College of Engineering Blog

Michigan Tech SWE Chapter Makes It Their Mission to Give Back

Published
By
child looks in wonder as a play-doh circuit lights up a small led light
Who knew! Play Doh can be used to complete a circuit!

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) at Michigan Tech make it their mission to give back to the community and to spark youth interest in STEM-related fields.

“We’re always looking for opportunities to grow and make new connections, both as an organization on campus and as a member of the community,” says Michigan Tech SWE section president and mechanical engineering major Katie Pioch. “We love getting kids excited about STEM.”

The team gathered for a photo in Fall 2019. This fall gatherings have been mostly virtual for the Michigan Tech section.

This past year, Michigan Tech SWE students helped high school students at Lake Linden-Hubbell Schools form the first-ever SWENext Club. They also mentored two eCYBERMISSION teams, sponsored by the U.S. Army Educational Outreach Program.

SWENext enables girls ages 13 and up to become a part of the SWE engineering community as a student through age 18. SWENexters have access to programming and resources designed to develop leadership skills and self-confidence to succeed in a career in engineering and technology.  Although the program focuses on girls, all students are encouraged to get involved. 

Students in the Michigan Tech SWE section worked closely with a team of 8th graders from Lake Linden Hubbell schools–Jenna Beaudoin, Chloe Daniels, Rebecca Lyons, and Olivia Shank–to develop three hands-on electrical engineering outreach activity kits for SWENext-age students and elementary students, too. The girls worked on the activity kits in conjunction with the eCYBERMISSION Competition sponsored by the US Army Educational Outreach Program, earning an Honorable Mention award for their efforts.

The activities: Play-Doh Circuits for upper elementary students, and Paper Circuits and Bouncy Bots for middle school students. 

Play-Doh and Paper Circuits teach how parallel and series circuits work. Bouncy Bots involves a simple series circuit where a coin vibration motor—the kind used in cell phones and video game controllers—is connected to two 1.5 V batteries and adhered to a 4 oz medicine cup. When the circuit is operational, the device “bounces” across a surface.

Together with Michigan Tech’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering SWE students shared the activity kits with more than 400 students: regional Upper Michigan and Northern Wisconsin Girl Scouts; 5th-grade students at Calumet-Laurium-Keweenaw (CLK) schools; 4th-grade students at Hancock Elementary; and 5th-grade students at Lake Linden-Hubbell Schools. 

SWE students mentored Lake Linden-Hubbell eCYBERMISSION 6th grade team, SCubed (Super Superior Scientists). The team recycled school lunch food waste as a food source for pigs, earning an Honorable Mention in the eCYBERMISSION competition.

The Michigan Tech SWE section prepared two grant proposals, one for the SWE-Detroit Professional Section and the other for the Michigan Space Grant Consortium (MSGC), working closely with Michigan Tech’s ECE department. Both proposals were funded, enabling the students to create more activity kits and take them out into the local community.

The funding also allowed for the purchase of soldering tools, electronics components, and other supplies that will now be used to introduce an entire pipeline of students to electrical engineering topics.

High school students create heart rate monitor circuit boards, and also help mentor middle school students through the process of completing holiday tree boards. From there, high school and middle school students will be shown the Bouncy Bot activity; they will lead that activity for their school district’s elementary students. 

“Both SWE and ECE are excited for this “trickle-down” mentoring program,” says Liz Fujita, academic advisor and outreach specialist for Michigan Tech’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Due to the pandemic, SWE members cannot go to area schools. Fujita plans to resume school outreach once the pandemic ends.

Michigan Tech’s SWE Section developed a video describing their year-long outreach projects for SWE’s national FY20 WOW! Innovation Challenge. A portion of the video was created by high school junior Jenna Beaudoin, founding member of the Lake Linden-Hubbell Schools SWENext Club. For their exceptional outreach efforts, SWE awarded Michigan Tech second place in the challenge.

Gretchen Hein, senior lecturer in the Department of Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology is Michigan Tech’s SWE faculty advisor. “We really encourage our SWE section members to develop professionally and personally,” she says. Students work especially hard on their annual Evening with Industry event, which takes place each fall during Michigan Tech Career Fair.” The event, held just a few weeks ago, was virtual. Sponsors included Nucor, Marathon Oil, John Deere, Amway, Milwaukee Tool, Corteva and CWC Textron.

Gretchen Hein, MMET senior lecturer and Michigan Tech’s SWE section advisor

Hein and a group of ten Michigan Tech SWE section members traveled to the annual WE19 Conference in Anaheim, California, the world’s largest conference for women in engineering and technology. They attended professional development sessions, participated in the SWE Career Fair, and networked with other student sections and professional members. 

While there, Romana Carden, a major in engineering management, participated in the SWE Future Leaders (SWEFL) program. Carden also attended the day-long SWE Collegiate Leadership Institute (CLI) with Mackenzie Brunet, a fellow engineering management major. Both programs are led by female engineers working in industry and academia, to help college students gain leadership skills. Zoe Wahr, a civil engineering major, received a scholarship in recognition of her academic, university, and SWE accomplishments. And Hein was recognized at WE19 for her 20-plus years of service with the SWE Engaged Advocate Award, which honors individuals who have contributed to the advancement or acceptance of women in engineering.

“We have a strong and sustainable SWE chapter at Michigan Tech, and Dr. Hein’s work as the college of engineering chapter advisor has played a key role in this,” says Janet Callahan, Dean of the College of Engineering. “I am truly grateful to every person who has contributed to SWE—past, present and future.”

“In the coming year, SWE students plant to expand their outreach,” she adds. “We’d love to have more Michigan Tech students join the section and explore what SWE and the SWE members have to offer.” 

Next month, in early November, the section will participate in the WE20 Conference in New Orleans, virtually.

