West Kentucky Regional Moonbuggy Competition
| The Department of Engineering & Physics and the College of Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) at Murray State University in collaboration with NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and through the sponsorship of the Kentucky Space Grant Consortium (KSGC) offers the West Kentucky Regional Moonbuggy Competition annually. In this program, students and faculty from regional high schools interested in math, science, engineering and engineering technology are challenged to design and build a human-powered vehicle that addresses a series of engineering problems that are similar to problems faced by the original designers of the rovers used on the Apollo missions. The culmination of the project is a grueling endurance race over simulated lunar terrain including craters, rocks, lava ridges, inclines and loose soil constructed on the campus of Murray State. | 
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The focus of this program is to bring together students with a broad range of backgrounds and skill sets, including those in college preparatory courses and others in vocational programs, in a fun and challenging learning experience. In order to facilitate this learning experience, the program director, Dr. Jamie Rogers, offers workshops to the participating schools. The competition rules including necessary design constraints can be found at the link below. |
| The 2008 West Kentucky Regional Moonbuggy Competition with be our 4th annual event. The date will be set shortly after NASA-MSFC sets the national competition date but we expect our competition to be held sometime in mid-to-late March. Through the sponsorship of KSGC, each participating school will have an opportunity to write a short proposal to receive up to $500 to defray the costs of constructing the buggy. Estimated cost to build a competitive vehicle is around $1000. If you are interested in competing in this year's event or would like to know more about this exciting outreach activity, please contact Dr. James Rogers. |  |
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Please note that this competition is based on the NASA-sponsored Great Moonbuggy Race. Since the rules of the regional competition will be consistent with the national event, your school will also have the opportunity to take its vehicle to that event as well. Please see the NASA website for details. |
Girls in Engineering -- Engineering Survivor
| While the focus of our department is on quality instruction and current research, we are also committed to reaching out to populations who are historically underrepresented in science and engineering. Research has shown that an effective time to reach out to students is in middle school. By making an impact before students reach high school, those students can make curricular decisions, such as taking more advanced mathematics courses, in order to be prepared for engineering study. |
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In order to prompt girls to consider a career in science and engineering, we involve local 6th grade girls in a competition modeled after the Survivor television show. The girls work in teams to pipe water from an “oasis” to their “camps”. They have to design a PVC piping system to transport the water around, over, and under obstacles. The water is then used to turn a small generator and light an LED, illustrating energy conversion and electricity production. Tennesse Valley Authority (TVA) is a major sponsor of this event. |
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