Category: Research

The Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization (MTRAC) Innovation Hub for AgBio at Michigan State University recently highlighted two grants awarded to a Michigan Tech researcher.

Ezra Bar-Ziv (ME-EM) received his first MTRAC AgBio grant in 2018 through a competitive grant proposal submission. This $50,000 matching fund grant supported his research that uses biological materials as feedstocks for petroleum refineries. In 2019, he submitted a proposal for a second technology that resulted from previous MTRAC awarded research. This new technology is able to remove chlorine from solid plastic waste streams. Chlorine is an undesirable byproduct of burning plastics, and by removing it, the plastic can be cleanly used for combustion energy. The chlorine is recycled, as the system uses the chlorine gases to heat itself. Bar-Ziv was awarded a larger $100,000 MTRAC AgBio match grant for this second project.

MTRAC grants are awarded to assist with the commercialization of new technologies. Bar-Ziv’s research looks at environmentally friendly solutions to combustion energy, in which materials are burned to produce heat energy. He is specifically researching ways waste materials can be utilized in this manner. Instead of sending plastic waste material, such as food wrappers, to the landfill, they can be sent to facilities with Bar-Ziv’s technology.

“Feedback from the oversight committee through the MTRAC process is extremely encouraging,” Bar-Ziv said. “They have one thing in mind: They want you to focus and bring a product to the market. Without the MTRAC support, it would have been hard to do the commercialization.”

Convergen Energy, an energy company in Wisconsin, wants to commercialize Bar-Ziv’s design. Together, they are working on the pre-design, which will help the company determine how to move forward with the technology. They are exploring what the system will look like, the cost of the system and the business benefits. The system will then be used to create this clean combustion energy.

“One of the key objectives of the MTRAC statewide program is to support technology commercialization within all of our universities, hospital systems and nonprofit research centers,” said Denise Graves, university relations director at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). “This project is a great example of that collaboration — using the expertise of the AgBio Innovation Hub at Michigan State to support research and commercialization activities at Michigan Tech.”

The MSU Innovation Center MTRAC team has been working with Bar-Ziv since he was awarded the first MTRAC grant. “Dr. Bar-Ziv and the team have set a great example of how to use scientific rigor and technical ingenuity to deliver high-value solutions to real customers,” said Joseph Affholter, the commercialization program director for the MTRAC AgBio Innovation Hub, which runs under the MSU Innovation Center.

This is the spirit of translational research, Affholter explained. “They have navigated a complex innovation process. Their curiosity, flexibility and commitment to value creation has delivered a commercialization-ready technology to customers and is a timeless example to other academic researchers seeking to solve practical problems through innovation.”

“There is the so-called ‘Valley of Death’ between discovery and user adoption,” said Jim Baker, associate vice president for research at MTU. “Equally as important is the feedback from the MTRAC oversight committee as well as the program management to accomplish the core goals. MTRAC fills an essential gap between laboratory research and use.”

The MTRAC Innovation Hub for AgBio at MSU is dedicated to the commercialization of technologies that advance the competitiveness of Michigan’s food, agriculture and industrial bioeconomy. The program is co-funded by MSU and the MEDC through the Michigan Strategic Fund.

The AgBio hub is part of a network of statewide innovation hubs — including the MTRAC Advanced Applied Materials Innovation Hub at Michigan Tech, which announced funding for projects in May. Located strategically at universities strong in the sector, each hub further increases the quality and quantity of resources available. 

Michigan Technological University
Houghton, MI
25 January 2021

Position Description

The Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics Department at Michigan Technological University is hiring a postdoctoral research associate for a recently funded U.S. Department of Energy project to develop off-highway diesel engine aftertreatment technology that reduces the cost and complexity. Optimal design of a single device that combines the functions of a Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC) and a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) is the focus of the research. Referred to as a DOCF, it will simultaneously control a diesel engine’s CO, HC and PM emissions. Achieving the project goals requires a combination of modeling and simulation (M&S), reactor experiments, prototype development and engine test cell studies. In addition to Michigan Tech, the project team includes Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL) and several commercial partners. The integrated nature of the project requires close collaboration among all its partners including not only co-development of M&S codes but also reactor and engine test cell experiments. This position focuses on the M&S code development, the model calibration with test data and its use for DOCF design.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Your primary duties will be: (1) development of the DOCF’s M&S codes, (2) the calibration of the model to test data, (3) periodic reporting to our research customer and project partners and (4) publication of the results in peer-reviewed journals. Other duties may be assigned as the project develops. Because calibration requires a thorough understanding of both the DOCF’s physics and the test data, it’s important that you work closely with researchers responsible for conducting both reactor and engine tests. Model development minimally requires that you have experience with (1) diesel engine aftertreatment technologies and (2) modeling a gas flow device that has coupled thermal and chemical kinetic responses. It’s imperative that the resulting M&S codes be predictive and can be used for extrapolated DOCF design. Fortunately, Michigan Tech has a long history of diesel engine aftertreatment component M&S development including: DOCs, DPFS, Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCRs) and most recently, a combined SCR/DPF device. Most of these models exist in MATLAB and Simulink. The expectation is that our existing models, and those of our project partners, can be leveraged to implement this DOCF modeling effort.

Minimum Required Education

• A PhD in mechanical or chemical engineering, or a closely related field

Minimum Required Experience

• Model development using MATLAB and Simulink
• Diesel engine aftertreatment component analysis involving chemical reactions, transport phenomena and thermal response

Minimum Required Skills, and Abilities

• Advanced chemical process knowledge consistent with a PhD degree in chemical or mechanical engineering
• Advanced modeling techniques using MATLAB and Simulink.
• Demonstrated abilities in (1) oral and written communication and (2) working with diverse groups of students, faculty, and staff

Desirable Experience

• DPF and/or other emission component modeling
• Aftertreatment component model calibration
• Reactor or engine test cell studies

Desirable Skills, and Abilities

• Experience with COMSOL Multiphysics, GT-Suite or similar programs

Term

• The appointment is for 12 months with a yearly renewal option

Application Instructions

Please submit the items below to Marlene Lappeus by email, mmlappeu@mtu.edu. Applications will be reviewed as they arrive with the goal of making a selection by March 2021.

• Your CV, including a list of your publications
• One-page description of your relevant research experience
• Contact information of three references

Momoko Tajiri (Chemistry/MuSTI) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $33,597 research and development grant from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development – Michigan Craft Beer Council.

The project is entitled, “Berries & Brews: Understanding the Market and Technological Processing Opportunities of Michigan Grown Fruit in the Craft Beverage Industry”. Jenny Apriesnig (College of Business/MuSTI), Ezequiel Medici (MEEM/MuSTI), Kazuya Tajiri (MEEM/MuSTI), Lynn Mazzoleni (Chemistry/MuSTI), and Martin Thompson (Chemistry/MuSTI) are co-PIs on this 16-month project.