{"id":452,"date":"2017-04-03T08:12:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-03T12:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/mae\/?p=452"},"modified":"2025-06-30T08:19:59","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T12:19:59","slug":"engineering-professor-designs-world-record-breaking-power-t","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/mae\/news\/engineering-professor-designs-world-record-breaking-power-t\/","title":{"rendered":"Engineering Professor Designs World Record-Breaking Power T"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"University of Tennessee \u2013 Largest Human Letter World Record\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EeGOY38twf8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>With more than 3,100 students, about 700 faculty, staff, and retirees, about 400 alumni, and one bluetick coonhound, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville this morning set the GUINNESS WORLD RECORD title for the largest human letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Volunteers stood together to create a Power T that spanned 190 feet by 190 feet, encompassing the majority of Shields-Watkins Field at Neyland Stadium. NBC\u2019s Today show viewers witnessed the feat, which was part of Rokerthon 3, weatherman Al Roker\u2019s week-long trek to five universities to break world records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vols from the Tickle College of Engineering were in attendance, including Matthew Young, who was the letter\u2019s architect. Using CAD software, the professor of practice with the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering, answered a critical question for event organizers\u2014how do you design a Power T large enough to hold 4,000 people?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe question is, when you actually get out there and you\u2019re standing there, where do you draw the lines and where do you stop and how many people should be in each row?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Young spent time ensuring the T\u2019s two arcs would not only look perfect, but could also be formed and held in place by an early morning crowd of excited Vols without marching band experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPart of the shape is very simple and straightforward. Making the elipse just right was more complicated. I spent time doing some geometry layouts for the T so they would look right,\u201d said Young.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Young\u2019s calculations were spot on. Shortly after 8 a.m., Michael Empric, representing GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS, announced the official head count of 4,223 and verified that UT had broken the record previously held by Queen\u2019s University in Ontario, Canada. As confetti cannons blasted and the UT pep band launched into \u201cRocky Top,\u201d Chancellor Beverly Davenport accepted the Guinness award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis has been a wonderful opportunity for the nation to see our beautiful campus and share in our Volunteer spirit,\u201d said Davenport. \u201cI am so proud of our students, faculty, staff, retirees, and alumni and extend a big thank you to every Vol who turned out and made this happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the event drew to a close, Today and its partner PurePoint Financial awarded a $5,000 scholarship to a student participant. Davenport presented a second $5,000 one-time award, funded by alumni donations, in honor of the alumni who helped form the T. The scholarship winners were Blaine Ziegler, a sophomore in biological sciences who plans to go to medical school, and Emma Sopcak, a freshman in nutrition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After arriving in Knoxville on Tuesday afternoon, Roker was greeted at the airport by mascot Smokey and the spirit squad, then rode the UT tour bus to campus. He crisscrossed campus with a group of student leaders, celebrating some of UT\u2019s favorite traditions while marveling at the many Power Ts in the landscape. He crossed the new pedestrian bridge on Phillip Fulmer Way and strolled down Johnson-Ward Pedestrian Walkway. He visited Ayres Hall and listened to chimes playing \u201cRocky Top\u201d and the Today show theme. He saw the Rock being painted and took batting practice as he fired up the Vols baseball team before its shutout victory over Tennessee Tech. Finally, he settled into a room in Stokely Family Residence Hall where resident assistant Quamir Boddie read him a bedtime story and the UT Singers serenaded him with an a cappella version of the alma mater.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Get the details on how the University of Tennessee broke the Guinness World Record of largest human letter designed by one of our professors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[112,114,113,111],"class_list":["post-452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-al-roker","tag-beverly-davenport","tag-guinness-world-records","tag-matthew-young"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Engineering 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