Materials Science and Engineering News

Author: Sue Hill

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

Amberlee Haselhuhn ’11 on STEM Education

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Amberlee Haselhuhn
Amberlee Haselhuhn ’11

Michigan Tech alumna Amberlee Haselhuhn, who received her bachelor’s of science in Materials Science and Engineering in 2011 and her PhD in ’16, appears in “Industry Faces,” a feature of Modern Casting.

Haselhuhn earned her PhD under the advisement of Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) and Paul Sanders (MSE).

Haselhuhn showing value of STEM education

Haselhuhn has worked with an all-girls First Robotics team and volunteers with AFS Foundry in a Box demonstrations through the Saginaw Valley chapter.

By doing what she has professionally, Haselhuhn is also a role model for young girls and women considering a career in STEM. That’s not something she takes lightly.

“I’ve been surrounded by incredibly talented, smart and innovative people at General Motors and when I was at Michigan Tech. There are so many intelligent people in the world,” she said. “You’re always hoping to improve your skills, innovate and to continue to be the best that you can be.”

Read more at Modern Casting.

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Amberlee Haselhuhn ’11 is a Future Leader of Manufacturing

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Amberlee Haselhuhn ’11 is a Future Leader of Manufacturing

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Amberlee Haselhuhn
Amberlee Haselhuhn ’11

Michigan Tech alumna Amberlee Haselhuhn, who received her bachelor’s of science in Materials Science and Engineering in 2011 and her PhD in ’16, appears in “30 Under 30: Recognizing the future leaders of manufacturing,” in SME’s advancedmanufacturing.org.

Haselhuhn earned her PhD under the advisement of Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) and Paul Sanders (MSE).

30 Under 30: Recognizing the Future Leaders of Manufacturing

Manufacturing Engineering’s 2018 Class of 30 Under 30 honorees are in a class all their own. This is the sixth year Manufacturing Engineering is recognizing 30 individuals under the age of 30 that are leading the manufacturing industry into the future. These individuals exemplify extraordinary promise in manufacturing and the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills that underpin the discipline, plus much more.

Amberlee Haselhuhn, Age: 29

General Motors Company, Warren, MI

Amberlee Haselhuhn may have a BS and PhD in materials science engineering as well as a BS in biomedical engineering, but that is not the path she set out on.

“I originally wanted to be a medical doctor when I started my undergraduate education in biomedical engineering, but after spending time shadowing a doctor, I realized this really wasn’t for me,” she said. “Around the same time, I was required to take an introduction to materials science course and absolutely loved it, so I added a BS in materials science and engineering. A summer internship with a metal casting house showed me the type of innovative work I could do with an advanced degree, and I decided to pursue my PhD.”

While Haselhuhn has her name on 11 peer-reviewed publications and has delivered six conference presentations, she is not about theory alone. She also has a passion for applied research.

Haselhuhn applies the fundamentals of materials science and engineering to the joining of dissimilar materials for automotive body lightweighting. She is currently working on understanding the physics of spot welding of dissimilar metals.

The daughter of a machinist, Haselhuhn is the first in her family to earn an engineering degree or an advanced STEM degree. Perhaps because of this, she is eager to “spread the gospel” of a STEM education. Haselhuhn mentors a local all-girls FIRST Robotics team and volunteers at science festivals with the American Foundry Society’s “Foundry in a Box” demonstrations.

Read more at advancedmanufacturing.org, by Candace Roulo and James Sawyer.

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Stephen Mashl is a 2018 APMI Fellow

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Stephen Mashl
Stephen Mashl

Research Professor Stephen Mashl has been named a 2018 American Powder Metallurgy Institute (APMI) Fellow by APMI International.

The APMI Fellow Award is the organization’s highest and recognizes APMI members for their contributions to the goals, purpose, and mission of the organization, as well as for expertise in the technology, practice, or business of the industry.

Mashl is a research professor of materials science and engineering and has dedicated over three decades to the powder metallurgy (PM) industry, working primarily in particulate materials and PM product and processes development, APMI says. Most of his career has been in industry during which time he has developed process simulation models, worked to identify particle formation mechanisms, and developed an integrated hot isostatic press (HIP) plus solution heat treat process for the treatment of aluminum castings. He is co-inventor on several patents, his research appears in over 50 papers and publications, and he has served as technical reviewer for multiple journals.

Read more at Metal Powder Report in Materials Today.

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Cost Optimized Solar Water Pasteurizer

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Flow-Through Solar Water Pasteurizer with components labeled
Flow-Through Solar Water Pasteurizer

Joshua Pearce coauthored “Design Optimization of Polymer Heat Exchanger for Automated Household-Scale Solar Water Pasteurizer,” published in Designs.

doi:10.3390/designs2020011

The study offers a promising approach to reducing the >870,000 deaths/year globally from unsafe water through the use of flow-through solar water pasteurization systems (SWPs). The high cost of the heat exchanger (HX) is addressed with the introduction of of a polymer microchannel HX as a substitute for coiled copper. The polymer microchannel HX is designed for a 3-D printed collector. The paper focuses on SWP systems fabricated using fully open-source distributed manufacturing.

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Erik Herbert is an Outstanding Reviewer

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Erik G. Herbert
Erik G. Herbert

Erik Herbert (MSE) was listed among “Acta Journals’ Outstanding Reviewers in 2017,” published in Materials Today. Herbert is an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He was recognized with other reviewers of Acta Materialia and Scripta Materialia.

