Christopher Morgan (MEEM/APSRC) is the principal investigator on a project that has received $115,000 from the U.S. Department of Defense, Army — TARDEC.
Jeremy Worm (MEEM) and Darrell Robinette (MEEM) are Co-PI’s. The project is titled “Delivery of Professional Development Courses in Propulsion Systems.”
This is a four-and-a-half month project.
By Sponsored Programs.
Back by popular demand, three short courses will be offered this summer.
The courses are “Experimental Studies in Vehicle Dynamics,” “Fundamentals of Diesel Engines” and “Diesel Engine Control Systems.”
Courses include extensive laboratory components with a format that mixes traditional lecture and group discussion with hands-on experiments conducted in powertrain test-cells and through driving vehicles on the road. The courses will be available to all Michigan Tech graduate students and undergraduate seniors. Each course is one credit with a lab fee of $265. Course descriptions are included below.
Experimental Studies in Vehicle Dynamics: MEEM 5990 Section 50 — A combination of lecture and hands-on activities. Measure and understand vehicle size and CG (X-Y-Z), Determine optimum suspension setup for handling and performance. Model and measure real world vehicle acceleration for correlation and prediction of vehicle performance. See the effects of vehicle design on understeer and oversteer during limit handling.
Fundamentals of Diesel Engines: MEEM 5202 — A combination of lecture and hands-on activities. Options for transportation and lunch. Content; fundamentals of operation, performance metrics, thermochemistry, combustion, fuel injection and spray, air systems and turbocharging, EGR, energy balance, heat transfer, diesel engine simulation and advanced concepts and trends in diesel engines.
Diesel Engine Control Systems: MEEM 5204 — A combination of lecture and hands-on activities. Options for transportation and lunch. Content; review diesel operation, regulations, intro to engine control, diesel engine actuators, load control, Start of Injection, Rail Pressure, Turbo Control, EGR and Engine Out Emissions, aftertreatment, algorithm and calibration, OBD and controller communications.
These courses are a great option for anyone looking to increase their understanding of vehicle systems or engines, or for students needing additional credits.
All courses will be delivered from the Michigan Tech Advanced Power Systems Research Center located near the Houghton County Airport. The courses will be two-and-a-half days in duration, starting at 1 p.m. Wednesday and ending at 5 p.m. Friday of that same week. Transportation to and from campus may be provided each day. Lunch will be provided on Thursday and Friday.
Registration is now open through banweb:
Students are welcome to register for any or all three. There are no pre-requisites, but familiarity with vehicle dynamics, thermodynamics and/or IC engine cycles will be helpful.
Contact Chris Morgan for further details.
National Biomechanics Day is Thursday (April 6, 2017), a world-wide event for high-school teachers and students to advance the science and education of human biomechanics.
This year’s theme is, “Science Meets Fun on National Biomechanics Day.” The Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology (KIP) Department has collaborated with several departments across campus to invite local students to engage in fun, hands-on activities focused on biomechanics research.
In Mo Rastgaar’s (MEEM) HIROlab, students will place EMG sensors on their arms and move a robotic arm, as well as investigate an agile robotic prosthesis as it moves on a circular treadmill.
The event will begin at 9 a.m. Thursday with lab activities scheduled to begin at 9:10 a.m.
Read more at Tech Today, by Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology.
Chunpei Cai (ME-EM/MuSTI) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $50,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The project is titled “I-Corps: Software for Aircraft Analysis and Design.”
This is a one-year project.
By Sponsored Programs.
Boston Commons, a science and technology news website, published an article about experiments for future engineers, citing among others Michigan Tech’s economic sustainability study looking at the economic demographic of the area to determine if it will support mines production rates now and in the future. Tech’s study will provide future market trends and comprehensive technology analysis on heat treatment.
The article cited current work by Chang Choi and Jeffrey Allen on “Technical Survey on High Efficient Intensive Cooling Control Technology.”
Nancy Barr, director of the Engineering Communications Program in the department of mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics, recently presented work at the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) 2017 annual convention in Portland, Oregon, a competitive, peer-reviewed conference.
Barr’s presentation was titled “Reflection/Deflection: Challenges of Incorporating Reflexive Writing into a Mechanical Engineering Program.”
Each year the CCCC Convention draws college faculty members from around the world. They gather to hear award-winning speakers, attend presentations by colleagues on the latest innovations in education and network to gain knowledge of best practices in the field.
Tech professor Greg Odegard is heading a Space Technology Research Institute, which is being funded by a five-year, $15 million grant from NASA. That group, the Institute for Ultra-Strong Composites by Computational Design (US-COMP), is looking to develop a lighter, stronger structural material made of carbon nanotubes for space travel — first a return to the moon, then a manned mission to Mars.
What NASA’s looking for is materials that are even stronger and lighter than what we have now, so we can do that. —Greg Odegard
Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Garrett Neese.
