ASME Participates in Summer Streets Festival in New York

Sept. 8, 2017

Mark Archibald (center), professor of mechanical engineering at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, discusses human powered vehicles with visitors to the ASME tent during NYC Summer Streets on Aug. 19.

On Aug. 19, representatives from ASME took part in the NYC Summer Streets program, which is an annual celebration that each August provides residents and visitors to the Big Apple with a space for healthy recreation and encourages New Yorkers to use more sustainable forms of transportation.

Nearly seven miles of New York’s roadways from Central Park to City Hall were open to the public to view exhibits, play, run, walk and bike. NYC Summer Streets, which this year celebrated its 10^th anniversary, is a project of the New York City Department of Transportation.

Visitors to the ASME booth at NYC Summer Streets were given the opportunity to ride a human powered vehicle.

Approximately 400 people stopped by ASME’s booth, which promoted the Society’s new Engineering Festivals (E-Fest) program for engineering students as well as ASME’s long-running Human Powered Vehicle Challenge (HPVC) competitions, which are now held during the E-Fests. The ASME tent, located at Lexington Avenue and 52^nd St., was one of a number of booths and exhibits in the Summer Streets “Environmental Zone,” where visitors could learn more about sustainable energy solutions by participating in workshops and demonstrations led by a variety of nonprofit organizations.

Young visitors to the ASME tent at NYC Summer Streets pose with the human powered vehicle from Grove City College.

Mark Archibald, professor of mechanical engineering at Grove City College in Pennsylvania and the author of the ASME Press book Design of Human-Powered Vehicles, presented a short workshop and demonstration that gave visitors an overview of the design and use of human powered vehicles. Visitors were even given the chance to sit in and drive the vehicle that Dr. Archibald brought from his school.

ASME staff members David Soukup, managing director of Governance, Josh Heitsenrether, managing director of Marketing, and marketing manager Amanda Aslan, joined Dr. Archibald at the booth, where they discussed the HPVC and E-Fest programs and spread the word about ASME and engineering to NYC Summer Streets participants.