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In Memoriam: Paul R. Hinzmann

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Paul Hinzmann
Paul Hinzmann

Paul Revere Hinzmann, professor emeritus of physics, died on Nov. 30, at the Clark Retirement Home in Grand Rapids, Mich. He was 99 years old.

He was born in Tipton, Mich., and lived in Ohio before attending the Case Institute of Technology (now Case Western Reserve). He attended his 70th reunion there in 2005.

Hinzmann received a master’s degree in education from the University of Michigan before beginning his teaching career at Michigan Tech in 1946. He taught until 1977 and was also the University photographer during his tenure at Tech. He was recalled as a patient, caring teacher who loved the enthusiasm of students. After retirement, he was active in the local Boy Scouts chapter, Isle Royale Natural History Association, and Golden Kiwanis.

Paul was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, Alvin and Wade. He is survived by his wife of 71 years, Elsie (Feigley) Hinzmann and his children, Georgia (Hugh) Makens of Grand Rapids, Mich. and Vincent (Nancy) Hinzmann of Milford, Mich. grandchildren and other family members.

Paul wished his body to be donated to science with the MSU Medical School being the recipient.

Posted December 5, 2012, in Tech Today.

Please feel free to leave comments on your experiences with Paul Hinzmann.

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Yap Research and Intellectual Property Citation Index

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According to the Intellectual Property Citation Index (IPCI), a product of the National Applied Research Laboratories in Taiwan, Michigan Tech particularly excels in research related to instruments and instrumentation, materials science, electrical engineering and physics.

As an example, physics Professor Yoke Khin Yap’s investigation of boron nitride nanotubes “has yielded important results and has been a recipient of funding from the prestigious National Science Foundation Innovation Corps program,” said Baker. Yap’s research points towards a number of commercial applications in a range of industries from aerospace to alternative energy to medicine.

Read more at Tech Today, by Kevin Hodur.

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Physics Student Wins Elevator Pitch Competition

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Abhilash KantamneniA large crowd in Fisher 135 was treated to a newly formatted Fourth Annual Bob Mark Elevator Pitch Competition Wednesday night. It was more realistic: the contestants had only 90 seconds to pitch their product, with elevator sound effects marking their beginnings and endings.

More than 20 teams did their best pitches, and the judges had some hard choices to make. Winning first prize and $1,000 was MyPaar (My Love), a dating website for India, created by physics PhD student Abhi Kantamneni. He also won the Audience Favorite Award and $200.

Kantamneni said he got his inspiration for the idea at 2:30 a.m. one morning, while immersed in another competition. “I realized that my other idea was no good, and I needed to follow one important part of a business model: think of the customer first.”

In spite of nearly double the number of contestants and added entertainment, the event still concluded in about an hour and a half, thanks to many hands that helped: SBE Instructor Michele Loughead and undergrad students Travis Beaulieu (physics and one of last year’s winners), Mason Pew (sound design) and Haley Carlson (marketing).

Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Dennis Walikainen.

The School of Business and Economics’ Bob Mark Memorial Elevator Pitch Competition was covered by the Detroit News recently.

From Tech Today.

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Yap Research Receives Funding for Boron Nitride Nanotubes

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Yoke Khin Yap (Physics), Co-PI Dustin Winslow (Physics) and Co-PI
John Diebel (IIE) have received $50,000 from the National Science Foundation for a six-month project, “I-Corps: High Quality Boron Nitride Nanotubes.”

From Tech Today.

I-Corps: High Quality Boron Nitride Nanotubes

There are few research groups in the world capable of producing high-quality BNNTs. Based on their unique capability in growing high-quality BNNTs researchers will investigate a scanning chemical vapor deposition (SCVD) technique.

Read more at NSF.

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Physics Fulbright Scholar Sanjeev Gupta

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The Department of Physics welcomes Sanjeev Gupta, a Fulbright scholar, who came to Tech Oct. 22. Gupta was awarded his PhD in physics from Bhavnagar University, India, in 2010, and spent time as a postdoctoral researcher at the Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Italy. His time at Michigan Tech will be spent primarily with Professor Ravi Pandey’s research group.

Gupta will help design advanced materials that can be future building blocks for solar cells, batteries, and photonic and optoelectronic devices.

From Tech Today.

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Physics Team GreenedIt! Chosen for Clean Energy Challenge

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Michigan Clean Energy Venture ChallengeTwo teams from Michigan Tech have been chosen to join in the Michigan Clean Energy Venture Challenge. One of the teams is GreenedIt!, a web-based application for energy auditing.

GreenedIt! team members are physics students Travis Beaulieu, an undergraduate, and graduate student Abhilash Kantamneni. The team traveled to East Lansing for their initial training this past weekend.

“The training we received through the challenge was incredibly useful,” said Beaulieu. “The whole point was to try and get young entrepreneurs into the mindset of finding a customer need and forming the idea around the customer’s feedback. Thankfully this training worked for our team, and we had a complete pivot during the weekend.”

Read more at Tech Today, by Dennis Walikainen.

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