Michigan Technological University is a partner in the newly formed $148 million American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing Innovation Institute (ALMMII).
The new facility, to be headquartered in the metro-Detroit area, will be part of the National Network of Manufacturing Innovation, a federal initiative to help US manufacturers become more competitive and encourage investment in the United States.
MORE
The Vice President for Research Office has deemed the following facilities University Core Facilities:
*Applied Chemical and Morphological Analysis Laboratory (ACMAL)
* Animal Care Facility
* Microfabrication Facility
* Marine Assets Facility
Formerly operated at the departmental level, ACMAL will now have access to funding opportunities available to officially recognized Core Facilities. It should allow for more expensive equipment repairs, the purchase of small equipment, and the matching of funds for major instrumentation proposals.
Learn more about the Applied Chemical and Morphological Analysis Laboratory.
Seven teams of seniors in Materials Science and Engineering presented their work during the Design Expo 2014. View their projects and posters, along with YouTube videos and Flickr photos.
Learn more about Senior Design and see past projects in the department.
Last Friday, dozens of students, faculty and other members of the Michigan Tech community celebrated students’ achievements at the 20th Annual Student Leadership Awards.
Les Cook, vice president for student affairs and advancement, and Hannah Altscheffel, Tech’s 2013 Rising Star of the Year, hosted the ceremony.
The ceremony concluded with the recognition of a few other award winners, including Stephen Kampe, chair of materials science and engineering, who was recognized as Exceptional Graduate Mentor.
This summer, the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program will fund 23 students from across the University with funds from the Vice President for Research and the Honors Institute. The total funding for the program this year is $80,500.
Among the recipients is Materials Science and Engineering / Mechanical Engineering major Zachary Morgan, working with Yongmei Jin on “Optimizing damping capabilities of metal matrix composites with ferroelectric barium titanate inclusions through modeling and computer simulation.”
ENTERPRISE AND SENIOR DESIGN TEAMS AT DESIGN EXPO 2014
Good luck to all the teams participating in Design Expo 2014, coming up on Thursday, April 17, from 8 am to 4 pm. in the J. Robert Van Pelt and John and Ruanne Opie Library, 3rd floor.
Design Expo is a showcase of Enterprise and Senior Design student projects.
View the Design Expo 2014 – Schedule of Events.
We would like to say congratulations to the graduating seniors and a job well done on senior design posters and presentations. The list below show the presentations and all who were involved:
2:00 Design, Manufacture, and Testing of a New Blast Furnace Tap Bit
Team: Alisha Clark, Matt Dazell, Dan Freiberg, Max Rebottaro
Advisor: Tom Wood (AME)
Sponsor: Joe Brunner, ArcelorMittal
2:25 Battery Electrode Formulation for Lithium Battery
Team: Kellan Martin, Taylor Michels, Emily Wolbeck, Michael Warhus
Advisor: Dr. Pete Moran
Sponsor: Todd Bofinger, Boston Scientific
2:50 Ductile Iron Alloy Development
Team: Collin Tether, Alex Thiel, Danielle Williamson, Melissa Wright
Advisor: Dr. Dan Seguin (AME)
Sponsor: Steve Thelen and Stephen Doyle, Meritor
3:15 Bainitic Steel Alloy and Heat Treatment Optimization
Team: Travis Hepfner, Cody Torrez, Matt Tianen, Kelsey Whalen
Advisor: Dr. Doug Swenson
Sponsor: Ed Vesely, ME Global
3:40 BREAK
3:50 Friction Stir Welding of Aluminum Die Castings
Team: Anthony Konieczny, Alex Seidl, Chris Shaw, Stephanie Tankersley
Advisor: Dr. Dan Seguin
Sponsor: Cory Padfield and Steve Cook, American Axle
4:15 Improved Brake Design for Brake Truck Applications
Team: Adam Jacobson, Michel Knudsen, Alex McQuarter, Troy Podges
Advisor: Jerry Anzalone (AME)
Sponsor: Greg Ecker, Magline
4:40 Local Material Properties in Die-Cast Aluminum Driveline Housings
Team: Zac Dvorak, Ben Holtz, Greg Holl, Andrew Lewis,
Advisor: Dr. Dale Dewald (AME)
Sponsor: Ben Cottrill, Linamar
View the Design Expo 2014 Booklet
View the Design Expo 2014 Photo Gallery
MSE SEMINAR
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Room 610, M&M Building
Design Nanostructures and Interfaces for Efficient Energy Conversion and Storage
John & Virginia Towers Distinguished Lecture Series
Guozhong Cao
University of Washington
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Seattle, WA
MSE SEMINAR
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
9:00 am – 10:00 am
Room 610, M&M Building
Catalytic Ethanolysis of Kraft Lignin with a Mo-based Catalyst in Supercritical Ethanol
Dr. Yongdan Li
Professor and Chair
Department of Industrial Catalysis
School of Chemical Engineering
Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
Associate Editor, Catalysis Today
In the News
Michigan Tech research in 3D printing was covered by Reason in the article “The 3D Economy.”
