Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering News

Category: Students

TECAID Video Submission to 2018 NSF Showcase

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TECAID Diversity Equity Inclusion tree graphicMichigan Tech through the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics is one of five universities selected to participate in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Diversity Training Program. The NSF program is called Transforming Engineering Culture to Advance Inclusion and Diversity (TECAID).

TECAID participants share their funded work as part of an online STEM for All Video Showcase. Short videos address access to high quality STEM experiences, innovative practices, partnerships, and research. TECAID’s program goal is to diversify mechanical engineering education, making it more inclusive of women and under-represented minorities.

Last year the program participants submitted “Transforming Engineering Culture to Advance Inclusion and Diversity (TECAID) Project Overview,” winning the Facilitator’s Choice Award for the 2017 NSF STEM for All Showcase: Research and Design for Impact.

WATCH THE 2017 VIDEO

For the 2018 NSF STEM for All Showcase: Transforming the Educational Landscape, the TECAID participants have submitted the follow-up video.

WATCH THE 2018 VIDEO

The 2018 showcase will take place May 14-21. Presentations are from projects that address STEM and CS learning and receive federal funding from NSF and other federal agencies.

Event visitors are encouraged to watch videos, post questions, and provide feedback to presenters during the week of May 14 – 21. Videos can be recognized as Facilitators’ Choice, Presenters’ Choice, and Public Choice. Visitors are encouraged to vote for their favorite videos to determine those recognized as Public Choice. It’s free to watch, discuss, and vote for videos.

PARTICIPATE

Related:

Free Webinar for Engineering Department Chairs, Faculty, and Change Leaders

Michigan Tech 1 of 5 Universities Chosen to Help Improve Diversity in Mechanical Engineering Education

A Conversation with Professor Greg Odegard on Diversity, Michigan Tech, and TECAID

Project-Based Learning Leading Diversity, ME-EM 2015-16 Annual Report

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ME-EM Senior Recognition Banquet December 12, 2017

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Banquet and Program

The ME-EM Senior Recognition Banquet and Order of the Engineer Program was held on December 12, 2017.

VIEW THE PHOTO GALLERY

Keynote Speaker

Denise Rizzo
Keynote Speaker Dr. Denise Rizzo

Dr. Denise M. Rizzo

The speaker was Dr. Denise M. Rizzo, Senior Research Mechanical Engineer, Powertrain Modeling & Simulation Team at US Army Tank Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center (TARDEC).  Rizzo is a 2014 alumna with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics.

WATCH THE KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Fall 2017 Outstanding Student Awards

Colette Boileau
William Endres and Colette Boileau

Colette Boileau

Colette Boileau has taken Formula SAE Business and Marketing to the next level. She has been diligent about processing orders and budget tracking. Colette was a key driver to improve the team’s approach to Cost and Business Presentations events at the annual competition. Because of her leadership, Michigan Tech FSAE has connected with sponsors, alumni, and fans through social media. Colette’s team published weekly Facebook posts featuring team member profiles; created promotional videos; and sent newsletters to team sponsors.

Brett Michaud
William Endres and Brett Michaud

Brett Michaud

Brett Michaud has been a Formula SAE member during the entire time he has been at Michigan Tech. Brett was almost always at the Formula shop where he worked on the cars, helped other members develop skills, and occasionally did some homework. Brett was the FSAE Chief Engineer last year and he led the team through a successful competition. Brett’s dedication and “can-do” attitude serve as a model for other team members.

Erica Jacobson
William Endres and Erica Jacobson

Erica Jacobson

Erica Jacobson SCD 58 – Ask any successful engineer what one quality is most important in an engineer and they will respond, “Persistence”. The ability to stay engaged when project difficulties arise and thoughtfully work through those difficulties until a solution is achieved will make you successful. Erica Jacobson exhibited that quality as she led SCD Team 58 in the design of An Inertia Measurement Device. Erica’s persistence helped Team 58 overcome many design challenges and setbacks. As a result they were able to deliver an excellent product to their sponsor.

Aaron Mead

Aaron Mead (Senior Design Team 65) has shown mature perseverance when faced with a project of scale larger than what is dealt with in the classroom. Besides having keen technical acuity, he has a precocious understanding of the broader impact of a design decision on their team’s project.  Buoyed by his proactive team members, he emerges as a strongly motivated individual with the ability to apply himself to key technical aspects of the project for their customer. He works well with members of his team and this has produced several moments of positive synergy in their design process.

Logan Sheffield
William Endres and Logan Sheffield

Logan Sheffield

Logan Sheffield (Senior Design Team 57) has been nominated for the outstanding student award because of his team leadership and perseverance. Logan has been an exceptional leader for team 57, making sure the team was on top of all tasks and keeping to the schedule. He also stepped up to make sure things were completed on time. He put in the extra effort to complete the controls and electrical in order to finish the project. He also was determined to design the best product he could and put the extra time and effort in designing additional features to improve the final product.

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2018 Q1 Meeting of the APS LABS Advanced LD Engine Consortium

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APS LABS logoThe 2018 1st Quarter meeting of the APS LABS Advanced Light Duty Engine Consortium was held last week at the BorgWarner Technical Center in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Ten Michigan Tech faculty, staff and students were in attendance. The consortium, led by APS LABS, and now in its second year, is focused on continuing to advance the state of the art in light duty combustion engines, increasing efficiency, performance and reducing emissions. Consortium members include GM, FCA, Ford and this years host, BorgWarner.

Related:

Tech Students, Research Expertise Impress Automakers

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2017 Best Paper Award of ASCE Journal of Aerospace Engineering Goes to Michigan Tech Collaborators

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Fernando Ponta
Fernando Ponta

Xiao Sun (CEE, research assistant), Qingli Dai (CEE), Muraleekrishnan Menon (MEEM, research assistant) and Fernando Ponta (MEEM) co-authored “Design and Simulation of Active External Trailing-edge Flaps for Wind Turbine Blades on Load Reduction.”

