College of Engineering Blog

More than 50 Senior Design and two dozen Enterprise teams converged on the Memorial Union Thursday, and their projects were as impressive as they were varied.

The Union filled up early as crowds, judges, media and local school children checked out the inventive creativity on display.

Photos and a list of winners can be viewed at the www.expo.mtu.edu website

Videos of Award Winning Teams

Senior Design Taking first place was Bioabsorbable Polymer-Coated Metal Stent Degradation Simulation Design. The students devised a better way to check for the degrading of stents, which are inserted into arteries, both in vitro (in the lab) and in vivo (in the living subject). Team members were Kristina Price, Brendan Daun, Thomas Faulkner, Erin Larson, Derek Yesmunt and David Strobel (Biomedical Engineering); and Kelsey Waugh and Matt Gardeski (MSE). The team was sponsored by Boston Scientific and advised by Associate Professor Jeremy Goldman (Biomedical Engineering) and Associate Professor Jaroslaw Drelich (MSE).

Second place went to the Economic Recovery of Alloying Elements from Grinding Swarf. The students speculated that they could help metal-grinding operations reclaim cobalt and nickel, in addition to other metals, from the waste or “swarf.” It could produce as much as $1.75 million in a year. The team consisted of Alicia Steele (MSE/ME); and Daniel Hein, Michael Wyzlic and Nicholas Kraft (MSE). They worked with the Casting Services Group of ThyssenKrupp. Jaroslaw Drelich was their advisor, too.

Third place was Portage Health Noise Monitoring Device, an ingenious invention to warn of unacceptable noise levels in a hospital setting. The team was J. Ethan Lynch, Shaubhik Bhattacharjee, Trent Jansen and J. Nathan Willemstein (Biomedical Engineering); and Lynn Giesler (Biomedical Engineering/ME). Advisors were Professor Michael Neuman (Biomedical Engineering) and Associate Professor Keat Ghee Ong (Biomedical Engineering).

Enterprise First place went to IT Oxygen, with team leader Garrett Lord (Computer Engineering/CNSA) and advisor Bob Maatta, professor of practice in the School of Technology.

Second place was Blizzard Baja, with team leaders Joseph DeHaan, Andrew Glaeser, Brett Schulte and Matt Rebandt (ME). Their advisor was Senior Lecturer Brett Hamlin (Engineering Fundamentals).

Finally, Aqua Terra Tech won third place, with team leaders Zach Guerrero (Environmental Engineering) and Neil Baltes (GMES). Advisor was Professor John Gierke (GMES).

Patents and Future Innovators In a new twist, teams were invited to apply for patents, and a couple of awards were given out.

The Best Technical Specification Award went to Magnetically Damped Suspended Isolation System, submitted by ME majors Oskar Strojny, Jake Simula and Brian Turner.

The Best Prior Art Review and Competitive Analysis Award went to Scanning Tunneling Microscope Tip Actuator System, submitted by Ryan James, Kyle Smith, Scott Schmitt, Patrick McGraw and Lee Anderson (EE) and Chris Cerovec (Computer Engineering).

Organizers of the event were especially excited about the patent competition and look forward to growing this new component of the Expo in the future.

The school children also had a hand in awards. The Future Innovator Awards, voted on by Hancock and Chassell middle-school students, went to the Pet-Friendly Motorcycle Sidecar Senior Design team with members Brad Lynn, Joseph Supinsky and Jan Zlebek (MET), advised by Associate Professor John Irwin (SOT); and Robotic Systems Enterprise team with leaders Colin Putters (School of Business and Economics) and Megan Crowley (SFRES), advised by Assistant Professor Aleksandr Sergeyev (SOT).

Photos at the www.expo.mtu.edu website

The 14^th Annual Western Upper Peninsula Science Fair AND Science & Engineering Festival was held Tuesday, March 27, 2012  at the Memorial Union Building on Michigan Tech’s campus. Three hundred fifty students in grades 4-8 have entered projects into the Western UP Science Fair.

The Science & Engineering Festival showcased more than two dozen fun, hands-on activities conducted by more than one hundred Michigan Tech and Finlandia University students and local organizations, in the MUB Commons area.  The Festival is open to ALL elementary students, accompanied by an adult.

 See  the results of the  judging of projects at the Western U.P. Center Science Fair Website

Some of the festival activities include:

• Bubble-making
• Squeeze an Egg
• Design A Launcher
• Build a Water Tower
• Geodesic Dome Challenge
•  Glow Germ
• Healthy or NOT?
• Hybrid Vehicle Mobile Lab!
• Remotely-Operated Underwater Vehicles

Students from sixteen schools in Houghton, Baraga, Ontonagon and Gogebic Counties participated: CJ Sullivan Elementary, P. Latendresse Elementary, Chassell Elementary, CLK Elementary, E.B. Holman School, Houghton Elementary, Barkell Elementary, Lake Linden-Hubbell Elementary, South Range Elementary, Dollar Bay-Tamarack City Schools, Arvon Township School, Houghton Middle School, Lake Linden-Hubbell Middle School, LL Wright Middle School, and Watersmeet School.  Students submit projects on experiments they conducted using the scientific method. They are judged on the scientific content of their written report, a display and an oral interview with two judges.    

 Nearly 200 Michigan Tech faculty, staff and students, Finlandia students, area teachers, and community members assist with this exciting event.

The Western UP Science Fair and the Science & Engineering Festival is sponsored by the Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education, Michigan Tech Chapter of American Society for Engineering Education, Michigan Technological University, and the Carnegie Museum.

For more information about the Western UP Science Fair, please visit Western U.P. Center. Results and pictures from this year’s Science Fair will be posted on this website.

The public can view the Award-winning projects from April 10- May 11 at the Carnegie Museum in Houghton. A grand opening and Family Science & Engineering Evening are planned for 6:30-8 pm, Tuesday, April 10, at the Carnegie Museum. Open to all.