Jeffrey D. Naber, Director

jnaber @mtu.edu

(906)487-1938

1012 R.L. Smith Building (MEEM)

Professor Jeffrey D. Naber joined Michigan Tech's faculty in August of 2004. Dr. Naber earned his PhD from University Wisconsin Madison in 1992. Prior to joining MTU, Naber worked in the automotive industry on R&D of engine-management-systems for gasoline and diesel engines. He also worked at Sandia National Laboratories, CRF investigating sprays and combustion processes of diesel, natural gas, and hydrogen engines utilizing laser based diagnostics. Naber's research interests are in IC engines and after-treatment and the development and application of advanced experimental techniques, signal processing technologies, theoretical models, and embedded control to characterize the thermo-physical processes.

Jeremy J. Worm, Research Engineer

Prior to graduating from Michigan Tech with a BSME in 1999, Jeremy worked as an Engineering intern at Detroit Diesel Corporation and Cummins Engine Company. He was also an active member of the MTU FutureCar team where he helped integrate an IC engine into a series Hybrid Electric Vehicle. Upon graduation, he went to work for General Motors Powertrain division. While at GM, Jeremy worked as an In-Vehicle combustion system development engineer. Jeremy also was a Lead Development and Calibration engineer for a new Small Block engine to be installed in GM’s 2-mode Hybrid Electric Chevy Tahoe. Later he went on to be a Design Release Engineer in the Advanced Propulsion Systems group where his focus was on advanced and alternative Variable Valve Timing strategies. During his time at GM, Jeremy also co-authored and co-lectured a seminar on the effects of Variable Valve Timing on IC engine combustion, and in 2003 received his Professional Engineers license. In 2007 Jeremy joined the team at Michigan Tech as a Research Engineer in the Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics department supporting the Advanced Power Systems Research Center. Jeremy is currently an active member of SAE where he serves on the Combustion and Fuels Committee, the Advanced Power Sources Committee, and acts as a paper reviewer.

Cristopher P. Cooney, GRA

Christopher Cooney completed his B.S. in Civil/Environmental Engineering at Michigan Technological University in 2002. He joined AICE research lab as a PhD candidate in 2005 working with alternative fuels. Chris is part of the Wood-To-Wheels Graduate Enterprise Program and is also a participating scholar in the Sustainable Futures Institute at Michigan Tech.

Cooney’s current research is focused on ethanol’s influence on in-cylinder combustion.

Abhijit, GRA

Abhijit completed his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Maharshi Dayanand University, India in 2006. He joined AICE Research Team at MTU in Fall 2006 to pursue his MS in Mechanical Engineering and is currently working on the Ford sponsored Combustion Ionization Program. His research interests include IC engines and his research project focuses on improving knock detection capabilities and combustion analysis of gasoline engines.

He and Dr. Naber are working on signal processing and characterization of Ion signal for improved engine

Benjamin W. Moscherosch, GRA

Ben Moscherosch completed his B.S. In Mechanical Engineering at Michigan Technological University in 2006. As an undergraduate Moscherosch was involved with MTU's AICE Lab and in August 2006 he joined the joined the AICE research team as a MS student in Mechanical Engineering.

Moscherosch's current research is focused on biodiesel fuel and the potentioal that biodiesel has with a new combustion strategy.

Abhijeet M. Nande, GRA

Jaclyn E. Nesbitt, GRA

Jaclyn Nesbitt graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in December of 2006 with a B.A. in Physics and a minor in Mathematics. She joined the AICE research team as a MS candidate in Mechanical Engineering in January of 2007 working on the Combustion Vessel research project. Her research interests include alternative fuels and the necessary alterations to internal combustion engines to reduce CO2 emissions and increase engine efficiency. Currently, she is assisting with the development of a high pressure combustion research laboratory. She will use this laboratory to investigate fuel injection and fuel-air mixing, as well as to analyze combustion in an effort to reduce emissions and increase engine efficiency.

Christopher J. Polonowski, GRA

Chris Polonowski completed his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Michigan Technological University in 2005. As an undergraduate Polonowski was involved with MTU's AICE Lab and in August of 2005 he joined the AICE Lab research team as a PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering.

Polonowski's research focuses on detecting the start of combustion within a diesel engine with the use of accelerometers.

Brandon T. Rouse, GRA

Brandon received his B.S. degree from in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University August of 2007. As an undergraduate he was involved in the Challenge-X hybrid vehicle competition at MTU where he helped with modeling vehicle dynamics and 3-D design. He has completed several internships in various fields ranging from ballistics to manufacturing to engine performance modeling. Brandon is currently in the first year of pursuing his M.S. degree at MTU.

Yeliana Yeliana, GRA

Yeliana is a Fulbright scholar from Indonesia and is currently working on her M.S. degree at Michigan Technological University. Her research focuses on engine simulation and automotive fuel related to sustainable energy and environmental concerns. This will cover ethanol as a fuel and focus on finding the combustion parameter of ethanol-gasoline blend in internal combustion engine. Her goal is to find the simplest model or the most cost-effective model to represent the combustion process in IC engines.

JoAnn M. Klobucher, Undergraduate Researcher

JoAnn Klobucher is currently an undergraduate student working on her Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering. She joined the AICE research team in May of 2007 working as an assistant on the Combustion Vessel research project. Currently, she is assisting with the development of a high pressure combustion research laboratory by working on the setup, testing, and integration of instrumentation to be used in this laboratory. This combustion vessel research facility will be used to investigate fuel injection and fuel-air mixing, as well as to analyze combustion in an effort to reduce emissions and increase engine efficiency.