Interested in learning more about the SWE section at Michigan Tech? Join their email list at swe-l@mtu.edu, or follow the section on Facebook and Instagram, @michigantechswe.

Continue Reading →

Sarah Sun: Nice shirt! Embroidered Electronics and Motion-Powered Devices

Published
By
A prototype of a flexible electronic circuit. Stitch schematics such as this one can be used to create health-monitoring fabrics.

Sarah Sun and George Ochieze generously shared their knowledge on Husky Bites, a free, interactive Zoom webinar hosted by Dean Janet Callahan. Here’s the link to watch a recording of her session on YouTube. Get the full scoop, including a listing of all the (60+) sessions at mtu.edu/huskybites.

What if your medical heart monitor was embroidered right on your shirt, in your favorite design? And what if it was powered by your own movements (no battery required)? And what if you could even design and order it yourself, right on the internet? Get ready to learn all about this, and more.

Join Dean Janet Callahan for supper along with Sarah Sun, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, and George Ochieze, a graduate student researcher in Dr. Sun’s Human-Centered Monitoring Lab at Michigan Tech.

Associate Professor Sarah Sun

Sun is the lead investigator of three National Science Foundation research grants totaling $1 million focused on wearable electronics. She is also the director of the Center for Cyber-Physical Systems within Michigan Tech’s Institute of Computing and Cybersytems ICC.

“I am passionate about using engineering solutions to solve health problems,” she says. “We’re trying to solve long-existing technical challenges to improve medical devices, and we’re developing new technologies, too, in order to enable more diagnosis solutions.”

One of Sun’s large research projects involves developing new human interfaces for monitoring medical vital signs.

Their goal: to provide a reliable, personalized monitoring system that won’t disturb a patient’s life, whether at home, while driving, or at work. “Right now for patients there’s a real trade-off between comfort and signal accuracy. This tradeoff can interfere with patient care and outcomes, too,” she explains.

Sun hopes to use electrophysiological sensing and motion sensing to help prevent automobile crashes, especially those that occur when drivers accidentally fall asleep at the wheel. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, while the precise number can be hard to nail down, drowsy driving is a factor in more than 100,000 crashes in the U.S each year, resulting in nearly 1,000 deaths and 50,000 injuries.

First, though, Sun and her team needed to figure out how to overcome a major challenge in monitoring vital signs: motion artifacts, or glitches caused by the slightest patient movement, even shivering, or tremors.

Motion artifacts appear in an ECG when the patient moves.

“ECG, a physiological signal, is the gold standard for diagnosis and treatment of heart disease, but it is a weak signal,” Sun explains. “Especially when monitoring a weak signal, motion artifacts arise.”

Sun and her team first set out to discover the mechanism underlying the phenomenon of motion artifacts. Then, they realized they were able to tap into it. 

“We not only reduce the influence of motion artifacts but also use it as a power resource,” she says. The result: a sensing device that harvests energy from patient movements.

Sun cites recent progress in the development and manufacturing of smart fabrics, textiles, and garments. “This has opened the door for next-generation wearable electronics—fully flexible systems that can be embroidered directly onto cloth,” she says.

“Feel free to download our .exp files for your own wearable system on cloth manufacturing. The code can be processed by regular sewing machines. Just go online to WEF, our new Wearable Electronics Factory.

Sarah Sun, Mechanical Engineering Assoc. Professor at Michigan Tech

By using conductive thread and passive electronics—tiny semiconductors, resistors and capacitors—Sun is able to turn logos into wearable electronics. The stitches themselves become the electronic circuit. Sun and her team can embroider on just about anything flexible, including cloth, foam, and other materials. 

Sun is also building a manufacturing network and cloud-based website where stitch generation orders can be made. “In the future, a person can upload their embroidery design to generate stitches, or download certain stitches as needed,” she says. The lab provides coding for the electronics and stitch generation to embroiderers. “Soon any embroidery company will have the potential to manufacture embroidered health monitors,” she says.

These wearable, embroidered ”E-logos” can monitor multiple vital signals. They’re customizable, too. 

Sun hopes flexible, wearable electronics will interest a new generation of engineers by appealing to their artistic sides. “This type of embroidery circuit really brings together together craft and functional design.” 

Mechanical Engineering PhD student George Ochieze arrived on campus at Michigan Tech in 2019. He grew up in Abia, Nigeria and earned his bachelor of engineering at Federal University of Technology Owerri in 2017.

George Ochieze is pursuing a master’s degree in Mechatronics and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. He took Sun’s Introduction to Mechatronics and Robotics course at Michigan Tech last spring. That’s when he discovered his own passion: working with machines and control devices. He joined her research group last summer.

“Mechatronics uses electromechanical systems automated for the design of products and processes,” Ochieze explains. “I picked up my research interest after modeling an RRR manipulator using CAD software. That’s a robot manipulator set up with 3 revolute joints. I had some challenges in controlling the joints, and Dr. Sun gave me some tips. She was very helpful in guiding me through the process, and our mentor/mentee relationship in soft robotics was formed,” says Ochieze.

Soft Robotics involves the design and construction of robots from flexible, compliant materials, drawing from the movements and adaptations of living organisms. Soft robots offer new capabilities, as well as improved safety when working around humans, with potential use in medicine and manufacturing.

Ochieze plans to share a demo on soft robotics during Husky Bites.

“Throughout my growth in the engineering field, I have been surrounded by people who are generous enough to share their knowledge. I look forward to mentoring others like me within this field.”


Professor Sun, when did you first get into engineering? What sparked your interest?

My dad liked to play with old electronics when I was young. I built my first radio receiver in middle school with him although I did not know how those electronics work at that time. This experience really inspired my interest in pursuing an engineering degree. I earned my bachelor’s degree at Tianjin University. It’s located near Beijing, in Tianjin, China, on the Bohai Sea. About six year ago, I earned my PhD in electrical engineering at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. My doctoral research was on wearable electronics.

