Category: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Aerospace Expo 2018 Held at Tech

Aerospace Expo 2018 showing participants talking next to postersThe Aerospace Industry Association of Michigan (AIAM), in partnership with Pure Michigan Business Connect (PMBC), hosted an aerospace expo on the Michigan Tech campus October 15-16, 2018.

“Michigan has continuously been ranked as a top-10 state in aerospace manufacturing attractiveness and the Upper Peninsula is a critical part of our success in this industry,” says Tony Vernaci, president and founder of AIAM. “We are excited about this event and the opportunity it brings to form connections between potential customers, talent and suppliers.”

The expo kicked off with a networking event and reception Monday, then moved into exhibits Tuesday. Some of the on-site buyers included GE Aviation, Parker Aerospace, RCO Aerospace, Woodward, Bell Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft and Liebherr.

“GS Engineering is a proud member of AIAM and we are excited to welcome this expo to the Upper Peninsula. The UP has a growing reputation in aerospace and a cluster of aerospace suppliers including advanced manufacturers, engineering and research companies,” says Rob Cooke, from GS Engineering.

By Career Services.

UP Aerospace Expo held at Michigan Tech

HOUGHTON, Mich. (WLUC) – Aerospace Industry Association of Michigan hosts the Upper Peninsula Aerospace Expo this week.

“It is a matter of if you want to be a leader in the industry or you want to follow the industry. We see the U.P. and the companies here as being leaders for the industry,” said AIAM president and founder Tony Vernaci.

There are 600 aerospace industry companies in Michigan. Only 23 of those are located in the U.P.

Read more at TV6 FOX UP, by Mariah Powell.

Systems Engineering Research Center Supports Undergraduate Student Projects

SERC

Joseph Thompson, Zachary Fredin and Richard Berkey of the Pavlis Honors College will receive $60,000 in undergraduate student project funding from the Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC). SERC is a University Affiliated Research Center of the Department of Defense that collaborates with 22 universities across the United States to leverage the expertise of senior lead researchers. SERC represents a broad community of systems engineering researchers whose depth of knowledge spans a wide range of diverse interests and industries.

The initial 12 projects, funded through SERC, will provide students in biomedical engineering, electrical engineering and five different Enterprises with valuable hands-on experience serving Naval Systems Warfare, Army, Air Force Special Operations, Air Force Research Laboratory, Marine Corps Special Operations Command, United States Coast Guard and United States Special Operations Forces.

Inaugural project work will take place throughout the 2018-19 academic year.

By the Pavlis Honors College.

Graduate School Announces Fall 2018 Award Recipients

Engineering Grad Students working in the lab

The Graduate School announced the Summer and Fall 2018 award recipients. The following are award recipients in engineering graduate programs:

Doctoral Finishing Fellowship Award

Ulises Gracida Alvarez, Chemical Engineering
Sanaz Habibi, Chemical Engineering
Long Zhang, Chemical Engineering
Shuaidong Zhao, Civil Engineering
Jingyuan Wang, Electrical Engineering
Zhimin Song, Environmental Engineering
Priscilla Addison, Geological Engineering
Hans Lechner, Geology
Huaguang Wang, Materials Science and Engineering
Shadi DaraniMechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
Soroush Sepahyar, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

Portage Health Foundation Graduate Assistantship

Anindya Majumdar, Biomedical Engineering
David Rosen, Biomedical Engineering

Dean’s Award for Outstanding Scholar

Shuaidong Zhao (Civil and Environmental Engineering PhD)
Priscilla Addison(Geological Engineering PhD)
Sampath Kumar Reddy Boyapally (Mechanical Engineering MS)
Rahul Jitendra Thakkar (Mechanical Engineering MS)
Nikhil Appasaheb Shinde(Mechanical Engineering MS)
Mitchel Timm (Mechanical Engineering MS)
Xinyu Ye (Environmental Engineering PhD)

Dean’s Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching

Dongdong Ge (Civil and Environmental Engineering PhD)
Mohammadhossein Sadeghiamirshahidi (Civil and Environmental Engineering PhD)
Aaron Krieg (Chemical Engineering PhD)
Brandi Petryk (Geology MS)
Christa Meingast (Environmental Engineering PhD)
Luke Jurmu (Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics PhD)
Mingyang Li (Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics PhD)

North Macomb Students Attend Women in Engineering Program

Women in EngineeringA trio of local students recently had a chance to explore an array of engineering careers through Michigan Technological University’s Women in Engineering program.

