After a catastrophic earthquake, minutes count. Dan Cerminaro hopes to shave hours off the time it takes to get help where it’s needed most.
Cerminaro, a senior majoring in civil engineering, is working to identify quake damage without setting foot in the danger zone, or even on the same continent.
Read more from the Michigan Tech Research Magazine 2013 article by Marcia Goodrich
David Watkins (CEE) has been awarded a $430,497 five-year research grant, “WSC-Category 2 Collaborative: Robust Decision-Making for South Florida Water Resources by Ecosystem Service Valuation, Hydro-Economic Optimization, and Conflict Resolution Modeling” from NSF.
Jennifer Fuller (CEE) and David Hand (CEE) have been awarded a student fellowship for $42,000 for “Graduate Research Fellowship Program” from NSF.
Two Michigan Tech undergraduates, Morgan Owen-Cruise and Megan Dalbec, have been named winners of US Environmental Protection Agency Greater Research Opportunities (GRO) fellowships valued at $48,500 each. Nationwide, 39 of the competitive GRO fellowships were awarded.
Owen-Cruise is a chemistry major. Dalbec is an environmental engineering major with a minor in materials science and engineering.
Associate Professor Tess Ahlborn (CEE) and Co-PI Colin Brooks (Bio Sci/MTRI) have received $243,251 from the Michigan Department of Transportation for a two-year project, “Evaluation of Bridge Decks Using Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) at Near Highway Speeds for Effective Asset Management.”
Pasi Lautala (CEE), Stanley Vitton (CEE) and Gregory Graman (School of Business and Economics) have received $99,470 from the Michigan Department of Transportation for their research, “NURail Center.”
Assistant Professor R. Andrew Swartz (CEE), Brian Barkdoll (CEE) and Colin Brooks (MTRI) have received $798,548, from the US Department of Transportation for research on a 2-year project, “Automated Scour Detection Arrays Using Bio-Inspired Magnetostrictive Flow Sensors.”
Joan Chadde (CEE) has received a $70,000 research grant from the University of Wisconsin-Madison for “Meeting Transportation Workforce and Education Needs of the 21st Century.”
The fall 2012 senior design team presentations of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department were presented to the University community Tuesday, December 11 and Thursday, December 13 . This semester students in five sections have undertaken a wide range of interesting projects to fulfill the Department’s design project requirement.
List of Projects:
Portage Emergency Crossing
Instructors: Bill Leder, Bill Baxandall
FABB –Structures Team
Project Manager: Zachary Fredin
Team Members: Brandon Abel, David Bays, Woodward Beardsley
Causeway Engineering—Geotechnical/Env. Team
Project Manager: Nick Broad
Team Members: Zachary James, Mark Jakubik, Sean Pickard
Copper Country Consulting—Transportation Team
Project Manager: Jonathan Zalud
Team Members: Andrew Karsten, Jordan Hoekwater, Zachary Kukkonen
Fayette State Park
Instructor: Zeyad Ahmed
New History Consulting
Construction of the historical town site building #8, and the camp-ground restroom
Project Manager: Alex Eppert,
Team Members: Rebecca Sprys, Nathan Laukka
Michigan Water Solutions
Fayette Historical State Park Wastewater Treatment
Project Manager: Griffin Roblyer
Team Members: Mark Pittenger, Emily Lang, Joshua Strapec, Ryan Proulx
Copper Country Consulting
Modern Restroom and Shower Facility
Project Manager: Dan Brugman
Team Members: Maxwell Lesatz, Nick Yancy
Restoring Natural Rainfall runoff for Michigan Tech Campus
Instructor: Brian Barkdoll
Brooks, Gerrits, Magnuson
Team Members: Rachel Brooks, Josh Gerrits, Bryan Magnuson
Cremku Engineering
Team Members: Craig Clarke, Kurt Daavettila, Emily Baker
NKJD Engineering
Team Members: Jessica Daignault, Nathan Krause
Earth, Wind, and Water
Team Members: Bradley St. Germain Colton Lentz, Mackenzie Young
Viva Sustainable Design
Team Members: Samantha Dunne, Dustin Vreeland, Bruce Scuffham
Willis Avenue Bridge—NYC
Instructor: Mike Drewyor
Sierra Engineering And Plan-ning—Bridge Fabrication & Bridge Yard Team
Project Manager: Matt Purves
Team Members: Xiaofei Zhang, Greg Helminen, Steve Wilson
KD2M Engineering—Barge and Bridge Transport Team
Project Manager: Dylan Anderson
Team Members: Kyle Marynik, Mitch Farrar, Amanda Workman
New York Pier Builders—Pier Construction Team
Project Manager: Dustin Griesing
Team Members: Oswald, Josh Hauswirth, Kevin Nancarrow
iDesign (International Design teams)
Instructors: Dave Watkins
Pipe Bueno Engineers
Improving Accessibility to Potable Water in Yuu, Ecuador
Project Manager: Katie Valenzuela
Team Members: Noah Buikema, Brad Hildebrand, Tori Reuvers
Uno Más Engineers
Cerro Miel Aqueduct System
Project Manager: Manda Schierbeek
Team Members: Brittany Allen, Liz Jefferson, Merete Sorum
Hard Body Engineering
Engineering a Sustainable Water Distribution System in
Western Panama
Project Manager: Rebecca Bender
Team Members: Kelsey Maijala, Angella Mickowski, Cheriese Radionoff
Zapertero Engineering
Micro-Hydroelectric Power System in Majé Chimán, Panama
Project Manager: Katie Price
Team Members: Tyler Losinski, Christine Matlock, Andrea Walvatne
A sample of video clips are available on the CEE Senior Design Playlist
There are also a few sample photos at COE Flickr Set
The sixth annual conference sponsored by Michigan Tech’s international D80 Center was held on Saturday, Nov. 3, at the Great Lakes Research Center. The D80 conferences highlight service and research work done by students and faculty from Tech and elsewhere. They are open to anybody interested in design and development of projects to serve the poorest 80 percent of humanity.
