Student: Robert Rankin

Senior engineering major and inventor Robert Rankin is changing the game.“I’ve always liked to put things together and mess around with stuff and try to figure things out,” said Rankin. “It’s always been my passion to be an engineer or to make things.”

While working as the equipment manager for the East Carolina University baseball team his sophomore year, Rankin put his tinkering skills into practice by automating a decades-old tradition in baseball – mud rubbing.

Before use, baseballs are scrubbed with a special blend of mud that reduces slip and increases friction, ensuring that pitchers will be able to grip them.

“We were sitting there rubbing baseballs…with Lena Blackburne’s baseball rubbing mud,” said Rankin. “I was like, man there’s got to be an automated way to do this (where) you just throw them in there and it does it for you. And my manager, he was like, yeah man, look it up.”

When Rankin didn’t find what he was looking for, he decided to make it himself. Using a five-gallon bucket and supplies from around his house, Rankin built his first prototype. “I put it together and it worked really well,” said Rankin. “You just put the baseballs in there, you turn it on and it spins the baseballs and at that time, you just put mud on the pad. In a minute, they’re done.”

After receiving positive responses from college baseball teams about his invention, Rankin approached the dean of engineering, Dr. Hayden Griffin, who directed him to the Entrepreneur Initiative. There, he met Marty Hackney. Hackney helped Rankin develop a business plan that could help introduce his invention to the masses.

For over two years, Rankin has also worked closely with Greenville machinist Sean Flanagan. “I paid him to make my machine, and then eventually he realized that I could do some things, specifically electric stuff because I (work in) mechanical engineering.” While Flanagan tackled mechanical tasks such as welding, Rankin began researching electrical engineering.

“I ended up picking some electronics and controllers to put into the machine,” said Rankin. “I got it working right and (Flanagan) saw that I could do that and he had a couple other projects I started working on.”

Rankin continues to hone his invention, recently starting plans to equip it with touch-screen technology.

“Baseball’s about consistency, so in order for a pitcher to be consistent and a batter to be consistent, you’ve got to remove all sources of human error – things that the player can’t control,” said Rankin. “That’s my main point about this machine is that it’ll remove the human error.”

Rankin is in the process of obtaining a provisional patent on his invention. He is set to graduate in May.

Statistics

College: College of Engineering and Technology

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Age: 22

Classification/Year: Senior

Hometown: Burgaw, NC

Hobbies & Interests: Product development, renewable energy research, working on my ‘85 Fiero, woodworking, trying to play guitar

Favorites

Favorite place to eat:  EC Pho

Favorite Movie: The Original Star Wars Trilogy

Favorite website: Kickstarter.com; Gizmodo.com

Favorite place on campus: Clark-LeClair Stadium

Favorite class: Thermodynamics, Heat and Mass Transfer, Robotics and Unmanned Systems

Favorite band/musician: Alan Jackson, Eric Clapton, Kygo

Motivations

Professor who influenced you the most: Dr. John Reis. His enthusiasm toward engineering and willingness to approach problems with an open perspective has truly supported my passion to become an engineer.

The one thing you cannot live without: Coffee and Oreos

Role Model: Seneca, Elon Musk, Richard Branson

Your words to live by: “Life, if well lived, is long enough”
– Seneca