mesmerizing moment in all of our college careers.”

Learn more about the National Society of Black Engineers.