Innovating a digital twin that allows manufacturers to make estimated predictions of their machine's future functionality, graduate student Andrew Eyring wins first place.
BYU graduate students Andrew Eyring and JT Frandsen presented in the finals for The 2021 American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (ASME/SME) Student Manufacturing Design Competition last week on June 22. Along with six other competitors, the two presented on Zoom and participated in the entire competition virtually. First place went to Eyring, winning $1000 for his “Analysis of a Closed-Loop Digital Twin” project.
Although Eyring gave his presentation on Zoom, he missed the later announcement of his win. Since his wife had recently given birth, he was understandably preoccupied. Eyring felt thrilled when Frandsen and his professor Dr. Yuri Hovanski texted him about his accomplishment. “There was a lot of celebration going on in our hospital room,” Eyring said.
His success comes in part from the assistance of Dr. Hovanski and the smart manufacturing research lab. Both assisted tremendously in the research and helped make Eyring’s project possible. Dr. Hovanski and Eyring’s wife also supported him by providing tips and encouragement for presenting.
Going forward, Eyring plans on defending his thesis for the graduate program in the next couple of weeks, which is similar to his digital twin project. “I am feeling confident in my research,” Eyring said. “I think people are really starting to understand the importance of what we are doing here at BYU in terms of advancing research in smart manufacturing.”
Only BYU had two students selected for the final round's top eight spots, with students from other schools such as University of Tennessee, University of Southern California, University of Texas Dallas, University of Florida and others having a student selected.