Bill Predebon, chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, is thrilled about the NASA institute grant. “This is a major accomplishment by Dr. Odegard and Michigan Tech,” he said. “Greg has the experience and research accomplishments needed to lead such a large multi-university and industry institute, having been a PI on a NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center and an internationally recognized leader in composite material modeling.”
If challenged to quiet the loud auxiliary power unit on a large Abrams tank to protect our war fighters, would minute carbon nanotubes immediately come to mind?
Probably not but that is exactly the solution that Andrew Barnard (ME-EM) will present at the finals of the ninth Annual Global Automotive & Mobility Innovation Challenge (GAMIC) taking place at the SAE World Congress in the Cobo Center, Detroit on April 4, 2017.
Barnard successfully competed in the semi-final round last week. His technology, coaxial active exhaust noise control system, is based on using a thin film of carbon nanotubes as a thermophone, a loudspeaker that makes sound using surface temperature variation instead of a moving diaphragm. What that means is no moving parts, which results in higher reliability. “Carbon nanotubes make this possible because they can oscillate their surface temperature almost instantaneously to produce canceling sound waves,” he explains.
Barnard was encouraged to participate in GAMIC through his involvement in Michigan Tech’s Michigan Translational Research & Commercialization (MTRAC) program for Applied Advanced Materials.
MTRAC is sponsored by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the Michigan Strategic Fund to help University faculty fast-track their technology to a commercial stage.
MTRAC Commercialization Program Director John Diebel says “Andrew’s technology seemed like an excellent fit within the scope of transportation technologies GAMIC wanted to showcase and support. There is a lot of potential recognition and follow-on support to be gained by the exposure he can get presenting at the SAE Congress so he was game to compete.”
Diebel noted “Preparation alone for such an event can be very helpful as it forces an inventor to think a little deeper about the customer perspective on the technology and how to communicate the benefits. These competitions better prepare our faculty for success in obtaining development funding.”
GAMIC organizers link each semi-finalist with mentors who help them prepare for the competition. These mentors have wide contacts in the automotive industry who can provide general networking support besides just helping to refine an inventor’s message.
Barnard was coached by Diebel, Steve Tokarz, Michigan Tech mentor-in-residence, Christophe Gaillard, principal engineer at Tier 1 automotive supplier Aisin, and Michael Brooks, a consultant in business development for material based technologies.
Besides a cash award and in-kind business development services, winners of the final competition in four categories will present to automotive manufacturers and suppliers at the SAE TechHub on April 6, in Detroit.
Barnard, an assistant professor, came to Michigan Tech from Penn State University in 2014 where he was a research associate in the Applied Research Laboratory. Barnard earned a bachelor’s and master’s in mechanical engineering at Michigan Tech and a PhD in Acoustics from Penn State. He is a member of the Acoustical Society of America and a board-certified member and Director of the Institute for Noise Control Engineering USA (INCE-USA). His research areas include Advanced Measurements and Signal Processing, Carbon Nanotube Thermophones, Acoustic Intensity and Vector Sensors, Room Acoustics, Acoustic Material Characterization, Outdoor Sound Propagation, Underwater Acoustics, and more.
More information on GAMIC can be found online.
First generation prototype of the carbon nanotube coaxial active exhaust noise control loudspeaker. The exhaust gas flows through the pipe, as usual, and the CNT fibers (black cylinder) wrap around the pipe and generate destructive acoustic interference to cancel noise from the engine.
Michigan Tech volleyball player Rachel Pohlod was one of six female recipients of the 2016 Fall GLIAC Commissioner’s Award the league announced Friday.
A total of 12 student athletes (six male and six female) that excel academically and on the fields of play are presented after the fall, winter, and spring athletic seasons with the award.
Pohlod is a senior setter from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is one of only three players in Tech history to record more than 2,000 assists and 1,000 digs in her career.
Pohlod was a CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team selection and All-GLIAC First Team pick in 2016 after career highs in assists (1,238), digs (361), blocks (27), assists in a match (68) and digs in a match (27).
Pohlod was a three-time member of the GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team, holding a 3.99 grade-point average in mechanical engineering. She was also a GLIAC Honorable Mention choice in 2015 and team Co-MVP in 2016.
To read the full story and find out more about Michigan Tech sports, visit michigantechhuskies.com.
By Krista Siler, Assistant Director of Athletic Communication.
Andrew Barnard’s (ME-EM) CNT active exhaust system was chosen to compete in the semifinals of the Global Automotive and Mobility Innovation Competition (GAMIC) Feb. 23, 2017, in Detroit. Graduate student Suraj Prabhu is also working on the project.
Presented by SAE International and the MI Innovation Alliance, GAMIC provides early‐stage start‐ups with an opportunity for competition‐prep coaching and targeted exposure to decision‐makers.