Author: Donna Jeno-Amici

The Future is Now: A New Era for the MAE Department

We are pleased to report on the significant momentum and growth within our department. The launch of our new Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering program has been a resounding success, driving a record number of first-year student enrollments.

Enrollment Growth and Strategic Expansion

This fall, our department saw a total of 400 student deposits, a remarkable increase from our typical 315. The new aerospace engineering program enrolled 59 students, while our mechanical engineering program maintained a robust class of 341 students. This data defies conventional expectations that the introduction of a new program might cannibalize enrollment from an established one. Instead, it demonstrates strong, synergistic growth across both disciplines. Our department now accounts for an impressive 24% of all deposits across the university, positioning us as a key driver of institutional growth. To support this significant expansion, we are also welcoming eight new faculty members this year to bolster both our new and existing programs.

Investing in World-Class Infrastructure

To accommodate this expansion and ensure our students and faculty have access to cutting-edge resources, we are in the midst of a major infrastructure overhaul. Renovations — spanning four floors of the department’s buildings — are on schedule to be completed by the end of the year. This project includes the development of new, specialized laboratories for wind tunnels, turbines, and rocket engines, along with modernized lecture halls and a dedicated student collaboration space designed to foster interdisciplinary work and innovation.

This strategic investment in our facilities, combined with our strong enrollment trends, underscores our commitment to excellence in both education and research. We are confident that these enhancements will further strengthen our position as a leader in mechanical and aerospace engineering, preparing the next generation of industry and academic leaders.

Students conduct testing in the Dusty Thermal Vacuum Chamber (DTVAC).
Students at Michigan Tech use the Lunar simulant sandbox for traction and excavation testing.

Jung Yun Bae, collaborators develop smart agriculture for small farms

Jung Yun Bae leads a team of investigators funded by a $423,300 Farm Innovation Grant from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD). The grants are designed to develop and support innovative solutions to real, immediate, and future farm challenges facing Michigan’s food and agricultural industry. Bae and team members are working on the project with The Lucky Clover Farm in Gaylord, MI.

Dr. Jung Yun Bae.

The two-year project, titled “Improving Climate Resiliency and Economic Return of Michigan’s Labor-Intensive Produce Using Low-Cost, Modular Robotic Fleets”, seeks to develop an automated floriculture harvesting system to support small farms. As stated in the team’s proposal, “The project aims to develop a robotic platform by integrating advanced technologies, including mechanical design, artificial intelligence, modern control algorithms, and autonomous navigation, to address the labor shortage and offer cost-effective solutions to farmers.”

Greg Odegard named a University Professor at Michigan Tech

The Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering proudly celebrates the distinguished achievement of Dr. Greg Odegard, who has been named one of three University Professors for 2024. This prestigious title, conferred by the Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, honors faculty members with a remarkable record of scholarly contributions to their discipline and the University.

Professor Greg Odegard on the Michigan Tech campus in Houghton, MI.

Odegard, a professor and the John O. Hallquist Endowed Chair in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, stands as a leader in aerospace and computational multiscale mechanics modeling and materials science. His work in materials science is innovative and has earned him numerous accolades — including the NASA Outstanding Public Leadership Medal, which recognizes his significant impact on the NASA mission. Dr. Odegard is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and has been honored with the Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award from the Society of Automotive Engineers.

As an educator and mentor, Odegard has successfully chaired and guided 18 Ph.D. and 40 M.S. students to graduation — and he’s served on over 70 additional graduate committees. His dedication to teaching has been acknowledged with multiple graduate mentoring and teaching awards from Michigan Tech.

Odegard’s success in securing research funding is evidenced by nearly $43 million in research grants, spanning approximately 25 proposals where he served as the Principal Investigator. Notably, he led a $17 million multi-university NASA Space Technologies Research Institute (STRI) involving MIT, Georgia Tech, and others. His prolific research output includes 126 refereed journal papers, eight book chapters, and nine NASA technical reports, with many of these publications co-authored with students. His work has garnered nearly 12,000 citations, reflected in an h-index of 49.

Committed to service, Odegard has served his professional societies as an editorial board member, committee chair and peer reviewer. Within Michigan Tech, he has played a key role on various curricular and search committees, further advancing both the University and department’s missions.

