Darrell L. Robinette Honored by SAE International with Forest R. McFarland Award

Darrell Robinette
Darrell Robinette

A Michigan Tech assistant professor in Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics is among those being honored with awards from SAE Engineering.

Houghton resident Dr. Darrell Robinette was one of 26 mobility engineering professionals to win the 2019 Forest R. McFarland Award.

Honorees are recognized for their outstanding, sustained contributions to support SAE Engineering Events.

Robinette is currently an assistant professor in the Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics at Michigan Technological University, a position held since August of 2016.

Read more at the Keweenaw Report.

Exploratory Research Funding for Susanta Ghosh

Susanta Ghosh
Susanta Ghosh

Susanta Ghosh (MEEM/MuSTI) is Principal Investigator on a project that has received a $170,604 research and development grant from the National Science Foundation. The project is titled “EAGER: An Atomistic-Continuum Formulation for the Mechanics of Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides.” This is a potential 19-month project.

By Sponsored Programs.

Extract

Two-dimensional materials are made of chemical elements or compounds of elements while maintaining a single atomic layer crystalline structure. Two-dimensional materials, especially Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDs), have shown tremendous promise to be transformed into advanced material systems and devices, e.g., field-effect transistors, solar cells, photodetectors, fuel cells, sensors, and transparent flexible displays.

To achieve broader use of TMDs across cutting-edge applications, complex deformations for large-area TMDs must be better understood. Large-area TMDs can be simulated and analyzed through predictive modeling, a capability that is currently lacking.

This EArly-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) award supports fundamental research that overcomes current challenges in large-scale atomistic modeling to obtain an efficient but reliable continuum model for single-layer TMDs containing billions of atoms.

Read more at the National Science Foundation.

Orbion Awarded NASA Contract

Orbion Space TechnologyOrbion Space Technology, a company that develops plasma thrusters for satellites, announced a contract award from NASA‘s Science Mission Directorate. Under the contract, Orbion will develop advanced propulsion system components that will help spacecraft to rendezvous with, orbit, and conduct in-situ exploration of planets, moons, and other small bodies in the solar system. The NASA contract will focus on increasing the reliability of spacecraft thrusters while decreasing the cost to produce and fly them on space missions.

“More than 10,000 small satellites will be launched into space in the next 5-7 years. While the US has been a space-faring nation for 70 years, we are just now learning how to build spacecraft and their components on assembly lines like automobiles instead of like fragile science-fair experiments,” says Lyon B. King, Orbion’s CEO, “Orbion specializes in mass-manufacturing spacecraft hardware, and we are honored that NASA has selected Orbion to develop critical technology for solar system exploration.”

The award is administered by the NASA Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program. In the first phase of the project, Orbion will utilize new 3D printing technology to create extremely high-temperature heating elements that can reduce the complexity and cost of critical spacecraft thruster components. The components will be tested in space-simulation chambers on the ground to prove their performance and reliability. In a follow-on, second phase of the contract, Orbion anticipates integrating the new heaters with their commercial plasma propulsion system for demonstration in space.

To learn more about Orbion, visit their website.

By MTEC SmartZone.

Paul van Susante Presents on Space Topics

Paul van Susante on Google Hangout with presenter
2019 Space Resources Roundtable Reception. Live from Golden, Colorado!

Paul van Susante (MEEM) presented during the Moon Development & Exploration track at the International Space Development Conference in Arlington, VA on June 8, 2019, about “Lunar ISRU and Design and Sizing of Regolith Excavation & Handling Hardware.” He participated/organized a workshop/panel session on “ASCE Resources and Standards workshop.”

He also participated in the Space Resources Roundtable in Golden, CO from June 10 to 15 and chaired Technical Session 4 on Space Manufacturing and Processing Technologies, presented a paper during the “Mars Resources” track on ” Poly-Hydrated Sulfate Mining and Water Extraction on Mars: Experimental Results and System Requirements.”

As the secretary of the AIAA Space Resources Technical Committee, he helped organize the technical committee meeting, organized a roundtable discussion on landing pad necessity and construction and helped host a Google Hangout Session of the AIAA Space Resources TC during the reception. Watch the hangout channel on YouTube.

ACM and Michigan Tech Showcase New AV Technologies

Michigan Tech Mobile Lab

Experts from Michigan Tech showcased some of the newest AV technologies—from connected car communications to infrastructure—and how they impact and improve fuel economy. The event—Connected and Automated Vehicles and Modern Methods for Light-Duty Automotive Energy Savings—took place at one of the state’s premier testing grounds, the American Center for Mobility (ACM), on May 7 and May 9, 2019.

