College of Engineering Blog

Author: College of Engineering

Sue Hill is the Digital Content Manager for the College of Engineering.

Free Webinar for Engineering Department Chairs, Faculty, and Change Leaders

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Diverse group of people

The Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and Purdue University College of Engineering are offering an evidence-based approach for fostering a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive (DEI) engineering culture via a series of webinars. The first webinar is 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22.

In this interactive webinar you will learn:

  • Why to engage in DEI-focused change
  • How to lead DEI-focused culture change using the new, evidenced-based TECAID (Transforming Engineering Culture to Advance Inclusion & Diversity) Model
  • Who are other engineering department teams that have applied the TECAID Model
  • What additional resources are available to help engineers lead department culture change

Want to get MORE out of this webinar? Invite colleagues to participate with you by setting up a conference room and setting aside time after the webinar to continue the conversation about ways you can adapt the ideas presented in your own department. Watch this 3-minute 2017 NSF Showcase award winning TECAID Project Overview video.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics was one of five universities that participated in developing the TECAID model. (See this Tech Today article for more details.)

Department Chair William Predebon is one of the presenters in this webinar. Register at this link.

TECAID Transforming Engineering Culture To Advance Inclusion And Diversity

ME Department Teams are OSU, Purdue University, Texas Tech, Michigan Tech, and the University of Oklahoma

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Dean’s Teaching Showcase: Kris Mattila

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Kris G. Mattila
Kris G. Mattila

Dean Wayne Pennington of the College of Engineering has selected Kris Mattila, associate professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), as the second member of the Spring 2018 Deans’ Teaching Showcase.

CEE Chair Audra Morse nominated Mattila because “every student remembers Kris Mattila as a positive influence on their success at Michigan Tech and their career.” She calls Mattila a “highly skilled and innovative teacher,” and praises his unique ability to “connect with and challenge every student, in large or small classes.”

In addition, Morse wanted to recognize the leadership roles Mattila has taken in curriculum development and assessment, especially in courses related to professional practice.

Pennington echoes Morse’s sentiments, saying “Dr. Mattila stands out as a dedicated teaching professor—one who has made a determination to excel in student support and mentoring, and who has volunteered to take on additional challenges in undergraduate education. His work enables students to enter the workforce with a greater knowledge of their potential avenues to success in the ‘real world,’ with a firm foundation in the principles of construction and its practice. We are fortunate to have Kris leading the charge for excellence in teaching in this discipline.”

Mattila’s success as an instructor has made him a member of the Michigan Tech Academy of Teaching Excellence and a five-time recipient of the Howard E. Hill Outstanding Faculty of the Year Award. He has also been recognized for his contributions in construction engineering education, including an American Society for Engineering Education Outstanding Educator Award.

Mattila’s ability to focus on each student is, perhaps, the reason his teaching has been so well received. Morse, when asked to provide more detail about how Mattila connects with students, says: “Kris doesn’t see students in his class. Rather he sees people with individual needs he seeks to fulfill so that they are successful in his class and in our program. He learns students’ names and other details, and he weaves this information into the material he is teaching. He cares about students and increases their self-efficacy. Because he is open and caring, the students reciprocate, ensuring a high positive rapport is created in the classroom.”

Mattila will be recognized at an end-of-term luncheon with 11 other showcase members. He is now eligible for one of three new teaching awards to be given by the William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning this summer recognizing introductory or large class teaching, innovative and outside-the-classroom teaching methods, or work in curriculum and assessment.

By Michael Meyer, Director, William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning.

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Michigan Tech Researchers Honored for their Contributions in 2017

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Researchers in the lab

At the Research Development Day held Jan. 11, 2018, the following individuals were recognized for their research contributions in calendar year 2017.

College of Engineering

Top research expenditures: Jeff Naber (ME-EM), Greg Odegard (ME-EM), Paul Sanders (MSE)

Related:

Michigan Tech Automotive Energy Efficiency Research Receives Federal Award of $2.8 Million from US Department of Energy

NASA Taps Tech Professor to Lead $15 Million Space Technology Research Institute

Chemical Engineering

Lei Pan received his first external funding as a principal investigator at Michigan Tech.

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Hui Yao (formerly CEE) received his first external funding as a principal investigator at Michigan Tech.

David Watkins received an award of more than $1 million.

Related:

Household Sustainability: Consuming Food, Energy, Water

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Jeremy Bos, Lucia Gauchia, and Tony Pinar each received their first external funding as a principal investigator at Michigan Tech.

Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences

Snehamoy Chatterjee, James DeGraff, Mark Kulie, and Matthew Portfleet each received their first external funding as a principal investigator at Michigan Tech.