Dr. Greg Odegard’s recognition as a University Professor underscores his exceptional impact on both the scientific community and the next generation of engineers and scientists.

This article has been edited from a previous publication appearing in Tech Today, 4/29/2024 issue.

Professor L. Brad King, Orbion Space Technology Team Named to Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Companies 2024” List

Turning dreams into reality is all in a day’s work for Lyon (Brad) King and his entire team at Orbion Space Technology. Case in point: Orbion Space Technology has been named to Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies of 2024 list. Companies that send satellites into space on a rocket can use Orbion’s thrusters to maneuver them precisely to their final destination.

Dr. King is an experimentalist interested in studying electric space propulsion systems, including Hall-effect thrusters, ion engines, and arcjets. King is the Richard and Elizabeth Henes Endowed Professor (Space Systems) with MTU’s Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics. As faculty advisor for the Aerospace Enterprise, King works with undergraduate students to provide hands-on aerospace education and experience. Aerospace Enterprise places an emphasis on space mission design and analysis, vehicle integration, systems engineering, and comprehensive ground testing and qualification. The idea for launching Orbion began taking shape here: King and co-founder Jason Sommerville realized they had not only the core technology, but an incredible network of talent in the form of aerospace and Isp Lab alumni to meet an urgent need in the new space economy. King (CEO of Orbion Space Technology) and Makela started the company in 2016.

Products under construction at Orbion Space Technology. The company is based in Houghton, Michigan and several members of the leadership team are graduates of Michigan Technological University’s doctoral program in mechanical engineering. (Image Credit: Orbion Space Technology)

In a previous article, author Cyndi Perkins tells us that “Orbion now employs more than 40 full-time engineers in its Houghton facility, with seven holding PhD degrees. You’ll find Huskies at the helm in several key positions—CTO Sommerville is a 2009 PhD graduate—but the company is more than just an outgrowth of Michigan Tech.”

Other MTU ME-EM alums holding positions with Orbion:

Michigan Tech alums from other programs include Kanwal Rekhi, PhD (MS, Electrical Engineering) and John Rockwell (BS, Business Administration).

The Michigan Tech-Orbion connection brings a wealth of opportunities for students to connect theory with practice. Michigan Tech’s Aerospace Enterprise teams have already launched three satellites into space.

Greg Odegard leads $5 million Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) project

Professor Gregory Odegard, with his wealth of experience in guiding large multidisciplinary research teams, is preparing to undertake a promising new research project supported by AFRL. Greg Odegard’s team at Michigan Technological University will work with researchers at Florida State University, Columbia University, and Penn State to develop the next-generation of composite materials for hypersonic aerospace vehicles. These composites will have significantly improved manufacturability and thermo-mechanical performance relative to state-of-the-art composites. The material development will be driven by multi-scale computational modeling.

Professor Gregory M. Odegard on the Michigan Technological University campus.

Greg Odegard is John O. Hallquist Endowed Chair in Computational Mechanics in the Department of Mechanical Engineering–Engineering Mechanics at Michigan Technological University. Before joining Michigan Tech in 2004, Odegard was a researcher at NASA Langley Research Center (2000-2004). He has garnered multiple accolades throughout his career, including the Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award (2011), the Ferdinand P. Beer and E. Russell Johnston Jr. Outstanding New Mechanics Educator Award (2008), and the Michigan Tech Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award (2008). In April 2023, Odegard received the prestigious NASA Outstanding Public Leadership Medal, recognizing the impact of his notable leadership accomplishments on the NASA Mission.

Odegard has authored or co-authored over sixty technical journal articles and four book chapters, and has been involved in over one hundred conference presentations. According to Google Scholar, his publications have been cited over 4,000 times in the technical literature. His research has been funded by NASA, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, Mayo Clinic, Southwestern Energy, General Motors, REL, and Titan Tires. As a PI and co-PI, he has been involved in externally funded research projects totaling over $21 million.

December 14, 2023: Global Composites Experts Webinar by Dr. Gregory M. Odegard

Photo of the Composites Design and Manufacturing HUB logo with photos of a scientist, airplane and astronaut in space. Lower left shows photo of Dr. Gregory Odegard, the featured webinar speaker.

