Students in the College of Engineering and Computer Science have built a set of custom creations for UCF football game day. A group of them gathered in the atrium of the Engineering II building to show off a double-barreled T-shirt launcher, a golf cart rescued from its fate at a salvage yard and repurposed as Knightro's preferred mode of transportation, a 3D-printed robotic Citronaut piloting a spaceship that plays AC/DC's Thunderstruck through surround-sound speakers, and a projection spotlight designed to summon Knightro onto the field, set to make its debut later this year.
Pete Alfieris has served as facility manager for the college since 2008, overseeing daily operations, lab safety and security. Over the past five years, since the football season ticket holder was first inspired to introduce a T-shirt launcher at UCF football games, he has been the driving force behind a growing partnership between the college and UCF Athletics, pitching ideas to elevate the game-day experience for fans. The partnership reflects the university's effort to connect classroom learning with real-world experience.
The work began with a T-shirt launcher designed and built by Austin Harkins as a senior design project; he now works as a mechanical design engineer for L3 Harris in Texas. Knightro fires the launcher at UCF football games. Alfieris said many students from the college go on to work at SpaceX, NASA, Blue Origin, L3 Harris and Northrop Grumman, and the college is described as the nation's top supplier of talent to the aerospace and defense industries.
Press release issued by UCF Today:
https://www.ucf.edu/news/ucf-students-enhance-football-game-day-experience/
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