Up, up and away: Michael Harbeck studies the mechanics of flight

Mike Harbeck at CU's Robert J. Kane Sports Complex. He's a mechanical engineering major in the College of Engineering from Decatur, Ill. Nicola Kountoupes/University Photography

By Kate Becker

Mike Harbeck knows how to fly. It doesn't take wings and feathers, but it does take practice, ingenuity and the right tools. With these, Harbeck can make both his body and the machines that he engineers soar.

A mechanical engineering major, Harbeck has been pole vaulting for more than a decade. Harbeck's first coach was his father, who taught him the speed and skills needed to heft his body into the air and over the bar. "You go over the bar, and you just fly away," he said.

Harbeck capped his Cornell vaulting career with twin prizes at the 2003 Heptagonal men's track and field competitions. In March he took first place and set a new personal record for pole vault at the Indoor Championships, and earlier this month he took second place at the Outdoor Championships. The Big Red won the team title at both events.

Though Harbeck says that engineering and vaulting are, to him, "completely separate," he spent the first semester of his senior year studying how to put another improbable object into flight: a spinning cylinder. Like an airfoil (the shape that dictates the aerodynamic characteristics of an airplane wing), this "rotating cylinder kite" is kept afloat by the speed at which air flows over its surface.

For his fall semester, he joined the lab of Charles Williamson, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, to analyze how water flow affects the stability of partially immersed structures, like bridges and oil rigs. Next year Harbeck will begin studying for a master's degree in aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford University. Using computers to simulate the flow of air over an entire airplane, he hopes his research will help create better airfoils and more efficient planes. "I've always been into planes and aerospace," he said.

Harbeck's research at Cornell has given him the computer experience that will be crucial for his future work. But being a Cornell athlete has taught him the determination and the time-management skills vital for success in any field. Juggling the year-round commitment of track and field with classes and research, Harbeck somehow manages to keep all of the balls in the air. Maybe they know how to fly, too.