EVERETT, WA — Fluke Corporation announced the finalists in the 2015 Fluke Connect Student Contest, which tests the skills, innovation and business application of student teams enrolled in two and four year colleges, universities, trade/tech schools and apprenticeship programs in the United States.
The finalist teams and their selected projects are:
• Wenatchee Valley College — Environmental Systems and Refrigeration Technology team: building tune-up and diagnostics for colleges and Washington state.
• Western Area Career and Tech Center — Mechatronics team: analyzing power consumption and mapping power distribution system of school administration building.
• Blue Ridge Community and Technical College — Mechatronics team: electrical safety practice/improvements.
• Northwest Iowa Community College — Trade and Technology team: predictive maintenance applications across process control equipment in ethanol plants.
• University of Puerto Rico — Department of Electronics and Instrumentation team: academic buildings’ power efficiency.
A panel of six judges evaluated the teams on their technical skills, innovation and creativity, the business value of their projects, and the presentation skills of the team. The judges were: Tom Wilk, chief editor, Plant Services magazine; Martin Lorton, blogger, solar power and electronic measurement equipment; Glen Mazur, author, trainer and former department chair of Joliet Jr. College; and three judges from Fluke Corporation: Thomas Anderson, senior software engineer; Leah Friberg, education and public affairs manager; and Melissa Hammerle, mobility solutions business unit manager.
Final projects are due on March 11, after which they will be evaluated by the same panel of judges and the public, who will be able to vote via the contest website.
The winners, who will be announced on March 24, will be determined by which team made the biggest impact using the Fluke Connect system, with 75 percent of the decision based on the evaluation by the panel of judges and 25 percent on the public vote.
The first place team and their adviser will receive a paid trip to Fluke headquarters in north Seattle to spend a day meeting with Fluke executive and engineering leadership, tour Fluke engineering and manufacturing, and see the Boeing manufacturing facility and Future of Flight Aviation Center next door. The school’s department will win $1,000 worth of Fluke tools, in addition to the Fluke Connect tools used in the contest submission, worth approximately $3,500.
For more information, visit www.fluke.com.
