Mechanical Engineering Student News & Profiles
  The following ME-EM students will receive a Summer Undergraduate Research fellowship: Hasti Asayesh Ardakani (ME, sr.), project: "Self-powered Piezoelectric Nanostructures", advisor: Reza Shahbazian- Yassar (assistant professor, ME-EM), Corson Cramer (ME, sr.), , project: "Potential Analyzer Diagnostic for Halleffect Plasma Thruster Plumes", advisor: L Brad King (associated professor, ME-EM).

Mike Hojnacki (ME, sr.) was named to the All- Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference team.

Corson Cramer (ME, sr.) was awarded the John MacInnes Slide Rule award for having the highest overall GPA (3.82) on the men's hockey team.

Corson Cramer (ME, sr.) was a recipient of one of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Scholar-Athlete Awards. To earn recognition as a WCHA Scholar-Athlete, student-athletes must have completed at least one year of residency at their present institution prior to the current academic year and have earned a grade-point average of at least 3.50 on a 4.0 scale.

Michael Hojnacki (ME, sr.) was named to the Capital One Academic All-District IV College Division First Team in basketball with a 3.65 cumulative grade point average. He leads Tech in scoring at 15.9 points per game and has scored 20-plus points in a game seven times this season. The 6 ft. 7” forward ranks sixth in the GLIAC in scoring and is also among the league leaders in rebounding (5.5), field goal percentage (51.9), 3- point percentage (42.7) and free throw percentage (79.7).

John Moyer (ME, sr.) was awarded first place for his paper in the Solid Mechanics & Rehabilitation Engineering category at the ASME International Bioengineering Division competition. Dr. Tammy Haut Donahue (associate professor, ME-EM) is his advisor.

Cody Rye, a senior from Ironwood, MI, will enroll at Michigan Tech in the fall of 2011 to study mechanical engineering. Cody was the first runner up in the 2010 High School football Rudy Awards which carries with it a $5,000 scholarship. The High School Football Rudy Awards honor inspirational football players who best define what Rudy refers to as the "The Four C’s": Character, Courage, Contribution and Commitment. The four scholarship winners were chosen by the online fans and the 2010 Selection Committee with distinguished members such as Drew Bledsoe, Jim Mora Sr., Andrea Kremer, Jenn Brown, Shaun Alexander and Leigh Anne Tuohy. The award is inspired by Daniel ‘Rudy’ Ruettiger, the iconic figure of the classic football film RUDY.

Lisa Staehlin (BSME '10) and MBA major was named to the All - GLIAC North Division Second Team along with All - Defensive Team honors in women's basketball.
 

Zachary Edel (Ph.D. candidate, MEEM) has received honorable mention for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program. His advisor is Dr. Abhijit Mukherjee (assistant professor, ME-EM).

Andrew Willemsen (MS student, ME -EM) has received a $30,000 fellowship from NASA for his project "Effects of Dispersed Carbon Nanotubes on Acoustic Properties of Polymer Foams."
PhD student Kari L. (Jordon) Brown has been selected as a Kari Brown (BSME '06,
MSME '08) has been named National Secretary at the National Society of
Black Engineers. Earlier this year she earned a 2009 National Association of Black Engineers (NSBE) Fellows Scholar. As a Fellows Scholar she will receive a scholarship award of $1000 to be given at the Golden Torch Awards Ceremony on the NSBE National Convention on March 28, 2009.

