Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering News

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Order of the Engineer, Senior Awards Banquet and Capstone Design Day

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The ME-EM Order of the Engineer, Senior Awards Banquet and Capstone Design Day was April 23, 2013.

The keynote speaker for the banquet was Colleen L. Jones-Cervantes.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Tech in 1983. After graduation, Colleen joined Chevron Corporation as a Project Engineer. She has been challenged for twenty-eight years by progressing through a variety of assignments in Chevron’s Marketing business, product supply operations, asset management, lubricants and retail functions. Her varied assignments have required eleven relocations, including two international assignments.

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Jaipur Foot Design Teams In India for Spring Break

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During the Spring Break 2012, Dr. Nina Mahmoudian and Dr. Mo Rastgaar and two Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Teams are in Jaipur, India. Below is a group picture of them in City Royal Palace. They are going to visit hospital and see Dr. Jain also on the trip.

The Jaipur foot was developed to provide amputees with a simple, practical, and low cost prosthetic, that is compatible with an active and culturally-appropriate lifestyle. During the 2011-2012 school year, a design team made improvements to the Jaipur foot to reduce weight and standardize the manufacturing process and materials used. A major problem now is incompatibility of materials with the rubber vulcanization process used in manufacturing. This must be optimized while maintaining the affordability and functionality of the foot. Team 7, consisting of Reid Barber, Stephanie Boomgaard, Ben Cottrill, Miriam Paquet, and Kevin Peterson, is traveling to India to meet Dr. Anil Jain of the Dr. P.K. Sethi Rehabilitation and Jaipur Limb Training Center. The main goal of the trip is to gain a better understanding of the process used in India to fabricate the Jaipur foot and to communicate the current status of the project to Dr. Jain. Also, several prototypes will be delivered, with the hope of seeing them demonstrated by amputee patients. The team will return to Michigan Tech at the end of Spring Break and will incorporate feedback to finish improving the design.
The Jaipur foot was developed to provide amputees with a simple, practical, and low cost prosthetic, that is compatible with an active and culturally-appropriate lifestyle. During the 2011-2012 school year, a design team made improvements to the Jaipur foot to reduce weight and standardize the manufacturing process and materials used. A major problem now is incompatibility of materials with the rubber vulcanization process used in manufacturing. This must be optimized while maintaining the affordability and functionality of the foot. Team 7, consisting of Reid Barber, Stephanie Boomgaard, Ben Cottrill, Miriam Paquet, and Kevin Peterson, is traveling to India to meet Dr. Anil Jain of the Dr. P.K. Sethi Rehabilitation and Jaipur Limb Training Center. The main goal of the trip is to gain a better understanding of the process used in India to fabricate the Jaipur foot and to communicate the current status of the project to Dr. Jain. Also, several prototypes will be delivered, with the hope of seeing them demonstrated by amputee patients. The team will return to Michigan Tech at the end of Spring Break and will incorporate feedback to finish improving the design.
Ruth Fisher, James Hartel, Bobby Pizzey, David Weyland are members of Senior Capstone Design Team 8. This team is redesigning and evaluating a cost optimized prosthetic knee joint created by a previous senior design team. The joint must be manufactured in India with local materials and be affordable for the hospital and patients. Current solutions to knee replacement are expensive or ineffective. The team has worked to develop a design that is lightweight, low-cost, and easy to use. The design incorporates a 3-bar linkage system between the upper and lower frames of the device as well as an adjustable damping pad to provide a variable resistance of the swing of the knee which can be tailored to each patient.
Ruth Fisher, James Hartel, Bobby Pizzey, David Weyland are members of Senior Capstone Design Team 8. This team is redesigning and evaluating a cost optimized prosthetic knee joint created by a previous senior design team. The joint must be manufactured in India with local materials and be affordable for the hospital and patients. Current solutions to knee replacement are expensive or ineffective. The team has worked to develop a design that is lightweight, low-cost, and easy to use. The design incorporates a 3-bar linkage system between the upper and lower frames of the device as well as an adjustable damping pad to provide a variable resistance of the swing of the knee which can be tailored to each patient.
On Saturday March 16th, Team 8 and advisors visited Prosthetic & Orthotic Rehabilitation Clinic (PORC) and presented their work and their prototype and received technical feedback. Team 8 will apply the necessary improvements in the prototype and send it back to India for clinical trial on patients.
