Over 70 students participated in the Forum’s ninth annual Engineers Week Student Competition, “Journey of Gold,” held on February 25, 2015. The problem supplied by Fluor Corporation was stated as…
A Saudi Arabian Mining Company was formed by Royal decree in 1997 to facilitate the development of Saudi Arabia’s mineral resources. The Company operates five gold mines in Saudi Arabia which have produced over 4 million ounces of gold. This Company is currently developing a new gold province in the Central Arabian Gold Region (CAGR). As part of CARG Development Project, Ore Filtration Facilities are required at various locations for initial separation of useful ore minerals. Rice Global E&C Forum has received an Invitation to Bid to design and build filtration plant. For the purpose of this friendly competition, common materials will be used to build working scale models of Ore Filtration Plant. The task is to accomplish physical separation of Gold Ore through gravity filtration process. Usually gold ore includes impurities that could be physically separated easily.
The event sponsored in part by the Fluor Corporation gave the same challenge to its engineers on the same day at its facilities around the world. The competition’s main sponsor is the Rice Global Engineering & Construction Forum and Rice’s George R. Brown School of Engineering. Rice is the only academic institution that took part in the challenge.
The students, who didn’t have to be engineering majors to enter, did not know what the task would be before arriving for the competition, but quickly became immersed in a flurry of problem solving. With limited time to plan, construct and demonstrate their solutions, all under the watchful eyes of judges, the teams raced the clock and each other.
The lively competition was followed by pizza and soft drinks which were thoroughly enjoyed by competitors and judges alike. Judges from companies sponsoring the Forum participated in the event. Prizes awarded were for First, Second, Third and Fourth places. Members of student team Rack City Bridges won $150 each by placing first with a score of $7,921,500; The A Team claimed second place money of $125 each with $6,858,111 ; Team Natalie and the MechEs placed third with $6,809,000 to win $100 each; and team Daniel’s Horde was fourth with $6,574,833 to win $75 each.
1st Place Team: Rack City Bridges
team members l-r
Shannon Fei, Haihao Liu, Angela Zhang (not pictured: Kevin Chang)
2nd Place Team: The A Team
team members l-r
Kyle Shepherd, Eric Pan, Kelsi Wicker, Matt Adrianowycz
3rd Place Team: Natalie and the MechEs
team members l-r
Natalie Danckers, Sylvia Omozee, Mickyle Stanbury (not pictured: Travis Kwee)
4th Place Team: Daniel’s Horde
team members l-r
Jong-Hwi Karen Lee, Daniel Lee, Young Yul Kim (not pictured: Hojin Jeon)