Peer review is a cornerstone of science, and Elsevier and Acta Materialia, Inc. are dedicated to supporting and recognizing the journals’ reviewers. The Acta Journals are delighted to announce the recipients of the 2018 Outstanding Reviewer awards for excellence in reviewing in 2017, as selected by the Editors of Acta Materialia, Scripta Materialia and Acta Biomaterialia. Each recipient receives a certificate and honorarium as thanks for their support of the titles, and for their help in ensuring the continued high quality of the journals.

 

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S-TEM Analysis Funding for Pinaki Mukherjee

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Pinaki Mukherjee
Pinaki Mukherjee

Pinaki Mukherjee (MSE/IMP) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $25,000 research and development contract from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. The project is “S-TEM Analysis of Ni-Rich Positive Electrode Materials in Li-Ion Batteries.”

This is a five-month project.

By Sponsored Programs.

S-TEM refers to the FEI 200kV Titan Themis Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope operated by the Applied Chemical and Morphological Laboratory. The instrument is housed in the ATDC Building.

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3-D Printing and Solar Energy Updates

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3-D Printed Chemistry Ring
3-D Printed Chemistry Ring

In the News

An article by Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE), “3D Printing the Next Five Years” was reprinted in Microfabricator. The article is a guest blog looking at the future of 3D printing that was originally posted in 3D Printing Industry in March, 2017.

The new applications of low-cost metal 3D printing developed by ECE alumnus Yuenyong (Ake) Nilsiam along with Paul Sanders (MSE) and Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) was covered widely by the technical press and popular media including in America, Russia and China.

The article “Make Solar Power, Not Tobacco” featuring Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE), was published in the news section of the peer-reviewed Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. The story was also covered widely in Europe and Asia including in the WallStreet Online in Germany and Tobacco China.

On the Road

Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) chaired a panel in the Fulbright Forum: “Education, Innovation, Science and Art,” March 15–16 at the University of Helsinki and Aalto University, Finland on “Technologies to Keep Coal in the Ground.” He also presented “Power to the People: Solar Photovoltaic Technology.

In Print

MSE PhD student Adam Pringle and Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) coauthored a feature paper “Micromorphology analysis of sputtered indium tin oxide fabricated with variable ambient combinations” published in Materials Letters.

ECE alumnus Yuenyong (Ake) Nilsiam coauthored a paper with Paul Sanders (MSE) and Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE). “Applications of Open Source GMAW-Based Metal 3-D Printing” was published in the Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing.

Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) co-authored “Effects of silver catalyst concentration in metal assisted chemical etching of silicon” published in Materials Express.

Pearce co-authored “Properties of Al-Doped Zinc Oxide and In-Doped Zinc Oxide Bilayer Transparent Conducting Oxides for Solar Cell Applications,” published in Materials Express.

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Pearce Co-authors on Net Metering Policy

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Renewable Energy FocusExamining Interconnection and Net Metering Policy for Distributed Generation in the United States

Chelsea Schelly, Joshua Pearce, and Edward P. Louie (who completed an MS in Environmental and Energy Policy at Michigan Tech) published a new article, “Examining interconnection and net metering policy for distributed generation in the United States,” which was published in Renewable Energy Focus.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ref.2017.09.002

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Josh Jay is a University Innovation Fellow

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UIFTwo Michigan Tech undergraduates are among 229 students from 62 universities in 10 countries who have been named University Innovation Fellows (UIF). They are Robert Lambert and Josh Jay.

Run by Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, the University Innovation Fellows program empowers students to become agents of change at their schools. Fellows work to ensure their peers gain the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to compete in the economy of the future and make a positive impact on the world.

Lambert is a second year management major. “I wanted to join UIF to have a more active part in the community, as well as to become an agent of change on Michigan Tech’s campus,” he said.

Jay is a second year student majoring in materials science and engineering. He is currently doing a co-op in Minneapolis. “I want to be a part of UIF because they aren’t just talking and thinking about creating change, but they are actually making it happen,” he said. “It is also a great community of people to help you figure out how to turn your ideas into reality.”

University Innovation Fellows advocate for lasting institutional change and create opportunities for students to engage with innovation, entrepreneurship, design thinking and creativity at their schools. Fellows design innovation spaces, start entrepreneurship organizations, host experiential learning events and work with faculty to develop new courses.

Since it began under the auspices of the National Science Foundation, the UIF program has trained more than 1,200 students.

Michigan Tech has had 14 University Innovation Fellows since the program started in 2014. They work as part of the Pavlis Honors College to promote entrepreneurship, innovation, design thinking and creativity. Among other projects, they developed the makerspace called The Alley in the former bowling alley in the basement of the Memorial Union Building.

“Stanford’s University Innovation Fellows program helps students develop the skills needed to be agents for positive change on their campus,” said Mary Raber, co-director of the Pavlis Honors College Innovation Center for Entrepreneurship. “After participating in an intensive six week online training program, our UIFs have been a force for helping to create a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship at Michigan Tech and have been instrumental in bringing many initiatives to life, like the orientation week’s #uifresh activity, the student-hosted Innovation Fest and the Alley Makerspace.”

By Jenn Donovan.

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