NFL前景，队友工程师激光计时器

A blazing 40-yard dash time would do wonders to help the draft stock of top prospect 凯尔挖 heading into the 2020 NFL Draft.

他以多种方式解决了这个问题.

As part of a senior project for 研究 Physics, 挖 worked with Lenoir-Rhyne University football teammates Demarius 汉普顿 and Saaehim Brooks to engineer a laser-timed 40-yard dash machine.

"Every time we take a big step or make a big jump with this project, 全球网赌十大网站开始变得兴奋，更加投入其中,达格说。. "Then we have to slow ourselves and focus again on the little details."

道格·奈特博士.D. LR的物理学助理教授, teaches the course and approached the group with the idea for their senior project given their football background and academic aptitude.

"All of those guys individually are smart," Knight said. "Put them together, and they're really bright. They each have different skills that complement each other and that's what they need."

All three are members of a Bears football team that went undefeated during the regular season, winning their second straight South Atlantic Conference championship -- en route to a berth in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II playoffs -- with 挖 playing safety and Brooks and 汉普顿 lining up as wide receivers.

Working on this project has allowed them to combine sometimes competing interests.

“这是两全其美，”布鲁克斯说. "There's a lot of excitement because the team won, and there's that good feeling of knowing you're doing things right on and off the field."

All three have displayed creativity and innovation away from the bright lights and cheering fans, putting in long hours with forward-thinking ambition to not only prepare for a playoff run, 还有成功的事业.

挖, 汉普顿, and Brooks were up at the break of day with morning weightlifting and training schedules as early as 5:30 a.m. 在锻炼计划之间, 类, 电影会话, 和家庭作业, they sometimes were completing work into the midnight hours.

Initial planning took place at the beginning of the semester before the trio went to work on the project.

All three student-athletes had previous fabrication experience from 类 on campus that involved building rockets or fighting robots, 然而, this was their opportunity to lead a project from concept through to completion.

"We started on the coding first, because that was the hardest," 汉普顿 said. "Then we knew once that was done, the rest would be easy. 实际上全球网赌十大网站都住在同一栋楼里. (Brooks) is my roommate and (挖) lives next door, so we just met in my room to work on the coding."

"There wasn't any code for this kind of thing, so we had to build it all from scratch," Brooks added.

深秋时节, 编码完成后, the trio worked on 3D printing boxes to hold the processors and lasers, while programming the components to interact flawlessly. They designed it so the timer operates from a cell phone and stops when a runner crosses the laser.

Throughout the semester, they met weekly with tasks assigned to different members of the group. 挖 and Brooks have taken on more responsibilities relating to software, while 汉普顿 has had a larger hand in fabrication, 据奈特说.

In a world where football players and athletes can be derided for their lack of dedication to academics, 汉普顿, 挖, 布鲁克斯渴望走另一条路.

“人们怀疑你，”汉普顿说. "We already have the background to prove people wrong. 有了这个项目和全球网赌十大网站的专业, 尽管全球网赌十大网站踢足球, 全球网赌十大网站可以告诉人们，全球网赌十大网站能做的还不止这些."

本学期结束后, 挖 is likely heading off to the NFL as arguably the top small-school prospect in the country having competed in the Reese's Senior Bowl, which serves as one of the premiere scouting events for NFL teams. However, he fosters ambition of being an architect when his playing days are over.

汉普顿 and Brooks have another season of eligibility as redshirt juniors and could return to the back-to-back conference champion Bears, 然而, they're graduating early and preparing to head out into the career field as engineers.

"A lot of people don't give them the credit they deserve," Knight said. "The fact that they're doing this is just more reason to let people know that football players are smart."