Sarah Sun's hands hold electronic embroidery showing the stitches that function as circuits

Family and Hobbies?

I grew up in Northern China, in a town with a very cold winter climate, but dry. My husband came to Michigan Tech first. He liked the U.P. a lot and told me lots of great things about Tech.  It was challenging for me to balance work and life at first, especially with two little kids. My son, Brent, is almost 8 now, and my daughter, Leah, is two. My husband and I both like to design and build stuff, so we enjoy it with our kids, too. 

George, how did you first get into engineering? What sparked your interest?

I grew up in Aba, in Abia, Nigeria. Working in my Dad’s fabrication company fostered my interest in the engineering field. At a young age I became familiar with machine operations. I was fascinated with the sequence operation of machines to achieve a desired goal. I started developing cars and movable structures with available materials, leading my fellow students in the design of mechanical components.

Graduate student George Ochieze in the Human-Centered Monitoring Lab at Michigan Tech. His passion and research focus: soft robotics.


Do you do any mentoring or teaching on campus?

I am one of two instructors in Michigan Tech’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) Mechatronics program for local high school juniors and seniors. Even in difficult times during the pandemic, these young scholars show overwhelming potential to conquer the mechatronics field—a glimpse into a welcoming future in engineering. They will go on to find degree pathways at Michigan Tech, and excellent careers in smart manufacturing.

Read and View More

Vital signs—Powering Heart Monitors with Motion Artifacts

Ye Sun Wins CAREER Award

Human Centered Monitoring Laboratory (HCML)

Stitches into Circuits (check out the video, below)

Play video
Preview image for video


Continue Reading →

Bill Sproule: Houghton, Michigan Tech, and the Stanley Cup

Published
By
The Stanley cup became NHL’s famous trophy in 1927. This is an early version of the trophy, circa 1893.

Bill Sproule shares his knowledge on Husky Bites, a free, interactive webinar on Monday, September 21 at 6 pm EST. Learn something new in just 20 minutes, with time after for Q&A! Get the full scoop and register at mtu.edu/huskybites.

Bill Sproule, civil engineering professor turned hockey historian

What are you doing for supper this Monday night at 6? How about grabbing a bite with Bill Sproule, hockey historian and Michigan Tech civil and environmental engineering professor emeritus, along with Michigan Tech alumnus John Scott, NHL All-Star MVP?

Sproule’s research into hockey history began about 15 years ago when he first volunteered to teach a class on the subject at Michigan Tech. During Husky Bites he plans to share the history of the Stanley Cup and tell how a Canadian-born dentist, Doc Gibson, and his “partner in crime” Houghton entrepreneur James Dee made Houghton the birthplace of professional hockey, several years before the National Hockey League came into existence. He’ll also discuss the role Gibson and Dee played in Michigan Tech hockey.

Serving as co-host along with Dean Janet Callahan during this session of Husky Bites is John Scott, an inspiration to many and the embodiment of Husky tenacity. 

When and where did hockey begin? A civil engineer in Montreal organized the first amateur game in 1875. Pictured: artists painting of an early hockey game at the Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal, Canada.

Sproule and Scott two have a lot in common. A love of hockey, for one. A fondness for Houghton, for another. Both born in Canada. They’re both retired—but not really retired. They’re both authors. Finally, they’re both Michigan Tech engineering alums. Sproule earned his BS in Civil Engineering in 1970. Scott, a practicing engineer, graduated with his BS in Mechanical Engineering 2010. 

We’re proud to claim NHL All-Star MVP John Scott as a Husky. From 2002 to 2006, he provided no-holds-barred defense and effective penalty killing for Michigan Tech.


In college, Scott had no professional hockey ambitions. That was until he met former Huskies Hockey Assistant Coach Ian Kallay. “He said, ‘You can do this. You can make a career out of this. If you put in the work, put in the hours.’ It was a huge moment for me,” Scott recalled.

How does his ME degree impact his game? “It definitely helps me pass a puck. I’m better than most at figuring out a bank pass off the boards. And most guys sharpen their skates to one-half of an inch. But I know how to increase—or not increase—my bore,” he said.

Scott’s wife, alumna Danielle Scott, who earned a BS in biomedical engineering from Michigan Tech in 2006, stepped away from her role with leading biomed company Boston Scientific to care for the couple’s six daughters, one just a few months old. Their oldest is now 8. John works with a mechanical engineering consulting firm in Traverse City. His podcast, Dropping The Gloves, also keeps him busy. “That’s where we talk about hockey, family, and all other things that are going on in my life post-NHL.”

Scott’s number one job, he firmly insists: family. That means raising his six daughters together with Danielle. He says he’s already hoping for number seven.

John Scott has a book out: A Guy Like Me: Fighting to Make the Cut. It’s his personal memoir.

Professor Sproule, when did you first get into engineering? What sparked your interest?

Actually, engineering was not my first choice. I hoped to become an architect but wasn’t accepted into an architectural program. My uncle was a civil engineer, so that’s why I picked civi; I was thinking structural engineering would be similar to architecture, and I was right, in a way!

I spent my first two years learning at Lake Superior State, a branch of Michigan Tech at the time, then came to Houghton for my junior and senior years, where I took a few transportation courses. After graduating from Tech I headed to the University of Toronto for a master’s degree, specializing in transportation engineering.

After earning my graduate degree I worked for Transport Canada and then joined a transportation engineering consulting firm. I always wondered about teaching, and was hired by a community college to help teach their their transportation engineering program. Teaching soon became my passion. Then, I headed to Michigan State University where I earned my Ph.D. in civil engineering, specializing in airport planning and design. I also taught at the University of Alberta and did more consulting before deciding to join the birthplace of Hockey—and, the faculty at Michigan Tech—in 1995.