Abstract:
Current state-of-the-art composite materials are not light/strong enough for crewed missions to Mars and beyond. Structural components of deep space vehicles require lighter/stronger materials for fuel efficiency. The NASA Space Technologies Research Institute (STRI) for Ultra- Strong Composites by Computational Design (US-COMP) is focused on developing a new generation of composites for this purpose. US-COMP is using computational simulation to drive the material design in an efficient manner. By developing new simulation tools, experimental methods, and databases of material information, US-COMP is playing a central role in the national Materials Genome Initiative (MGI). The ultimate goals of US-COMP are to design, fabricate, and test composite panels that meet NASA’s requirements; and to train students to enter the advanced composite materials workforce.

Bio:
Prof. Gregory Odegard is the John O. Hallquist Endowed Chair in Computational Mechanics in the Department of Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics at Michigan Tech. He is the Director of the NASA Institute for Ultra-Strong Composites by Computational Design, which
is focused on development the next generation of composites materials for manned deep- space missions. Before joining the faculty at Michigan Tech, Greg was a researcher at NASA Langley Research Center from 2000-2004. He received his PhD at the University of Denver in 2000. His research is focused on computational modeling of advanced material systems. He is the recipient of the NASA Outstanding Public Leadership Medal, is a Fellow of ASME, and an Associate Fellow of AIAA.

Tania Demonte Gonzalez receives Best Presentation Award at INORE’s 2023 European Symposium

Photo of Tania Demonte Gonzalez, who conducts research on wave energy converter nonlinear control.

Tania Demonte Gonzalez (PhD candidate, ME-EM) conducts research on wave energy converter nonlinear control and is part of the graduate student team using MTU Wave, the campus-based wave tank. She was awarded Michigan Tech’s Topping Teaching Fellowship in the Fall of 2022 and is a remote intern at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado.

Tania recently attended the International Network on Offshore Renewable Energy’s (INORE) 2023 European Symposium, a five-day meeting for researchers specializing in offshore renewable energy. The symposium provides many opportunities for early-stage researchers to come together, learn from one another, and establish new relationships that can greatly benefit their research and career journeys.


As part of the attendee research presentations, Tania gave a talk on “Time-Varying Hydrodynamic Modeling of a Variable Geometry Oscillating Surge Wave Energy Converter” and received one of two Best Presentation Awards. The presentation was a collaboration with NREL’s Dr. Nathan Tom and discussed the methods used to find a time-varying model for variable geometry surge wave energy converters. More details will be available in an upcoming publication.

Congratulations on this achievement, Tania.

Paul van Susante Named to Lou and Herbert Wacker Professorship in Mechanical Engineering

Paul van Susante (ME-EM) recently accepted an endowed appointment as the Lou and Herbert Wacker Professor in Mechanical Engineering. Van Susante joined Michigan Tech in 2012 as a lecturer (a role now called assistant teaching professor) before accepting an appointment as an assistant professor. Not only does Dr. van Susante meet or exceed all the criteria for this professorship, he also has a vested interest in teaching.

This endowed position was established to retain and attract high-quality faculty who are at the top of their profession, can excite students to think beyond classroom material, and who can effectively integrate their research into the classroom.

Involving students in his research is vital to van Susante. He’s been recognized in the Dean’s Teaching Showcase and as one of the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics’ (ME-EM’s) Teacher of the Year finalists four times. Paul is also the faculty advisor for the Multiplanetary Innovation Enterprise (MINE) team, solving challenges in the mining industry.

In addition to obtaining over $3 million in funding as a principal investigator, Dr. van Susante leads Michigan Tech’s Planetary Surface Technology Development Lab (PSTDL) team. The lab, also known as HuskyWorks, includes several students who advanced to the final round of NASA’s Watts on the Moon Challenge in both 2022 and 2023. As part of these competitions, researchers from NASA and other robotics companies travel to Michigan Tech to meet with van Susante and his team.

