Category: News

It’s the Water: Graphene Balloon Yields Unprecedented Images of Hydrated Protein Molecules

A graphene water balloon may soon open up new vistas for scientists seeking to understand health and disease at the most fundamental level.

Electron microscopes already provide amazingly clear images of samples just a few nanometers across. But if you want a good look at living tissue, look again.

“You can’t put liquid in an electron microscope,” says Tolou Shokuhfar, of Michigan Technological University. “So, if you have a hydrated sample—and all living things are hydrated—you have to freeze it, like a blueberry in an ice cube, and cut it into a million thin pieces, so the electrons can pass through. Only then can you image it to see what’s going on.”

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New Grad Course Leads to Better Writing for Mechanical Engineering Undergrads

For many engineering students, writing is a chore at best. While there are some who excel at the craft, many panic at the very prospect of putting words on paper.

Yet, from their sophomore year until graduation, that’s exactly what mechanical engineering students must do to succeed in a series of three laboratory classes. To complicate matters, their reports are graded by graduate students, including many foreign nationals for whom English is a second language.

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ME-EM Senior Awards Banquet December 2013

The Department of Mechanical Engineering–Engineering Mechanics celebrated the December 2013 Fall Semester graduating class Senior Awards Banquet and Order of the Engineer Induction on December 10, 2013 at the Memorial Union Ballroom. Timothy P. Coffield was the keynote speaker for the December 2013 ME-EM Senior Awards Banquet. However, transportation to Michigan Tech was affected by a winter storm causing flight cancellations. So he spoke to the banquet by way of the internet.
Timothy P. Coffield Biographic Sketch

Energy Poster Session

Students from Principles of Energy Conversion (MEEM 4200) and Advanced Thermodynamics (MEEM 5200) presented the results of their semester-long projects on energy systems. There were 28 different projects at the symposium. A few of the projects being presented are:

Advancement of Combustion Process – RCCI Engines
Exergy Analysis of Thermal Power Plant
Factors Affecting Flame Propagation in Spark Ignition Engines
Plasma gasification and potentially its usefulness in the elimination of MSW
Space heating using a Solar Wall
Power Harvesting for Transportation Tunnels
Air Powered Vehicles

Research News Summary

Research by Assistant Professor Mo Rastgaar and graduate student Evandro Ficanha (MEEM) is featured on the website of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. See “Computer-Controlled Prosthetic Closely Matches Action of Human Legs.” The Mumbai Mirror and Science World Report both published news stories about Assistant Professor Mo Rastgaar’s (ME-EM) work with the Mayo Clinic to develop a prosthetic foot that moves like a real human foot. See The Mumbai Mirror and Science World Report for the full story.

Assistant Professor Mo Rastgaar’s work designing and building a microprocessor-controlled artificial leg has been widely publicized, with more articles like the above appearing in IEEE Spectrum,, Medical Design Online, Gizmag,CNN, UPI Science News and many more outlets. He was also interviewed for Clear Channel One’s radio program Conversations in Health Care.

Michigan Tech Students Win National Mining Competition

The National Mining Competition announced the three winners from the 2013 event. First place Michigan Tech, second place University of British Columbia, and third place Edwards School of Business.

The winning Michigan Tech Mining team, “the fabulous four,” was Cora Hemmila, Matthew Younger, Matthew Schuman and Matthew Schwalen. The team advisor is James Murray Gillis, Instructor, Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences, Director, Mine Safety and Health Training Program.