"CFCC student-built electric bikes to be in AzaleaFest parade

Some innovative designs by Cape Fear Community Collegestudents will be featured in this year’s N.C. Azalea Festival.

For the past year, students in CFCC’smechanical engineering program have been hard at work, designing and buildingtheir own electric bicycles. The bikes are now just days from their debuton the streets of downtown Wilmingtonduring the festival’s annual parade on Saturday.

Instructor Daniel Hendrickson saidthe project aims provide students with a challenge–apply what they’ve learnedin the classroom to a real-world scenario.

“This project gives the students theexperience of creating a cost-effective, hands-on, practical engineeringproject on a limited budget and on a deadline, which is what they should expectto face in the workplace after graduation,” Hendrickson said.

Completion of the bikes is the finalproject for students in their last year of the program. According to a releasefrom the college, students must incorporate skills they learned in their firstyear, including computer-aided design programming, 3-D modeling, electricity,physics, statics and hydraulics, among others.

Each student designs an electricbicycle and makes a formal presentation to a panel of experts. The best designsare then chosen to be built in the final semester.

This year, students are buildingthree bicycles, each designed for a specific purpose. One can be used totransport pier fishing equipment and another, to carry cargo. The third isintended to be energy efficient and aerodynamic and incorporate a low-dragdesign.

“The bikes are in the final stages ofwelding, painting, assembly, and testing prior to the parade. We are very proudof them and would love to show them off,” Hendrickson said.

CFCC’s mechanical engineeringtechnology program prepares graduates for employment as mechanicaltechnicians. Graduates of the program are qualified to work in a variety ofmanufacturing, fabrication, research and development and service industryjobs."