At Tech, in my role as professor, I conducted research and taught courses in transportation engineering, public transit, airport design, and hockey history. The hockey history course was always full. How in the world did I end up teaching hockey history? I’ll tell the full story during Husky Bites…

Bill Sproule’s book, Houghton, the Birthplace of Professional Hockey, came out in 2018. And he’s got another hockey book in the works.


Family and Hobbies?

I was born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. My wife, Hilary was born and raised on a dairy farm north of Toronto, and earned her degrees from the University of Toronto and University of Alberta. We met in Toronto on a blind date. Together we raised two sons in Houghton. One graduated in engineering at Michigan Tech and Virginia Tech and now works in the Detroit area. The other is currently a graduate student in art history at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. All the while Hilary taught in the Physical Therapy Assistance program at nearby Finlandia University.

We’re now retired, living here in Houghton. I’m still active on several professional committees and serve on the executive committee of the Society for International Hockey Research. I’ve taken a few online courses in my retirement, too: Hockey GM and Scouting, and Hockey Analytics.

I’ve penned two books, Copper Country Streetcars, and Houghton: The Birthplace of Professional Hockey. I’m currently working on my third book project, all about the history of Michigan Tech hockey—and doing some cartooning.

Credit: Dr. Bill Sproule

Read more:

Showing Off a Love of Hockey
Heart of a Husky

Save the Date!

Michigan Tech’s 100-Year Hockey Reunion will be August 5-7, 2021. You’re invited! Learn more here.
Continue Reading →

Simplicity On the Other Side of Complexity: Todd Stone at Michigan Tech Thursday (Today)

Published
By
Geologic Schematic of Arena Energy’s First Drill Well in the Gulf of Mexico.

Todd Stone, co-founder and managing director of geology at Arena Energy, will visit Michigan Tech today, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020 to deliver the First-Year Engineering Lecture to Michigan Tech’s incoming engineering majors.

Todd Stone is an engineer, explorer, conservationist, and entrepreneur. He is a Michigan Tech alumnus (Geological Engineering ’85), and a distinguished member of Michigan Tech’s College of Engineering Advisory Board.

Stone is on campus today to deliver the annual First-Year Engineering Lecture, “Simplicity On the Other Side of Complexity,” on Thursday, September 17 at 6 pm. Registered attendees will be provided a zoom link to attend the lecture remotely. Please register for the Zoom session at mtu.edu/ef.

“At Michigan Tech you are going to learn how to learn; learn how to solve difficult technical problems logically. And that is going to change your world.” – Todd Stone ’85

“We have a tradition at Tech of having a first-year lecture that helps students see how their technological education can help make a difference in the world,” says Janet Callahan, Dean of the College of Engineering. “Usually the event is held at the Rozsa Center to a packed house, with every seat taken. We can’t do that this year, of course, due to the pandemic. Instead, Todd will present his lecture on Zoom, to an audience of 800-plus students. With Zoom, though, we have room for more, so please join us. Everyone is welcome.”

Stone’s lecture will outline how he learned to work smart in school and throughout his career. He plans to highlight something he feels is top priority: Learning how to learn.

When Stone arrived at Michigan Tech nearly 40 years ago, he says, “It was the best and most mature decision of my young life. At first it was not difficult for me to work hard. My folks raised me that way; it was difficult for me to work smart.”

Todd Stone majored in Geological Engineering at Michigan Tech.

More About Todd Stone

Since co-founding Arena Energy in 1999, Todd Stone has focused on opportunity generation and management of the company’s opportunity-generating staff and systems. Stone is also responsible for maintaining, managing and high-grading the company’s robust prospect inventory, and is part of a eight-person geological group that has drilled over 300 wells. Before co-founding Arena, he was a key member of Newfield Exploration’s offshore acquisition and development team. Stone began his career with Tenneco Oil Company and later served as a geological engineer at Amerada Hess Corporation. He earned his B.S. in geological engineering from Michigan Technological University in 1985.

Interested in joining the Michigan Tech First Year Engineering lecture via Zoom? It will take place Thursday, September 17, 2020 at 6 pm, followed by Q&A. Please register for the Zoom session at mtu.edu/ef.

Continue Reading →

Joshua Pearce: 3D Printing Waste into Profit

Published
By

Joshua Pearce shares his knowledge on Husky Bites, a free, interactive webinar this Monday, September 14 at 6 pm EST. Learn something new in just 20 minutes, with time after for Q&A! Get the full scoop and register at mtu.edu/huskybites.

Dr. Joshua Pearce is the Richard Witte Endowed Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Want to know how you can save money, even make money, by turning your household waste into valuable products? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Professor Joshua Pearce and alumna Megan Kreiger, will cover the exploding areas of distributed recycling and distributed manufacturing. They’ll also explain just how using an open-source approach enables the 3-D printing of products for less than the cost of sales taxes on commercial equivalents.

3-D printing need not be limited to household items. In other words, don’t be afraid to think big—like the whole house! Kreiger’s team was the first to 3-D print a building in the Americas and last year they 3-D printed a 32-foot-long reinforced concrete footbridge.

Yes, you can 3-D print concrete, in addition to plastic and metal.

Kreiger was Pearce’s very first Michigan Tech graduate student. She earned her BS in Math in 2009, and her MS in Materials Science and Engineering in 2012, both at Michigan Tech. She is now Program Manager of Additive Construction at the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center.

Kreiger says she first became aware of 3-D printing at Michigan Tech, while working in Pearce’s 3-D printing lab. She worked with Pearce to show that distributed recycling and distributed manufacturing were better for the environment than traditional centralized processes.

“As the Program Manager for Additive Construction for ERDC, I lead a team of amazing researchers composed of engineers, scientists, technicians, and students,” says Michigan Tech Alumna Megan Kreiger. They created the first 3D printed footbridge in the Americas. “We were the first to look at continuous print operations and printing on unprepared surfaces.”

