Electrical and Computer Engineering Archives | Page 9 of 18

Michigan Tech Engineering Alumni: By the Numbers

Published March 10, 2020

“Tenacious problem solving and critical thinking skills distinguish our alumni,” says Janet Callahan, Dean of the College of Engineering at Michigan Tech.

“And yes, there must be something about the relentless snow in Houghton that contributes to tenacity,” adds Callahan. “Like tea steeping in hot water, our alumni were soaked in snow, emerging with the flavor of tenacity.”

QUICK FACTS:

Engineering Alumni Total: 47,359

Engineering Alumni in Michigan: 17,000+

Engineering Alumni Abroad: 1,200+ in 88 countries

U.S. employers hiring our engineering graduates in 2018: 500+

Average engineering graduate starting salary: over $61,000/year

High Alumni Salaries: second highest in the state

Engineering Alumni by Academic Department:

Biomedical Engineering: 838
Chemical Engineering: 4,491
Civil & Environmental Engineering: 9,132
Engineering: 71
Electrical & Computer Engineering: 10,112
Engineering Fundamentals: 194
Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences: 3,984
Materials Science and Engineering: 3,246
Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics: 15,291

Check out all the Michigan Tech Facts and Figures here.

Have some alumni facts to share? Reach out to us at engineering@mtu.edu.

Engineering Participates in the 2020 Bob Mark Business Pitch

Published February 3, 2020

By

Husky Innovate’s 2020 Bob Mark Business Model Competition was held Wednesday (Jan. 29). A total of 18 students making up 13 teams pitched business models to advance their innovation.

Community members and judges from across campus and the community selected the winners and provided the teams with feedback.

The Winners of the 2020 Bob Mark Business Model Competition were:

First Prize, $2,000—Kyra Pratley, POWERPENDANTS
Second Prize, $1,000—Jake Soter, SwimSmart Technologies
Third Prize, $500—J. Harrison Shields, Shields Technologies
Honorable Mention, $250—Samerender Hanumantharao & Stephanie Bule, Bio-Synt
Honorable Mention, $250—Allysa Meinburg, Haley Papineau, Sadat Yang, AAA Prosthetic Ankle
Audience Favorite, $250— Allysa Meinburg, Haley Papineau, Sadat Yang, AAA Prosthetic Ankle
MTEC SmartZone Breakout Innovation Award, ($1,000 Reimbursable expenses toward business development)—Ranit Karmakar

A special thanks to all those who lent their time and resources to make the evening a success including our contestants for their hard work and great presentations and our judges:

Dean Janet Callahan, College of Engineering
Brett Hamlin, Associate Department Chair, Engineering Fundamentals;
Nate Yenor, MTRSC Commercial Program Director
Patrick Visser, Chief Commercial Officer, MTEC-SmartZone;
Elham Asgari, Assistant Professor, College of Business
Josh Jay, Materials Science Engineering Student, University Innovation Fellow and Innovation House RA

A special thanks goes out to emcee Cameron Philo, Electrical Engineering and PHC New Venture Pathway Student, University Innovation Fellow and E-Club President; Lexi Steve, Mechanical Engineering and Pavlis Honors College Student, University Innovation Fellow and Husky Innovate Intern; and the College of Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences for operations support and space and SLS & IT for production support.

This event is a tribute to the late Bob Mark, Professor of Practice within the College of Business who started the Elevator Pitch Competition at Michigan Tech. The competition recognizes his entrepreneurial spirit and its continuation at Michigan Tech.

The 2020 Bob Mark Business Model Competition was hosted by Husky Innovate, a collaboration between Pavlis Honors College, the College of Business and the Office of Innovation and Commercialization.

Husky Innovate is Michigan Tech’s resource hub for innovation & entrepreneurship and offers workshops, competitions, NSF I-Corps training, a Speaker Series, and cohosts the Silicon Valley Experience.

Making their pitch: MTU students take part in Bob Mark Pitch competition

HOUGHTON — In four minutes Wednesday, students had to summarize their product, the need for it, and how they would bring it to market. For two more minutes, they had to field whatever questions a panel of judges could throw at them.

The gauntlet is part of Michigan Technological University’s annual Bob Mark Pitch Competition, named for the late Tech professor who founded the event. It was put on by Husky Innovate, which offers a series of extracurricular workshops and competitions for students to develop ideas.

Michigan Tech holds annual Bob Mark Business Model Competition

HOUGHTON, Mich. (WLUC) – Michigan Tech held their annual Bob Mark Business Model Competition Wednesday night.

