Mo Rastgaar (ME-EM) along with PhD students Guilherme Ribeiro and Lauren Knop, presented “Correlation between Ankle Impedance and EMG Signals,” at the Fourth International Conference on NeuroRehabilitation (ICNR), Pisa, Italy, Oct. 16-20, 2018.
The Michigan Tech Mobile Lab is visiting the campus of Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) today, giving GRCC students the chance to gain exposure to an ongoing National Science Foundation (NSF) Project—”CAREER: An Ecologically Inspired Approach to Battery Lifetime Analysis and Testing.” The principal investigator on the project is Lucia Gauchia.
Participants range from all over the technical campus, with specialized tours for on-campus classrooms, as well as an open house for students and community members. Inside the Mobile Lab, there is further detail on the project and a real-world demonstration of a battery testing process.
Students in the Mobile Lab will be exposed to battery technology in today’s modern world. There will be discussions on battery types, chemistry and applications; including mobile devices, automotive, grid storage and more.
The Mobile Lab will be on the GRCC downtown campus, located in the student commons area. For more information on the Michigan Tech Mobile Lab, contact Chris Morgan.
Undergraduate mechanical engineering student Justin Mondeik was featured in the story “Mondeik leads Kulwicki Cup,” in Merril Foto News. Mondeik is in his second year in the Kulwicki Driver Development Program for Super Late Model stock car drivers. Mondeik currently sits in first place for the $54,439 prize.
Michigan Tech was well represented at the Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE) Global Annual Forum July 22-25, 2018, at the GM WarrentTech Center.
Five graduate students in mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics were a part of TEAM 3 which did well in competitions at the forum. The team took:
- First place in Manufacturing Engineering
- Second place in Product Engineering, and
- Third place in Customer Insight.
- The team also won the Siemens Award for Excellence in PLM.
The Michigan Tech grad students participating were; Manjo Balabadhruni, Karan Gundre, Aniket Jadhav, and Mayuresh Kange.
Nancy Barr, founding director of the ME-EM Engineering Communications Program, recently presented a paper titled, “‘Helpful,’ ‘Irritating,’ and ‘Smart,’: Student Perspectives on Teams in a Mechanical Engineering Program,” at the annual conference of the IEEE Professional Communication Society (IEEE ProComm2018) in Toronto, Ontario, on July 23-25, 2018.
The paper, co-authored by James P. DeClerck (ME-EM), highlighted three problems that commonly hinder undergraduate engineering teams and suggested possible solutions. Barr was also co-chair of the proceedings committee for the conference.
“Once I got the telephone interview, it was all on me. I had to rely on my own capabilities to convert this opportunity into an offer,” says Sai Rajeev Davaragudi after landing a summer internship at Faraday Future in Los Angeles, California.
Sai Rajeev Devaragudi is a tenacious graduate student at Michigan Technological University studying mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics.
Nancy Barr (MEEM) presented at the International Writing Across the Curriculum Conference 2018 on the campus of Auburn University in Alabama, June 4-6. Her presentation, “Connecting the Dots: Engineering Students Connect Concepts via Reflective Essays,” focused on an effort to incorporate reflective portfolios into the undergraduate degree program. Barr is the founding director of the Engineering Communications Program in the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics.
The conference theme, “Making Connections,” emphasizes how writing across the curriculum fosters connections within and across institutions and programs, between people and positions, and among ideas and practices.
Andrew Barnard (MEEM/GLRC) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $59,405 research and development grant from the Office of Naval Research.
The title of the project is “ONR Graduate Traineeship Award: Multi-Modal, Near-Shore, Ice-Covered Arctic Acoustic Propagation Measurements and Analysis.”
This is a one-year project.
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The title “Reverse Engineering and Simulation Intern” may sound confusing — or even impossible — but NASA intern Jacob Hubert proudly assumed that role in fall 2017 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The senior mechanical engineering student from Michigan Technological University put his classroom knowledge to the test when he began working with the Design Visualization Group. This team supports Ground Systems Development and Operations for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), which will boost the Orion spacecraft beyond low Earth orbit.
It was such an amazing opportunity to work with Kennedy Space Center’s Design Visualization team in the fall.
Jacob has clear plans for his future and credits his internship as the reason why. “I believe I have really found my calling after this internship and know what I want in a career,” he said. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a minor in aerospace engineering from Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan, Jacob plans to pursue a career involving 3D laser scanning and reverse engineering, just like his project at Kennedy.
Banquet and Program
The ME-EM Senior Recognition Banquet and Order of the Engineer Program was held on April 24, 2018.