Other projects include:

  • NASA Lunar Surface Technology Research (LuSTR 2020)
  • NASA Breakthrough Innovative and Game-changing (BIG) Idea Challenge 2020: “Tethered permanently shaded Region Explorer (T-REX)” –power and communication delivery into PSR
  • NASA Break the Ice Challenge – the latest centennial challenge from NASA designed to develop technologies aiding in the sustained presence on the Moon
  • NASA ESI (Early Stage Innovation) to excavate rock gypsum for water production on Mars
  • NASA GCD MRE – Molten Regolith Electrolysis, or MRE, uses an electric current in a reactor to separate oxygen from lunar dust, also known as regolith. The scope of the project is to provide a regolith feeder and transportation system for the MRE reactor. Research into regolith properties, here on Earth, and in extreme environments like lunar gravity and vacuum are being conducted. Results from these experiments will be vital in choosing and developing these feeder and transportation technologies.
  • HOPLITE (Heavy Onboard Platform for Lunar ISRU and Terrain Excavation) is a modular robotic system built at Michigan Tech that enables the field testing of IDSRU technologies. Many payloads are currently being designed and implemented for lunar applications and there is a need for accurate, reliable, and safe mobility of these payloads during filed testing. Using a large sensor array, fine tuned control and autonomy, HOPLITE is designed to provide a solution to this need.

The success in his research has translated to van Susante publishing 82 papers while at Michigan Tech and giving 37 invited talks. He is currently an associate editor for In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Journal of Aerospace Engineering.

(reprinted from October 25, 2023 Tech Today.)

Jeffrey Allen receives NASA funding for Physical Sciences Informatics (PSI) research

Professor Jeffrey S. Allen is the John F. and Joan M. Calder Endowed Professor in Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics at Michigan Tech. Dr. Allen also serves as Associate Chair and Director of Undergraduate Studies for the department.

Jeffrey Allen (Professor, ME-EM) is the principal investigator on a recently awarded NASA Physical Sciences Research Program grant that will build on prior reduced-gravity research to advance fundamental research in the physical sciences.

The project, titled “Reduced-order modeling of interfacial dynamics to enable large-scale, mission-length simulations of low-gravity propellant management using CVB PSI data”, is one of six funded proposals under this initiative. Anurag Ranjan, PhD (postdoc) is a co-investigator.

The overall objective of the proposed research is to develop a new efficient computational approach for fast, long duration, high fidelity simulations of the interface dynamics of liquid vapor mixtures in microgravity using a vortex sheet evolution equation coupled to a
vorticity-velocity bulk fluid solution in an extended FEM technique.

The Physical Sciences Informatics (PSI) system is an online database of completed physical science reduced-gravity flight experiments conducted on the International Space Station (ISS), Space Shuttle flights, Free Flyers, or commercial cargo flights to and from the ISS, and of related ground-based studies.

For more information:

Access Professor Allen’s publications here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jeffrey-Allen-7

Visit Professor Allen’s faculty profile here: https://www.mtu.edu/mechanical/people/faculty/allen/

PSTDL Finalists in NASA Watts on the Moon Challenge

Assistant Professor Paul van Susante (ME-EM/MARC) and the Planetary Surface Technology Development Lab, aka HuskyWorks, advanced to the “final four” in Phase 2 of NASA’s Watts on the Moon Challenge. Through this challenge, NASA seeks to partner with a broader community of experts to augment its investments in power generation.

The first competition phase started in September 2020 and included 60 eligible teams, from which seven winners were chosen. Winners in each phase receive equal shares of a prize purse, used to fuel the development of ideas for building energy infrastructures on the Moon.

“As we tread new ground in exploration, we’ll need to draw on creativity across the nation. The technologies created through Watts on the Moon are one example, with new perspectives helping us address a crucial technology gap.”

Denise Morris, acting program manager for Centennial Challenges at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama

Building on previous success, the team will use the current $400,000 prize to refine their Phase 2, Level 3 prototype and test it under a simulated lunar environment (vacuum chamber) at NASA facilities in 2024. Up to two teams at this level will receive awards: The first-place team will be awarded $1 million, and second place will be awarded $500,000. Winners are expected to be announced in September, 2024.

You can learn more about the challenge by visiting NASA’s Watts on the Moon fact sheet. For more details on Dr. van Susante’s lab capabilities, visit the PSTDL’s  Facilities page.

Play Four Teams Advance to Final Level of NASA’s Watts on the Moon Challenge video
Preview image for Four Teams Advance to Final Level of NASA’s Watts on the Moon Challenge video

Four Teams Advance to Final Level of NASA’s Watts on the Moon Challenge