Douglas Robertson '96, of Whitehouse Station, N.Y., has won third prize in the U.S. Olympic Committee of Sport and Technology's 1996 intercollegiate design contest.
Robertson's project was designed to measure the force exerted by a crew team on the footstretcher in a shell. His instrumentation would enable a coach to precisely monitor rowers' vertical and horizontal movements and the way they exert force. With this knowledge, a rower could optimize performance.
Robertson designed his instrumentation and conducted research in the College's engineering lab as a senior design project. His advisor, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering Ron Bucinell, predicts that Olympic engineers will use Robertson's work to begin their own experimentation.
Robertson is now an applications engineer at IngersollDresser Pumps.