The 3D Economy
Forget guns, what happens when everyone prints their own shoes?
Already, according to a study authored by Michigan Technological University engineering professor Joshua Pearce and six others, there are significant economic incentives for consumers to pursue 3D printing. According to Pearce’s calculations, a person who constructs an open-source 3D printer called the RepRap at a cost of around $575 for parts can theoretically avoid paying between $290 and $1,920 a year to retailers simply by using the device to print 20 common items (iPhone case, shower curtain rings, shoe orthotics, etc.).
Read more at The 3D Economy, by Greg Beato.
In Print
John Irwin (SoT), Pearce (MSE/ECE) and Jerry Anzalone (MSE) coauthored “Implementing Self-Replicating Rapid Prototypers (RepRaps) into a Mechanical/Manufacturing Program,” which was published in The Association of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering (ATMAE) 2013 Conference Proceedings. pp. 387-406.
In the News
Pearce is quoted in Italy’s Scienze Naturali in an article about the environmental benefits of 3D printing and in 3D Printer World on how recycling milk jugs into 3D printer filament saves money and the environment.
Recycling Milk Jugs into 3D Printer Filament Saves Money and the Environment
The energy savings is only about 3 percent in urban areas, where the plastic has to travel less during the collection and recycling process.
“Where it really shows substantial savings is in smaller towns like Houghton (where Michigan Tech. is located), where you have to transport the plastic to be collected, then again to be recycled, and a third time to be made into products,” Pearce said. The energy savings is as much as 80 percent in small towns and rural areas.
Read more at 3D Printer World, by John Graber.
In the News
Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) is quoted in the UK’s Business Reporter in an article about supply chain disruption, which is distributed with the Daily Telegraph.
Pearce was interviewed on the John and Kane Show of Indio Radio discussing open source hardware which is available online.
Will 3D printing transform the supply chain?
Joshua Pearce, a materials science and engineering professor at Michigan Technology University in the US has produced research based on the idea of a colourimeter for water testing.According to his estimates, the printable version would cost just $50, instead of $2000, and it worked just as well with raw materials that can be easily sourced in developing countries.
Read more at Business Reporter, by Natasha Clark.
John and Kane On Indio Radio- Monday 03-31-14
We talk to Dan Reus who you can find on Twitter @danreus and also at http://openlydisruptive.com…. He has a guest who is Joshua Pearce on the phone who we will be talking to today…. Joshua is Professor at Michigan Tech and he specializes in open source technologies so we will talk to him more about that…. Very Interesting…. We also talk about 3D printing for those of you that don’t know what it is, this is so cool…. You can find Joshua at http://appropedia.org/MOST….or: http://mtu.academia.edu/JoshuaPearce
The work of a research leader at Michigan Technological University is attracting attention from Michigan’s Governor as well as automotive companies around the world. Xiaodi “Scott” Huang of Michigan Tech’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering helped Governor Rick Snyder promote Michigan’s automotive industry at China’s 2013 international auto parts expos. Huang’s research is the basis for his MTEC SmartZone company, LiteBrake Tech, which was one of eight companies chosen to represent Michigan automotive technology overseas.
MORE