The design of a process to produce a diesel-type fuel from algae as a fuel supply source for the Mars biosphere was judged to be the most innovative design in a competition held at University of North Dakota School of Engineering and Mines (SEM).

The competition, held in honor of Andrew Freeman, UND School of Engineering and Mines alumnus and former general manager of Minnkota Power, requires individuals or teams of engineering students to present their senior design project to a panel of local engineers.

The first place cash award of $1,800 was presented to a team of chemical engineering students who designed a process to produce biodiesel for the Mars space biosphere. The team members, all of North Dakota, were Kayla Johnson, Devils Lake, Julie Kadrmas, Dickinson, and Paul Overby, Grand Forks.

The second place team of mechanical engineering students earned $1,400 for its work on drag reduction for large motorized vehicles. The team designed a retractable apparatus that could function like a “tail,” a tapered end that would reduce the wake formed behind the vehicle and thereby decreasing drag and improving gas mileage. Members of this team are Sarah Just, Beulah, N.D., Brandon Bahneman, Moose Lake, Minn., Brian Anderson, Big Fork, Minn., and Brian Moran, Grand Rapids, Minn.

Winning third place and a cash award of $800 was a team of electrical engineering students which designed a workstation that would support research in the area of non-invasive ultrasound therapy scanning by means of liquefaction. The process could be used to treat liver tumors. The design team included Aaron Fredrickson, Grand Rapids, Minn., and Ben Skogerboe, East Grand Forks, Minn.

Andrew "Andy" Freeman was noted for his creativity and visionary leadership of the electric utility industry. An endowment was established in 1996 by Minnkota Power and others to honor Freeman. The interest earned by the endowment funds the annual design project awards, which are given in Freeman's name to individuals or teams of UND students participating in outstanding senior design projects that exhibit open-ended, innovative design work.

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About UND SEM: The UND School of Engineering and Mines (SEM) is a fully accredited engineering program offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs in civil, chemical, electrical, energy, environmental, and mechanical engineering, with undergraduate program concentrations in computer and aerospace engineering. The School emphasizes its teaching mission while supporting a wide variety of innovative research in the areas of sustainable energy, bio-fuels, distance learning, aerospace payload development, remote sensing, engineered surfaces, and hydrogen fuel cell technologies.