Pearce and his team of researchers in the MOST Lab (Michigan Tech Open Sustainability Technology) continue to focus on open and applied sustainability. As the Richard Witte Endowed Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, with a joint appointment in the Electrical and Computer Engineering, Pearce conducts research on photovoltaics ⁠— the materials behind solar energy⁠ — as a means to generate power in regions of the world where electricity is unavailable or prohibitively expensive. His research is also internationally renowned for its work in open source 3-D printing in order to enable both individuals as well as underserved regions to gain manufacturing capabilities.

Michigan Tech’s Open Source Hardware Enterprise developed the Granulator, a machine used to grind up plastic waste into usable feedstock that can be used in a filament extruder. Be sure to check out their site to learn more.

The MOST Lab, a cornerstone of Michigan Tech’s open source initiative, fosters strong collaboration between graduate and undergraduate researchers on campus—and with vast open source international networks, visiting scholars and industrial partners. Currently, most 3-D printing is done with virgin polymer feedstock, but research conducted by Michigan Tech’s MOST lab has shown that using recycled 3-D printing feedstock is not only technically viable, but costs much less, and is better for the environment.

Pearce is the advisor of the multidisciplinary, student-run Open Source Hardware Enterprise, part of Michigan Tech’s award-winning Enterprise Program. Dedicated to the development and availability of open source hardware, the Enterprise team’s main activities: Design and prototype, make and publish—and collaborate with community.

Professor Pearce, when did you first get into engineering? What sparked your interest?

Pearce’s latest book project: Create, Share, and Save Money Using Open-Source Projects (October 2020), soon be published by McGraw Hill.

It happened just as I began to choose what type of graduate school to pursue. I was a physics and chemistry double major at the time. One of my close friends, a physics and math double major, claimed he never wanted to work on science with an application. As for me, I was painfully aware of the enormous challenges facing the world, challenges I believed could at least partially be solved with applications of science. That day my career trajectory took a definite tack towards engineering.

Family and Hobbies?

I live with my wife and children, all consummate makers, in the Copper Country. Old hobby: when flying, picking out how many products I could make for almost no money from the SkyMall catalog. New hobby: sharing how to do it with other people.

Megan, when did you first get into engineering? What sparked your interest?

Throughout high school I had a profound love of mathematics. I took every math class I could, and graduated a semester early. This love of mathematics drove me to engineering. I started my undergraduate degree in 2004, but switched over to Mathematics after an injury and a bad-taste-in-my-mouth experience during a summer engineering job. I graduated during the recession of 2009 and after one year off, decided to return to Michigan Tech for my graduate degree. I had an interest in recycling and earned an MS in Materials Science and Engineering while obtaining a graduate certificate in Sustainability. That’s when I fell in love with 3D printing. My passion has evolved into the union of materials science and additive manufacturing. I push the bounds and perceptions of large-scale additive manufacturing / construction.

Michigan Tech alumna Megan Kreiger is Program Manager for Additive Construction for US Army Corps of Engineers. She is also project manager and technical lead on Additive Manufacturing & Robotics projects.

Hometown, Family and Hobbies?

I grew up in rural Montana with my brother, raised by eco-friendly parents. At Michigan Tech while pursuing my degree, I spent her time hiking, snowboarding Mont Ripley, and backpacking the 44 miles of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore with my husband. We now live in Champaign, Illinois, with our two children and our three at-home 3D printers. We spend our time raising chickens, wrangling pets (and kids), and working to modernize the construction industry for the US Military through the integration of concrete 3D printers.

Megan Kreiger and her team completed the first full-sized 3D printed concrete building in the United States, printed entirely in a field environment.

Read more:

MTU Engineering Team Joins Open-source Ventilator Movement

Q&A with the MTU Masterminds of 3D-printed PPE

Just Press Print: 3-D Printing At Home Saves Cash

Power by the People: Renewable Energy Reduces the Highest Electric Rates in the Nation

Continue Reading →

Husky Bites Returns for the Fall, Starts Monday

Published
By

What are you doing for supper each Monday night this fall? Join College of Engineering Dean Janet Callahan and special guests at 6 p.m. (EDT) each Monday, for a 20-minute interactive Zoom webinar, followed by a Q&A session.

Launched last June during the pandemic and back by popular demand, the fall season of Husky Bites starts Monday (Sept. 14). Each “bite” is a free, suppertime mini-lecture, presented by a different Michigan Tech faculty member. They’ll weave in a bit of their own personal journey, and bring a co-host, too — an alumnus or current student who knows a thing or two about the topic at hand.

Important note: Even if you registered for Husky Bites last summer, you will need to register again — a second time — for fall at mtu.edu/huskybites.

Know others who might be interested? Feel free to invite a friend. All are welcome. “We’ve had attendees from nine countries, and a great mix of students, alumni, our Michigan Tech community and friends,” says Dean Callahan, who mails out prizes for (near) perfect attendance, too. (Last summer there were Husky Bites t-shirts, and Michigan Tech face masks, sewn right here in Houghton).

The series kicks off Monday (Sept. 14) with a session from Joshua Pearce (ECE/MSE), with co-host Megan Kreiger, Pearce’s first Michigan Tech grad student. Want to know how you can make money turning your household waste into valuable products? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Professor Joshua Pearce and his co-host, alumna Megan Krieger, will cover the exploding areas of distributed recycling and distributed manufacturing. They’ll also explain just how using an open-source approach enables the 3-D printing of products for less than the cost of sales taxes on commercial equivalents.

Get the full scoop and register (or re-register) at mtu.edu/huskybites.


Here’s a quick rundown of our Fall 2020 lineup, below:

Monday, 9/14
Joshua Pearce — “3D Printing Waste into Profit,” with co-host Megan Kreiger, Program Manager, Additive Construction, US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) and Michigan Tech (Math ‘09, MSE‘12) alumna.