The Women in Engineering program is a weeklong look at engineering careers in areas such as mechanical, computer, environmental, electrical, biomedical, civil, geological and materials engineering, school officials said in a news release.

Students accepted into the program received a scholarship that covered room and board, tuition and supplies.

Read more at The Voice, by Emily Pauling.

Volunteering Abroad: A Change of Plan in Cartago, Costa Rica

Michigan Tech mechanical engineering student Alexandra Tateosian volunteers in Cartano, Costa Rica through for the non-profit organization UBELONG.
Michigan Tech mechanical engineering student Alexandra Tateosian volunteers in Cartago, Costa Rica through UBELONG, an international non-profit organization.

As a mechanical engineering senior at Michigan Tech, Alexandra Tateosian left campus for Cartago, Costa Rica thinking she would be assisting with the construction planning of a center for disadvantaged youth as a volunteer for the non-profit organization UBELONG. 

Tateosian wanted to spend time abroad before beginning a full-time job at 3M. After tutoring many international friends in English while studying in Australia, she began considering living abroad to teach English or for other volunteering opportunities. Her experiences as an intern for two international companies, Bemis Company and 3M, also sparked her interest in working abroad at a future point in her career.

The day she arrived in Cartago she learned that instead she would be working at a care center for the elderly. “The drastic change in projects was a good lesson in the nature of volunteerism as well as the importance of flexibility and adapting to local needs,” says Tateosian.

“I was able to make the most out of the new experience and learned a lot by approaching it with an open mind.”

While the center is very familiar with having volunteers come to assist staff, Tateosian was the first international volunteer to come with the objective of working on a specific project. “The first step was to identify areas of need,” she says. “We decided to focus on the Taller de Carpinteria (the woodshop).” One portion of her volunteer work she helped assess safety recommendations for the tools and equipment. She also designed woodworking projects to get more of the seniors involved, including building and painting puzzles that are used in other areas of the center as mind exercises.

“One goal was for me to train some of the seniors to be leaders for future projects after I left.” Tateosian worked closely with the staff to coordinate all the details. “It was certainly an amplified lesson in the importance of communication due to the language barriers,” she says.

“Exposing myself to different places and cultures became an important part of my life. I learned about human nature and how people interact similarly and differently and reasons for the differences,” adds Tateosian.

Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles in Cartago, Costa Rica
Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles in Cartago, Costa Rica

Cartago is about a one-hour bus ride from San José, the capital city of Costa Rica, with many restaurants, museums, and other sites. Tateosian climbed to the top of Volcán Poás. She ate dinner each night with her host family and took a rock climbing and mountain biking trip nearby. On a visit to nearby Nicaragua to explore Ometepe Island she happened to meet a fellow Tech student in the Peace Corps Master’s International Program.

Her most memorable experience while living, working and studying abroad? “At the care center we ran an activity with the seniors where they reflected on what amor (love) meant to them. Afterwards, an elderly woman approached me and said ‘este es amor’ (this is love) and gave me a big hug.”

Alexandra Tateosian earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering at Michigan Tech in 2014. She is now an Advanced Project Engineer at 3M.

Detroit Students Introduced to STEM and Environmental Science Careers

Environmental CareersFifteen high school students from Detroit and southeast Michigan are exploring natural resources and engineering majors and possible careers at Michigan Tech this week. This is the fourth year that the program has been conducted in conjunction with Tech’s Summer Youth Program.

The students are investigating drinking water treatment, autonomous vehicles, drones, forest biomaterials, soils, wildlife and more with Michigan Tech scientists from mechanical engineering and electrical engineering along with experts from the Michigan DNR and U.S. Forest Service.

The program is coordinated by the Michigan Tech Center for Science and Environmental Outreach, with funding from Michigan Tech’s School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, College of Engineering, Admissions, Housing and Residential Life, Great Lakes Research Center and the Center for Diversity and Inclusion.

