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
Jennifer Winikus, a PhD Computer Engineering student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Michigan Technological University, has been awarded a National Science Foundation scholarship to attend the 2013 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference to be held October 1-4, 2013, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Winikus was selected from a competitive pool of over 900 applicants. The scholarship award covers registration, meals, accommodations and travel support.
The annual conference, a program of the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, is the largest gathering of women technologists in the world and is expected to attract approximately 4,000 participants from over 40 countries in industry, academia, and government. The results are collaborative proposals, networking and mentoring for junior women, and increased visibility for the contributions of women on computing. Scholarship applications were based on this year’s theme “Think Big, Drive Forward”.
Winikus is very active in the ECE Department and the University. She currently serves as Treasurer for the Graduate Student Government and has created and delivered ECE Summer Youth Programs for Women in Engineering, the Engineering Scholars Program, and both the EE and CpE week long explorations. As a graduate teaching assistant (GTA), she has successfully instructed one of the more challenging EE labs, Electrical Design with Microprocessor, receiving high ratings from her students and earning the department’s 2013 Jonathan Bara Award for Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant. Jennifer’s PhD advisor is Dr. Laura Brown.
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.
Two associate professors and one new assistant professor have been awarded named professorships in the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics.
ECE faculty member Wayne Weaver has been named the Dave House Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering. Weaver is an expert in microgrids, electrical machines and control of power systems. He collaborates extensively with mechanical engineering faculty, in particular Gordon Parker, who holds the John and Cathi Drake Professorship.
Bo Chen has been named the Dave House Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering. She is an expert in embedded sensor networks, multi-agent systems, and vehicle electronics and control.
Chen, who formerly held a sole appointment in the ME-EM department, will now hold a joint appointment in ME-EM and ECE, with the majority appointment in ME-EM.
Lucia Gauchia will join the Michigan Tech faculty this fall with a joint appointment in ECE and ME-EM, with the majority appointment in ECE. She has been named the Richard and Elizabeth Henes Assistant Professor of Energy Storage Systems. She is an expert in energy storage systems and state estimation for batteries and supercapacitors.
The awarding of two of these three professorships was the result of a cooperative agreement between the ECE and ME-EM departments, as it involved a “swap” of endowed positions. Dave House is an ECE alumnus, whereas Richard Henes is a ME-EM alumnus.
“I am delighted that ECE and ME-EM were able to work out this arrangement,” Fuhrmann said. “If Michigan Tech is to continue its success in energy systems, electric and hybrid electric vehicles, and control and automation, it’s going to require the close cooperation of our two departments.”
ME-EM chair Bill Predebon agreed.
“I am very excited about the growth in collaboration between the ME-EM and ECE departments,” he said. “These joint appointments are significant step in that direction. Our vision to establish a leadership position in the energy systems area will require a continued strong cooperation between our two departments.”
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