"Extreme Pogo"

Imagine a pogo stick that lights up each time it hits the ground. Or one that can change into a scooter. Or fire Nerf darts from its handlebars.

The ideas may sound far-fetched, but Mechanical Engineering students have turned them into dream pogos.

"I've always tried to integrate toys and fun into the mechanical engineering environment," says Kimberly Clavin, an instructional development specialist with the College of Engineering. "When I saw these extreme pogos at the XGames I got really excited. Not only are they fun, they're also very mechanical."

The pogo sticks are high-end models--the Flybar 800 and Flybar 1200--that can bounce riders up to 5 feet in the air.

Clavin introduced the pogo study into a mechanical engineering class taught by Associate Professor Tony Luscher, a self-avowed daredevil.

“I've always tried to integrate toys and fun into the mechanical engineering environment.”
—Kimberly Clavin, College of Engineering

"Anything crazy, I'm involved in," Luscher says.

His students determined how long certain pogo parts would last in conditions such as a car trunk. Their research helped them learn how to make longer-lasting pogo sticks.

Not only was the project fun, it also was great hands-on experience in product development and design, Luscher says.

"We teach the students math, science and calculations, and we want to give them the opportunity to apply that to something they develop and design themselves," he says. "We want them to learn critical thinking and decision making skills, because they're going to need them out in the real world."

Says Clavin: "When I was an undergraduate, I didn't build a single prototype. At Ohio State, students have lots of opportunities to get real hands-on mechanical engineering skills, which is something a lot of schools don't have."

(Read the onCampus story by Julia Harris)