The Educational Testing Service (ETS) has agreed to be Kari's GEM Employer sponsorship for a GEM Fellowship. Once her GEM Fellowship is confirmed she will receive a one paid summer internship sponsored by ETS and  a $14,000 stipend sponsored by ETS.
  ME-EM teams place in the 2009 Michigan Tech Undergraduate Expo held on April 16th:
• Senior Design 2nd place - Human Powered Grain Processor. Team members: Tyler Blank, Eric
Boeckers, Caleb Colyer, Nathan Fetting, Kate Olkkonen, Richard Winter. Sponsor: Woychowski
Family Charitable Foundation. Advisor: Dr. John Beard (associate professor, ME-EM).
• Senior Design 3rd place - Off-road Trail Assist Vehicle. Team members: Colin Fay, Eric
Jacobsen, Derrick Metz, Mindy Miller, James Peitzmeier, and Craig Slattery. Sponsor: Michigan
Parks and Recreation Association's Access to Recreation initiative and Tech's Department
of Sports and Recreation. Advisor: Dr. John Beard (associate professor, ME-EM).
• Senior Design Honorable Mention - Dryer Support roller Design Harmonization. Team members:
Keegan Burggren, Jamie Dufner, Robert Hambrock, Travis Jansen, Colin Neese, Steven
Worster. Sponsor: Whirlpool Corporation. Advisor: Prof. Charles Van Karsen (associate professor,
ME-EM).
  Karen Jarvey (EME Sr.) finished 20th in the NCAA Regional Championships
at the Michigan Tech Nordic Training Center on March 1, 2009. Karen was
also named to the 2009 National Ski Coaches Association National
All-Academic Ski Team. To be eligible, skiers had to have a 3.5 GPA for
the fall semester and have participated in the NCAA Central Regional
Skiing Championships.

Jeff Katalenich (EME Sr.) has won a National Defense Science and
Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship. His application was selected
from over 2000 submitted applications this year. The NDSEG Fellowship
covers full tuition, stipend ($30,000 the first year with increases each
year) and required fees for three years at any accredited U. S. college
or university that provides advanced degrees in science and engineering.

Jason Makela (PhD candidate, ME-EM) was one of the recipients of the
Michigan Tech Finishing Fellowships.

Michigan Tech faculty and students were awarded nearly $100,000 in
funding by the Michigan Space Grant Consortium at its recent meeting in
Ann Arbor. Student Awards are:
Undergraduate Fellowships
* Daniel Dubiel (EME/BME major), $2,500, advisor: Dr. Tammy Haut-Donahue
* Gareth Johnson (EME major), $2,500, advisor: Dr. L. Brad King
* Nate Wier (EME major), $2,500, advisor: Dr. L. Brad King
Grad Fellowship
* Megan Killian (BME major), $5,000, advisor: Dr. Tammy Haut-Donahue

Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society, has won the 2009 Excellence
in Engineering Education Collaboration Award for its Fellowship Program.
The award is given by the American Society of Engineering Education
(ASEE) Corporate Member Council (CMC). Tau Beta Pi's advisor is Dr.
Jeffrey Allen (assistant professor, ME-EM).

Chris Weingartz (Ph.D. candidate, ME-EM) has been selected as one of the
six graduate students to represent Michigan Tech on April 23, 2009 in
Lansing for Graduate Education Week in Michigan. His advisor is Dr.
Scott Miers (assistant professor, ME-EM).
  The Michigan Tech Aerospace Enterprise won third place nationally out of
eleven university teams in the University Nanosatellite Flight
Competition Review (FCR). The FCR was held in Albuquerque, NM on January
19-20, 2009. The Michigan Tech Team also received the Best K-12 Outreach
Award for the team's efforts in educating over 750 K-12 students during
the two-year project. The team is under consideration for an orbital
launch of the vehicle through a Department of Defense program. Michigan
Tech was awarded another contract for $100k to further refine the
satellite for the next FCR to be held in January 2011. The team's
faculty advisor is Dr. L. Brad King (associate professor, ME-EM).

