Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering News

The Department of Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics Graduate Seminar; Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Room 112, ME-EM Bldg. Evandro Ficanha, Michigan Technological University

Title: Ankle impedance and ankle angles during step turn and straight walk: implications for the design of a steerable ankle-foot prosthetic robot

During locomotion, turning is a common and recurring event which is largely neglected in the current state-of-the-art ankle-foot prostheses, forcing amputees to use different steering mechanisms for turning, compared to non-amputees. A better understanding of the complexities surrounding lower limb prostheses will lead to increased health and well-being of amputees. The aim of this research is to develop a steerable ankle-foot prosthesis that mimics the human ankle mechanical properties. I will present the results of a series of experiments that were conducted to estimate the mechanical impedance of the human ankle when muscles were fully relaxed and co – contracting antagonistically. Also, the results of experiments on ankle rotations during different gait scenarios will be discussed to provide evidence that a multi -axis prosthesis may be needed to improve the mobility in amputees . The results of the aforementioned experiments were used for developing the control strategy of the ankle -foot prosthesis. A prototype ankle-foot prosthesis capable of controlling both dorsi/plantarflexion and inversion/eversion using a cable driven mechanism was developed and assessed as part of a feasibility study. The design is capable of reproducing the angles required for straight walk and step turn; generates 712N of lifting force in plantarflexion, and shows passive stiffness comparable to a non-load bearing human ankle impedance. To evaluate the performance of the ankle-foot prosthesis, a circular treadmill was developed to mimic human gait during steering. Preliminary results show that the device can appropriately simulate human gait with loading and unloading the ankle joint during the gait in circular paths.

In 2011 Evandro Ficanha completed his undergraduate degree as a mechanical engineer with a minor in Math at Michigan Tech. During his undergrad studies he worked at the Math Learning Center and did undergraduate research with different professors at the Mechanical Engineering Department. In his senior design project he helped to develop a hybrid electric bicycle to be used as an educational platform for teaching the technology concept in hybrid vehicles. Evandro received the “Outstanding Student Awards” for his senior design work. His current graduate research is focused on the development of powered ankle foot prosthetic robots capable of mimicking the mechanical properties of the human ankle. Also, he is a teaching assistant for Robotics and Mechatronics lab since 2012, where he has been continuously involved in reinvigorating the laboratory experiments and syllabus. In 2012, He received the “Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award” for his teachings efforts in the Robotics and Mechatronics lab.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics Graduate Seminar; Thursday, Nov. 14, 2013 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Room 112, ME-EM Bldg

Title: Space Engineering for the Department of Defense

“Space Engineering for the DoD: Designing and operating spacecraft for the Department of Defense is a different experience entirely than what is found in the more understood civil and commercial spacecraft engineering communities. Historical inertia, organizational bureaucracies, protection concerns, and stringent manufacturing standards all combine to complicate the acquisition of space systems for national security. This talk will present a brief history of DoD space, identify the mission classes DoD is tasked to provide for national security, and address loss of capabilities (as well as efforts to recapture) as a result of various acquisition reforms in the 90’s. The talk will conclude with an outlook for the way forward in DoD space as well as some recommendations for how US academia can interact with DoD to overcome some of these hurdles.”

Dr. Brandon “B.T.” Cesul is the Lead, Technical Assessments, Space Threat Assessment Cell assigned to the Office of Director of National Intelligence, as well as a Principal Intelligence Analyst in the Counterspace Analysis Squadron, National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC), Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. NASIC is the Air Force and Defense Department Center of Excellence for all-source air and space intelligence, and supports Air Force and joint operational, acquisition and policymaking customers at the national level. Dr. Cesul is currently responsible for supervising the production of national level threat baselines used by DoD and DNI space acquisition customers as well as overseeing the production of intelligence analysis products on foreign counterspace weapon systems. Dr. Cesul began his career as a Satellite Systems Engineer at NASIC in 2002 specializing in foreign intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) satellites, as well as supervising a research effort in estimating worldwide development of small satellite technologies. He served as Team Lead for Orbital ASAT analysis from 2007-2013. Dr Cesul has been a contributing author on three National Intelligence Estimates, and author of multiple studies and briefings. In addition to being a winner of the WPAFB Civilian of the Year-Category II, a 2-time winner of the NASIC Civilian of the Year, and a Commanders Award for Merit winner, and the Squadron Civilian of the Year Cat II and Cat III. Dr. Cesul was selected in the initial class of AFISRA’s Sensor Spotlight awardees. He received his Bachelor’s (with honors) and Master’s degree from the University of Michigan. While in Ann Arbor he was elected into Sigma Gamma Tau & Tau Beta Pi engineering honor societies, was a project manager for the ICARUS student satellite team, and a student director of the Student Space Systems Fabrication Laboratory (S3FL). He received his Ph.D. from the Air Force Institute of Technology.