The competition gives Michigan Tech students a chance to pitch their ideas to a group of judges who decide on the best pitch and give feedback after each presentation.

New Engineering Faculty Fall 2020

Published January 13, 2020

By

Chemical Engineering

Kurt Rickard, PhD

Kurt Rickard joins the faculty of Chemical Engineering as an instructor. Rickard earned a PhD from Purdue and a bachelor’s degree from Michigan Tech, both in chemical engineering.

He has experience as a control engineer with a strong theoretical background. He has experience with LyondellBasell Industries, ARCO Chemical Company, Quantum Chemical Company and Shell Chemical Company.

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Jeffrey Hollingsworth

Jeffrey Hollingsworth joins the faculty of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering as a professor of practice. He holds a Master’s of Science in civil engineering (GIS specialty) and a post-bac certificate in GIS from the University of Colorado Denver. In addition, he earned a BS in surveying from Ferris State University.

Prior to coming to Michigan Tech, Hollingsworth was an associate professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage and an instructor at the Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Xinyu Ye, PhD

Xinu Ye Joins the faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering as a research assistant professor. She earned a PhD in environmental engineering from Michigan Tech, a master’s in civil engineering from Michigan State and a bachelor of resource environment and urban and rural planning from Harbin Normal University in China.

She is a recipient of a Dean’s Award for Outstanding Scholarship at Michigan Tech and has received graduate student awards at Michigan State. As an undergraduate, she was named an Excellent Student Leader at Harbin Normal.

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Trever Hassell

Trever Hassell joins the faculty of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as a senior lecturer. His areas of interest include power electronics systems, Electric Drives and Machinery, Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Systems, and Microgrids.

Hassell earned both a bachelor’s and master’s in electrical engineering from Michigan Tech. For the past five years, he has been serving as an academic advisor/instructor in the ECE department at Michigan Tech. He is a registered professional engineer with experience in industry including time with ABB Inc., Cummins, Inc., Entergy/Vermont Yankee and Reinker Controls Inc.

Nagesh Hatti

Nagesh Hatti joined the faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering as a professor of practice. He holds an MBA from Texas Christian University, a master’s in software engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science in India and a BE in telecommunication engineering from Bangalore University, India

Prior to coming to Michigan Tech, Hatti served as technical program manager for Schneider in Green Bay, manager of supply chain operations support from American Airlines in Fort Worth, Texas and various other positions in industry.

Geological Mining and Engineering Sciences

Luke Bowman, PhD

Luke Bowman has joined the faculty in Geological Mining and Engineering Sciences as a research assistant professor. Bowman has both a PhD and a master’s in geology from Michigan Tech and a bachelor’s degree from Hanover College.

Prior to joining the faculty, he was a curriculum development specialist with Mi-STAR and an adjunct assistant professor in GMES at Michigan Tech.

Xin Xi, PhD

Xin XI has joined the faculty of the Department of Geological Mining and Engineering Sciences as an assistant professor. Xi earned a PhD in atmospheric sciences from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a B Sc in Geoinformatics from Beijing Normal University, China.

Prior to his current position, Xi served as a research assistant professor at Michigan Tech. From 2016 to 2018 he was a research associate at the NOAA Center for Satellite Applications and Research (Maryland).

Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics

Jung Yun Bae

Jung Yun Bae joins the faculty of Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics and the College of Computing as an assistant professor. She earned a PhD from Texas A&M, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering from Hongik University in Seoul, Korea.

Prior to this appointment, she was a research professor in the Intelligent Systems and Robotics Laboratory at Korea University in Seoul. Her research interests include; robotics, multi-robot systems, coordination of heterogeneous robot systems and unmanned vehicles.

Susanta Ghosh, PhD

Susanta Ghosh has joined the Michigan Tech Faculty as an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics and as a faculty member of the Center for Data Sciences at the Institute of Computing and Cybersystems (ICC).

He earned a PhD and MSc in civil engineering from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and a BSE in civil engineering from the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology in Shibpur, India.

For the past three years, he has served as a research assistant professor and instructor in ME-EM. Prior to coming to Michigan Tech in 2016, Ghosh was a visiting research investigator at the University of Michigan and a research collaborator at Duke.

Paul van Susante, PhD

Paul van Susante, who had been serving as a senior lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics, started the fall semester as an assistant professor within that department.

He earned both a PhD and a master’s in engineering systems from the Colorado School of Mines. He also holds BS and MS degrees in civil engineering with an emphasis on building engineering from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.

