Devils in Depth: Innovation

Mike (Mechanical Engineering)

Freshman year in FSU 100, we had an engineering project and the goal was to create power, either from wind, water, or solar energy. Our team designed an apparatus that took water and spun it around a turbine, and we created it entirely out of PVC and ball bearings. When you hooked up an electrode to it, we could basically take the energy that was generated by the water falling and create electricity with it. We were really proud of that one.

I loved the teamwork the project took because, at the beginning, there were four students working together and we all had somewhat of a different idea. We were all pretty much set on using water but as far as how to create electricity from water, we weren’t together with it. But after a couple weeks of discussion and brainstorming, we came to agree on a sort of turbine design and we all contributed an equal amount of effort to make it happen.

I’m actually supposed to be studying for an exam right now, but I’m taking a break.

Victor (Business Law)

The most innovative thing I did was I actually built my own website. I built it for my friend who started his own internet marketing business and I helped him launch that by making the website. It was more difficult than I thought it would be because it was a lot of little many aspects. It took a lot of time. It took me like a whole month and a half to finish. I loved seeing his reaction. He was pretty happy and excited that I did that for him. I love my major because the whole W.P. Carey school has a lot of resources and cool people in it, too.

Ricky (Marketing-Professional Sales)

The most innovative thing I’ve done is last year in my W.P. Carey class we decided that there should be misters on campus for when it’s really hot out. You know, students could walk around and cool down, especially people visiting from colder climates who might want to come to ASU. This way, they could realize it’s not a complete desert. I really liked working with a group of like-minded individuals. I really love my major, too. We get to do a lot of fun work and compete in different sales competitions. It’s different from other majors because I get a lot of engagement with different companies that are already in the industry, so it’s a lot of fun.