A TEAM of students from COE won third place in speed boat design contest sponsored by the Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers (PSME), Oct. 22-26.

The team was composed of John Michael Lumbo, John Carlo Fontanilla, Lei John Abayo, and Arden Toribio. Both Lumbo and Fontanilla are fifth year students, while Abayo and Toribo are fourth and second year students, respectively.

The on-the-spot competition was one of the highlights of the 61st PSME National Convention held at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City. It was the second time that mechanical engineering students won in the same competition. The first was in 2011 when they emerged second runner-up.

A simultaneous event, the 3rd PSME National Student Conference, was also held in the same venue where 47 schools, including MMSU, participated in a quiz show.

“It’s just so unlucky that our team was eliminated very early in the quiz,” laments engineer Nathaniel Ericson R. Mateo in his report to MMSU President Miriam E. Pascua. “However, in the speed boat design competition where 27 schools participated, we were third behind Sorsogon State College and Adamson University which got the first and second places, respectively,” he added.

At the start of the competition, the organizers gave the students 1 piece empty 500 ml mineral PET bottle, 2 pieces empty soda aluminum cans, 5 pieces assorted drinking straws, 2 pieces rubber bands, 3 pieces barbecue sticks, 1 size D battery, 1 transparent plastic folder, and 1 piece paper cup. Along with these were glue guns with sticks, mighty bond adhesives, scissors, cutters, and long nose pliers.

Initially, the students had no clue on what to make out of the given materials. Then, instantly, they were told to make a prototype design of a speed boat.

The prototype speed boat was tested on stagnant water by the board of judges of the National Design Committee chaired by engineer Anthony James C. Bautista of the PSME. Based on the decision of the judges, the prototype boat of MMSU was the fastest among those that were evaluated. However, it had one simple flaw that caused it to land on third place.

“In the final round, we had a slight failure in positioning the roof cover of the prototype boat using the transparent plastic folder. Thus, there was no balance in the symmetry of the roof which affected the smooth sail of the boat,” said engineer Ian V. Romas, one of the coaches. The impressive design won for the students individual certificates, a trophy, and P5,000 cash.