His research interests include advances in engineering education, engineering design process, extreme environment technologies and planetary science and exploration, among others.

Vijaya Sriram Malladi, PhD

Vijaya V.N. Sriram Malladi has joined the faculty of the Department of Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics as an assistant professor. He holds MS and PhD degrees from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a BTech from the Indian Institute of Technology.

Prior to coming to Michigan Tech, Malladi was a research scientist at Vibrations, Adaptive Structures and Testing (VAST) lab at Virginia Tech. Prior to that, he served as chief research scientist (CEO) of GAiTE LLC.

Myoungkuk Park, PhD

Myoungkuk Park joins the faculty of the Department of Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics as a research assistant professor. He earned a PhD from Texas A&M, MS from Korea University and BS from Kyungkhee University, each in mechanical engineering.

Prior to coming to Michigan Tech, Park was a principal engineer/senior engineer with Samsung Electronics in Asan, Korea and a research assistant at Texas A&M.

His research interests include multi-robot system control, control of large-scale stochastic process and design of automated material handling.

Yongchao Yang, PhD

Yongchao Yang has joined Michigan Tech’s faculty in the Department of Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics as an assistant professor. Yang holds a PhD in structural engineering from Rice University and a B.E. in structural engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology, China.

Before coming to Michigan Tech he was a technical staff member at Argonne National Laboratory and a postdoctoral fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Engineering Staff Recognized for 2019 Making a Difference Awards

Published December 5, 2019

By

A total of 48 nominations have been submitted for the 2019 Making a Difference Awards. Everyone is invited to a reception honoring the nominees. The reception is scheduled for 2:00pm to 3:30 pm, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2019 in the Memorial Union Ballroom. The recipients for each category will be announced at the reception.

In the College of Engineering, the following staff have been nominated:

Above and Beyond

Carol Asiala – Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences

Behind the Scenes

Taana Blom – Chemical Engineering
Cindy Wadaga – Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

Legacy Award

Owen Mills – Materials Science and Engineering
Alexis Snell – Chemical Engineering

Rookie Award

Rachel Griffin – Materials Science and Engineering
Rachel Store – Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
Laura Wiinikka – Chemical Engineering

Serving Others

Pam Hannon – Civil and Environmental Engineering
Katie Torrey – Chemical Engineering

Unsung Hero

Brian Eggart – Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
Paul Fraley – Materials Science and Engineering
Shelle Sandell – Civil and Environmental Engineering
Mark Sloat – Electrical and Computer Engineering
Stefan Wisniewski – Chemical Engineering

Girls Scouts Learn How to “Think Like an Engineer” at Michigan Tech

Published November 15, 2019

By

Girl Scouts gathered at Michigan Tech this week, to learn about electrical engineering from members of Michigan Tech’s student chapter of the Society of Women Engineers.

Saturday afternoon, nearly 90 Girl Scouts learned what it means to be an engineer. It came through trying and failing. Then trying again and failing. Then eventually, trying and succeeding. “Seeing that look on their face when they finally get something to work, that’s the most rewarding part of it — to see them say, ‘Yes, I did this. I can do it even though it was hard to do,’” said Zoe Wahr, outreach director for Michigan Tech’s Society of Women Engineers (SWE) chapter, which organized the event. Read more about the event in the Daily Mining Gazette.

The Girl Scouts, from kindergartners through 10th grade, arrived at Michigan Tech from across the Upper Peninsula and Wisconsin. The event, called “Think like an engineer” encouraged attendees to think about careers in science, engineering, technology and math. Read more at TV6 Upper Michigan Source.

The scouts first enjoyed brunch at Michigan Tech’s Wadsworth Residence Hall before breaking out into activity groups by age. Kindergarten (Daisies); 2-3 grade (Brownies); 4-5 grade (Juniors); and 6-10 grade (Cadettes and Seniors). The younger groups made paper circuits, “squishy” circuits made out of dough, and mini wiggling “bots.” Older students visited Blue Marble Security Enterprise headquarters in the EERC building, where they learned to solder holiday-themed LED circuit boards.

At the end of the activities, all of the students gathered for a Q&A panel of SWE members. The scouts also developed a”Take-Action Plan” based on all they learned in their workshops.

“We’re excited to be a partner and to share the fields of electrical and computer engineering with these bright young people,” said Liz Fujita, ECE academic advisor and outreach specialist, who helped coordinate the event.

