Archive for April 2012

ME-EM Department lecturer Charles Margraves was awarded Teacher of the Year from The ME-EM Student Advisory Board.

SPRING 2012 OUTSTANDING STUDENT AWARDS

At the annual ME-EM Senior Awards Banquet on April 17, several awards were presented to students.

Enterprise Students
Robert Page, advisor to the Hybrid Electric Vehicle Enterprise, nominated Travis Spilling for the Outstanding Enterprise Student award. For two semesters, Travis has served as the leader of the Mechanical Team, the largest team in the Enterprise with 23 students. He has provided strong leadership and organizational skills to the undergraduate and graduate students who work in the three sub-groups on this team. He has provided guidance on powertrain issues and has coordinated the development of several innovative solutions for the vehicle that will soon reach fruition. In addition, he has mentored several younger students who are now ready to step up to take their place as leaders. Travis’ dedication and humor will be greatly missed.

John Gershenson, Velovations Enterprise advisor, nominated Justin Schrand. Dr. Gershenson said Justin has led a year and a half long project that has resulted in two products and a wireless system that our sponsor is using to literally revolutionize the mountain bike industry. His great project leadership and work ethic led to great success.

Senior Capstone Design Students
Michele Miller nominated nominate Brian Oestreich from Team 2 Dual-Speed Auto-Shift Landing Gear sponsored by Jost International. The team developed a new trailer landing gear system. Producing a prototype that could achieve the project goals required a combination of creativity, analysis, practical know-how, adaptability, and, especially, hard work. The whole team contributed to the success of the project, but Brian, in particular, lived this project. If you look up gearhead in the dictionary, you might find Brian’s picture. He brought considerable knowledge and skill to the project, and, with the many hours put into this project, became that much more expert in the design and fabrication of complex gear systems.

Chuck Margraves, advisor for Team 7 Diesel Engine Air Shutoff Valve sponsored by Cummins, nominated Jay Anderson, saying he found Jay to be one of the most proactive students he has dealt with. Jay continually kept to the teams schedule and was not derailed when there were unexpected delays. He showed a maturity well beyond his years in not panicking when it looked like an important piece of equipment would not be delivered on time. Instead he and the team focused on completing all other necessary tasks so that when the equipment did arrive they would be ready to go.

Finally, Advisor Mike LaCourt nominated two students, Neil Rumschlag and Tyler Muckenhirn, from Team 11 Hydraulic Power Unit Efficiency Optimization sponsored by MTS. Mike said that Neil has been very inspirational throughout the project. He has worked well with all of the team members asking them to work in the areas where there experience can be most beneficial to the project. From his previous experience he has brought leadership and insight that has been beneficial from the start of the project to its successful completion. Tyler, although a late addition to the team, has shown that he can produce in an environment that is new and challenging, bringing a positive, enthusiastic demeanor and strong work ethic. Through his leadership, the team looked at expanded areas of design and analysis that helped the project be something that the customer and the university can look at as a success story.

Link to Photos of the ME-EM Senior Awards Banquet

John Soyring was the keynote speaker at the Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics Department Senior Awards Banquet.

After graduating from Michigan Tech with a BSEE in 1976, the L’Anse, Michigan native John Soyring joined IBM. During his 36 career with IBM, he has held a variety of technical, professional, managerial and executive positions within the company.

Syring was involved in global business leadership for a multi-billion dollar annual revenue portion of the IBM software business. This role included functional leadership for strategy, research & development, marketing & sales, business development, product support, and services related to the IBM offerings that include: software solutions for enterprises in 17 global industries; IBM System z software products; and a set of software solutions related to emerging technologies, such as: RFID, new retailing solutions and speech recognition.

He is a member of the Industry Advisory Council of the American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES). He is also a member of the Industry Advisory Board of Michigan Technological University.

In addition to John’s normal IBM duties, he has successfully lobbied members of the US congress to support the normalization of trade with both China and Singapore. John was also involved with IBM’s work to convince the Chinese Communist Party to allow citizen’s of the People’s Republic of China to have access to the internet.

A video of John Soyring’s address to students is on the Mechanical Engineering Channel on Vimeo

All of the graduating seniors were inducted Order of the Engineer and recieved a ring.  After the Obligation Oath for Induction into the Order of the Engineer, the inductees signed the certificate of acceptance.

Ben Mitchell, a PhD student in mechanical engineering, and Wade Aitken-Palmer, a student in the Peace Corps Master’s International program, have been working on the business idea since last year. Mitchell said the inspiration began with his stint in the Peace Corps a couple of years before that.

