Materials Science and Engineering News

Pearce Group on 3D Printing

Published January 7, 2020

News

Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) and Michigan Tech alumnus Apoorv Kulkarni ’18, coauthored “Polymer-derived SiOC Replica of Material Extrusion-based 3D Printed Plastics“, which was published in Additive Manufacturing.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2019.100988

The results of this experimental study open up a completely new avenue in low-cost 3-D printing of ceramic structures with fused filament fabrication (FFF) based methods.

In Print

Chelsea Schelly (SS) and Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) have published: Schelly, C. and Pearce, J.M. (2020). Bridging the Social and Environmental Dimensions of Global Sustainability in STEM Education with Additive Manufacturing. Chapter 8 (Pages 155-172) In Ali, N., & Khine, M.S. (Eds). Integrating 3D printing into teaching and learning: Practitioners’ perspectives. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill Publishing.

https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004415133

Alum Ben Savonen (ME) and visiting scholar Jennifer Bow (MSE) coauthored a paper with John Gershenson (ME) and Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) titled “Open-Source Three-Dimensional Printable Infant Clubfoot Brace” published in the Journal of Prosthetics and Orthotics.

doi: 10.1097/JPO.0000000000000257

In the News

Pearce’s research was also covered in”Ystruder: New Syringe System Offers Feature Rich, Open-Source Multifunction Extrusion” published in 3DPrint.

Research by Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) on the sustainability of 3-D printing was highlighted in Spain’s leading Industry publication Interempresas.

Michigan State University Funds Project for Bowen Li

Published December 10, 2019

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News

Bowen Li (MSE/IMP) is the principal investigator on a project that has received an $18,544 research and development grant from Michigan State University. The project is titled, “Upcycling of Vermiculite Fines as Animal Feed Additives.”

Paul Fraley is the Co-PI on this 6 month project.

Michigan Tech Featured in Iron & Steel Technology

Published November 19, 2019

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News

The article ‘Location, Location, Location: Developing Tomorrow’s Engineers Way “U.P.” North at Michigan Tech‘ is a special feature in the December 2019 issue “Process Control & Automation” of Iron & Steel Technology. The article by Kurt Edwards and Danielle Schleiden focuses on the efforts of Paul Sanders, Stephen Kampe, Tim Eisele, Rick Berkey, Dan Fuhrmann, Alex Sergeyev, industry recruiters, and Enterprise teams to do research and education on metals.

Iron & Steel Technology is a publication of AIST, the Association for Iron & Steel Technology.

Allison Hein Attends NORDP 2019

Published November 4, 2019

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News

Michigan Tech was well represented at the 2019 National Organization of Research Development Professionals (NORDP) Great Lakes Regional meeting on Oct. 21 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

The meeting was hosted by the UM Office of Research, UM Institute for Clinical & Health Research and infoReady Corporation. Peter Larsen, Director of Research Development (AVPRD) and Jessica Brassard, Associate Director of Research Development (AVPRD) delivered a presentation entitled “Behind the Scenes of Research Development Day”.

Elizabeth Hoy, Business and Program Development Director at the Great Lakes Research Center, delivered a presentation entitled “Navigating Growth in a Faculty-Focused Research Environment”. Additional sessions included information on best practices, metrics, and tools to support research projects from initiation to completion.

GE, BASF and AbbVie were on hand to provide their perspective on research collaboration with higher education institutes.

Other Michigan Tech attendees included Brent Burns (AVPRD), Director of Federal Relations & Corporate Research; Jackie Gebhardt (GLRC), Coordinator; Allison Hein (MSE), Research Engineer and Scientist I – IMP; Jacob Manchester (AVPRD), Associate Director of Corporate Research; and Grace Schmitz (HRI), Institute Manager.

NORDP is the only professional association dedicated to helping members advance research in higher education institutes. NORDP provides tools to enhance research competitiveness as well as catalyze new research and institutional collaboration.

