Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering News

Category: Students

2017 Best Paper Award of ASCE Journal of Aerospace Engineering Goes to Michigan Tech Collaborators

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Dr. Qingli Dai, Associate Professor, Civil Engineering
Xiao 2
Xiao Sun, graduated PhD, Civil Engineering

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Qingli (Barbara) Dai and her former PhD student, Xiao Sun (first author) along with Mechanical Engineering faculty, Dr. Fernando Ponta and Mechanical Engineering graduate student, Muraleekrishnan Menom have been selected to receive the 2017 Best Paper Award of ASCE Journal of Aerospace Engineering (JAE).

The award will be received at the awards banquet of the 2018 Earth and Space Conference, held in Cleveland, Ohio in April for their paper “Design and Simulation of Active External Trailing-Edge Flaps for Wind Turbine Blades on Load Reduction” by Xiao Sun, Qingli Dai, Muraleekrishnan Menon and Fernando Ponta –  https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)AS.1943-5525.0000771.  The research done for this paper was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

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Kiran Udayakumar is the Braun Intertec 2017 Co-op of the Year

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Kiran Udayakumar holding the Braun Intertec award.
Kiran Udayakumar holding the Braun Intertec award.

Environmental engineering graduate student Kiran Udayakumar has been selected as the Braun Intertec 2017 Co-op of the Year. In 2017, Udayakumar completed a six-month field testing co-op internship in the Braun Intertec Williston, North Dakota office. Operations Supervisor Jeremiah Gibson says, “Kiran’s performance exceeded all expectations and he exemplifies a well-educated engineer on his way to a successful career.”

Udayakumar quickly the learned the procedures and methods for testing constructions materials with an awareness to safety and best engineering practices. He was selected for OSHA 10 training so that he could work on Oilfield projects, like The Dakota Access Pipeline, and highway projects, such as the Lewis and Clark Bridge, Bureau of Indian Affairs Hwy 12.

I couldn’t have done this without the constant support of my advisor and mentor Martin Auer and my mentors Sarah Bird and Darnishia Slade who gave me constant support and motivation throughout the co op.Kiran Udayakumar

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Environmental Engineering Freshman Accepted Into the Santa Fe Institute’s 2018 REU Summer Program

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MaddieGrad

Maddie Barrie, a freshman in the Environmental Engineering Program at Michigan Tech, has recently been selected to participate in the Santa Fe Institute’s 2018 Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) summer program.

The program provides students with a ten-week residential research opportunity where students, in collaboration with a mentor, develop a research project dealing with real-world complex systems.

In addition to the experience, Maddie’s housing, meals and a stipend will be provided to her during her time at the Santa Fe Institute.

 

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Rail Transportation Program Announces CN Scholarship Winners

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Students on a train

The Michigan Tech Rail Transportation Program (RTP) is delighted to announce three 2018 winners of the CN Railway Scholarship. CN Railway has been an industry partner of the RTP since 2010, and in 2013 established an endowed fellowship that provides support for the RTP and scholarships to students attending Michigan Tech and involved in the rail industry. Aaron Dean (4th year, MEEM), Clarice Hill (2nd year, MEEM) and Alex Christmas (2nd year, CEE) will all receive a $1000 scholarship from the CN Endowment fund. Scholarship winners are selected each year by RTP’s Rail Transportation Advisory Board.

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Ecker and Mustafa Help You Make the Most of the Latest AISC Manual

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Steel Construction Manual book cover and interior

Civil engineering Master’s student Nathan Ecker has co-authored an article “Making the Most of the Manual” in the January 2018 issue of Modern Steel Construction. The second author, Muaaz Mustafa, recently graduated from from Bradley University with an MS in civil engineering. Both were American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) interns this past summer.

The article refers to the 15th Edition of the AISC Steel Construction Manual.

MAKING THE MOST OF THE MANUAL

A bevy of resources will help optimize your use of the latest AISC Manual, thus helping you optimize your steel-framed projects.