Link to Facebook page:
BaisikeliUgunduzi

Read More

See WLUC TV 6 Video Clip

MEEM Seminar April 19th: Ida Ngambeki, School of Engineering Education, Purdue University
Thursday, April 19, 2012 Room 302, ME-EM Bldg. 2:00 – 3:00 p.m

Title: Exploring the relationship between person and thing orientations and technical aptitudes

One of the most prominent problems in engineering today is the low level of retention of engineering students and persistence into engineering careers. Technical aptitudes are believed to be a contributing factor to engineering students’ success and therefore, persistence. While in other professional fields a number of studies have demonstrated a strong relationship between
student interests and abilities and professional entrance and retention, little is understood about how interest affects career preferences in engineering. This seminar will examine the interaction between technical aptitudes, specifically spatial and mechanical aptitudes, and interest operationalized as a differential orientation to persons called Person Orientation (PO), distinguished by an interest in interpersonal interactions, and an orientation to things called
Thing Orientation (TO), distinguished by a desire for mastery over objects. The implications of the interactions between aptitudes and interests for persistence in engineering will be discussed.

Ida Ngambeki is a doctoral candidate in the School of Engineering Education
at Purdue University with a concentration in Ecological Sciences and Engineering. Originally from Uganda, she got her B.S. in Engineering from Smith College in Northampton MA in 2007. She is Vice Chair of the Graduate Engineering Education Consortium for Students and an associate member of
the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society. Her research interests include motivation and interest in engineering, engineering and public policy, the
use of artifacts in engineering, and the development of engineering cognition.

View PDF

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

MEEM Graduate Seminar April 19th:
Jing Wang Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of South Florida

Thursday, Apr. 19, 2012 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Room 112, ME-EM Bldg.

Dr. Jing Wang received the dual B.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering and from Tshinghua University in 1999. He received two M.S. degrees from the University of Michigan, one in electrical engineering (2000), the other in mechanical engineering (2002), and a Ph.D. degree from University of Michigan in 2006. Dr. Wang joined University of South Florida as an Assistant Professor and started the RF MEMS Transducers Laboratory in 2006. His research interests include micro/nanofabrication technologies, functional nanomaterials, micromachined sensors and actuators, RF/Microwave/THz devices. His research has been funded by grants from federal agencies (NSF, DTRA, US Army) and contracts from industries. He serves as the faculty advisor for Florida IMAPS and AVS student chapters and the
chairperson for IEEE joint MTT/AP/ED Florida West Coast Section. Recently, he has joined the prestigious IEEE MTT Technical Coordinating Committee 21 (TCC-21) on RF MEMS.

Abstract

Title: Functional Nanocomposite Materials for RF/MW Device Applications

A wide variety of fuctional nanomaterials have attracted considerable attention from both academia and industries for their application in chemical, biomedical and microelectronic devices; however the successful implementation of such type of materials in RF and microwave device applications is relatively limited. In this talk, magneto-dielectric polymer nanocomposites will be introduced as a new class of functional materials well suited for RF device applications. Magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles, with sub-8nm diameters and tight size distribution, are synthesized and homogeneously dispersed in Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to enhance the microwave properties of the engineered RF substrate by increasing the relative permeability and relative permittivity. Moreover, these properties can be further improved by a dc magnetic field with strength achievable with regular permanent magnets. This work not only presents the first experimental implementation of magneto-dielectric nanocomposite engineered substrates
for RF antennas with 3-5 GHz operational frequencies, but also correlates the unique magneto-dielectric properties to the key antenna performance metrics (e.g. bandwidth, efficiency and dimensions). Aside from RF antenna applications, a new type of injection-moldable polymer nanocomposites with tailored thermal, mechanical and electrical properties have also been explored to enable a unique approach for heterogeneous integration of multichip modules on a single silicon platform. The talk will be concluded with brief discussion of several other ongoing activities within the RF MEMS Transducers group at USF which focus on implementation of a variety of nanostructured materials in form of nanolaminated ultra-thin films or nanorod array in RF/MW/THz devices

View the PDF

Four Michigan Tech students have received graduate research fellowships from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Six other Tech students received honorable mentions in the competition. Nationwide, the NSF awarded 2,000 fellowships and 1,835 honorable mentions.

Mark Hopkins, mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics; Brennan Tymrak, mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics and Peace Corps Master’s International; Jennifer Fuller, civil and environmental engineering; and Liz Cloos, electrical and computer engineering, received NSF fellowships for graduate study. Bryan Plunger, Alan Olds, Evan Lucas, Hilary Morgan, Byrel Mitchell and Patrick Bowen earned honorable mentions.

NSF graduate research fellowships recognize and support outstanding graduate students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees. The fellows receive a $30,000 annual stipend for three years, plus international research and professional development opportunities and supercomputer access. Each fellow’s institution receives a $12,000 allowance.

