GLASSBORO, NJ – Running and inventing collide, as cross country/track runners Eric DuBois and Jeff Terebey delve into projects involving math, science, creativity and so much more.
DuBois (Pittsgrove, NJ/A.P. Schalick), a sophomore civil engineering major, is continually working to balance his academic work with meets. “For example,” he shared, “In January, I had multiple tests and quizzes, along with meets. Thankfully, a snow day happened to help with all that.” So far, he has done a great job at excelling in both areas.
In the fall, DuBois earned Atlantic All-Region honors in cross country. At the NCAA Atlantic Regional, he finished 34th overall with a time of 26:13.0. He cited this event as one of his greatest sports accomplishments to date. DuBois came in seventh (27:06.52) at the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championships for a spot on the All-Conference first team. He finished 13th overall (27:05.86) at the Collegiate Track Conference Championships.
During the indoor track season, DuBois was named to the NJAC All-Conference second team in the 3000 meters and on the distance medley relay. He took second place in the 3000 meters (8:49.48) and the distance medley relay was second in 10:35.14. At the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships, DuBois came in fourth in the 3000 meters (8:43.57). He won the one mile (4:29.44) and the 3000 meters (9:04.16) at the Thomson Invitational. This outdoor season, DuBois finished fifth (4:05.71) and eighth (2:03.52) in the 1500 and 800 meters at the Towson Invitational. At the Penn Invitational, he took sixth in the 5000 meters (15:19.79).
DuBois is currently in the midst of a clinic, entrepreneurial engineering project. “It involves mounting the snow on concrete and asphalt by running pipes underneath and heating that up,” he said. “Putting piping and tubing into concrete and running a liquid through it to heat up the concrete from underneath is really what we’re trying to do.” The team hopes to develop the idea far enough so they will be in the position to receive the funding necessary to develop a prototype.
He also works in the civil engineering department, researching ways to make new asphalt. “Asphalt is the most recycled resource in the entire state,” explained DuBois. Even with the high amount of recycling, a lot of excess is left. By taking that asphalt and using it in his projects, DuBois is helping to reduce the amount of extra asphalt through innovative usage.
A junior mechanical engineering major, Terebey (Shamong, NJ/Seneca), started running cross country in ninth grade. He also came to Rowan for its well-respected and renowned engineering program. Terebey manages to balance days full of classes, projects, running and lifeguarding in the Rec Center.
In the fall, Terebey ran his best time of 27:17 in the 8K at the Paul Short Invitational. He finished sixth overall at the Delaware Invitational in 27:35.33. At the NJAC Championships, Terebey came in 37th with a time of 29:17.77. In track, he competes in the 1500, 5000 and 10000 meters. At the indoor conference championships, Terebey had a 10th place in the 5000 meters (16:42.74). During this year’s outdoor season, he ran 33:24.10 in the 10000 meters at the Wake Forest Open. At the Penn Invitational, he registered times of 2:05.79 and 4:14.45 in the 800 and 1500 meters respectively.
Spinning class enthusiasts could possibly see an upgrade on their spin bikes in the future, thanks to Terebey and his team. For his junior/senior clinic, he is working to create a device to add to spin bikes.
“What we’re trying to do is develop a device that users can attach to the bike to see how many calories have been burned, the distance traveled and what level they’re on,” Terebey explained. “We’re trying to accomplish that by evaluating key transfer rates. Resistance is created between the flywheel and the brakes. That generates heat. If we can measure that heat and put it to the wheel, then we can correlate that to some sort of energy output by the rider.”
Both students are grateful for the guidance, help and support of the engineering department’s faculty and staff. Aaron Nolan, DuBois’ project supervisor, speaks highly of the work he’s accomplished.“Eric has been an invaluable asset to the Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) project. His understanding and intuition when it comes to conducting laboratory research have aided our team in developing a new methodology for designing High RAP asphalt mixtures. I also hear he is a good runner.”
“A lot of the professors are always available if you need help with something. They’ll gladly sit and talk with you and work on whatever problem you’re having,” stated Terebey.
