UMR freshman engineering students served up their design projects to three judges on the tennis courts outside the Gale Bullman Multi-Purpose Center Wednesday, April 21.

A total of 380 UMR students in nine sections of a freshman design course have been working all semester to design tennis-ball-serving machines. On Wednesday, the top two teams from each section had up to three tries to hit each designated area, passing over the net with as little clearance height as possible — like a good tennis serve. The distance from the ball’s landing spot to the corner was measured.

The UMR Freshman Design Competition is part of an effort to introduce engineering design and teamwork to students as early as possible in their college experience. UMR requires first-year engineering students to take Engineering Design with Computer Applications, a hands-on course culminating with this design contest at the end of each semester. The design or construction project assigned varies from semester to semester.