Monday, 9/21
Bill Sproule (professor emeritus CEE) — “Michigan Tech, and the Stanley Cup,” with co-host John Scott, NHL All-Star MVP and Michigan Tech alumnus (ME ‘10).

Monday, 9/28
Sarah Ye Sun (ME-EM) — “Nice Shirt! Embroidered Electronics and Motion-Powered Devices,” with co-host George Ochieze, a current Michigan Tech student.”

Monday, 10/5
Orhan Soykan (BioMed) — “Prolific Inventing,” with co-host Dr. Tim Kolesar, MD, development quality engineer, Abbott Labs, and a Michigan Tech alumnus (BME ‘19).

Monday, 10/12
Erik Herbert (MSE) — “Holy Grail! Energy Storage on the Nanoscale,” co-host TBD.

Monday, 10/19
Tim Havens (CC) — “Warm and Fuzzy Machine Learning,” with co-host Hanieh Deilamsalehy, a machine learning researcher at Adobe and Michigan Tech alumnus (ECE ‘17).

Monday, 10/26
Paul Bergstrom (ECE) — “Quantum Dot Devices and Single Electron Transistors,” co-host TBD.

Monday, 11/2
Mary Raber (PHC) — “Solving Wicked Problems,” co-host TBD.

Monday, 11/9
David Shonnard (ChE) —” Waste Plastics are Taking Over the World and The Solution is Circular,” co-host TBD.

Monday, 11/16
TBD

Monday, 11/23
Bill Predebon, (Chair ME-EM) — “Say Yes to the Quest,” with co-host Marty Lagina, CEO, Heritage Sustainable Energy, winemaker, Michigan Tech alumnus (ME ‘77), and reality TV show star (Curse of Oak Island): “Say Yes to the Quest,” with co-host Bill Predebon, (Chair ME-EM)

Monday, 11/30
Pengfei Xue (CEE) — “What Superior (the Supercomputer) Tells Us About Superior (the Lake),” co-host TBD.

Monday, 12/7
Raymond Shaw (Physics) — “Lake Superior in My Driveway: Lake Effect Snow in the Keweenaw,” with co-host Will Cantrell, dean of the Graduate School.

Continue Reading →

Engineering Alumni Activity Fall 2020

Published
By
David Hill
David Hill

Michigan Tech alumnus David Hill (’65, ME), was featured in the story “Profiling Greatness: David Hill.” David Hill was only the third individual to hold the title of Corvette Chief Engineer. During his 13-plus year tenure as Chief, Hill oversaw the Corvette’s coming of age, as the iconic American sports car reached new heights in power, performance, and sophistication. David Hill’s career as an engineer began in 1965, after earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University. It was at this time that Hill was hired by Cadillac, for work in the manufacturer’s engine lab.

LeeRoy Wells Jr.
LeeRoy Wells Jr.

Michigan Tech alumnus LeeRoy Wells, Jr. (’02, EE) has been named senior vice president of operations for CMS Energy. LeeRoy currently serves as the vice president of gas operations responsible for gas transmission, distribution, and the integrity of the company’s gas system. Wells graduated from Michigan Technological University in 2002 with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. He also holds a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership and Management from Lourdes College, along with business certifications from George Washington University and the University of Michigan – Stephen M. Ross School of Business.

Garrick Ronchow
Garrick Ronchow

Michigan Tech alumnus Garrick Ronchow has been named president and CEO of CMS Energy and Consumers Energy and was named to CMS Energy’s Board of Directors. Rochow has a bachelor’s degree from environmental engineering from Michigan Technological University and a master’s degree in business administration from Western Michigan University.

Michigan Tech alumnus Mark Daavettila ’09 (Civil Engineering) has been hired at the Department Public Works (DPW) director of the City of Negaunee. He has been a licensed Professional Engineer in Michigan with 11 years of experience working in the civil engineering field. The story was covered by WLUC TV6, Marquette.

Kristina Fields
Kristina Fields

Kristina Fields, professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, was named one of four recipients across the UW System of the 2020 Alliant Energy Underkofler Excellence in Teaching Award. Fields earned her PhD, Master of Science, and Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from Michigan Technological University. She began teaching at UW-Platteville in 2007.

Bobbi Wood
Bobbi Wood

ThermoAnalytics, Inc., a leader in advanced thermal, fluid-flow, and infrared modeling software, announced the promotion of Bobbi Wood to the position of President and Chief Operating Officer, effective August 24, 2020. She has served as the Chief Operating Officer since 2019. Wood holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University.

Continue Reading →

Meet Brett Hamlin, Engineering Fundamentals Interim Department Chair

Published
By
Brett Hamlin, a Michigan Tech mechanical engineering alumnus, now leads the Department of Engineering Fundamentals

The College of Engineering at Michigan Technological University is pleased to announce Dr. Brett Hamlin as interim chair of the Department of Engineering Fundamentals.

Hamlin grew up in Stillwater, Minnesota, and earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, both at Michigan Tech.

He first joined Michigan Tech as a lecturer in the Department of Engineering Fundamentals in 1998. He is a senior lecturer as well as previous assistant chair in the department.

Hamlin’s teaching interests include graphics, visualization, solid mechanics, design, and thermo sciences. His research interests include educational methods, spatial visualization, heat transfer, and biomechanics. 
 

“I’m excited about this opportunity. I hope to continue to work with the dedicated faculty of the department and continue to push the boundaries of excellence in engineering education.”

Brett Hamlin, Interim Chair, Engineering Fundamentals


“I am delighted that Dr. Hamlin will be Interim Chair of Engineering Fundamentals, joining the leadership team of the college,” added Janet Callahan, Dean of the College of Engineering. “His passion for first year teaching and learning, and his administrative experience strongly prepare him for this leadership role.”

