“They were given a project where they had to modify a pop can to get it to roll down a slope faster than a normal can full of pop,” said Marco Vagani, a mechanical engineering graduate student.

“They were allowed to do whatever they wanted to the can on the inside but nothing to the outside. The trick was trying to figure out what goes in to see if that will roll faster or slower than the other ones. It gives them an idea of what engineering really is like.”

For engineering freshman Karl Krug, the project proved to be valuable.

“Just the fact that there’s problems out there that need to be solved, and we have the ability to solve them,” said Krug, whose team won the race. “I like the challenge.”

The students were given two weeks to form teams and, through trial and error, find a method to make their pop can weigh enough to beat their competitors.

“We want them to feel comfortable working in teams because that’s something they are going to be doing for the rest of their lives,” engineering professor Timothy Hinds said. “The best part out of all of this was them being able to use their creativity and come up with ideas and try them out because they really had fun doing it.”

Satish Upda, dean of the College of Engineering, said experience outside of the conventional classroom setting is what engineering is about.

“Part of the motivation here is to build excitement. You do this with less lecture and more hands-on engagement,” Upda said. “If you walk into GM, Motorola or other companies, most will have engineers working in teams. Each one brings a different talent to the team. You have to be comfortable bringing them together and be able to communicate and build something. By the end of this course, the students will have this experience, and it’s something that my generation did not have.”

The winning team’s can was filled with water and the top was sealed with duct tape. It rolled down the slope in 3.55 seconds, which was faster than the average time of about five seconds. Their prize? Free ice cream at the MSU Dairy Store.