Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering News

Tag: research

Jung Yun Bae, collaborators develop smart agriculture for small farms

Published
By

Jung Yun Bae leads a team of investigators funded by a $423,300 Farm Innovation Grant from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD). The grants are designed to develop and support innovative solutions to real, immediate, and future farm challenges facing Michigan’s food and agricultural industry. Bae and team members are working on the project with The Lucky Clover Farm in Gaylord, MI.

Dr. Jung Yun Bae.

The two-year project, titled “Improving Climate Resiliency and Economic Return of Michigan’s Labor-Intensive Produce Using Low-Cost, Modular Robotic Fleets”, seeks to develop an automated floriculture harvesting system to support small farms. As stated in the team’s proposal, “The project aims to develop a robotic platform by integrating advanced technologies, including mechanical design, artificial intelligence, modern control algorithms, and autonomous navigation, to address the labor shortage and offer cost-effective solutions to farmers.”

Continue Reading →

Tania Demonte Gonzalez receives Best Presentation Award at INORE’s 2023 European Symposium

Published
By
Photo of Tania Demonte Gonzalez, who conducts research on wave energy converter nonlinear control.

Tania Demonte Gonzalez (PhD candidate, ME-EM) conducts research on wave energy converter nonlinear control and is part of the graduate student team using MTU Wave, the campus-based wave tank. She was awarded Michigan Tech’s Topping Teaching Fellowship in the Fall of 2022 and is a remote intern at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado.

Tania recently attended the International Network on Offshore Renewable Energy’s (INORE) 2023 European Symposium, a five-day meeting for researchers specializing in offshore renewable energy. The symposium provides many opportunities for early-stage researchers to come together, learn from one another, and establish new relationships that can greatly benefit their research and career journeys.


As part of the attendee research presentations, Tania gave a talk on “Time-Varying Hydrodynamic Modeling of a Variable Geometry Oscillating Surge Wave Energy Converter” and received one of two Best Presentation Awards. The presentation was a collaboration with NREL’s Dr. Nathan Tom and discussed the methods used to find a time-varying model for variable geometry surge wave energy converters. More details will be available in an upcoming publication.

Congratulations on this achievement, Tania.

Continue Reading →

Hassan Masoud Wins NSF CAREER Award

Published
By
Hassan Masoud is principal investigator of CFAM, the Complex Fluids and Active Matter Lab.

Hassan Masoud, assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics at Michigan Technological University, has won a $520,255 National Science Foundation CAREER Award, “Collective Hydrodynamics of Robotic Swimmers and Surfers at High Reynolds Numbers.”

Dr. Masoud will use his award to examine the hydrodynamics of aquatic robots locomoting in orderly ensembles and identify the collective behaviors that emerge from their flow-mediated interactions.

Dr. Masoud earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and conducted postdoctoral research under the joint supervision of Howard Stone in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University and Michael Shelley at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at NYU. He joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics at Michigan Tech as an assistant professor in 2017.

CAREER awards, administered under the Faculty Early Career Development Program, are the NSF’s most prestigious form of support and recognition for junior faculty who “exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.”

We congratulate Assistant Professor Hassan Masoud on his outstanding accomplishment!

Abstract: Robotic swarms have attracted much attention in recent years due to their vast potential applications. In particular, there has been a growing interest in aquatic robots, either swimming underwater or surfing at the air-water interface. By using large numbers of individuals working in tandem through local communication, a swarm of underwater swimmers or interfacial surfers can augment their collective intelligence while maintaining relatively simplistic designs. Harnessing this unique, joint ability leads to achieving superior functionalities, which makes aquatic robots very appealing for a myriad of practical applications, including surveillance, monitoring of invasive species, tracking weather and sea conditions, pollution management, etc. This project aims to obtain an in-depth understanding of many-body hydrodynamic interactions in the collective motion of robotic swimmers and surfers at high Reynolds numbers. The design of robots chosen for the studies is motivated by species in nature that have mastered their respective terrains. The swimmers mimic the general form of a fish, with the tail flapping providing the thrust, while the surfers take inspiration from water-walking insects. The investigations will be conducted using a synergistic application of high-fidelity numerical simulations and laboratory experiments. Validated simulations allow for exploring an extensive range of flow regimes and combinations of relative positions between the robots. Coupled with reinforcement learning algorithms, they also enable searching for optimal strategies for collective locomotion. The unsteady flows generated by the motion of robots in the experiments will be captured via time-resolved, volumetric particle tracking velocimetry. The fundamental knowledge gained during this project is expected to directly contribute to the design and implementation of future aquatic robots capable of functioning alongside each other with a high degree of coordination, similar to the behaviors exhibited by fish in schools and birds in flocks. The planned research studies in this project are coupled with a range of educational activities that involve outreach to middle and high school students, engagement with the general public, mentorship of community college and graduate students, and curriculum development.

Read more

What Tiny Surfing Robots Teach Us About Surface Tension

Watch

Play Fluid Dynamics: Michigan Tech Researchers Take it to the Tank video
Preview image for Fluid Dynamics: Michigan Tech Researchers Take it to the Tank video

Fluid Dynamics: Michigan Tech Researchers Take it to the Tank

Continue Reading →

ME-EM News Briefs

Published
By

Research Professor John Johnson (ME-EM) chaired a National Academy of Engineering (NAE) committee that has published the NAE Review of the 21st Century Truck Partnership, Third Report. Former Michigan Tech President Dale Stein also served on the committee. Johnson has chaired committees that produced several other NAE reports. He also serves on the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards committee.