“The vast majority were from out of the area – only 14 girls are from Houghton County,” said SWE faculty advisor Gretchen Hein, a senior lecturer in the Department of Engineering Fundamentals. “The furthest away is Green Bay, Wisconsin.”

Michigan Tech ECE welcomes Fulbright Scholar Koami Hayibo

Published October 30, 2019

By

Koami Hayibo, MS, a visiting Fulbright Scholar at Michigan Tech, from Energy Generation Academy in Lomé, Togo.

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Michigan Technological University welcomes Fulbright Scholar Koami Hayibo, from Togo, West Africa, population approximately 7.6 million.

While at Michigan Tech, Hayibo will study electrical engineering with a specialization in power systems. “I plan to focus on the production of energy through renewable energy sources,” he says. “Togo is a small country in Africa and is only able to produce about 30% of its consumption of electricity. I became interested in this area because I suffered from this lack of electricity when I was in high school. I had to study for my high school degree using old-fashioned kerosene lamps and candles and that’s still the case for a lot of children living in the countryside. That’s why I am doing my best to help bring electricity to remote areas. And I hope my time at Michigan Tech will give me with skills to address this issue in a more effective way.”

Hayibo specializes in solar energy. He earned a Master’s in Engineering and a Master’s in Science both at Université de Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. He came to Michigan Tech from Energy Generation Academy, based in Lomé, Maritime, Togo, where Hayibo serves as Technical Manager. Energy Generation is a pan-African organization that supports young Africans in addressing their generation’s most pressing challenges (in energy, agriculture, health) through entrepreneurship and technology. Its main guidelines are to provide basic electrification to every household in Africa, while empowering youth and offering them alternative employment perspectives, and also to provide a complete tracking of the innovative projects produced by African youth and ensuring their success.

Michigan Tech has a record number of Fulbright Scholars on our campus this year, with a total of 17 students – 14 master’s and three PhD students, studying in 10 different programs.

The students are from Afghanistan, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lesotho, Mauritius, Morocco, Pakistan, Russia, Serbia & Montenegro, Togo, and Ukraine. Such diversity in backgrounds and academic interests brings a richness to Tech and makes our Graduate School like no other.

The mission of the Fulbright Program is to increase international understanding and respond to critical global issues. It is funded and overseen by the State Department, with 155 countries participating in the Program. Fulbrighters exemplify the power of international academic exchange to transform lives, bridge geographic and cultural boundaries and promote a more peaceful and prosperous world.

Yooper Lights: Blue Marble Security Enterprise mentors 7th graders on an eCYBERMISSION

Published October 23, 2019

By

The Yooper Lights eCybermission team, L to R: Olivia Shank, Rebecca Lyons, Chloe Daniels, and Jenna Beaudoin

Students attending Lake Linden-Hubbell schools who live within one mile of their school are not eligible to take the school bus. Many walk to school, often in the dark, early morning hours. The same is true for students in another nearby school district, Calumet-Laurium-Keweenaw.

A small group of 7th grade students from Lake Linden-Hubbell High School in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula—Jenna Beaudoin, Chloe Daniels, Rebecca Lyons, and Olivia Shank—decided to do something to help improve safety for students who walk to school. Each was highly motivated, for personal reasons.

“I have three younger siblings who walk to school, and they aren’t always aware of their surroundings,” said Daniels.

“My uncle was biking one night and didn’t have a helmet or a reflector and he got hit by a car. He had brain trauma and now has trouble remembering certain things,” said Beaudoin.

“I want to be able to walk safely by myself or with my dogs in the early morning or in the evening when it gets dark,” said Shank.

“We live in a really snowy area, and kids can get hit,” said Lyons.

Helping kids and others walk safely in the dark is their mission, but it was more than that—it is their eCYBERMISSION, a national science competition sponsored by the Army Educational Outreach Program. Nationwide, students in grades 6-9 work in small teams for over a year to develop a process or product that will benefit their community. Locally, the Lake Linden Middle School eCYBERMISSION team is advised by Michigan Tech Engineering Fundamentals instructor Gretchen Hein, and chemical engineering senior Ryan Knoll.

Because none of them knew anything about circuits, the team contacted Glen Archer, interim chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Michigan Tech. Archer introduced the seventh graders to electrical engineering student John Robinault, outreach manager of Blue Marble Security.

Born out of the Michigan Tech Enterprise program, Blue Marble Security is a virtual company comprised undergraduate students focused on securing the future through thoughtful use of technology.

Twice a week, Beaudoin, Daniels, Lyons and Shank met with Robinault and computer science major Tyler Arthur in the Blue Marble Security lab, located in the EERC building on campus.