Alumnus Ned Johnson ‘47, Passes Away

Published October 17, 2019

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News

Edwin B. (Ned) Johnson passed away October 6, 2019. Prior to enrolling at Michigan Tech, he served in the U.S. Army and during World War II was captured by the German Army. He spent 7 months in a prisoner of war camp and later received the Purple Heart Medal.

Johnson graduated from Michigan Tech in 1947 with a bachelors in metallurgical engineering. After graduation, he went to work for Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. where he spent his entire career. He held numerous positions throughout the years and was named President in 1983. He served in this role until his retirement in 1986.

Johnson was recognized by Michigan Tech on several occasions. In 1971, he was awarded the Board of Control Silver Medal and in 1987, received the Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumnus award. He was inducted into the Materials Science & Engineering Academy in 1996. He was an extremely good friend of the University lending both his time and energy to numerous initiatives. He served on the Alumni Association Board of Directors and was a member of the Century II Campaign Task Force. In addition, he served as President of the Michigan Tech Fund Board of Trustees and attained Life Trustee status after serving three consecutive terms on the Board.

Johnson along with his wife Lois (who passed away in 2003), were very generous and supported numerous University programs over the years. These include the Annual Fund, the Huskies Club, the Materials Science & Engineering Department, the Rozsa Center, and several other campus initiatives. In 2008, he established the Edwin B. & Lois M. Johnson Endowed Scholarship to assist Michigan Tech students majoring in Materials Science & Engineering. Ned was recognized as a member of the Hotchkiss Society for his philanthropic support.

View the full obituary.

Ed Laitila Demonstrates for Day of Science

Published September 19, 2019

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News

Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette
Ed Laitila, a materials science assistant professor at Michigan Technological University, pours liquid nitrogen for Houghton Middle School students Luke Hill, Matthew Guilbault, Brett Gaff and Katie Sarau as they make ice cream during the annual Day of Science Wednesday.

HOUGHTON — From purifying water to learning the reactions creating ice cream, Houghton Middle School seventh-graders got hands-on learning as part of the school’s annual Day of Science activity at Michigan Technological University.

About 120 students took in four stations out of 11 throughout the day, intended to engage them in various science, engineering, mathematics and technology (STEM) fields.

In Ed Laitila’s session, the materials science assistant professor taught students about the properties of matter and how it shifts between states.

“When we put that nitrogen in there, it’s going to transform into a gas and it needs energy,” he said. “It’s going to pull that energy out of the cream. And if you pull energy out of the cream, what happens to the temperature?”

The Day of Science took place on September 18, 2019.

Joshua Pearce on Open Source and 3D Printing

Published July 24, 2019

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News

Interview with Professor (Hardware)X

In this article, Christopher Tancock interviews Professor Joshua M. Pearce, Editor-in-Chief of HardwareX and finds out about why hardware articles are important, how they can help advance science and how they assist with reproducibility.

In Print

Graduate students Salil Sule (MEEM) and Aliaksei Petsiuk (ECE) coauthored an article with Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) on an Open Source Completely 3-D Printable Centrifuge published in Instruments.

Undergraduate students Matthew Reich (MSE) and Aubrey Woern (MEEM) and graduate student Nagendra Tanikella (MSE) coauthored an article with Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE): Mechanical Properties and Applications of Recycled Polycarbonate Particle Material Extrusion-based Additive Manufacturing. Published in Materials.

Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) coauthored “Ystruder: open source multifunction extruder with sensing and monitoring capabilities” published in HardwareX.

Pearce also coauthored “Expanded Microchannel Heat Exchanger: Nondestructive Evaluation” published in Heat Transfer Engineering.

MSE students Nupur Bihari, Craig Ekstrum, Pierce Mayville, and Yuhuan Fei, co-authored an article with Yun Hang Hu (MSE) and Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) and their Finnish colleagues titled: “Atomic layer deposited aluminium oxide mitigates outgassing from fused filament fabrication–based 3-D printed components” published in Surface and Coatings Technology.

