Category: News

The week of May 18th ME-EM hosted the semi-annual NSF I/UCRC Industrial Advisory Board meeting for the Center for Novel High Voltage/Temperature Materials and Structures (HVT). The meeting was organized by Site Director Greg Odegard (ME-EM) and Co-Directors Julie King (ChE) and Paul Sanders (MSE).

The meeting was attended by 46 faculty, graduate students and Industrial Advisory Board members from Michigan Tech’s Departments of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Engineering; University of Denver, University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne and Boeing, Bonneville Power Administration, BP, CTC Global, General Cable, John Crane Inc. Global, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Southwire Company and Western Area Power Administration.

The mission of the HVT Center is to develop and evaluate new materials and structures for a range of HVT technological applications, particularly for the power transmission and aerospace industries.

The HVT Center has entered its second year of operation; the meeting was focused on the review of the current projects, proposals for future research and discussions on directions for Center growth. The Center is jointly funded by NSF and the Industrial Advisory Board member companies.

A Senior Design team won top prize at the Air Force Research Lab University Design Challenge with its design for a wearable cooling device for soldiers in the field.

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There are two ways to measure sounds: actively and passively. “Passive acoustics is just listening to whatever is out there,” says Andrew Barnard, an assistant professor in mechanical engineering studying acoustics at Michigan Tech. He helped install a passive hydrophone system off the dock at the Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC), which is a unique set-up under the ice.

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The Michigan Tech Mechanical Engineering version of the Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education PACE Engineering Design Competition was held on April 23, 2015.

Photo Gallery is on 2015 ME-EM PACE Contest at Flickr

Project Description: The design project is mainly involving CAD modeling of a real world example but designed by the students specially for the competition. The students apply the skill they learned on Modeling, Assemblies, and drafting.  Some of them may include analysis and animations.  The students are required to select a project on their own and it should be original. They as a team will create the parts and assemblies and present at the competition. CAD modeling/assembly with analysis, of any equipment used in the project.

Judges for April 2015 PACE were KVC Rao, Michigan Tech ME-EM; John Baker, Siemens; Radheshyam Tewari, Michigan Tech ME-EM; Christopher Morgan, General Motors; Laura McCausland, General Motors; Andrew Rohr, General Motors; Chris Eaton, General Motors.

Judging Criteria
Form — Design Concept, Creativity, Perceived Value, Safety
Fit — Physical Model (realism, aesthetics, detail, supporting design)
Function — Design Parameters and Performance (math models, simulations, spreadsheets, etc.)
Presentation — Effective, Professional, Credible
Teamwork and Collaboration

See all the rest of the photos at Photo Gallery is on 2015 ME-EM PACE Contest at Flickr

Student innovators filled the ballroom of the Memorial Union Building on Thursday, April 16, and the space buzzed with conversation and the occasional metallic clank. More than 600 Michigan Technological University students participated, through Senior Design teams and the Enterprise Program.

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The Keweenaw Research Center and the Department of Mechanical Engineering–Engineering Mechanics at Michigan Tech hosted the 2015 SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge— from March 2-7, 2015 and have hosted it for the last 12 years. The mission of this challenge is to design a snowmobile that achieves reduced emissions and noise characteristics while keeping performance equal to or better than the performance of stock snowmobiles. Find out more at the 2015 SAE Clean Snowmobile Summary Report