“This group is exceptional and well deserving of the awards and honors,” said Jodi Lehman, coordinator of sponsored programs enhancement. Lehman worked closely with the NSF graduate research fellowship applicants. “Their success is also largely due to faculty and administrators who are committed to providing our students with the challenging academic experiences, innovative research, leadership training, and local and global outreach opportunities that make Michigan Tech applicants competitive.”

MEEM Graduate Seminar: Thursday April 12, 2012 4:00-5:00 p.m., ME-EM building, Room 112

Kurt Schneider, Engineering Group Manager, Global N & V CAE and Structural Vibration, General Motors

Kurt Schneider is currently an Engineering Group Manager at
General Motors. His responsibilities includes noise and vibration
computer aided simulation, and structural vibrations across all of
GM’s products in their global market. Through his 22 year career at
General Motors, he has been a part of multiple vehicle programs in
the roles of hardware testing and development, computer aided
engineering, and advanced methods development, primarily in the
areas of noise and vibrations related phenomena.

Kurt holds a BSME from GMI Engineering & Management Institute (now called Kettering University), as well as an MSE from the University of Michigan. He is also a licensed professional engineer. He has published multiple papers on such topics as FRF based substructuring, path analysis, and simulation techniques. He has worked with software
vendors in the development of methods and tools related to substructuring and component mode synthesis that are now found in commercial simulation tools used throughout industry.

Topic: Importance of Structural Vibrations to Mechanical Engineer

Structural dynamics is a fundamental part of all designs of mechanical system. At the heart of structural dynamics is structural vibrations. Most every product ever put into production has a structural component. This spans from such small items as computer fans and hard disk drives, to bridges and high rise buildings. All of these things must consider how the structure moves dynamically, and the effects of this motion on the function, durability, and safety of the product. In this presentation, an overview of the broad field of structural vibrations is presented. Motivation for all mechanical engineers to be firmly founded in this topic is given, and an overview of the rich areas of future research is presented.

Link for Seminar abstract

The 14th 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

MEEM Graduate Seminar April 5th:
Thursday April 5, 2012 4:00-5:00 p.m.
ME-EM building, Room 112

Stephen W. Rouhana
Ford Research & Advanced Engineering

In 2008, Dr. Stephen W. Rouhana was featured in television ads for Ford Motor Company. He obtained a PhD and MS in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He received three simultaneous BS degrees in Physics, Mathematics, and Religious Studies (magna cum laude) from Manhattan College.

After 17 years with the General Motors Research Laboratories, he joined Ford Motor Company. He is their Senior Technical Leader for Safety in Research & Advanced Engineering Department. He heads the Biomechanics and Occupant Protection Group in the Passive Safety Research & Advanced Engineering Department and serves as Chairman of the Occupant Safety Research Partnership; a consortium formed in 1992 by Ford, General Motors and Chrysler for research on advanced crash test dummies. His areas of interest are impact biomechanics, the development of crash test dummies, injury assessment strategies and advanced safety concepts.
As a SAE Fellow, he Chairs the SAE Impulse Noise Task Force of the Inflatable Restraints Standards Committee and the SAE Dummy Abdomen-Pelvis Round Robin Task Force. Dr. Rouhana is a member of the Stapp Car Crash Conference Advisory Committee and is on the Editorial Board of the Stapp Car Crash Journal. He serves on the Industrial Advisory Board of the Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies (C-ChIPS) at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and on the External Advisory Board for the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM), the American Society of Biomechanics, and Sigma Xi (the National Research Honor Society).

In 2003, he was awarded the US Government Award for Safety Engineering Excellence, “In recognition of and appreciation for exceptional scientific contributions in the field of motor vehicle safety engineering and for distinguished service to the motoring public”. In 2011, he received the Award of Merit (the highest technical award) from the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine. In 2012 he became a Fellow in AIMBE. He is a two time recipient of the John Paul Stapp Award and the SAE Arnold W. Siegel Awards. Additional awards include the SAE Ralph H. Isbrandt Automotive
Safety Engineering Award, the SAE Arch T. Colwell Merit Award, the General Motors Research Laboratories Charles L. McCuen Special Achievement Award and General Motors’ highest technical honor, the Charles F. Kettering Award. He has 7 patents with another 3 pending

Engineering Considerations in Automotive Safety – A Case Study in Ford’s Inflatable Seat Belts

Automotive manufacturers consider numerous factors when designing their vehicles. Among these factors, biomechanical considerations are an integral part of the development of new safety systems. The process of developing a new safety system includes identifying a potential realworld safety enhancement, obtaining basic biomechanical knowledge, developing a design concept, building prototypes of the concept, testing the prototypes, and assessing potentially adverse effects. That process will be the focus of this discussion, using the development of the world’s first production automotive inflatable safety belt system as an example. This talk will
also touch on the current state of automotive safety and some of the emerging trends for future consideration by vehicle safety researchers.