Keynote Speaker
Jolyn L. Russell
Deputy Program Manager
Satellite Servicing Projects Division
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD
Jolyn Russell graduated from Michigan Tech with a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1998. She received her MS degree in Engineering Science and Mechanics from Virginia Tech in 2000.
After receiving her MS degree she was selected for the 2- year Ford College Graduate Rotational Program. In 2003 she became a Brake Integration Engineer and the program management lead for the implementation of Roll Stability Control on the E350, completing it in a record 18 months from kick-off to production launch. In 2005 she become Roll Stability Control Algorithm Engineer and algorithm module expert responsible for code development, vehicle tuning and production approval of wheel lift detection logic on all worldwide platforms including Ford, Volvo, and Land Rover.
In 2007 she joined SAIC at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center as a Lead Mechanical Systems Engineer responsible for planning, mechanical operations, mechanism testing and issue resolution for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Weather Satellites (GOES O and GOES P). One of the projects involved the implementation a new filter design on the sun telescope. In 2010 she advanced to Lead Mechanical Systems Engineer for the DESDynl, which involved leading efforts to coordinate the design and Engineering Tech Unit build for the instrument during the pre-Phase portion of the program.
In 2011 she was the Senior Mechanical Engineer for the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) Free Flyer, responsible for development of requirements supporting the satellite procurement, including mechanical inputs for the Statement of Work, Systems Requirements Document, and launch services interface requirements document. In 2013 she was the Raven Mechanical Lead in which she led a team of mechanical engineers, designers, analysts and technicians to design, integrate, and test the Raven Tech Demo experiment from preliminary design through launch in 18 months.
Since 2015 she is the Deputy Robotics Program Manager, Satellite Servicing Projects Division, at Goddard Space Flight Center where she manages a multi-disciplined team of Mechanical, Electrical, System, and Software Engineers supporting multiple programs in the division, focused primarily on the Restore Lower Earth Orbit mission. This includes maintaining the robot systems schedule and budget, responsible for initial cost estimates and several million dollars of procurements for the flight robot.
Spring 2018 Outstanding Student Awards
Senior Capstone Design Team 14
Advisor Jaclyn Johnson
SCD Team 14, consisting of Carter Davis, Nathan Goering, Jesse Lassila, Benjamin Maat, Nick Monette and Jacob Pardy, has, as a whole, exhibited outstanding performance over the course of this project. The team has worked cohesively together to achieve the combined goal of creating a Trailed Agricultural Equipment Braking System. Team 14 has harnessed and leveraged each member’s unique strengths and areas of expertise, exhibiting impressive team dynamics, professionalism and respect. This includes the use of AMESIM modeling to validate the engineering feasibility of their design, extensive machining and manufacturing work for an effective prototype, and testing for validation. Many teams can deliver a successful prototype, however, few work as well together as Team 14 has over these two semesters, motivating each other to do better and be successful, with the end result being a superior team experience and a quality prototype which has significant potential for future success and implementation. Overall, this team has been successful due to their ability to use each individual’s skills to capacity, while exercising impressive team dynamics to meet their common final goal.
Senior Capstone Design Team 6
Advisor Fei Long
Kayla Buczkowski and Ryan Usimaki worked on Senior Capstone Design Team 6, which developed the Next Generation Vehicle Entry/Exit Technology for Jeep. Kayla stands out for her excellent team management, customer communication as well as project planning skills. Team 6 has two student athletes with a lot of travelling throughout the academic year, which makes the team coordination and project planning very challenging. Kayla makes great efforts to keep the project moving forward with the contribution of all team members. Ryan stands out for his excellent technical skills on both electronics and mechanics. Inspired by Ryan’s idea, team 6 decided to design a motion/gesture controlled vehicle door without a door handle, which is very innovative and challenging. Ryan takes the lead in the electronic system design and testing, and complete the prototype with the help of all other team members.
Enterprise Team Formula SAE
Advisor Jim De Clerck
Each one of the 12 graduating Formula SAE members has made significant contributions during their time on the team. Three members have made outstanding contributions:
Jayson Allison demonstrated outstanding skill and determination when he designed and machined the differential carrier and housing. Jayson continued to design and fabricate parts while he was on co-op.
Andrew Aerts outstandingly applied engineering skills from his classes to design, optimize, and fabricate two generations of differential brackets. Andrew’s latest innovative design uses cams to eliminate the need for a separate chain tensioner.
As the Chief Engineer, Conor Berndt has taken a personal responsibility to ensure that the car will be ready for competition in two weeks. Conor has worked tirelessly this year to define target performance requirements and work with team members to develop a car that meets these requirements.