On Saturday March 16th, Team 8 and advisors visited Prosthetic & Orthotic Rehabilitation Clinic (PORC) and presented their work and their prototype and received technical feedback. Team 8 will apply the necessary improvements in the prototype and send it back to India for clinical trial on patients.
The group toured the Amber Fort before leaving Jaipur on Tuesday March 12th to Agra.
The group toured the Amber Fort before leaving Jaipur on Tuesday March 12th to Agra.
Visiting the Taj Mahal in Agra was the highlight of the day 4 of India trip on Wednesday March 13th.
Visiting the Taj Mahal in Agra was the highlight of the day 4 of India trip on Wednesday March 13th.
On Thursday March 14th, Michigan Tech's senior capstone design teams 7 and 8 visited All India Institute of Medical Science in New Delhi and Team 8 presented their new prosthetic knee prototype to Dr. Malhotra. Dr Malhotra was impressed wit...h the design concept and expressed the design can lead to a viable and inexpensive prosthesis for below poverty line patients in India. The group was scheduled to meet with orthotic and prosthetic experts on Saturday March 16th to get detail technical feedback.
On Thursday March 14th, Michigan Tech’s senior capstone design teams 7 and 8 visited All India Institute of Medical Science in New Delhi and Team 8 presented their new prosthetic knee prototype to Dr. Malhotra. Dr Malhotra was impressed wit…h the design concept and expressed the design can lead to a viable and inexpensive prosthesis for below poverty line patients in India. The group was scheduled to meet with orthotic and prosthetic experts on Saturday March 16th to get detail technical feedback.
On Thursday March 14th, Michigan Tech's senior capstone design teams 7 and 8 visited All India Institute of Medical Science in New Delhi and Team 8 presented their new prosthetic knee prototype to Dr. Malhotra. Dr Malhotra was impressed wit...h the design concept and expressed the design can lead to a viable and inexpensive prosthesis for below poverty line patients in India. The group was scheduled to meet with orthotic and prosthetic experts on Saturday March 16th to get detail technical feedback.
On Thursday March 14th, Michigan Tech’s senior capstone design teams 7 and 8 visited All India Institute of Medical Science in New Delhi and Team 8 presented their new prosthetic knee prototype to Dr. Malhotra. Dr Malhotra was impressed wit…h the design concept and expressed the design can lead to a viable and inexpensive prosthesis for below poverty line patients in India. The group was scheduled to meet with orthotic and prosthetic experts on Saturday March 16th to get detail technical feedback.
On Friday March 15th, the group visited Delhi Council for Child Welfare Orthopedic Center and toured the facilities. Both teams 7 and 8 were participated in a workshop to familiarize with fabricating the knee orthoses for polio patients. De...lhi Council for Child Welfare Orthopedic Center provided Michigan Tech teams with sample orthoses that they use for low income patients and requested us to suggest improvements that lead to improved durability and lower costs of the items.
On Friday March 15th, the group visited Delhi Council for Child Welfare Orthopedic Center and toured the facilities. Both teams 7 and 8 were participated in a workshop to familiarize with fabricating the knee orthoses for polio patients. De…lhi Council for Child Welfare Orthopedic Center provided Michigan Tech teams with sample orthoses that they use for low income patients and requested us to suggest improvements that lead to improved durability and lower costs of the items.
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High-Tech Classrooms Usher in a New Era of Teaching

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Gordon Parker hoped the new classroom would improve the learning experience for one of his graduate classes. He didn’t expect to cover nearly a third more material.

“It’s crazy,” says the John and Cathi Drake Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Michigan Technological University. “I’ve never been able to get that far with this class. And it’s not like I just opened up the hose and talked faster.”

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Senior Capstone Design Projects Fall 2012

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The Senior Capstone Design Program in Mechanical Engineering builds on our lab-based, hands-on curriculum to provide students with “their first job,” a project supplied by companies and entrepreneurs. These clients benefit from having a student team address their dynamic goals and tight budgets, and provide a fresh perspective.

The Mechanical Engineering–Engineering Mechanics Department Senior Capstone Design Projects completed by the graduating class for Fall 2012 were presented to the faculty, sponsors, and campus on December 11, 2012. The projects are presented on the web with photos, participants at “Senior Design Projects Fall 2012”

Team Photos are also available on Flickr at ME-EM Teams Senior Capstone Design December 2012

A sample of Videos are viewable at Mechanical Engineering Senior Capstone Design Teams.

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