Kaitlyn Bunker, Electrical and Computer Engineering, First Place, Posters, presented by Howard Haselhuhn of GSG, High Dimension Droop Control for Wind Resources in DC Microgrids
The main events of this symposium were a Poster Presentation Session and a Research Colloquium sponsored
by the Graduate Student Government
There is a report for the Graduate Research Colloquium 2014 with photos and awards.
Michigan Technological University, in collaboration with professionals from NASA, the Naval Research Laboratory, and the Space Solar Power Institute, hosted a Space Solar Power (SSP) workshop to clarify the challenges facing SSP implementation. The workshop was held in conjunction with the IEEE International Conference on Wireless for Space and Extreme Environments at Baltimore, MD, November 7 – 9, 2013. Researchers from Industry and Academia of many countries including India, Japan, UK and USA participated in this event.
The General Motors Foundation has given Michigan Tech a $100,000 grant through its University Partner Program. The gift will support a variety of student activities, including the Advanced Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) and Advanced Motorsports Enterprises, environmental engineering senior design projects, student groups and diversity programs.
Solar farms are a no-brainer in warm and sunny places, but what about in northern climes where snow can cover and even shut down the panels?
Ford Motor Company has donated a 2012 Focus all-electric vehicle to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The department is supplying the vehicle to the Hybrid Electric Vehicle Enterprise, providing students the opportunity to experience and work on state-of-the-art electric vehicle technology.
The Women in Computer Science presented a Silicon Valley Careers panel discussion about careers in Silicon Valley on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2013, at the Memorial Union Ballroom B.
Devyani Kamdar, Executive Director at Palo Alto Institute and Stephen Kahng, Founder and former Chairman and CEO Power Computing Corp., a Michigan Tech ’72 Electrical Engineering alumnus speaking at the panel discussion about careers in Silicon Valley sponsored by the Women in Computer Science. Stephen “Steve” Kahng, a computer engineer best known for his design of the Leading Edge Model D, founded the company in November 1993. Most recently, Mr. Kahng has been devoting most of his time to philanthropy and non-profit work. He is currently on the Board of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. He is also an active Board member at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
Students in the Research Experience for Undergraduates REU summer 2013 programpresented posters on research projects they have worked on over the summer. The project topics include: measurement of diesel emission particulate matter, experimental hybrid vehicle fuel system, lithium ion battery characterization and SOC measurement, hybrid vehicle dynamometer test stand development, heavy duty truck driving simulation, and measuring temperature variations in combustion vessels.
The ECE team comprised of students and faculty powered past Physics by a score of 14-11 on Thursday evening, August 15 to win the 2013 Graduate Student Government (GSG) Co-ed softball championship in the competitive division. ECE team members: Nikoli Wiens, Jeff Burl, Warren Perger, Anthony Carley, Josh Wilson, Allen Klutts, Hillary Hamblin, Jace Fritzler, Courtney Rickard, Scott Blake, Jennifer Pilibosian, Alix Rugg, Kyle Hashman, Heather Hashman, Mandi Severn, Max Legatz, and KJ Thekan. For more information regarding the GSG Co-ed Softball League see http://gsg.students.mtu.edu/softball.html
Bruce Mork, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been named the Dennis Wiitanen Professor of Electric Power Systems.
The Wiitanen Professorship was established to honor longtime ECE faculty member Dennis Wiitanen, who retired in May 2012. Unlike most professorships, which are named for a single donor, the Wiitanen Professorship is supported by an endowment underwritten by a variety of industry, foundation, and alumni sources, including ITC Holdings, Consumers Energy Foundation, DTE Energy Foundation and electrical engineering alumnus David Brule.
Mork was named to the position after a yearlong selection process. He received high praise from leaders in the power industry and was unanimously supported by the major sponsors of the professorship.
“Bruce is the natural choice for the Wiitanen Professorship,” said Dan Fuhrmann, chair of electrical and computer engineering. “He has been a leader in teaching, research and curriculum development in the power and energy area within the ECE department and across campus for many years. He is a leading expert in power system protection, an area of critical need in the utility power industry as our infrastructure transitions to the smart grid. Plus, he was the driving force behind our online courses in power and energy, a model for the rest of the department and indeed the rest of the University.”
Dennis Wiitanen was also gratified by Mork’s appointment.
“I have had the pleasure of watching Bruce grow from a newly minted PhD assistant professor at Michigan Tech to an internationally recognized leader in the power field,” he said. “I am very pleased that he will be the first recipient of the professorship carrying my name.”
Bruce Mork was honored in his acceptance.
“It’s been a privilege to work with Dennis over the last 21 years of his outstanding 42 year career at Michigan Tech. He’s been an exemplary senior colleague and role model for us all. It’s an honor for me to be the first recipient of this prestigious Professorship. The resources provided will support ongoing developments in education and research which strategically address technology and work force needs of the Electric Power sector. We owe a lot to Dennis and this will greatly help us to maintain and advance our strong program.”
The professorship has a five-year renewable term and carries with it an annual discretionary stipend to support research equipment, graduate students and other expenses to build and maintain an active research program in the power area.
ECE assistant professor Zhuo Feng received Best Paper Award at the 2013 Design Automation Conference (DAC), held this week in Austin, Texas, for his paper titled “Scalable vectorless power grid current integrity verification”.
The DAC is a major annual conference in the electronics industry, this year with 747 papers. Prof. Feng’s paper was the sole winner, topping a slate of 8 nominated papers from academic and research institutions across North America and Europe.
For more information or a copy of the paper see http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2488840