News and Public Information Office
Glos Center
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio 45056
(513) 529-7592
(513) 529-1950 fax
newsinfo@muohio.edu
Glos Center
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio 45056
(513) 529-7592
(513) 529-1950 fax
newsinfo@muohio.edu
News Release
Miami University Bicentennial a-mazing08/27/2009 |
||||||||
|
Xiaolei Mao, a master’s student in computational science and engineering, and Tom Burg, a senior engineering management and manufacturing engineering major from Chagrin Falls, used a GPS-guided lawn mower to cut the RedHawk profile out of a cornfield at Butterfield Farm Market, located about 10 minutes east of Oxford on State Route 73. Burg and a team of graduate and undergraduate students in Miami’s School of Engineering and Applied Science designed the Bicentennial-themed art during a class competition set up by Yu Tong (Jade) Morton, professor of electrical and computer engineering, in her Introduction to GPS course last spring. “We integrated a survey-grade DGPS (Differential Global Positioning System) with a mapping software to allow a driver to follow the design and cut the maze,” Morton said. “What we did with two students and one mower in a few hours would have taken several adults several days of measuring and cutting using conventional methods, and ours was much more accurate.” The other maze – of the Bicentennial logo – is at Highland View Farm on Stillwell Beckett Road. The farm belongs to Marian Brosius, the mother of Leslie Krehbiel, who earned a master’s at Miami in 1981 in elementary education. Krehbiel said this is the second year for Midge’s Maze, named after her mom as a tribute to her for keeping the family farm running. The farm has been in the family since 1834. “We had a three-acre corn maze last year and wanted to expand it to 11 acres this year,” said Krehbiel, who lives in Cincinnati with her husband, John, and youngest son, David, a junior marketing major at Miami this fall. “As we discussed possible designs, we considered a RedHawk or a Block M. David is the one who suggested the Bicentennial logo. Both of our sons thought that would be so appropriate.” The Krehbiels’ oldest son, John Jr., a finance major, graduated from Miami in 2008. The logo design, created using a grid system, required two days to place flags throughout the field and two days to cut the corn with a lawn mower, followed by recutting every four days for two weeks. “We are excited and proud to be a part of Miami’s Bicentennial and pleased to donate a portion of our proceeds to the university,” Krehbiel said. The RedHawk maze at Butterfield Farm Market, 4000 Oxford Trenton Road (Route 73), will be open to the public 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily from Sept. 5 (tentative) through Oct. 31. Cost is $5. Private parties may rent the maze in the evenings. For more information, call the farm at 513-524-2676 or go to www.butterfieldfarmmarket.com. Midge’s Maze will be open 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays from Sept. 26 through Oct. 31. Cost is $5, children under three are free. Highland View Farm is at 2450 Stillwell Beckett Road, Hamilton. For details, go to www.home.fuse.net/midgesmaze or call 513-561-6209 or 513-207-2370. Related Media
|
||||||||
Photos
