'WILL IT WORK?' Stacy Segowski seems to be wondering, as she shuts the door on a tiny coin-operated chewing-gum vending machine fitted into the back of an airliner seat.

Segowski and fellow mechanical engineering team members Gary Bruff, Chad Reed, Derrick Anderson and Jason Schultz designed and built this prototype for alum Scott Halpert, a local entrepreneur. Halpert thinks the device would not only help passengers bothered by popping ears, but relieve passenger demands on stewardesses as well.

After designing the dispenser and making a wooden mold, the students got it vacuum-formed plastic. Electrical engineering students gave them a hand with the electronics. The machine is 5" x 5" by 3', holds eight standard-sizes packs of gum and complies with FAA safety regulations.

Twenty-eight other student projects were displayed at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics' third annual exposition of work of students in 'ME 450-Senior Mechanical Design.'

Most of` the projects were sponsored by state industries. including General Motors, Johnson Controls, ARI General, ITT` Automotive, Ervin Industry-PDC, Sarns 3M, Aeroequip and the NTN Technical Center.

Oh, yes; the tiny vending machine worked reliably, and its designers pointed out that it could dispense products other than gum just as well.--JW.