The Compresssed Air & Gas Institute (CAGI) named Team RoMeLa (Robotics and Mechanisms Lab) of Virginia Tech as the winners of the 2008-09 National Innovation Award contest.

Colin Smith, Alexander McCraw, Carlos Guevara, Kyle Cothern, advisor Dennis Hong, and mentor Dipen Shah of Ingersoll Rand, won with their project that used compressed air for robotic hand actuation. The team will share $2,500 in prizes and earn $8,000 for the school's participating department.

“It is a cutting-edge concept, and the engineering was no less than brilliant,” said contest judge Frank Moskowitz.

Second place was awarded to the Dream Green Compression Team from Buffalo State College, “Utilizing Waste Heat from Compressed Air.” Team members Jim Mayrose, Charles Abbott, Pat Pierce, and Steve Gardner will share $1,500 in price money, and faculty advisor will receive $4000 on behalf of the school's mechanical engineering department. They were mentored by Ed Czechowski of the Cameron Company.

The Innovation Awards are an invitation-only awards program designed to honor undergraduates for innovative use of compressed air. A total of six teams from Virginia Tech, Buffalo State College, and the Milwaukee School of Engineering submitted their air-powered designs for judging by the members of CAGI (www.cagi.org).