IN CASE YOU HAVEN’T HEARD, the 15th Edition of the AISC Steel Construction Manual is here! Accompanying its release are some useful, free resources that are at available at www.aisc.org/manualresources. These include the new Version 15.0 Design Examples, Shapes Database and Historical Shapes Database, Basic Design Values Cards and Interactive Reference list. These resources will help you make the most of the new 15th Edition Manual as well as the new 2016 AISC Specification for Structural Steel Buildings (ANSI/ AISC 360, available at www.aisc.org/specifications).

Read more at Modern Steel Construction, by Nathan Ecker and Muaaz Mustafa.

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Green Film Series: Issues & Dialogue

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(mostly) 3rd Thursdays each month, January – May 2018
Location: G002 Hesterberg Hall, Michigan Tech Forestry Bldg.
Time: 7:00-8:30 pm; enjoy coffee, dessert, and facilitated discussion
Cost: FREE, $3 suggested donation

changes
Jan. 18 – This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate Presents powerful portraits of communities on the front lines, from Montana’s Powder River Basin to the Alberta Tar Sands, from South India to Beijing and beyond. Interwoven with these stories is author Nina Klein’s narration, connecting the carbon in the air with the economic system that put it there. Klein builds to her most exciting idea: that we can seize the crisis of climate change to transform our economic system into something radically better.

 

Feb. 15 - FREIGHTENED: The Real Price of Shipping Goods 90% of goods consumed in the West are manufactured in far-off lands and brought to us by ship. The industry is a key player in world economy forming the basis of our modern civiliza-tion—without shipping, it would be impossible to fulfil the ever-increasing demands of our societies. The film reveals an invisible industry that supplies 7 billion humans and holds the key to our economy, our environment and our civilization.
Feb. 15 – FREIGHTENED: The Real Price of Shipping Goods
90% of goods consumed in the West are manufactured in far-off lands and brought to us by ship. The industry is a key player in world economy forming the basis of our modern civiliza-tion—without shipping, it would be impossible to fulfil the ever-increasing demands of our societies. The film reveals an invisible industry that supplies 7 billion humans and holds the key to our economy, our environment and our civilization.
Friday, March 23 - An American Ascent (202 Great Lakes Research Center) First ascent of Denali attempted by an all African American team. In only a few decades in the U.S., people of color will outnumber today's white majority for the first time. Yet, a staggering number of people in this soon-to-be majority do not consider the outdoors as a place for them. By taking on the grueling 20,310’ peak of the continent's biggest mountain, nine African-American climbers set out to shrink this Adventure Gap, promoting inclusion in the outdoor/adventure community. The film chronicles the challenges of climbing one of the world’s most iconic peaks.
Friday, March 23 – An American Ascent (202 Great Lakes Research Center)
First ascent of Denali attempted by an all African American team. In only a few decades in the U.S., people of color will outnumber today’s white majority for the first time. Yet, a staggering number of people in this soon-to-be majority do not consider the outdoors as a place for them. By taking on the grueling 20,310’ peak of the continent’s biggest mountain, nine African-American climbers set out to shrink this Adventure Gap, promoting inclusion in the outdoor/adventure community. The film chronicles the challenges of climbing one of the world’s most iconic peaks.
April 19 - The Creeping Garden Real life science fiction exploring a world creeping right beneath our feet, where time and space are magnified and intelligence redefined. Exploring the work of scientists, mycologists and artists, and their relationship with the extraordinary plasmodial slime mold which is being used to explore biological-inspired design, emergence theory, unconventional computing and robot controllers.
April 19 – The Creeping Garden
Real life science fiction exploring a world creeping right beneath our feet, where time and space are magnified and intelligence redefined. Exploring the work of scientists, mycologists and artists, and their relationship with the extraordinary plasmodial slime mold which is being used to explore biological-inspired design, emergence theory, unconventional computing and robot controllers.
May 17 - Burned: Are Trees the New Coal? A look at the controversy of creating energy using biomass. Film makers, Lisa Merton & Alan Dater of Marlboro Productions, visited the Warden Electric Plant in L’Anse, as they traveled across the U.S. documenting the problems created by burning this type of “green” material. Many local residents are interviewed and MDEQ public hearings are featured.
May 17 – Burned: Are Trees the New Coal?
A look at the controversy of creating energy using biomass. Film makers, Lisa Merton & Alan Dater of Marlboro Productions, visited the Warden Electric Plant in L’Anse, as they traveled across the U.S. documenting the problems created by burning this type of “green” material. Many local residents are interviewed and MDEQ public hearings are featured.
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Students Collaborate with UPPCO for Senior Design