Michigan Tech Mobile Lab Helps Engineers Design for Human Comfort: Michigan Tech’s mobile lab will travel to Novi, Mich., on Oct. 28 to serve as the site for a one-day workshop on the use of specially designed human manikins and software to measure air velocity, temperature, radiant heat flux and relative humidity in vehicles. Engineers have been invited to participate in the “Manikinalysis” workshop hosted by Michigan Tech, Thermetrics and ThermoAnalytics. Thermetrics makes the HVAC Manikin and ThermoAnalytics produces the human thermal software.

Michigan Tech alumnus Gregory Hardy has received the Steve Thorne Leadership Award, funded by the GE African American Forum. The award recognizes outstanding leadership in the National Society of Black Engineers.
Hardy graduated with a BS in mechanical engineering from Michigan Tech and is currently a mechanical science and engineering graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Regarding the award, Hardy told the NSBE, “This fuels my fire to do more and inspire others to do the same.”

“Michigan Technological Engineering is known for its space related research and education – aerospace and mechanical engineering” – featured in USA Today special edition “NASA – Beyond Earth” on page 25

Nina Mahmoudian (MEEM) has received a $57,708 grant from the Office of Naval Research for her research project titled, “Toward Undersea Persistence.”

Channel 2, KTVN in Reno, Nevada reported on SAE International’s expansion of its SAE John Johnson Award for Outstanding Research in Diesel Engines to honor individual leaders in the field. Established in 2008, the award traditionally recognized authors of an SAE International outstanding technical paper that addresses research advancements in diesel engines regarding efficiency and low emissions achieved by innovative experimental and modeling research of the engine, fuel and/or after treatment systems.
This prestigious award honors John H. Johnson, a Presidential Professor with Tech’s Department of Mechanical Engineering Mechanics. Read the story.

Dr. Hussein Zbib received the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture’s 2015 Anjan Bose Outstanding Researcher Award. Professor Hussein earned his BSME, MSME, and PhD in ME-EM all from MIchigan Tech and is a member of our EAB. He is a professor and former head of the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Washington State University.

Research Professor John Johnson (ME-EM) chaired a National Academy of Engineering (NAE) committee that just published the Review of the 21st Century Truck Partnership Third Report. Former Michigan Tech President Dale Stein also served on the NAE committee.

Diesel Engine Aftertreatment Consortium Partner Meeting: The Department of Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics will host a Diesel Engine Aftertreatment Consortium Partner meeting September 16 in MEEM 1021. Industrial partner representatives from Cummins, John Deere, Daimler-Detroit, Corning, Johnson Matthey and Tenneco will be on campus all day to review research progress during the second year of three year consortium. The focus of the consortium is on experimental and modeling research of advanced diesel after treatment systems and is a part of the APS Labs. John Johnson, Jeff Naber and Gordon Parker are the faculty associated with the Consortium.

Continue Reading →

Nina Mahmoudian Receives a Young Investigator Program Award from Office of Naval Research

Published
By

image123120-horizOnly 36 faculty across the US were invited to join the Young Investigator Program (YIP) from the Office of Naval Research this year; additionally, only a small percent of faculty receive the CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Nina Mahmoudian, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics at Michigan Technological University, is one of a select few to receive both in the same year.

Read More

Continue Reading →

ME-EM Research Shown

Published
By

IMG_1686dSeveral examples of the diverse research at Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics department were shown at the R.L. Smith Building on Tuesday, Sept. 30. MEEM faculty and graduate students presented posters describing on-going and future research activities.

Some of the examples of projects included nonlinear and autonomous vehicles research, agile ankle-foot prosthesis, an award winning portable assisted mobility device, ultra low sulfur and green diesel fuel comparison, and interdisciplinary research in geology and mechanical engineering on shock waves generated during explosive volcanic eruptions.

Continue Reading →

Advanced Power Systems Research Center (APS LABS) Social Event

Published
By

thumbThe Michigan Tech Advanced Power Systems Research Center (APS LABS) hosted an open house and tours of their new facilities along with the Michigan Tech First Friday Social for October 2014.

Laboratory tours and presentations were given by faculty, staff and graduate student researchers.
The guests saw research, outreach and educational initiatives in mobility, sustainable transportation, and energy.

Continue Reading →

Michigan Tech Graduate Students Win NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

Published
By

by Jenn Donovan, director of news and media relations

Three graduate students have received Graduate Research Fellowships from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Gregory Hardy and David Diesenroth in mechanical engineering and Christa Meingast in environmental engineering won the competitive fellowships. Benjamin Winter in civil engineering received an honorable mention.

Continue Reading →

Deisenroth Receives NSF Fellowship

Published
By

David Deisenroth, a graduate student pursuing an MS in Mechanical Engineering, has received an National Science Foundation East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute Fellowship to travel to Korea this summer to conduct research.

Deisenroth will conduct an in-depth study on the collision of a falling drop of water and a resting drop of water. He will film the drops at high speeds and observe their characteristics. The results can be used to further the understanding of thermal management systems, aerosols and fuel injection.

Continue Reading →