Graduate student Jephias Gwamuri (MSE) along with Durdu Güney (ECE) and Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) co-authored a chapter, “Advances in Plasmonic Light Trapping in Thin-film Solar Photovoltaic Devices,” in Solar Cell Nanotechnology, edited by A. Tiwari, R. Boukherroub and M. Sharon published by Wiley.
From Tech Today.
Michigan Tech undergrads meet with representatives in the steel industry
With the help of a $35,000 grant from the Association of Iron and Steel Technology, the university was able to invite companies to the first-ever Steel Day.
“The steel industry is a major manufacturing industry in the United States,” said assistant professor in materials science engineering at Michigan Tech, Paul Sanders. “It provides a lot of jobs, it provides material for infrastructure. It’s a really important industry, and we really want to get students who like that type of work, like manufacturing, and get them to help support the industry.”
Read more and watch the video at Upper Michigan’s Source, by Sarah Blakely.
Up close and personal with steel
Industry reps speak with Michigan Tech students
Brad Jonas, metallurgist with Charlotte, N.C.-based Nucor, said he was telling students although they may not have thought about the steel industry for a career, many types of engineers are needed in the field.
“We’re trying to present opportunities engineers have with the steel industry,” he said. “There’s all sorts of avenues in our environment.”
Jim Turnquist, Tech director of career services, said the first-ever gathering of steel industry representatives separate from Tech’s Career Fair was created to highlight the growth of the steel industry and because many students may not realize the career potentials in the industry.
Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Kurt Hauglie.
Students from all majors will get a chance to learn about career opportunities in the steel industry on Tuesday, Oct. 15, during Michigan Tech’s first annual Steel Day. Major players in steel such as Gerdau, Nucor, Cliffs and Arcelor Mittal will be interacting with students in a fun and informational setting.
The day will start with a cookout on the Dow Patio from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., when students can visit interactive displays set up in the Dow Atrium. At 6:30 p.m., a panel of industry experts will answer questions and talk with students in the Memorial Union Ballroom A. Later that evening, over $1,500 in prizes will be raffled off to participants.
To increase awareness of the steel industry, Michigan Tech’s materials science and engineering department, Advanced Metalworks Enterprise and student professional society Materials United are working with Career Services to organize and publicize this event.
Steel Day is meant to engage all students who might be interested in pursuing a career in this vital industry. Company representatives are hoping to build personal relationships with first-and second-year engineering students in an effort to promote careers within the industry.
From Tech Today. Photo courtesy of the College of Engineering.
If You 3-D Build It, They Will Come: Build My Lab Contest
The open-source paradigm is now enabling creation of open-source scientific hardware by combining 3-D printing with open-source microcontrollers. In this way scientists can develop an Open-Source Lab of high-quality custom equipment at much lower costs than was ever possible before.
They invite submissions of DIY blueprints for building laboratory equipment for science and education. Submit your designs for laboratory equipment by December 16th for your chance to win some cool prizes.
Included in the prizes is a copy of Open-Source Lab: How to Build Your Own Hardware and Reduce Research Costs.
Read more at SciTechConnect, by Joshua Pearce. Story announced in Tech Today.
Pandora’s Box
How do we harness the power of 3-D printing while protecting ourselves from its dark side?
“With the exponential growth of free designs and expansion of 3-D printing, we are creating enormous potential wealth for everyone,” says Joshua Pearce, associate professor of materials science and engineering at Michigan Technological University. Those who work closely with 3-D printers also see potential for the technology in an unexpected area: food.
Read more at The American Prospect, by Jeff Saginor. Story announced in Tech Today.
Job opportunity at Charter Steel
I just wanted to let you know, a job opportunity for a MSE major here at Charter Steel in Saukville, WI. I’ve been working for them for about 4 months now, hired right out of college, into their rotational Materials Associate Program, which is a position they are looking to fill at tomorrow’s Career Fair. The goal is to spend a total of two year in two of the four divisions (Melting, Rolling, Processing, and Tech Services here) at our Saukville plant with many opportunities for leadership positions, professional classes, and interesting projects in the divisions. It’s been a great few months here, the company is very passionate for its employees and always looking ways to improve their process. It’s a great opportunity for a fresh graduate with any amount of experience in the industry, so if anyone is still looking for a job post-graduation up there, I would highly recommend stopping Charter Steel’s booth tomorrow.
Hope everyone is doing well up there, can’t wait to come up there and see the department someday!
—
Andrew Miko
Michigan Technological University
Advanced Metalworks Enterprise
Research Scholars
My department at Ford (Materials Engineering, part of Product Development) has recently gotten approval to hire an intern for next summer. Since Ford has had such good luck with Michigan Tech alum, I thought I’d send you a quick email to pass on to the students
Ford Motor Company has the following base requirements:
– Minimum 3.0 GPA
– Graduating between December 2014 and May 2015, but may also consider candidates graduating before May 2016 (Juniors preferred, but may consider sophomores)
– Legally authorized to work in the United States (Ford does not provide sponsorship)
More specifically, my department is looking for a MSE student. If students are interested or they have any questions, they should contact me at moaks@ford.com. The plan is to do a phone interview first and possibly on-site interviews.
From someone who has completed an internship at Ford and now works here, I can honestly say that it was a fantastic experience!
Thank you for your time,
Meghan
Meghan Oaks
Ford Central Lab
Metallurgical Test Engineer
(313) 390 – 6651
moaks@ford.com
The Advisor and Source newspaper, serving Macomb County, Mich., published a story about the recent 3D printer workshop for teachers held at Michigan Tech.