On Saturday evening, a program called D80 Buzz featured 15 speakers, following a format called Pecha Kucha 20×20, in which each speaker shows 20 slides for 20 seconds each, talking as the slides auto-forward. It is a format developed in 2003 by two architects to counter what they call “the tendency of creative people to talk too much.”
Dedicated to prosperity by design, the D80 Center at Michigan Tech works to assist the most vulnerable 80 percent of humanity in meeting their basic needs for food, water, shelter, sanitation, waste disposal, energy, income and education. Tech students, faculty and staff work on projects on campus and in economically developing communities around the world.
The participants were:
7:00 pm, Jonathan May, Developing a sustainable water source in rural Guatemala
7:10 pm, Katie Valenzuela, No tome la chicha (Don’t drink the chicha)
7:20 pm, Jess Hammersley, Technology Abroad
7:30 pm, Miriam Rios-Sanchez, Remote sensing: A rapid assessment tool to use in water resources studies in developing countries
7:40 pm, Gerard Caneba, Summer 2012 visit to Uganda
7:50 pm, Helena Keller, Monkey Business
8:00 pm, Mark DeYoung, Dealing With the Pits
8:10 pm, Brennan Tymrak, Using Appropedia as a Research Platform for Sustainable Development
8:40 pm, Dave Watkins, The Six Americas as Viewed from India
8:50 pm, Nicole Westphal, Pavlis in India
9:00 pm, Richelle Winkler, Solar Water Disinfection with Salt– Investigating Applications
9:10 pm, Ty Losinski, Micro-Hydro Power in a Coconut Shell!
9:20 pm, Andrea Walvatne, Cooking in a Guatemalan Kitchen
9:30 pm, Kelli Whelan, Up in Smoke: Kitchen 2.0
9:40 pm, Rebecca Bender, Hard Body Engineering, Water Distribution in the Hills of Panama
Michigan Tech Research Institute (Ann Arbor) researchers shared their posters and time to talk about their work during a day-long poster presentation session in the Atrium of the Dow Environmental Sciences and Engineering Building. Numerous faculty and students had the chance to study the posters and meet with the researchers for potential internships, collaboration and inspiration.
View pictures and video clips and links to research project posters and more information
The Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) is holding their summer meeting at Michigan Tech. The CUTC’s membership represents over 70 of the nation’s leading university-based transportation research and education programs. The purpose for the program is to advance the state-of-the-art in all modes and disciplines of transportation and improve the nation’s mobility, economy, and defense. The CUTC provides a forum for improving and enhancing research and education in transportation and related areas.
The Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) was established in 1979 by the major transportation research centers and institutes in the United States.
The Great Lakes Research Center dedication ceremony for Michigan Technological University’s newest building was on Thursday, Aug. 2. The speakers were Michigan Tech President Glenn Mroz; Stephen Hicks, chair of the Board of Control; and Guy Meadows, director of Great Lakes initiatives at the GLRC.
The three-story, 50,000-square-foot center has three distinct areas: a boathouse for the University’s three research vessels and environmental monitoring buoy network, a complex of research laboratories, and a public area that includes conference facilities and space for K-12 education.
Read more about it from news media stories and view Video News Clips
The Rail Transportation Program (RTP), a part of the Michigan Tech Transportation Institute (MTTI), recently received program funding from two industry partners.
The National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC), a national trade organization representing railroad construction and maintenance contractors and suppliers, gave $5,000 to the RTP.
Norfolk Southern (NS) Railroad has provided $20,000 to the RTP.
Both awards will support student activities, said Director Pasi Lautala.
Pasi Lautala, research assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering and director of the Rail Transportation Program, was quoted in Progressive Railroading magazine as part of its coverage of the 2012 Railroad Engineering Education Symposium. See Lautala.
Research Assistant Professor Pasi Lautala (CEE/MTTI) and CoPIs Assistant Professor John Hill (ME-EM) and Assistant Professor Paul Sanders (MSE) have received $400,000 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for a two-year project, “National University Rail Transportation and Education Center (NURail).”
Associate Professor Eric Seagren (CEE/SFI) and CoPIs Assistant Professor Thomas Oommen (GMES/SFI) and Associate Professor Stan Vitton (CEE/SFI) have received $202,912 from NSF for a three-year project, “Biomediated Geomechanical Processes for Dust Mitigation and Monitoring at Mine Tailings Impoundments.”
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