2017 SERAD Student Safety Challenge

Annually, SERAD hosts a challenge to college students to submit papers on Safety Engineering and Risk Analysis topics. The papers are peer reviewed by experts in these areas. Selected papers will be honored in November 2017 at the SERAD Awards Dinner at ASME’s 2017 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE 2016) in Tampa, FL. Recognition includes a cash honorariums for winning authors and sponsoring professor, travel reimbursement for first place student(s) may also be available.

• Submittals due to SERAD by May 12, 2017
• Papers formally accepted by May 26 2017
• SERAD will review, comment, select, and announce winner June 9, 2017
• SERAD Awards Banquet November 2017

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this [insert] reliability topic okay? OR Is this [insert] safety topic okay?

We've kept the theme very general and open to a wide variety of safety and reliability topics this year. Most topics related to safety and reliability are acceptable. if you have any additional questions please contact us.

Is an abstract due first and a full paper at a later date?

We have moved away from the two-step submission process as with years past since the paper is a shorter length requirement from ASME’s Conference papers. Completed full submissions are due in May. The SERAD group will send each submission a formal acceptance or rejection as applicable by the end of the month with winners announced in June. See this year's flyer for all dates and details.

Are you looking for an extended abstract or full technical paper? What are your length requirements? if my thesis/research paper is 40 pages long is that okay?

We are looking more for a short paper than an extended abstract or a full-length research paper. We've based it a bit on ASME's Conference paper lengths. We are looking for a paper with some thought, research, conclusions of at least four (4) pages and well written. Please try to keep in the 4-6 page range as best you can..

Forum papers are a useful means of promoting an interchange of information on current areas of work, which are not ready for archival publication. These papers are non-refereed, reviewed on abstract only, and will be published in the conference proceedings.

Recommended Length: 4-6 pages

Congratulations to the 2017 Student Safety Innovation Challenge Winners

Undergraduate group winners: 
Sean Johnson, John Jozwiak, Cedar Kelly, and Rich Postera, from Gonzaga University
Project/Paper Title: “NIOSH: Energy Conversion System (Mechanical division)”

Graduate group winner: 
Hossein Salimi, from Sahand University of Technology 
Project/Paper Title: “Metal damage assessment in low-cycle fatigue based on thermodynamic entropy generation”

Congratulations to the 2016 Student Safety Innovation Challenge Winners

1^st Place Undergraduate Paper:

NIOSH Zaghouse: Microscopic Particle Filtration System (MPFS)

Gonzaga University Team: Cameron Falkenburg, Carlie Mantel, Richard Moore, and Ben Muyres

Advisor: Dr. Art Miller, NIOSH

1^st Place Graduate Paper:

An efficient sensor network design for improving fault diagnosis process

Sahand University of Technology: Farzin Salehpour Oskouei

Advisor: Mohammad Pourgol-Mohammad

Congratulations to the 2015 Student Safety Innovation Challenge Winners

1^st Place Undergraduate Paper:

The Fear of Going Nuclear:  Assessing the Associated Risks of Nuclear Power Plant Utilization in the United States by Thomas Wesselmann at Missouri University of Science and Technology

1^st Place Graduate Paper:

Determination of Minimum Requirements for Critical Safety Systems in Support of PRA by Seyed Mohsen Hoseyni at IAU-Science and Research

Congratulations to the 2014 Student Safety Innovation Challenge Winners

1^st Place: Crude Truth: Assessing the Associated Risks of Rail, Tanker, and Pipeline Crude Oil Transport by Ashtyn Baldas of Missouri University of Science and Technology

2^nd Place: Stochastic Fatigue Life Assessment in Automotive Application by Mahboubeh Yazdanipour of Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz, Iran

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