Hamlin serves as faculty advisor for Michigan Tech’s student-run GEAR Enterprise team. The focus of GEAR (General & Expedition Adventure Research) is to design, model, test, prototype, and manufacture a wide variety of goods and equipment used in recreational outdoor and commercial expedition endeavors. Hamlin was a longtime advisor for Michigan Tech’s SAE Baja Enterprise. He also serves as an instructor in the Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology—teaching Outdoor Emergency Care.

A former top Nordic skier, Hamlin is a senior level member of the Ski Patrol, qualified on both snowboard and Alpine skis. He is active in the local mountain biking scene, and on any given weekend you will find the entire Hamlin family out and about, either biking, skiing, hiking, camping, or climbing.

“I like to solve problems and brainteasers, and engineering is just like solving brainteasers in real life.”

Brett Hamlin

Previous department chair, Associate Professor Jon Sticklen, returns to faculty ranks. His focus has broadened to include STEM education research and teaching. He also plans to collaborate with Michigan Tech’s Department of Cognitive Learning and Sciences in its effort to develop a new undergraduate major, Human Factors.

Interested in meeting or talking with Prof. Brett Hamlin? Feel free to reach out via email or stop by his office at 112 Dillman.

Continue Reading →

Michelle Jarvie-Eggart on Engineering Education

Published
By
Michelle Jarvie-Eggart
Michelle Jarvie-Eggart

Michelle Jarvie-Eggart participated in a paper for the 2020 ASEE conference online. The paper entitled “Work in Progress: Student Perception of Computer Programming within Engineering Education: An Investigation of Attitudes, Beliefs, and Behaviors” was presented by Kelly S. Steelman (CLS).

Other authors include Kay L. Tislar, Charles Wallace, Nathan D. Manser (GMES), Briana C Bettin, and Leo C. Ureel II.

Steelman, K. S., & Jarvie-Eggart, M. E., & Tislar, K. L., & Wallace, C., & Manser, N. D., & Bettin, B. C., & Ureel, L. C. (2020, June), Work in Progress: Student Perception of Computer Programming within Engineering Education: An Investigation of Attitudes, Beliefs, and Behaviors Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . https://peer.asee.org/35683

Jarvie-Eggart also presented work with graduate student Amanda Singer alumnus Jason Mathews at the 2020 ASEE conference. Their paper, “Parent and Family Influence on First-year Engineering Major Choice” indicates matrilineal occupational inheritance may be affecting female engineering students.

Jarvie-Eggart, M. E., & Singer, A. M., & Mathews, J. (2020, June), Parent and Family Influence on First-year Engineering Major Choice Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . https://peer.asee.org/35035

Jarvie-Eggart is a Senior Lecturer in the Departments of Engineering Fundamentals and Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology.

Michelle Jarvie-Eggart (EF/RISE) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $199,633 research and development grant from the National Science Foundation.

The project is entitled, “Research Initiation: Factors Motivating Engineering Faculty to Adopt and Teach New Engineering Technologies.” Shari Stockero (CLS/RISE) is the Co-PI on this two-year project.

Freeman and Jarvie-Eggart to Present at 36th Annual Distance Teaching and Learning Conference

Michelle Jarvie-Eggart (EF/CLS) and Thom Freeman (CTL/CLS) will virtually present a session titled “A Case Study Examining the Effects of Online Instructor Training” at the 36th Annual Distance Teaching and Learning Conference at 12:45  p.m. Friday (Aug. 7)

Know as DT&L to those in the online learning community, it is the longest-running and most prestigious conference centered around innovations in, and advancement of, quality online learning and distance education.

It has been held annually in Madison by the University of Wisconsin, Madison. This year’s conference is a fully online event Aug. 3-7, 2020.

Continue Reading →

Gordon Parker: Control Systems—Math in Motion

Published
By
Three meters wide x 10 meters long. Eight paddles One-sided glass panel for easy visibility. Can you guess what this is?

Gordon Parker generously shared his knowledge on Husky Bites, a free, interactive Zoom webinar hosted by Dean Janet Callahan. Here’s the link to watch a recording of his session on YouTube. Get the full scoop, including a listing of all the (60+) sessions at mtu.edu/huskybites.

What do machines that move all have in common? Control systems that coordinate the machines. 

Can you recognize a control system when you see one? How about a controlled dynamic system? Well, after 20 minutes with Professor Gordon Parker, John & Cathi Drake Endowed Chair in Mechanical Engineering, you will. And then some…

“My most important and satisfying professional objective is sharing my passion for dynamics and controls with students,” says Dr. Gordon Parker.

“I’ve been working on control system theory and design for (gulp) 32 years with applications such as rockets, spacecraft, ships, cranes, ground vehicles, microgrids, wave energy converters, and more,” says Gordon. “I love working with students and colleagues to field control systems—the bigger, the better.”

Last April, our own Gordon Parker became one of just four instructors at Michigan Tech to receive the inaugural Provost’s Award for Sustained Teaching Excellence. The award brings special recognition to instructors who have been nominated as finalists for the Distinguished Teaching Award four or more times.

Mike Agostini knows firsthand Parker’s effective teaching and mentoring. Nowadays, Agostini is a senior manager of application engineering at The MathWorks in Boston. Back in 2001, he was a graduate student working with Parker to design control strategies for large boom cranes mounted on ships at sea.

“The goal was to minimize vibration from inputs,” explained Agostini. “Inputs could come from operator commands or from ship motion. We injected crane commands on top of the ship-induced motion to minimize vibration of the payloads. The payloads could be 30-plus tons, in containers 40 feet on a side. The chance for uncontrolled swing to damage property or lives was significant. It is for this reason that ship cranes traditionally have been limited to operating in very calm seas,” he says.

Example of a crane operation on a ship.

