Vincennes University students win global competition with electric skateboard
Three Vincennes University students used their love of skateboarding and the knowledge gained in their Precision Machining Technology Program to build an electric skateboard which was entered into, and won, the 2022 Mastercam Wildest Parts Competition.
Three students at Vincennes University have merged their hobby of skateboarding and the knowledge gained from their Precision Machining Technology Program and created something new. Nate Conrad, Luke Schirmer, and Jackson Roberts have created an electric skateboard.
The idea to build an electric skateboard was inspired after professor Jonathan Vennard, professor to Schirmer and Roberts, suggested that they create something on their own. Once he saw what the students were making, he suggested that they enter the skateboard into the 2022 Mastercam Wildest Parts Competition.
In an article from WTHI, Conrad talked about how the electric skateboard does not need to be pushed with your foot, and that the user can use a remote to choose forward or backward movement as well as braking.
While the students felt some anxiety and pressure related to the competition, they felt more excited, and the skateboard was submitted to the Connecticut-based judges at the end of last year.
After some months of waiting, the students finally found that they were the winners of the first prize, beating out student projects from as far away as Taiwan.
"It was cool to compete in a competition on a global scale. I've never done anything like that before. Just being at the top was a great feeling.” said Conrad.
Professor Vernard also expressed his excitement at his students’ victory, saying, "I knew that an electric skateboard was going to be a project that was hard to beat if they were able to pull it off, and they did just that."
Schirmer and Conrad talked about how they felt about the experience, with Schirmer saying, "I think this was a really cool process. We got to work as a team, which is something we will be doing once we work in the industry."
The skateboard is on the way back to Vincennes now. Once it returns, the three students plan to make yet more upgrades to it before taking it for a spin.
More information about Vincennes University can be found at the school’s website.