Department of Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics Graduate Seminar; Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013; 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Room 112, ME-EM Bldg.
Professor Fumin Zhang, Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology
Title: Control and Sensing Co-Design for Maritime Robotic Sensor Networks

The Ocean is playing an ever more important role for the future of mankind. Larger variety of marine robots have been developed and commercialized during the last two decades. These robots may serve as networked mobile sensing platforms that are able to collect data in the maritime environment in unprecedented ways, which post higher goals for autonomy never achieved before. This talk introduces our recent contributions on a multidisciplinary investigation of autonomous collective foraging in a complex environment that explicitly integrates insights from biology with models and provable strategies from control theory. The methods are rigorously developed and tightly integrated with experimental effort.

Dr. Fumin Zhang is Associate Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer
Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He received a PhD degree in 2004 from the University of Maryland (College Park) in Electrical Engineering, and
held a postdoctoral position in Princeton University from 2004 to 2007. His research
interests include mobile sensor networks, maritime robotics, control systems, and theoretical foundations for cyber-physical systems. He received the NSF CAREER Award in September 2009, the Lockheed Inspirational Young Faculty Award in March 2010, the ONR Young Investigator Program Award in April 2010, and the GT Roger P. Webb Outstanding Junior Faculty Award in April 2011. He is currently serving as the co-chair for the IEEE RAS Technical Committee on Marine Robotics, and the chair for the IEEE CSS Technical Committee on Robotic Control and Manufacturing Automation.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics Graduate Seminar; Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Room 112, ME-EM Bldg.;
Professor Cornel Sultan, Aerospace and Ocean Engineering Department, Virginia Tech

Title: Guaranteeing Accurate Decoupled Approximations Via Structural Design

Coordinate coupling raises serious modeling, numerical, analysis, control
design problems that grow with the size of the system. Decoupled dynamic equations
facilitate all of the above processes since each equation can be treated independently.
Unfortunately, due to the inherent heterogeneity typical of most practical, complex
systems, these are not naturally decoupled so developing sufficiently accurate
decoupled approximations is of major interest.
In this talk the issue of building such accurate decoupled approximations is
addressed by leveraging concepts from control theory. Specifically, system gains (e.g.
energy gain, peak to peak gain) are used to characterize the approximation error. Then
some system parameters are selected to minimize this approximation error. The
advantage of using system gains is that the decoupling approximation is guaranteed to
be accurate over an entire class of signals (e.g. finite energy/finite peak signals).
These ideas are illustrated on tensegrity structures which are designed to yield
accurate decoupled linear models with respect to all signals of finite energy and finite
peak. Further analysis corrects several misconceptions regarding decoupling, system
properties, and control design.

Cornel Sultan holds M.S. in Mathematics, Ph.D. in
Aerospace Engr. from Purdue University (1999) and
has been affiliated, among others, with Harvard
Medical School and United Technologies Research
Center. Currently he is an Assistant Prof. in the
Aerospace and Ocean Engineering Department at
Virginia Tech where his principal research activities
are in tensegrity, membranes, rotorcraft, energy
harvesting, and coordinated control. He received a
NSF CAREER Award in 2010.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics Graduate Seminar: Professor Joshua Otaigbe, PhD, CEng, CSci, FIMMM School of Polymers and High Performance Materials University of Southern Mississippi; Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Ro om 112, ME-EM Bldg.

Title: New inorganic glass/organic polymer hybrid materials with improved properties— Current status and future prospects

The physical modification of polymer structure and properties via polymer blending and reinforcement is a common practice in the plastics industry and has a large economic advantage over synthesizing new polymeric materials to fulfill new material needs. In this context, a new class of inorganic glass/organic polymer hybrids with enhanced benefits has been developed by blending low-Tg phosphate glasses with polymeric materials in the liquid state, to afford new hybrid materials with significant improvements in properties that are impossible to achieve from classical polymer blends and composites. Because of their facile synthesis and desirable characteristics, these phosphate glass/polymer hybrid materials may be model systems for exploring feasibility of new routes for driving inorganic glasses and organic polymers to self- assemble into useful materials. Conceptually, it may even be possible to use block copolymers, with one block being miscible with Pglass, to perform self-directed assembly of nanostructured hybrids, where the Pglass is confined solely to one phase. In this talk, I will review some new insights into the structural dynamics, melt rheology & processing, molecular relaxation processes, and phase behavior of a few representative examples of these unique hybrid materials with prescribed rheological properties, macromolecular structure and function. The unanswered questions will be discussed to guide future research directions, and facilitate progress in this emerging area.