Materials Science and Engineering

2017 Michigan Tech Research Award: Yun Hang Hu

Bhakta Rath Research Award: Yun Hang Hu and Wei Wei

Joe Licavoli received his first external funding as a principal investigator at Michigan Tech.

Related:

Yun Hang Hu Wins Both Research Award and Bhakta Rath Award

Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

Parisa Abadi, Chunpei Cai, Hassan Masoud, and Ye Sun each received their first external funding as a principal investigator at Michigan Tech.

Jeff Naber and Greg Odegard each received awards of more than $1 million.

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Tech Students Learn Home Sustainability

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From left, Cooper Mineheart, Hannah McKinnon, Mina Kukuk, Rose Turner and Thomas Richter.
From left, Cooper Mineheart, Hannah McKinnon, Mina Kukuk, Rose Turner and Thomas Richter.

HOUGHTON — For five Michigan Technological University students this year, their homework includes their actual home.

This is the first year for Tech’s Sustainability Demonstration Home, where the students are tracking their energy and waste, as well as carrying out projects on how to reduce energy use.

“This semester, we’re kind of working side by side,” said Rose Turner, a fourth-year environmental engineering student and the only of the house’s residents on the Enterprise team.

Cooper Mineheart, a second-year mechanical engineering student, has learned what he can and can’t recycle.

Thomas Richter, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student, said his consciousness of how small changes add up will stick with him after he leaves the house.

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Garrett Neese.

Related:

Ho Ho Home (Sustainably) for the Holidays

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Open-Source Hardware Paper Ranks High

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Open Source Slide Dryer
Open Source Slide Dryer

Electrical engineering graduate student Shane Oberloier co-authored a paper with Joshua Pearce (MSE|ECE): General Design Procedure for Free and Open-Source Hardware for Scientific Equipment. in the journal Designs. The paper is currently ranked in the top 0.1% on Academia.edu.

Designs 2018, 2(1), 2; doi:10.3390/designs2010002

Abstract

Distributed digital manufacturing of free and open-source scientific hardware (FOSH) used for scientific experiments has been shown to in general reduce the costs of scientific hardware by 90–99%. In part due to these cost savings, the manufacturing of scientific equipment is beginning to move away from a central paradigm of purchasing proprietary equipment to one in which scientists themselves download open-source designs, fabricate components with digital manufacturing technology, and then assemble the equipment themselves. This trend introduces a need for new formal design procedures that designers can follow when targeting this scientific audience. This study provides five steps in the procedure, encompassing six design principles for the development of free and open-source hardware for scientific applications. A case study is provided for an open-source slide dryer that can be easily fabricated for under $20, which is more than 300 times less than some commercial alternatives.

Read more at Designs.

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Michigan Tech Exhibits in 2018 AutoMobili-D

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AutoMobili-D with cars and people

Michigan Tech will participate in the 2018 AutoMobili-D exposition in Detroit. The event will run from Jan. 12-21. A portion of this program overlaps with the North American International Auto Show.

AutoMobili-D features 150,000 sq. ft. of dynamic display communities in the Cobo Center Atrium overlooking the international waterway and the adjoining Planet M hall.

Michigan Tech will be located in the “Universities” section of AutoMobili-D which will have about 30 universities including MIT, U-M and Carnegie Mellon. Michigan Tech’s booth will feature our unique research capabilities related to automotive research and unstructured environments.

Predebon represents Michigan Tech at Michigan auto show funding new autonomous test track

Bill Predebon (ME-EM) represented Michigan Tech at the Governor’s press conference on the American Center for Mobility (ACM) at the International Auto Show in the Cobo Center for Detroit on Jan. 16. Subaru of America gave a two million dollar sponsorship to the ACM with state, business and education officials on the stage. All of the representatives from the ACM University Consortium were present on stage.

$2M launches new wave of funding for Michigan’s autonomous test track

The announcement at Detroit’s auto show about Subaru’s new connection to the ACM is only the first significant development projected for the site in 2018. ACM officials promise more to come as the site gains traction.

Read more at Mlive, by Paula Gardner.

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CloudSat-based Assessment of GPM Microwave Imager Snowfall Observation Capabilities

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Giulia Panegrossi, Jean-François Rysman, Daniele Casella, Anna Cinzia Marra, Paolo Sanò, and Mark S. Kulie published “CloudSat-based assessment of GPM Microwave Imager snowfall observation capabilities” in Remote Sensing on December 6, 2017.

doi:10.3390/rs9121263

The article describes a NASA Global Precipitation Measurement Microwave Imager (GMI) snowfall sensitivity study using CloudSat satellite radar data as evaluation dataset. The study illustrates complex high frequency microwave sensor signatures to snowfall events under different atmospheric conditions and microphysical composition. It defines environmental and snow-producing cloud composition thresholds where the 166 GHz GMI channel is sensitive to surface snowfall, thus providing useful guidance to improve GMI snowfall detection and estimation capabilities.