The event addressed key trends and challenges by showcasing how these technologies can improve fleet fuel efficiency. Researchers from the University shared background knowledge on the technologies. There were also tours of the Michigan Tech Mobile Lab and the Advanced Power Systems Laboratories (APS LABS).

As part of ACM’s Academic Consortium, a partnership between ACM and 15 Michigan colleges and universities to collaborate on talent training, this event ties industry to education to further discussion on talent retention and training in addition to addressing energy savings within autonomous and connected vehicles.

Michigan Tech Mobile Lab Headed To ACM In Ypsilanti, MI, May 7th And 9th

After being connected by the team at PlanetM, with MEDC, Jeffrey Mosher speaks to a pair from Houghton, MI, Christopher Morgan, and Jim Desrochers who are set to hit the road next month for a special open house.

Read the article and listen to the SoundCloud Podcast at Michigan Business Beat, hosted by Chris Holman.

Gregory Odegard Elected ASME Fellow

Greg Odegard
Greg Odegard

Gregory M. Odegard has been elected a Fellow of ASME. This is a recognition of Dr. Odegard’s significant impact and outstanding contributions in the field of composite materials research through the pioneering of computational modeling techniques to predict the influence of molecular structure on bulk-level properties of composite materials. The Fellow grade is truly a distinction among ASME members.

Odegard is the Richard and Elizabeth Henes Professor of Computational Mechanics, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics.

Cam Hadden is the 2019 ME Teacher of the Year

Cameron Hadden
Cameron Hadden

At the Senior Recognition Banquet and Order of the Engineer Ceremony on Tuesday, April 23, 2019, the ME Student Advisory Committee (MESAC) chair and co-chair announced the Mechanical Engineering Teacher of the Year finalists and winner. The selection is made by mechanical engineering students second year through senior year and run by the MESAC.

The three finalists were Cam Hadden, Aneet Narendranath and Paul Van Susante and the overall winner was Cam Hadden. His name will be on the plaque in the lobby of the R.L. Smith Building (MEEM).

By Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics.

Enterprise Teams Take Vehicles to School

Formula SAEMembers of Michigan Tech’s Enterprise competition teams in Formula I, Supermileage, Baja and Clean Snowmobile will visit with eighth-grade students at Houghton Middle School on April 26, 2019.

The eighth graders have been engaged in four-week long STEM projects led by Michigan Tech students and their instructors. These projects have immersed the middle school students in the engineering and testing of fuel cell automobiles. The project incorporates many science standards and practices. Today’s visit by the Enterprise teams, along with their vehicles, is the culmination of these projects.

The vehicles will be on display outside the Houghton Middle School from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. In addition, there will be demonstrations.

By Sarah Geborkoff.

Tech Enterprise students teach hands-on engineering to middle school students

Friday, the Tech students brought vehicles from the Clean Snowmobile Challenge, Baja and Formula Enterprise teams to explain the competitions to students.

Eighth-grader Katy Fay said the Tech students had been helpful in the projects, and in teaching the components of cars and fuel cells.

“I had no idea what it was,” Fay said of the fuel cell. “It looked just like a box. Now I know what it is, and how it actually can power things.”

Fay, who is considering becoming an engineer, said after some tinkering, her team had gotten its vehicle to travel far.

“It started pretty rocky, but we got it together,” she said.

Tech mechanical engineering student Patrick Gilland, who oversaw the outreach, said students performed well.

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Garrett Neese.

Aerospace Enterprise Prepares for Launch of Satellite

OculusThe students in the Aerospace Enterprise and their faculty advisor, L. Brad King (ME-EM), are preparing to launch their Oculus satellite, which was designed and built by students.

Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics Department Chair William Predebon said, “This is an exciting time for our students, and Michigan Tech. The students worked on it for several years to get it ready for launch. Current students in the Aerospace Enterprise will be receiving data from outer space from Oculus during its mission in lower Earth orbit. Oculus will be in space for about 9 months and the launch is set for June (2019).”

According to SpaceX, Oculus will be the first small satellite ever deployed from the Falcon Heavy. The launch information is available on SpaceX’s website. If you scroll down to “The Mission” you will see a title bar below it with Oculus listed.

By Aerospace Enterprise.