Joshua Otaigbe earned his PhD from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, UK, thus starting a circuitous career that spanned three continents. He has been involved in most areas of chemical engineering and advanced materials science including research in the areas of polymer engineering and materials science. His research blends chemical engineering sciences with materials structure and property principles to better understand and improve processes for advanced polymeric materials. Joshua worked as a Project Leader for Corning Incorporated in New York in the Corporate Research, Development and Engineering Division. He also held academic positions at the University of Alberta, Canada, and the University of Benin, in Nigeria. At Iowa State University he became a tenured Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and of Materials Science & Engineering, and Leader of Polymers and Composite Research Group. He influenced the design of the materials engineering curriculum at Iowa State to include a polymer engineering option. In 2002, he joined his current position with The University of Southern Mississippi as a Professor of Polymer Engineering and Science where he is active in promoting the teaching of materials science and engineering as the study of all aspects the of materials as a whole rather than separating their chemical, physical, and engineering aspects. Joshua holds seven patents and has published more than 110 refereed scientific journal papers. Joshua is the founder of Flaney Associates LLC, a company that provides technical consulting to polymer, chemical and advanced materials companies on the engineering of manufacturing processes and products including providing materials/chemicals expert witness for attorneys and insurance professionals for cases on materials engineering, chemical processes/products, and for issues related to industrial and consumer materials science and engineering. Joshua has been awarded invited visiting professorships in the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH-Zurich), the French Engineering Universities, Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA) in Lyon, and in the Université Jean Monnet in Saint-Etienne. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining and Fellow of Society of Plastics Engineers. A recipient of the U.S. National Science Foundation CAREER Award and the Best Paper-Polyolefins Award from the Thermoplastic Materials and Foams Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers. He was an honored member in Who’s Who of American Inventors (1998-1999 edition). In the last few years, Joshua is the Principal Investigator of a number of research grants and contracts from National Science Foundation and industry including Chemtura Corporation, a leading global manufacturer of flame retardant additives for plastics. Most recently, Joshua was awarded the Fulbright-Tocqueville Distinguished Chair in France for 2013-2014, an appointment reserved for eminent scholars with substantial experience and publications in their respective fields. Funding for the ME-EM Graduate Seminar Series is provided by the Department of Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics

The Department of Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics Graduate Seminar: Professor Chang-Hwan Choi Stevens Institute of Technology, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Room 112, ME-EM Bldg.

Title: Bioinspired Nanoengineering of Multifunctional Surfaces

Nature such as plants, insects, and marine animals uses three-dimensional (3D) micro/nano-textured surfaces with tailored surface wettability and mechanical pliability in their components (e.g., leaves, wings, eyes, legs, and skins) for multifunctional purposes such as self-cleaning, low-friction, antifouling, anti-icing, and anti-reflection. As scientific quests and engineering applications reach down to such a nanometer scale inspired by the nature, there is a strong need to fabricate 3D nanostructures with good regularity and controllability of their pattern, size, and shape. In many applications, furthermore, the nanostructures are not useful unless they cover a relatively large area and the manufacturing cost is within an acceptable range. The first part of this presentation will introduce effective 3D nano-patterning and fabrication techniques to create well-regulated nanostructures over a relatively large substrate area of various types of substrate materials. Such large-area 3D nanostructures with tailored structural dimensions and geometries can open new application possibilities in many areas. The rest of the talk will present a few examples of novel applications using the 3D nanostructures, including hydrodynamic drag reduction, anti-biofouling, anti-icing, and anti-corrosion.

Future potential applications of the 3D nanostructures to the other areas will also be discussed briefly, including self-assembly of nanomaterials and nanofluidic energy harvesting.

Dr. Chang-Hwan Choi is currently working as an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology. He acquired his BS (1995) and MS (1997) in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering from Seoul National University in Korea. He also earned his MS in Fluids, Thermal, and Chemical Processes from Brown University in 2002. Dr. Choi received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2006, specializing in MEMS/Nanotechnology and minoring in Fluid Mechanics and Biomedical Engineering. He has two-year (1996, 2000) work experience at Korea Aerospace Research Institute and three-year (1997-1999) teaching experience at Chandrakasem Rajabhat University in Thailand. His current research activities include large-area nanopatterning and 3D nanofabrication, fluid physics and heat transfer at nanoscale interfaces, microfluidic self-assembly of nanomaterials, nanofluidic energy harvesting, and cell-material interactions, funded by various federal agencies in US (NSF, DARPA, ONR, ARMY, and DOE) and industries. He has recently been named as a recipient of the 2010 Young Investigator Program (YIP) award by the US Office of Naval Research (ONR) for his efforts in the development of 3D nanostructures for hydrodynamically efficient anti-corrosion surfaces and highlighted in Nature (http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2010/100520/pdf/nj7296-385a.pdf).