The girls modeled the casing of their LED reflector using Siemens NX software, created their circuit using National Instruments Multisim™ software, and modeled their circuitboard using Eagle PCB design software. They had never used the software or soldered. The Blue Marble students demonstrated how to model and solder, but the girls did the work.

Arthur was a brand new member of Blue Marble Security Enterprise when he began working with the girls. “It gave me an opportunity to teach some of the material that I was already familiar with, while also learning new things along the way,” he said. “We worked together to get familiar with CAD modeling, for instance.

In the process, Arthur learned a lot about working with younger students, something he hadn’t ever done. “The fact that the team members are all good friends made for an interesting group dynamic, because was easy for them to distract each other while working on the project.” Even so, the girls persevered. Throughout the fall, the team completed their research and designed their reflector. They took their preliminary design to their 7th grade science classes for feedback. Based on that, they updated the design, completed the circuit board and went back to the school for more feedback, this time visiting both 7th and 10th grade science classes, asking the students to compare their LED reflector to a plain reflector. After receiving more valuable feedback, the team modified their design.

At that point, they began testing their LED reflector—calling it the “Yooper Light”, and themselves, the Yooper Lights.

Outdoor testing was completed on a straight, flat road near their school, over a distance of 170 feet. Pedestrians (students grades 7-9), and drivers (students grades 10-12, plus college students and adults) were asked to report when they could see a person walking and wearing either the plain reflector or the Yooper light LED reflector.

Yooper Lights team tested their LED reflectors at night, with help from volunteers.

Due to weather conditions, only the college students and adults tested outside. The remaining tests were completed inside the school, in a dark hallway lit only by security lights. The Yooper Lights found that everyone could both see the LED reflector and the person wearing it over the entire testing distance.

They decided to conduct another, independent test to see just how far their LED reflector was visible. The maximum visibility was found to be 91.3 meters—over twice the previous testing distance.

Yooper Lights submitted their report to eCYBERMISSION, learning in March that they had made it to the virtual regional competition. Once again, Michigan Tech helped them out. The girls presented to judges at the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning with help from Associate Director Jeff Toorangian.

In late April, Yooper Lights became the first place 7th grade team in Michigan—and a finalist in the North Central Region. In a word: Success! They were going to compete in Washington, DC at the national competition.

During the weeklong event in DC last June, the Yooper Lights team bonded with their eCYBERMISSION mentor, Michigan Tech alumna Sasha Teymorian, now a chemist in the US Army Research Laboratory. Teymorian graduated with her doctorate in Chemistry from Michigan Tech in 2015. Together they enjoyed a bevvy of cool activities, including one called “Houston, We Have a Problem,” that tasked the girls with engineering a solution to the Apollo 13 mission. They worked with radio-controlled cars and conducted ballistics on balloons, and even designed autonomous vehicles at the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

While in DC, Beaudoin, Daniels, Lyons and Shank also visited their Congressional representatives. They first met with Representative Jack Bergman, and then with Robert Curis, a staff member in Senator Debbie Stabenow’s office, sharing just how they used engineering to develop their LED light.

Finally, the Yooper lights presented their project to a team of eCybermission judges. “Although the team did not win the national competition, they gained a great deal from the experience,” said advisor Gretchen Hein.

What’s next for the team? Something they’re calling “Yooper Power”. Collaborating again with students from the Blue Marble Security Enterprise, as well as Michigan Tech student chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), the girls, now in 8th grade, will develop outreach activity kits for fifth and sixth graders. Their new mission: introduce more young students to the field of electrical and computer engineering.

Yooper Lights team member Olivia Shank models the casing of the LED reflector using Siemens NX software.

Chloe Daniels and Rebecca Lyons learn how to solder, with help from electrical engineering major John Robinault, a member of the Blue Marble Security Enterprise at Michigan Tech.

The team created two sizes and colors of 3D printed cases to test with their LED reflectors.

The Yooper Lights team used the Design Thinking process to develop their Yooper Lights. Design Thinking training is offered on campus through the Pavlis Honors College.

With more help from volunteers, the Yooper Lights team also tested their LED reflectors in a long, dimly lit hallway at Lake Linden-Hubbell High School.

Engineering Students Comment on Volunteer Work

Published October 22, 2019

By

Instead of sleeping in on a rainy Saturday, more than 500 Michigan Technological University students planted flowers, helped out at the Lake Superior Performance Rally and joined in on other projects as part of Tech’s 13th annual Make a Difference Day.

