These RU rugby players designed a renewable energy device

We all know some of the Scarlet Knights’ top athletes don’t mind a good ruck down in the mud, but there are a few who like to roll up their sleeves in the lab.

While we’re not going to break down the game of rugby for you, here’s a look at the accomplishments of these players off the field.

That’s right, members of the men’s rugby team are in the lab working on building an energy harvesting wing. For a non-engineer, the energy harvesting wing is an alternative energy source that moves in the wind and generates electricity.

Ryan Dobbs, Dan Nemeth, Antonio Montanaro and Alex Weingarten all play on the team, but they also live together. Along with a few other members of the team, they eat, sleep and train together. When they aren’t in the gym lifting weights in preparation for a match, the guys are in Alexander Library hitting the books.

Sure, engineering and rugby don’t seem to go hand in hand. But the guys are passionate about their Engineering majors and had a lot to say about their goals for the project.

A slide from their presentation

Dan said: “This has been something I wanted to do since I was a child playing with Legos.”

Antonio picked this major because he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do and this seemed the most challenging. Alex said he “had a knack for solving problems” and liked that engineering was compromised of exactly that – math, science and problem solving.

Ryan said: “This project is our first taste of taking our knowledge of the physical world and making something that uses these laws to produce a useful machine of our own.”

Their linear motion wind turbine mimics the motion of a bird or insect to rotate a shaft which produces energy. The ultimate goal is to make a consumer product which helps create a renewable source of energy.

The guys said they’ve made the most out of their college experience. They’re all expected to graduate in May 2016 with degrees in Mechanical and Alternative Energy Systems Engineering.

Ruck on, boys.