The paper received the 2017 Journal of Aerospace Engineering Best Paper Award. An award banquet will take place at the 2018 Earth and Space Conference on April 9-12 in Cleveland.

https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)AS.1943-5525.0000771

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Michigan Tech Mobile Lab Visits TARDEC

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Mobile LabThe Michigan Tech Mobile Lab was on the road in November 2017, stopping in Warren, Michigan at TARDEC (The US Army Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center). While at TARDEC, a professional development short course was given in Hybrid Electric Vehicles.

Students enrolled in the course were full time engineers specializing in vehicle sustainability. They enrolled for this course specifically to help better equip themselves for future effort in electrified applications of vehicles and mobile equipment for the military.

The course itself included lecture materials on the concepts behind the design of hybrid electric vehicles, as well as hands-on interactive activities that allowed students to operate a fully functional powertrain test cell and evaluate a variety of production-intent HEV’s.

Instructors for the course included Lucia Gauchia, Wayne Weaver, Jeremy Worm, and Chris Morgan. Additional support provided by Darrell Robinette, Alex Normand, Tucker Alsup, Tina Sarazin and Nicholas Monette.

For more information about the Michigan Tech Mobile Lab, contact APS Labs or cjmorgan@mtu.edu.

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Engineering Ambassadors Plan Dozens of Local Area Visits for Fall 2017

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Engineering Ambassadors KidsThe Michigan Tech Engineering Ambassadors (EA) Program is planning 24 visits to local area schools this semester. The program is designed to change the conversation about engineering, starting with creating excitement for engineering disciplines through outreach activities designed for grades 4-9.

Outreach topics for October and November vary from buoyancy and energy in bouncy balls to structures and chemistry in engineering.

Right now there are 21 ambassadors in EA at Michigan Tech, including 10 veteran ambassadors. The program is open to all of Michigan Tech’s engineering majors, who can join at the start of fall or spring semester. The outreach experience is considered to be professional development for University students, allowing practice with brief presentations and hands on activities with kids.

EA is part of a larger network of universities united under one goal: changing the way people talk about engineering.

Learn more about Engineering Ambassadors at Michigan Tech! Contact the program director Jaclyn Johnson if you are interested in participating.

Engineering Ambassadors Presentation

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Challenges at the Frontiers of Mobility Seminar

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K. Venkatesh Prasad
K. Venkatesh Prasad

Join us in welcoming Venkatesh Prasad of Ford, who will present on challenges faced at the frontier of mobility and opportunities for education, research, collaboration and career pathways.

The seminar is being held from 3 to 4 p.m. Monday, October 2, 2017, in MUB Ballroom A2.

The title of the presentation is Challenges at the Frontiers of Mobility and Opportunities for Education, Research, Collaboration and Career Pathways.

OpenXC Platform Tutorial Presentation

Join Venkatesh Prasad and Eric Marsman from Ford for a tutorial presentation on the OpenXC Platform from 10 a.m. to noon Monday (Oct. 2) in EERC 501. Bring a laptop.

Ford Motor Company will give a two-hour workshop on the OpenXC capabilities and a tutorial on building an Android application. It will include information on GitHub, Android, iOS, Python and vehicle CAN bus basics. Come see how you can use vehicle data in your class or research projects in order to contribute to the next wave of vehicle technologies.

 

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Women in Automotive Engineering at Michigan Tech

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Women in Automotive EngineeringMichigan Tech’s Automotive Engineering camp for high school girls strives to address concerns about gender gap in the automotive workforce.

The immersive, week-long program aims to inculcate a strong interest in automotive engineering among pre-college teens to kick-start their dream job in the automotive industry and also help gain a competitive edge for college.

Although the camp is meant only for juniors and seniors, some super motivated 9th graders typically make it to the class each summer.

More than 85% camp goers said they would be interested in an automotive engineering career, according to a post-program survey this summer. That compares to 40% who said they would be interested in such a career before the start of the program. A whopping 95% said they would be interested in pursuing a science career once they completed the camp.

Read more at IndustryWeek, by Gargi Chakrabarty.

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Smithsonian on Michigan Tech’s NASA Space Research Institute

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Air and Space August 2017Smithsonian’s Air & Space Magazine published a feature article about Michigan Tech’s new NASA Space Research Institute, headed by Greg Odegard (ME-EM). The institute will work on using carbon nanotubes to create a composite that is lighter and stronger than any material used in load-bearing structures today.

Strong Stuff

These students are designing materials tough enough to land on another planet.

The project, called the Institute for Ultra-Strong Composites by Computational Design (US-COMP), is led by Michigan Technological University professor Greg Odegard, who assembled the 11-university team of experts in computational mechanics and materials science. The problem NASA has set for them to solve: Use carbon nanotubes to create a composite that is lighter and stronger than any material used in load-bearing structures today. Odegard says high-powered computers at his university and others are the key to success.

Will Pisani is in his first year of work toward his Ph.D. at Michigan Tech, and he’s already started some of the computational modeling the institute will use.

Using molecular dynamics, Matt Radue, who is just about to receive his Ph.D. from Michigan Tech, has created models to simulate the formation or breakage of chemical bonds between atoms; he calculates, by programming Newton’s laws of motion into the models, the velocities and accelerations of the atoms under different conditions, such as changes in temperature.

Julie Tomasi loves it when the materials in the lab behave the way the computer models predict. Tomasi, also pursuing a Ph.D. at Michigan Tech, has tested the mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of epoxy with various embedded fillers, such as graphene (a carbon particle lattice).

Read more at Smithsonian Air & Space, by Linda Shiner.

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