Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering News

2018 Q1 Meeting of the APS LABS Advanced LD Engine Consortium

Published March 29, 2018

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The 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.

TARDEC Contract for Engines and Transmissions Modules

Published March 6, 2018

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Jeremy Worm (MEEM/APSRC) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $23,945 contract from the US Department of Defense, Army, Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC).

Chris Morgan (MEEM) and Darrell Robinette (MEEM) are co-PIs on the project “Delivery of Hands-on Professional Development Modules in Engines & Transmissions.” This is a five-month project.

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

Published February 28, 2018

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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

Chuck Van Karsen Receives the D. J. Demichele Award

Published February 26, 2018

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Charles Van Karsen at the podium receiving the award. — Charles Van Karsen at the podium receiving the award at the SEM IMAC XXXVI Conference, February 12-15, 2018 at Orlando, FL.

Charles D. Van Karsen is a recipient of the D. J. Demichele Award from the Society for Experimental Mechanics. Van Karsen has been a member of the Michigan Tech Department of Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics since August 1987. Prior to this he had a twelve year career as a practicing engineer in the Machine Tool, Automotive, and Software industries. He specializes in Experimental Vibro-Acoustics, NVH, and Structural Dynamics. His research efforts have concentrated on experimental noise and vibration methods related to automotive systems and subsystems, large home appliances, machine tools, and off-highway equipment.

This award, established in 1990 in honor of Dominick J. DeMichele (1916-2000), recognizes an individual who has demonstrated “exemplary service and support of promoting the science and educational aspects of modal analysis technology.” This award is presented annually at the International Modal Analysis Conference.

Andrew Barnard is a Distinguished Teaching Award Finalist for 2018

Published January 30, 2018

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The William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning seeks input for its annual Distinguished Teaching Awards, which recognize outstanding contributions to the instructional mission of the University.

Based on more than 50,000 student rating of instruction responses, 12 finalists have been identified for the 2018 awards. The selection committee is soliciting comments from students, staff, faculty and alumni to aid in its deliberation process.

Among the finalists in the Assistant Professor / Lecturer / Professor of Practice Category is Andrew Barnard.

Comments on the nominees are due by Monday, March 26, and can be completed online. The process for determining the Distinguished Teaching Award recipients from this list of finalists also involves the additional surveying of their spring classes.

The selection committee makes the final determination of the award recipients. The 2018 Distinguished Teaching Awards will be formally announced in May.

For more information, email Nancy Seely or call 7-1896.

Solar Powered Scooter by Alumnus Brett Belan

Published January 16, 2018

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Ashland (Wisconsin) Daily Tidings reported on a solar-powered scooter built by mechanical engineering alumnus Brett Belan.

Sun powers Ashland man’s scooter

It’s a small, standup scooter with a can’t-be-missed 100-watt solar panel bolted to its handle bars. It has a battery but you don’t plug it in. The energy comes directly from the sun and will briefly store in the scooter’s battery.

It’s called the solarolla. Inventor and inveterate tinkerer Brett Cameron Belan put it together in his Ashland shop in a couple weeks, using a drill, chopsaw and a bag of bolts, quickly realizing that it’s unique for one-simple reason: You carry the charging system with you.

Belan, who previously built a large solar panel atop his Volkswagen bus, is a graduate of Michigan Tech, a public research university, where he got his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1997. He went on to work for Ford in Detroit and Jaguar in England.

Brandon Jackson’s Goopy GIF Ferrofluid

Published January 16, 2018

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Ferrofluid on screw — Photo Credit: Sarah Bird

Live Science website published an article and image of ferrofluids research by PhD candidate Brandon Jackson (ME-EM).

Goopy GIF: You Can’t Look Away from This Mesmerizing Experiment

As a series of goopy platforms climb down a bolt in a mesmerizing GIF posted on Reddit, it almost looks as if Mario should hop from one to another.

But this isn’t 1990’s video-game graphics, it’s real life. The GIF shows a demonstration of ferrofluid, a suspension of nanosize magnetic particles in oil. The magnetic particles are small and coated in a surfactant, which is a substance like soap that helps to keep the particles evenly distributed throughout the fluid, even when they’re put next to a strong magnet, said Brandon Jackson, a doctoral candidate in mechanical engineering at Michigan Technological University, who has studied applications for ferrofluids.

NASA Funding to Study Water Production on Mars

Published January 12, 2018

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Jeffrey Allen (MEEM/MuSTI) is the principal investigator on a project that has received $200,000 from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Paul Van Susante (MEEM), Ezequiel Medici (MEEM) and Timothy Eisele (ChE) are Co-PIs on the project, “Low Mass, Low Power, Non-Mechanical Excavation of Gypsum and Other Evaporites and Water Production on Mars.”

This is a two and a half year project.

By Sponsored Programs.

Barr’s Short Story Semi-Finalist in State Contest

Published January 12, 2018

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A short story written by Nancy Barr, director of the Engineering Communications Program in Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, was recently chosen as a semifinalist in the sixth annual Write Michigan Short Story Contest. Her story, titled “Peace,” is about a woman coming to terms with her father’s death and heroic, but unsung, service during the Vietnam War.

Barr’s story is one of ten posted for public voting to determine the Readers’ Choice winner in the Adult category on the Write Michigan website. You can vote online for her story the maximum number of times (once per day). The Readers’ Choice Winner will receive a cash prize of $250.

Her story will be reviewed by a panel of judges to determine the Judges’ Choice Winner and Runner-up. These winners will receive $250 and $100 respectively. The Readers’ Choice and Judges’ Choice short stories, along with two additional semi-finalists’ stories, will be printed in the Write Michigan Anthology.

In addition to teaching two graduate engineering communication courses, Barr is the author of the “Page One” mystery trilogy, published by Arbutus Press and set in the western and central Upper Peninsula.

Eddy Trinklein is an Unsung Hero

Published January 11, 2018

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ME-EM Research Engineer and Instructor Eddy Trinklein was recognized at the 2017 Making a Difference Awards reception on January 10, 2018.

“This past spring our Michigan Tech student-built nanosatellite was at risk of missing a technical milestone set by the Air Force. If this milestone was missed our 7 year long program would have come to an end without a launch into space. Ed dropped everything he was working on, rolled up his sleeves, and inserted himself into my laboratory where he discovered complicated errors in our serial communication architecture—which he quickly fixed. The satellite shipped to the Air Force in June and, as a result of Ed’s work, will launch into orbit in April, 2018.”

A total of 47 Michigan Tech staff members were nominated for 2017 Making a Difference Awards. Trinklein received an award in the “Unsung Hero” category. The awards are organized by Michigan Tech Staff Council.

Congratulations to Eddy!