By Joan Chadde.

City students learn environmental values during career tour at Tech

HOUGHTON — A group of 13 high school students from Detroit and southeast Michigan spent last week getting a firsthand look at the Copper Country and environmental and engineering programs at Michigan Tech.

Student often come to the program with ideas of careers they are interested in, and many of them aren’t focused on natural resources or ecology, said Lisa Perez from the US Forest Service Urban Connections. However, they typically walk away from the program with new ideas and shifted focus.

Perez and Mike Reed of the Detroit Zoological Society have worked with the students since the program began four years ago.

“It opened their eyes, maybe not to a totally different career path, but it opened their eyes to the fact that they are responsible for the future of the environment,” said Reed.

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Garrett Neese.

DENSO STEM Grant for Michigan Tech

DENSO sign outside the facilityMichigan Tech was listed among the 25 institutions of higher learning that shared in nearly $1 million in funding from DENSO International America, Inc.

DENSO Awards $1 Million in STEM Grants to 25 North American Colleges

DENSO, one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers of technology and components, announced that its philanthropic arm will donate nearly $1 million in overall funding to 25 institutions of higher learning across North America to support science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) educational programming.

“Manufacturing and automotive companies need technically-minded associates now more than ever,” said David Cole, DENSO North American Foundation board member.

Read more at Fleet News Daily.

Acoustics in Arctic Ice Sheets

Research Sites in the Arctic showing a collage of four snowy locations with researchers and equipment
Research Sites in the Arctic

As more human activity enters the Arctic, it is important to be able to detect and classify the resulting impact from human behaviors. Examples of anthropogenic impact sources might include shipping through the Northwest Passage, natural resource exploration, and tourism.

A simple way to measure this impact is to use a sparse array of acoustic and seismic sensors. In order to do that, we need to understand the propagation of acoustic energy through and between the ice, air, and water domains. With this work we begin to understand the energy propagation, which will guide us in designing and building future sensing systems in the evolving Arctic.

This work has been published by Miles B. Penhale, Andrew R. Barnard, Robert Shuchman, “Multi-Modal and short-range transmission loss in thin, ice-covered, near-shore Arctic waters,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 143(5).

https://doi.org/10.1121/1.5038569

2018 Employee Service Award Recognition

Last Tuesday (May 15, 2018), faculty and staff members, along with their guests, gathered at the Memorial Union Ballroom for an awards dinner recognizing 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45 years of service to Michigan Tech.

Within the College of Engineering, the following employees were recognized:

25 Years

Bruce Mork, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Timothy Schulz, Electrical and Computer Engineering

30 Years

Warren Perger, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Charles Van Karsen, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

35 Years

David Hand, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Lawrence Sutter, Materials Science and Engineering

40 Years

Surendra Kawatra, Chemical Engineering

Congratulations to all honorees. This year’s Staff Service Recognition Luncheon will be held Wednesday, June 6.

By Human Resources.

Bruce Mork
Bruce Mork
Tim Schulz
Tim Schulz
Warren Perger
Warren Perger
Charles Van Karsen
Charles Van Karsen
David Hand
David Hand
Larry Sutter
Larry Sutter
S. Komar Kawatra
S. Komar Kawatra

Tech’s Frozen Engineers to Compete in Make48 Competition this Summer

Frozen Engineers
The Frozen Engineers from left to right: Guyon, Gazdecki, Kolb, and Thompson

Michigan Tech’s Frozen Engineers were selected to represent Tech at the Make48: College vs. College competition this August in Baltimore, MD. Teams are given 48 hours to plan, prototype, and pitch an idea for prizes and licensing potential.

The Michigan Tech team consists of Mike Gazdecki (material science and engineering), Patrick Guyon (mechanical and electrical engineering), Rachel Kolb (mechanical engineering), and Ryan Thompson (mechanical engineering). The Frozen Engineers took fourth place in Michigan Tech’s 2018 Consumer Products Challenge for their single serve Margarita Machine.

Read more at the Pavlis Honors College Blog, by Amy Karagiannakis.