“I love having a day where I can give back with all of my fellow students,” said Amanda Moya, a fifth-year mechanical engineering student.

“I like to take advantage of the opportunity to give back and make a difference in the world,” said Blue Key member Jacob Allen, a third-year electrical engineering major.

NSF Funds Collaborative Study on Energy System Transitions

Published October 7, 2019

By

Kathleen Halvorsen (SS) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $1,012,875 research and development grant from the National Science Foundation.

The project is entitled, “GCR: Collaborative Research: Socio-Technological System Transitions: Michigan Community & Anishinaabe Renewable Energy Systems.” Rebecca Ong, (Chem Eng) Chelsea Schelly, (SS) Joshua Pearce, (MSE/ECE) and Richelle WInkler (SS) are Co-PI’s on this project. This is the first year of a potential five year project totaling $2,723,647.

By Sponsored Programs.

Extract

The objective of this Growing Convergence Research project is to lay the foundations for a convergent, transdisciplinary field of study focused on understanding transitions in socio-technological systems. This project aims to converge social science theories of values and motivation with engineering and economics understandings of technological feasibility to develop a comprehensive understanding of how and why energy systems, in particular, are reconfigured to include renewable energy resources.

This project brings together scholars from resource management, chemical and materials engineering, electrical engineering, sociology, energy policy, philosophy of science, and regional planning to simultaneously explore the social, cultural, and technological dimensions of energy system transitions.

The project will investigate energy system transitions in eight case communities (two Anishinaabe Tribal Nations and six non-tribal Michigan communities) that vary along characteristics key to understanding energy transitions – including rural vs. urban, renewable energy sources, degree of transition, governance, and type of utility provider.

Dr. Edmond O. Schweitzer III: An Inventor Who Helps Keep the Lights On—in 164 Countries Around the World

Published October 2, 2019

By

Michigan Technological University, at night.

Michigan Tech welcomes to campus today inventor Edmond O. Schweitzer III, recognized as a pioneer in digital protection.

“Why shouldn’t we invent, and wake up every day wanting to go to work to find a better way to do something for other people?” says global innovator and inventor Dr. Edmond O Schweitzer, III, Chair, President and CEO of Schweitzer Electronics.

Dr. Schweitzer was recently inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for inventing the first-ever digital protective relay. Digital protective relays detect electrical faults that cause power outages.

The first protective relays relied on coils and were electromagnetic. Schweitzer’s microprocessor-based digital protective relay is multifunctional, protecting power systems, recording data and detecting faults in lines more effectively. “His first revolutionary ‘relays’ came on the market in the 1980s,” said Bruce Mork, electrical engineering professor at Michigan Tech. “The design has led to reduced costs, flexible operation options and increased reliability. The product lines have been enhanced with many patents and with the utilization of today’s smart grid technologies.”

Schweitzer Electronics Laboratories, Inc. (SEL) based in Pullman, Washington is a longtime partner of Michigan Tech—supporting the Power System Protection Lab at Michigan Tech since 1993, and hiring at least 40 Michigan Tech ECE graduates over the years, plus a dozen more students thus far in 2019.

Inventing runs in Schweitzer’s family, and while on campus he will present a lecture on Creativity and Innovation at 4:15 pm in EERC 103. Wednesday’s lecture is open to the public. All are welcome to attend. Schweitzer will also join a roundtable of power companies to discuss Cybersecurity.

Todd Brassard, VP Operations of Calumet Electronics, arranged Dr. Schweitzer’s visit to Michigan Tech. Calumet Electronics Corporation is a key supplier-partner of printed circuit boards (PCBs) to SEL. The company, based in Calumet, Michigan, is an American manufacturer, supplying PCBs for applications demanding zero failures, zero downtime, and requires a lifetime of performance. Celebrating 50 years, Calumet is a critical supplier to mission critical industries including power grid management, , medical device, aerospace, industrial controls, and defense. Calumet is one of the few PCB manufactures who have made a commitment to American manufacturing.

At Michigan Tech, “SEL has supported us for years, incrementally donating lab equipment since 1993 when I started the protection course and lab here on campus,” adds Mork. “I became aware of their new technology and product lines while working as a substation design engineer in Kansas City in the mid-1980s. As a PhD student at North Dakota State University, I facilitated getting it into the labs there, and again at Michigan Tech after I arrived in 1992. I first met Ed when he presented a paper at the American Power Conference in 1993—it’s a paper I still use today when introducing microprocessor-based protection to my students.”

Category: Electrical and Computer Engineering