Figure 2. Snowfall event on 30 April 2014.

Graphs of height versus latitude and longitude for various quantities.
Fig. 2a. From top to bottom, the first panel shows height-lat/lon imagery of Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) reflectivity (color bar, in dBZ), the freezing level height (blue curve), and total precipitable water (TPW) (black curve, with values provided on the right-hand side y-axis), along the CloudSat track. In this panel, cloud layers where the DARDAR product identifies supercooled droplets are superimposed and shown in magenta. Second panel shows height-lat/lon imagery of 2C-SNOW snow water content (SWC) (color bar, in kg·m−3) and the snow water path (SWP) (black curve, with values provided on right-hand side y-axis). The third panel shows the GMI brightness temperatures (TBs) closest to each CPR pixel along the CloudSat track at 166 GHz (V and H polarization, in red), 183.3 ± 3 GHz and 183.3 ± 7 GHz (in blue). Bottom panel shows GMI TB difference (∆TB) at 166 GHz (V-H, in red), and for the two 183.3 GHz channels (in blue). In the top panel, vertical lines delineate different Sectors (I to V) identified in the discussion (see text for details).
Color graphs of coordinate version temperature.
Fig. 2b. GMI TB imagery: top row from left, 10, 18.7, 36.5, and 89 (H-pol) channels; bottom row from left: 166 (H-pol) and 183.3 ± 7 channels, ∆TB at 166 GHz (V pol−H pol) and at 183.3 GHz (183.3 ± 3 GHz–183.3 ± 7 GHz). The black line segment in each panel shows the CloudSat track. The sectors (I to V) identified in the discussion are also indicated (see text for details).
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Three Enterprise Teams Compete in Fifth Annual Rekhi Innovation Challenge

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BoardSport Color Gradient GraphicThe Fifth Annual Rekhi Innovation Challenge kicked off on Friday Nov. 10, 2017. Three Enterprise teams are competing for funding this year: Blue Marble Security, BoardSport Technologies and Velovations. The Rekhi Challenge is a crowdfunding competition to help promote and support student innovation and entrepreneurship through Michigan Tech’s crowdfunding site, Superior Ideas. The team that raises the most money will receive a monetary match of up to $5,000.

Monetary awards for total number of unique visitors, total number of unique funders, most social media engagement, most creative marketing plan and the first team to raise $1,000 will also be presented to teams at the conclusion of the competition.

Superior Ideas was established in 2012 to help bring university research and public service projects to life. The site uses crowdfunding to raise money and awareness for university research and public service projects that may not qualify for grant funding.

The Rekhi Innovation Challenge was developed in collaboration with the Enterprise Program Office and the Vice President for Research Office with support from Michigan Tech alumnus and longtime donor Kanwal Rekhi. The Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur, earned his master’s degree in electrical engineering from Michigan Tech in 1969.

Enterprise teams that have participated in past challenges include Innovative Global Solutions, Robotics Systems, Supermileage Systems, Aerospace, Blizzard Baja, GEAR and Open Source Hardware. Velovations took first place in the last competition with $2,550 in donations and a match of $2,550 from Rekhi, bringing the grand total to $5,100 in funding for their RENEW-U project.

RENEW-U is an ergometer for wheelchair users to exercise upper-extremity muscles in order to improve strength and mobility. Over the last four years, the Rekhi Innovation Challenge has provided more than $58,000 in support for 23 different student projects, attracting 267 unique donors.

For this year’s Rekhi Innovation Challenge, Blue Marble Security Enterprise is raising money to reach out to various community members and groups to increase interest in STEM fields among middle and high school students, particularly women.

BoardSport Technologies wants to develop a SmartBoard that will track snowboarders via GPS and REECO location to ensure a speedy rescue if caught in an avalanche or lost.

Velovations Enterprise is working with a local trails club to design and build a multi-purpose trail groomer with modular parts that can be swapped in the field to accommodate varying conditions.

If you’d like to learn more about any of these projects or donate, visit Superior Ideas. The Rekhi Innovation Challenge will run through March 31, 2018. Help support student innovation and entrepreneurship at Michigan Tech by making a donation today.

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Michigan Tech Society of Women Engineers Students Attend WE17 Conference

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WE17

Fourteen members and an adviser of the Michigan Tech Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Section attended the annual National SWE WE17 Conference from October 25-29, 2017, in Austin, Texas.

Participants attended sessions on a variety of topics, networked with company representatives at the Career Fair with over 300 STEM based companies and celebrated women in Engineering. Michigan Tech members volunteered at Invent It! Build It! (an outreach activity for middle and high school girls).

