RAPID CITY, SD (Dec. 21, 2017) – This has been a great year for the intercollegiate teams that represent South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. From an international
award-winning sword to hosting the world finals of the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC), Mines students showed off their skills and
abilities to compete against the best of their peers from across the nation and around world.
Each year SD Mines is represented by multiple departmental and student club teams at regional, national and international competitions. Mines’ Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Production (CAMP) also
has 11 intercollegiate teams under its umbrella.
Many students involved in intercollegiate teams say extracurricular activities play an important role in their growth as a student.
“CAMP has shown to be absolutely vital to my success as an engineer,” says Austin Evans, a mechanical engineering sophomore at SD Mines. “In CAMP, I’m able to take the skills I learn in the classroom and apply them to a practical project and see it through
the entire engineering cycle. CAMP even helps me build my teaming, leadership and management skills.”
“I can honestly say that being a part of CAMP is what has allowed me to grow as a person the most while being at the School of Mines,” says Daniel Nosbush, a senior civil engineering student. “I have learned so much in being a part of a team and how to
communicate with others. The Formula SAE team has quite literally become my family here on campus, and I see Rapid City as my home over where I’m actually
from now.”
Here are how some of the teams from SD Mines placed this year:
Bladesmithing Team
– placed first in the TMS international bladesmithing competition,
beating out other schools like MIT, Virginia Tech and CalTech.
Aero Design – took fourth in design and eighth overall (Micro Class) at the Aero Design Competition West.
Concrete Canoe Team
– placed first in regionals and ninth in nationals.
Mining and Mucking Team –coed team placed first in the hand steel competition and fifth overall. The men's team placed first in mucking and fourth overall.
Formula Racing – qualified for the international competition taking home 80th place.
Mini Baja – placed 29th overall out of 110 registered teams at the Baja California 2017 event.
VEX Robotic Team–took home first in regionals and took 11th place in the world competition.
Mines Red Team –
became the seventh SD Mines team to participate in the ICPC (a feat many larger schools can’t claim). The team
took home an honorable mention. In the fall, Mines qualified for the ICPC for the eighth time and will attend the world finals in Beijing, China.
Steel Bridge Team
– took home third in regionals and 26th overall at nationals.
Human Powered Vehicle
– took 12th in design and 17th overall in the National competition
Other Mines teams to compete regionally this year include the Alternative Fuel Vehicle, The Rowdy Rocketeers, The ChemE Car, Game Development, Ham Radio Club and the
Super Mileage vehicle.
The coming year is bound to see more success from intercollegiate teams at Mines. Highlights include the 2018 Rocky Mountain Regional Conference Concrete Canoe Competition on
Saturday, April 7, at Angostura Reservoir, and the 2018 Rocky Mountain Regional Conference Steel Bridge Competition in Rapid City.