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UPPCO and CEE Students

BARAGA COUNTY, Mich. (WLUC) – A group of students are getting real-world experience as part of their senior design project through a collaborative effort between Upper Peninsula Power Company (UPPCO) and Michigan Technological University.

For their project, students are investigating the possibility of adding a new generator at UPPCO’s Prickett hydroelectric generation facility to take advantage of bypass flows that are required under the company’s existing operating license.

Read more at the TV6 FOX UP.

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Student, Professor Chosen to Lead Silicon Valley Meetup

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University Innovation FellowsMagann Dykema, (CEE) a fourth-year civil engineering student and a University Innovation Fellow, has been chosen by the University Innovation Fellows program as one of 23 student leaders for the program’s Silicon Valley Meetup Nov. 16-20, 2017. This is the third time that Dykema has served in this role.

The student leaders were hand-selected out of an international community of more than 1,200 Fellows for the impact they have had at their schools and for their contributions to the movement.

University Innovation Fellows has also asked Mary Raber (PHC) to serve as one of two mentors to the 30 faculty members who will also attend the event. This is the second time Raber has served in this role.

At the Silicon Valley Meetup, Dykema and Raber will represent their schools in front of 300 student and faculty attendees from 82 universities and colleges around the world. They will share their UIF work, modeling for the new Fellows and faculty the kind of impact they can have at their own schools.

University Innovation Fellows (UIF) is a global program run by Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design. UIF empowers student leaders to increase campus engagement with innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity and design thinking.

By Jenn Donovan.

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Environmental Engineering Undergrad Selected as a Portage Health Foundation Intern

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Rose Turner

Rose Turner, a senior undergraduate student in environmental program, has been selected as a Portage Health Foundation Intern through the Undergraduate Research Internship Program. Rose will work with Dr. Minakata investigating the treatment feasibility of polyfluorinated carbons using sulfate radicals in advanced oxidation process. Polyfluorinated carbons have been found in nation’s drinking water and one of emerging water contaminants. Rose will present her research findings at the Undergraduate Research Symposium in March 2018.

 

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You, Students Travel to Minnesota

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Zhanping You MnROAD
Zhanping You at MnROAD Grand Opening in Minnesota

Zhanping You (CEE), students Siyu Chen, Fangyuan Gong, Ran Zhang, and visiting scholars Songtao Lyu and Chundi Si attended the National Road Research Alliance (NRRA) Grand Opening at MnROAD Tuesday, October 10, 2017.

You received a plaque from Minnesota Department of Transportation Commissioner Charles Zelle for Associate Member Michigan Tech Transportation Institute. US Rep. Tom Emmer and Zelle joined the event.

Zelle, Deputy Commissioner Susan Mulvihil and associate members of NRRA cut the ribbon with Rep. Emmer.

MnROAD, located near Albertville, Minnesota, is a pavement test track consisting of various combinations of road-building materials and designs. MnROAD collects pavement field data with thousands of sensors located in each test section. A tour of MnROAD Low Volume Road was shown by the MnROAD staffs.

PHOTO GALLERY

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