“The most enjoyable aspect was the tool building,” adds Agostini. “We had both a ship crane (on the ship) as well as a scale model crane at Sandia National Labs. But the utility of using them for day-to-day research was limited. They were simply too expensive and difficult to access regularly. So we built high-fidelity models, and took the algorithms we built and tested in software to the hardware.

“It was and incredible feeling to be on a crane ship rolling back and forth 14 degrees and see a huge 35 meter boom crane automatically actuating to compensate. So much steel and hardware under command of software and algorithms you helped design,” says Agostini. “But better than that was working with Dr. Gordon Parker. He really helped me mature as an engineer. His mentoring has helped make me the person I am today.”

Nowadays, Parker still specializes in control system design, and a key area of his research is the optimal control of microgrids. A microgrid is a local energy grid with control capability, which means it can disconnect from the traditional grid and operate autonomously, or independently.

Underwater robots and autonomous vehicles rely on battery power. When working in the middle of the ocean or other large body of water, charging sources aren’t readily available. Parker is developing a solution for this problem, tapping into the energy that comes from ocean waves.

Parker and his research team work on providing an energy source through a floating microgrid system, or a marine energy grid. “We’re developing control strategies that bridge the gap between the theoretical models and the realistic conditions you find on the ocean,” Parker explains.

Using the wave tank on the Michigan Tech campus, Parker pairs machine learning with model predictive control to help engineers measure key parameters accurately and predict wave energy converter (WEC) behavior. (Hey, and Yes, there is a wave tank in the basement of the R.L. Smith Building, with state-of-the-art instrumentation for WEC studies. Wave tanks create reproducible wave fields to aid the understanding of the motion of submerged and partially submerged bodies, such as underwater vehicles, ships, and WECs.

Michigan Tech’s Wave Tank research facility is located in the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics. Among its key uses: developing control systems for wave power, capturing the energy of waves in the ocean, or other large bodies of water.

“There’s a spectrum of wave energy converter systems in development right now. And there’s an opportunity in controlling these systems in interesting and sophisticated ways,” says Parker.

How? “In a control scheme, we look up a device, harmonize with the wave field, and resonate. With reinforcement learning, we can look at what is happening in the wave field and other wave energy converters in the array and try different controls. Our system is penalized if it doesn’t perform well and rewarded if it does,” says Parker.

Wave Energy Converters (WECS) are devices with moving elements directly activated by the cyclic oscillation of waves to harvest energy from ocean waves. Power is extracted by converting the kinetic energy of these displacing parts into electric current.

“We are analyzing the potential of exploiting the interactions between converters in compact arrays. After small scale tank testing we could potentially look at testing in the Great Lakes,” says Parker. 

Michigan Tech students are heavily involved in the research through senior design projects—developing a wave tank testing model of a wireless WEC. And a research team in Parker’s research lab, the Intelligent Systems and Control Laboratory, is creating a WEC array that extracts maximum power.

Another look at the Michigan Tech Wave Tank. Want to see and hear it? Check out the video link at the end of this post.

“These control schemes and marine energy grids have applications beyond refueling unoccupied underwater vehicles,” says Parker. “They can be applied to environmental sensing, too.” That includes monitoring meteorological conditions, sea-water chemical/physical properties, tsunamis and storm surges, fish and other marine life, coastal and sea-floor conditions.

There are microgrids on land, too, of course, and space. Parker is an expert on microgrids of all kinds. At Michigan Tech, he co-founded the Agile and Interconnected Microgrid (AIM) Center to bring together faculty from across campus—Computer Science, Mathematics, Cognitive Sciences and Learning, Electrical and Computer Engineering and Mechanical Engineering—to form an interdisciplinary team. AIM now has 18 researchers spanning seven academic units whose customers include NSF, ONR, NAVSEA, ARL, TARDEC, AFRL, DOE, and Sandia National Laboratories.

When he’s not teaching undergraduates, advising senior design teams, or mentoring graduate students, Parker is creating content for his popular, 64 segment, open source, video series on control system analysis and design. The series is used internationally by students on YouTube.

Before coming to Michigan Tech, Parker was a research fellow at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he developed systems for large angle spacecraft reorientation and fault-tolerant robots. He also worked as an aerospace engineer for General Dynamics Space Systems in San Diego, California, designing trajectories for new launch vehicle systems.

Parker earned a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at SUNY Buffalo, an MS in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan, and a BS in Systems Engineering at Oakland University.

Dr. Parker, when did you first get into engineering? What sparked your interest?

My passion for control systems first occurred in a single, identifiable moment. I was in the third year of my undergrad studies in a class similar to a course at Michigan Tech, Dynamic Systems (MEEM 3750). This is where we learned about differential equation modeling of mixed physics systems—motors, masses, and springs. I was looking out the window at the tree branches swaying in the breeze. (Okay, perhaps I should have been paying attention to the Prof., but the truth is what it is.) That’s when it clicked. The motion of the branches, vibration, was similar to what we were learning—and it could be modeled with math and then controlled.

At that point I was hooked on the notion of using math to predict how things respond to being poked—including machines, the stock market, etc.—and then devising control systems to make them do what you want. By the way, in theory, this should work with people, but I’ve not cracked that nut.

Hometown, Hobbies, Family?

My most important and satisfying professional objective is sharing my passion for dynamics and controls with students—from application-focused undergraduate courses to theory-laced graduate-level material. Hopefully some of that sticks, and is multiplied through their achievements, both professionally and personally.

I’ve been at Michigan Tech for 24 years now, while raising two wonderful kids with my wife, Karen. We now live in the woods outside of town enjoying the wildlife (not the wild life), fitness (usually followed by physical therapy), baking bread, and exploring the esoteric features of MATLAB/Simulink.

Learn More

Play Michigan Technological University Compact 3D Wave Flume video
Preview image for Michigan Technological University Compact 3D Wave Flume video

Michigan Technological University Compact 3D Wave Flume


Continue Reading →