Gretchen Hein, SWE Section adviser and faculty in Engineering Fundamentals, presented on two topics: the results of a survey of SWE Women in Academia members and whether or not there are gender differences in student performance first-year engineering courses.

Whether it was learning about making SWE more inclusive to women of color or learning to be a grateful leader in the workforce, the conference provided members with a variety of opportunities. They eagerly anticipate another opportunity to grow, network and celebrate women in STEM at SWE WE18 Conference next fall in Minneapolis.

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New Engineering Faculty Fall 2017

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Biomedical Engineering

Sang Yoon Han
Sang Yoon Han

Sang Yoon Han, PhD

Sang Yoon Han joins Michigan Tech’s Department of Biomedical Engineering as an assistant professor. He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington in 2012.

Han has teaching experience at the University of Washington, as well as mentoring experience. He has multiple publications, awards and patents.

Chemical Engineering

Andre R. Da Costa
Andre R. Da Costa

Andre Da Costa, PhD

Andre Da Costa joins Michigan Tech’s Department of Chemical Engineering as a professor with an endowed chair in chemical process safety. Da Costa earned his PhD in chemical engineering from the University of New South Wales in Australia. He is fluent in five languages—Spanish, English, Portuguese, Russian and French.

Da Costa served as the director and chief engineer at Pacific Gas & Electric Company prior to coming to Michigan Tech. He has also conducted extensive research on membrane technologies and holds 14 patents. He has received multiple competitive grants and serves as a chair of the Process Safety Subcommittee of the American Gas Association. Da Costa was recognized with the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ Gary Leach Award in 2004 for his contributions to the development and oversight of professional training programs.

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Stephen M. Morse
Stephen M. Morse

Stephen Morse, PhD

Stephen Morse joins Michigan Tech’s Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics as an assistant professor. He received his PhD in Civil Engineering from Texas Tech University.

Morse taught as an assistant professor at Texas Tech University. He also has multiple awards and publications.

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Anthony (Tony) Pinar
Anthony (Tony) Pinar

Anthony Pinar, PhD

Anthony Pinar joins Tech’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as a lecturer. Pinar earned his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Michigan Tech, as well as his undergraduate degree.

He has worked at Tech as an instructor, as well as a co-advisor for an Enterprise group of four independent teams. He also has published in multiple journals.

Engineering Fundamentals

Michelle Jarvie-Eggart
Michelle Jarvie-Eggart

Michelle Jarvie-Eggart, PhD

Michelle Jarvie-Eggart joins Michigan Tech’s Department of Engineering Fundamentals as a senior lecturer. Jarvie-Eggart is no stranger to Michigan Tech, having been an instructor in civil and environmental engineering. She received her PhD in Environmental Engineering from Tech in 2007.

She has been an instructor at six universities. She has worked at Barr Engineering and Cliffs Natural Resources, Inc. She has many publications and awards and has been UP chapter president of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration since 2014.

Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences

Mark Kulie
Mark Kulie

Mark Kulie, PhD

Mark Kulie joins Michigan Tech’s Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences as an assistant professor. He received his PhD in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before coming to Tech, he held research positions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Kulie has also taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, North Carolina State University and Madison College. He has received the Exceptional Service Award for Teaching and the NASA Group Achievement Award as part of the Global Precipitation Measurement Post-Launch Team. Along with the many awards he has received, Kulie also has several publications.

Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

Parisa Abadi
Parisa Abadi

Parisa Abadi, PhD

Parisa Abadi joins Michigan Tech’s Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics as an assistant professor. She received her PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2013.

Abadi has experience in teaching and research. She has multiple publications and received awards, including the Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from the American Association of University Women in 2015. She is also a member of many professional societies, such as the Society of Women Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Physical Society.

Steven Goldsmith
Steven Goldsmith

Steven Goldsmith, PhD

Steven Goldsmith joins Michigan Tech’s Departments of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics and Computer Science as a research professor. He has held this position previously. He received his PhD in Engineering from the University of New Mexico in 1989.

Goldsmith has multiple reports, publications and patents. He has also held many positions in academia, including lecturer and researcher. Goldsmith retired as a distinguished member of the technical staff of Sandia National Laboratories after 32 years of service.

Hassan Masoud
Hassan Masoud

Hassan Masoud, PhD

Hassan Masoud joins Michigan Tech’s Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics as an assistant professor. He earned his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Prior to coming to Tech, Masoud worked as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Nevada. He is a reviewer for multiple journals, including the European Journal of Computational Mechanics, and has published in several journals. He is also a member of the American Physical Society and the Society of Engineering Science.

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