In the News

Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) was quoted in “How 3D Printing Is Helping Arthritis Patients ” published by GrabCAD and Pearce’s book is discussed in the Vox article “The man who wants to save humanity from nuclear winter.”

Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) was quoted in the UL featured story: “Making the Switch to Sustainable Materials? It’s Not That Simple ” published in On the Mark, a UL magazine.

Research by the Pearce research group is covered extensively in “3D Printing: A Technology of Degrowth? ” published in 3D Print.

Notables

MSE visiting scholar Svetlana Obydenkova (from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden), ME student Nicholas Anzalone, and Joshua Pearce(MSE/ECE) were awarded the Outstanding Paper in the 2019 Emerald Literati Awards from the Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy for their work on the use of distributed manufacturing for people living in rural communities. Their paper is available for free through open access for the next year.
ISSN: 1750-6204

Sustainable sports equipment? It’s now possible with the Gigabot X, an open-source industrial 3D printer

Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech) researchers teamed up with startup company re:3D, Inc. They came up with the Gigabot X, an open-source FPF additive manufacturing unit.

Their study tackled how FPF technology might help 3D printing hubs earn a profit while also producing environmental-friendly products. They showed it was possible to get more than 1,000 percent return on their investment for a Gigabot X unit that used recyclable feedstock and saw considerable activity.

Fabrication laboratories, makerspaces, public libraries, and schools might benefit from FPF printers.

“With well over 1,000 Fab Labs worldwide spreading fast and morphing into environmentally friendly ‘green fab labs’, the Gigabot X could be a useful tool to add to their services as well as other makerspaces,” explained Michigan Tech researcher Joshua Pearce.

NIH Funding for Jaroslaw Drelich on Bioabsorbable Stents Project

Published June 17, 2019

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News

Jaroslaw Drelich (Mat Sci Engineering/IMP) is Principal Investigator on a project that has received a $369,747 research and development grant from the National Institutes of Health. Jeremy Goldman (Biomed Engineering) is Co-PI on this project titled, “Corrosion Fatigue Resistant and Intimal Hyperplasia Suppressive Biometal for Bioabsorbable Stents.” This is the first year of a potential three-year project totaling $1,107,296.

LIFT Loans Casting Equipment for the Foundry

Published June 10, 2019

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News

DETROIT – LIFT—Lightweight Innovations For Tomorrow, a national manufacturing innovation institute operated by the American Lightweight Materials Innovation Institute (ALMMII), today announced it is loaning its tilt-pour casting machine to Michigan Technological University to enhance teaching and research at the school’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) Foundry.

The machine, produced by Hall CMH Manufacturing, had been housed at LIFT’s research and development facility in Detroit since 2017. Recently, the need for additional equipment arose at MTU, an original LIFT member, so LIFT and the university agreed to a long-term loan to help boost the university’s MSE programming.

Materials Science Summer Youth Program Partners with LIFT

Published April 30, 2019

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News

Michigan Technological University’s Material Science Summer Youth Program has a new industry partner in Lightweight Innovations For Tomorrow. LIFT is a Detroit-based research and development firm largely sponsored by the U.S. Department of defense. The firm is interested in designing lightweight materials but is also interested in education and outreach.

“There are a lot of manufacturing jobs that are unfilled,” said Joe Steel, Communications Director at LIFT. “… part of our efforts is to encourage students to look at engineering as a profession.”

“LIFT has new leadership and is working with more small and medium-sized companies. We at MTU are really well positioned to assist them in that because we have contacts with bigger companies as well but also with smaller and medium-sized companies,” said Paul Sanders, associate professor of science and engineering at MTU. “So, we started to partner more intentionally with them.”

“We have a group of students and take them through a whole bunch of activities that provide them with fun hands-on activities that incorporate a lot of science,” said Edward Laitila, Senior Research Engineer and Adjunct Assistant Professor at MTU. “We like to relate how things occur with something that they are familiar with.”