MHMC- Commercial Template Doc Size 11.25” X 14”
Image Area 10.375 x 11.75 CYAN
MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
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The Miami
Vol. 91, Issue 20 | Nov. 5 - Nov. 7, 2012
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HURRICANE
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STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI IN CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA, SINCE 1929
HOLLY BENSUR // CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER BAD PIGGIE: The UM Engineering team followed an Angry Birds theme for the Red Bull Flugtag competition.
NICK GANGEMI // STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER FLYING HIGH: Thien Tran flies the UM Engineering team’s Angry Birds-themed aircraft at the Red Bull Flugtag competition in Bayfront Park on Saturday. They won the People’s Choice Award for their craft with 6,369 out of more than 25,000 votes.
HOLLY BENSUR // CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER ONE ANGRY BIRD: Tom Knight pumps up the UM Engineering team at the Flugtag competition Saturday.
Red Bull Flugtag gives students wings VOICE A CHOICE
College of Engineering wins People’s Choice at aircraft competition in Bayfront Park
YOUTH VOTE CAN INFLUENCE ELECTION PAGE 6
BY SAM ABBASSI CONTRIBUTING NEWS WRITER
DYNAMIC DATES TOP TIPS TO SEASON YOUR RELATIONSHIP PAGE 7
GROWING CANES FOOTBALL TEAM EXCELS WITH EXPERIENCE PAGE 9
Students from the College of Engineering, covered in colored body paint, wings and beaks, pushed an Angry Birds-themed aircraft off a 30-foot pier at Bayfront Park during the third annual Red Bull Flugtag event. The crowd in Downtown Miami roared as team pilot Thien Tran, who sat on the creatively designed flight machine, flew the craft 36 feet before it took a dive into the water. Flugtag – German for “flying day” – is an event in which contestants build their own aircrafts or gliders, perform a skit based on their themes and then push their structures
off a pier to see if they fly. Saturday’s competition was the third time that UM’s American Society of Mechanical Engineers team has participated in Red Bull Flugtag. Though the winning team successfully flew more than 100 feet farther than UM’s team, the engine Angry Birds machine won the People’s Choice Award at the event. The UM students competed under the name “Hurricane Engineers’ Angry Birds” and based their contraption on the popular mobile video game. “We wanted something that people would recognize, that they liked and is fun as well,” said Tran, who is majoring in mechanical engineering.
The team built a two-story aircraft with a wooden frame, and included a “bad piggie” face on the front along with other designs from the ubiquitous game. Every flight machine in the competition also had to have a seat for the pilot. Before taking flight, the group simulated the video game, using a slingshot to fling birds toward the “bad piggie” – the aircraft. Teams were judged based on flight distance, creativity and showmanship by a panel of local and national celebrities. The judges included Adam Kuperstein of NBC 6, Audrina Patridge of “The Hills” and professional surfer Evan Geiselman. SEE FLUGTAG, PAGE 2