American scholastic coaches everywhere speak frequently about the ways in which sports enhance the academic experience. It’s one of the pillars of the American educational system, in fact – the belief that the discipline, leadership skills, and confidence developed in fields of play will help students in their academic and post-athletic careers.

At NCAA Division I school Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, they’ve taken that symbiotic relationship between athletics and academics to another, more literal, level.

This week, as the team prepares for a slate of spring games this weekend, the Golden Eagles unveiled their new blocking machine, which was developed in conjunction with the school’s renowned engineering department.

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Head coach Dave Zelenock says that the whole idea started with a relationship and a problem.

“Engineering at TTU is a big deal, it’s helped us land some of our future recruits,” Zelenock said. “So we wanted to get involved with them and create a relationship.

“The problem we conceptualized was that there is no moving block machine. We’ve tried many blocking tools and they break, are expensive and are just too static. Any hitter who sees the block 30 seconds before the set happens can get around it. We are trying to simulate the circular motion of a swing block and variety of formations of the block (single, double, hole.) The variable speed motor is so we can make it as hard or easy as we want on the hitters.

So the volleyball coaches approached professor Meenakshi Sundaram, a professor and industrial liaison in the school’s Department of Mechanical Engineering.