ASME MMA Student Section Gravity Racer

On Saturday, 16 October 2004, Don McNelly a second year Marine Systems
Engineering  student  travelled to the University of New Brunswick, in
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada to compete in their 30th annual 
coaster car race.  The MMA coaster car is a project of the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers student section on campus. The car was
designed and built by the engineering students at the Academy over the
last several years. This year two students from the University of Maine
joined the MMA team with the plan of possibly designing and constructing
their own car next year. MMA first competed in the coaster car race 10
year ago and is now racing its second generation car.  The race coarse
is approximately 1 1/2 miles in length, with several curves and straight
aways where the cars reach speeds of close to 45 mph.  This year our car
finished third, out of seven cars, after an unfortunate contact with the
concrete bumper put an end to the days competition.