A Purdue professor and some of his students are in Germany to compete as finalists for an international award.
They created an automated hammer assembly machine for the xplore New Automation Award.
Five of the seven team members, all seniors in manufacturing engineering technology, are on the trip along with Professor Brad Harriger.
They are one of two teams from the United States in the final competition.
Team member Mike Harrington says they wanted to impress the judges with the machine’s cleanliness and simplistic design. He says the team is looking forward to experiencing another culture and networking with industry leaders.
Team member Ryan Streu says he hopes the trip is a learning experience. The team presents its creation over a two day period. Winners of each category will be invited back to Germany in April to demonstrate the project at the Hanover Fair, an industrial automation show.
You can see the team's invention HERE.