PSU team wins global Thor’s hammer competition
If Thor’s hammer is indeed made of a star like the Marvel comic book says, it weighs as much as 300 billion elephants. That would be appropriate for a hammer owned by a Viking god.
Recently, a team of six engineering technology students who created their own Thor’s hammer for a global competition had things a bit easier: theirs was to weigh no more than 6 pounds.
They met that requirement dead-on and, after their hammer was put through a series of rigorous performance tests, the Pitt team was declared the winners of the 2021 Cast in Steel Competition by the Steel Founders Society of America.
The hammer “unicorn spiral” handle. Judges praised the fine detail, design, and quality as being “outstanding,”
Professor Russ Rosmait, who served as the advisor for the PSU team, said his students beat out 27 teams from around the world in the competition.
The PSU team’s hammer was created over several months with the help of Monett Metals of Monett, Missouri, Trojan Heat Treating of Joplin, Missouri, and World Class Protypes of Holland, Michigan.
The team was comprised of mechanical engineering technology majors Jacob Tiehen, a graduating senior from Shawnee, Kansas, and Jacob Otter, a senior from Pittsburg who will graduate in December; and manufacturing engineering technology majors Colton Southwell, a senior from Fort Scott, Kansas, who will graduate in December, Austin Jacks, a junior from Archie, Missouri, and Kol
Each will be awarded a $500 scholarship from the Steel Founders Society Educational Foundation.
PAST WINS
It’s not the first time PSU students have done well in the competition; in 2019, a PSU team won “Most Captivating Design” for its Viking axe, and in 2020, a PSU team won “Best Cast Guard and Pommel” for its Bowie knife.
Learn more about PSU’s Manufacturing Engineering Technology program: https://bit.ly/
Learn more about PSU’s Mechanical Engineering Technology program: https://bit.ly/
Watch SFSA’s video highlighting the use of PSU’s hammer: https://bit.ly/3aXoS6Q