NSF HAMMER Students Excel at Annual Forging Competition
Outcome/Accomplishment
A team of students competing in a forging contest won a monetary award for creating a versatile firefighting tool along with an accompanying video. The team was sponsored by Hybrid Autonomous Manufacturing–Moving from Evolution to Revolution (NSF HAMMER), an NSF-funded Engineering Research Center (ERC) headquartered at The Ohio State University.
Impact/Benefits
Students learned how to forge using hand tools and a power hammer and expanded their knowledge of the processes for heat-treating steel. They described how their competition success encouraged them to continue their engineering studies.
Explanation/Background
Organized by the Forging Industry Educational and Research Foundation, the competition tasked each team with forging a Halligan Bar, a tool used by firefighters to, among other activities, gain access to building spaces, vehicles. It is the namesake of Hugh Halligan, a New York City firefighter who designed the tool in 1948.
Competing teams could modify the Halligan Bar design as long as the tool's inherent functionality was retained. Features like claws, blades, picks, and weights helped define the optimal design and forging formula. Working alongside the Ohio State students was Tkach Metal Forming Consultants, while Central Ohio School of Metalwork provided the facility where they forged.
Location
Columbus, Ohiowebsite
Start Year
Advanced Manufacturing
Advanced Manufacturing
Lead Institution
Core Partners
Fact Sheet
Outcome/Accomplishment
A team of students competing in a forging contest won a monetary award for creating a versatile firefighting tool along with an accompanying video. The team was sponsored by Hybrid Autonomous Manufacturing–Moving from Evolution to Revolution (NSF HAMMER), an NSF-funded Engineering Research Center (ERC) headquartered at The Ohio State University.
Location
Columbus, Ohiowebsite
Start Year
Advanced Manufacturing
Advanced Manufacturing
Lead Institution
Core Partners
Fact Sheet
Impact/benefits
Students learned how to forge using hand tools and a power hammer and expanded their knowledge of the processes for heat-treating steel. They described how their competition success encouraged them to continue their engineering studies.
Explanation/Background
Organized by the Forging Industry Educational and Research Foundation, the competition tasked each team with forging a Halligan Bar, a tool used by firefighters to, among other activities, gain access to building spaces, vehicles. It is the namesake of Hugh Halligan, a New York City firefighter who designed the tool in 1948.
Competing teams could modify the Halligan Bar design as long as the tool's inherent functionality was retained. Features like claws, blades, picks, and weights helped define the optimal design and forging formula. Working alongside the Ohio State students was Tkach Metal Forming Consultants, while Central Ohio School of Metalwork provided the facility where they forged.