From Tech Today.
A study by a Michigan Tech engineering team was cited heavily by Fox Business, which quoted Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE). The team includes MSE students Ben Wittbrodt, Alexandra Glover, John Loreto and Gerald Anzalone (MSE), and Douglas Oppliger (EF), and John Irwin (MET). See online.
3D Hacker named Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) “Hacker of the Month” for his 3-D printing technological development. See 3dhacker.com.
From Tech Today.
The results of the Michigan Tech 3-D Printers for Peace Contest are in:
1st Prize an open-source Series 1 3-D printer, provided by Type A Machines went to John Van Tuyl from Hamilton, On who designed VaxBeads, which are 3-D printed immunization records. VaxBeads offer the potential to ease the determination of what vaccines a child needs in the developing world. Each bead represents a different vaccine. The shape and colour of each bead is unique to a specific vaccine.
This innovative idea showcased the ability of 3-D printing as each bead is customized on the spot with the child’s initials, date of birth, and an identifying number. It is the designer’s hopes that the beads would have more intrinsic value to the patients than standard vaccination cards.
2nd prize (Michigan Tech’s MOST version of the RepRap Prusa Mendel open-source 3D printer kit) went to Michigan Tech student, Matt Courchaine, for his Solar Powered Water Purification Cone. In disaster areas or among the millions of people that do not have improved water supplies clean water is a precious commodity. This printable design allows users to make clean water from contaminated supplies. The white, semi transparent plastic cover of the solar cone allows sunlight to pass through it and evaporate dirty water contained in the black base tray. Clean water then condenses on the cooler white plastic of the cone and drips into a holding reservoir, which is part of the cone for later drinking.
3rd prize, MatterHackers sampler pack of filament, was awarded to Aaron Meidinger for the design of a Braille Tablet, which is a tool for a sighted person to help a blind person to learn braille or just a quick way to leave a note for a friend. One prints out a braille platform and a scrabble set of letters, along with some of the punctuation and a nice pile of the blank tiles to use it to write any short message.
All the open source entries to the contest demonstrated the technical ability and promise of low-cost 3-D printers to provide for humanities needs and advance the cause of peace.
Immunization Beads Garner Top Prize in 3D Printers for Peace Contest
The judges were impressed with the design’s originality and practicality. “VaxBeads are a novel idea; no one has done anything like that yet,” said Pearce. “John demonstrated the ability of 3D printing to address a real need in the developing world. You could print beads fast enough to hand to children, and if they were to wear the necklace to the doctor’s office, it would be quick and easy to identify missing vaccinations.”
Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Marcia Goodrich.
Winner in 3D printer contest designs vaccination record system
“What I’m hoping this does is change the conversation to start really thinking about the constructive uses of 3D printers, not just on manufacturing, but trying to solve some of the most pressing problems, particularly in the developing world,” said associate professor of materials science and contest creator, Joshua Pearce.
Read more at Upper Michigans Source, by Sarah Blakely.
Recipients of Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURFs) will present end-of-summer project updates Monday and Tuesday (Aug. 12 and 13), from 9 to 11 a.m., in Fisher 139.
From Tech Today.
SURF award recipient in MSE includes:
Matthew Tianen
Advisor: Jaroslaw Drelich
Development of Zn-based Alloys for Bioabsorbable Stents
Associate Professor Joshua Pearce’s (MSE/ECE) efforts on 3D printing have been picked up both locally and nationally. His economic analysis was picked up by CNN blogger Heather Kelly in her “What’s Next” column entitled “At Home Printing Could Save Consumers Thousands.” The story also made the UPI wire and Business News Daily. His workshops that teach area teachers how to use 3D printers were covered by WLUC TV6, ABC 5&10 and Second Wave.
From Tech Today.
Research by MSE students Ben Wittbrodt, Alexandra Glover and John Loreto and Gerald Anzalone (MSE), and Douglas Oppliger (EF), John Irwin (MET) and Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) on distributed manufacturing and 3-D printing has made both the popular technical press nationally including Popular Science, Computer World, Tech Crunch, Slash Dot, Kurzweil and Gizmodo and the international news including major newspapers ABC, and El Correo in Spain and the Krone, which is Austria’s largest newspaper with an average daily readership of 2,970,000.
From Tech Today.
The story about Associate Professor Joshua Pearce’s (MSE, ECE) economic analysis of the value of 3D printing was featured on Gizmodo, a leading technology website. See online.
From Tech Today.
Master’s student Ben Wittbrodt ’13 (MSE) is featured in this ABC News technology feature on 3D printing, “Printing Keychains and Shower Heads: 3-D Printing Goes Beyond the Lab.” Associate Professor Joshua Pearce (ECE/MSE) is quoted in the story, which resulted from his study on the economics of 3D printing.
From Tech Today.
Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) was interviewed for the show Science, Health and Technology for NTN24 International News Channel, which airs in all Latin America, the Caribbean and in Europe through different cable systems and DirectTV in the US. The interview in Spanish covered Michigan Tech’s efforts in distributed production using low-cost open-source 3-D printers.
From Tech Today.
Read more and watch the video (in Spanish) at NTN24.
Michigan Tech’s research in distributed manufacturing with 3-D printing continues to be covered abroad, including an article in La Nacion of Costa Rica. Closer to home “Click, print, fire: Grand Rapids startup hits accelerating 3D printed weapons market” extensively quoted Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE).
From Tech Today.