The Michigan Tech Clean Snowmobile Challenge (CSC) Enterprise Team took
2nd place overall at the 2009 CSC Competition held at Michigan Tech this
March 16-21, 2009. The Michigan Tech team won the following awards in
the Fueled Class: 2nd Place Overall, Lowest In-Service Emissions Winner
(emissions taken at a set speed towing emissions bench-new this year),
Quietest Snowmobile Winner, Most Practical Snowmobile Winner, Most
Sportsmanlike Winner, and Cold Start Award. Dr. Jason Blough (associate
professor, ME-EM) is the team's advisor.
2008

ESPN The Magazine has named two ME-EM football players to an academic all-district team. The teams are nominated and voted on by the College Sports Information Directors of America

* Sean Spellman (ME Sr.) was selected to the Division District IV First Team in the linebacker position

* Keith White (ME Sr.) was selected to the Division District IV First Team in the wide receiver position

Mark Griep (PhD candidate, ME-EM) was awarded the best paper award in the nanotechnology category at the recently held 26th Army Science Conference. Co-author, Dr.Shashi Karna, is a senior research scientist at the US Army Research Lab (ARL) and member of the ME-EM External Advisory Board. Out of 845 paper submissions, they were awarded the Bronze Medal for the 2nd best paper of the entire conference. The work was done while Mark was a guest researcher at the ARL.
Mark has received a Fulbright Fellowship to Taiwan which he will begin on January 1, 2009.  His project is two-fold, focusing on the development of nanoscale drug delivery systems at Taiwan's Academia Sinica along with studying the issues pertaining to international research collaborations between the U.S. and East Asia.  
His faculty advisor is Dr. Craig R. Friedrich (professor, ME-EM).

Justin Keske (PhD candidate, ME-EM) has been awarded a Finishing Fellowship for fall 2008. The Neil V. Hakala Endowed Fellowship and the Charles L. Lawton Endowed Fellowship support the fellowships. His faculty advisor is Dr. Jason Blough (assistant professor, ME-EM).

Michigan Tech's Society of Women Engineers (SWE) won first place in the nation for their website for a collegiate section at the SWE national conference in Baltimore in November. 

Keith White (ME Sr.) was selected as the top scholar-athlete from among the state's nine NCAA Division II institutions. The wide receiver posted 63 catches for 944 yards and eight touchdowns in 2008 while maintining his 3.97 grade point average in mechanical engineering.

Thomas Venturino (Jr., ME) has been awarded one of the first NASA scholarships for students in fields of study with promising applications to aeronautics.  Venturino was one of nearly 400 applicants for 20 undergraduate scholarships and 5 graduate scholarships.

The Michigan Tech Aerospace Enterprise has completed its first year in the UNP Nanosat-5 competition. The team has participated in System Concept and Preliminary Design Reviews with the Air Force Research Lab, which showed considerable interest in the satellite. As part of the UNP-5 competition, reviewers from the AFRL, NASA and industry were on campus April 22nd to inspect the facilities, met with team members, and heard presentations about the project. The faculty advisor is Dr. L. Brad King (associate professor, ME-EM).

The SAE Baja Student Enterprise Team took a 12th Place Overall finish (out of 93 teams) at the Baja East Competition held in Cookeville, Tennessee May 1st - 3rd. Other finishes earned during the competition are: 1st Place in Sled Pull ($100 prize money and a plaque), 2nd in Acceleration, 10th in Suspension and Traction, 15th in Endurance, and 35th in Water Maneuverability. The team also placed 9th out of a field of 115 teams in the Baja Central competition that was held in Peoria Illinois, May 28th - May 30th. Other finishes earned during the competition include: 3rd place in acceleration, 3rd place in the Polaris Design Award, and 5th in endurance. The faculty advisor is Dr. Brett Hamlin (senior lecturer and assistant department chair, Engineering Fundamentals).

ME-EM Senior Design capstone team "Winrobo-automated Window Washing Robot," of the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, won fourth place in the CAD/CAM/CAE/PLM student competition at the Unigraphics Solutions Conference Connection Americas 2008. The team members are Mark Cihlar, Brad Howard, Nathaniel Kroodsma and Andrew Timmons, they were sponsored by Dr. Ed Lumsdaine as part of an NSF/NCIIA grant. The victory earned them an invitation for a poster presentation at the Unigraphics Solutions Users Conference held June 1-6, 2008, in Orlando, FL. Their faculty advisor is Dr. William J. Endres (associate professor, ME-EM).

Michigan Tech is the only university in Michigan selected to participate in a three-year international student vehicle redesign competition. The US Department of Energy, General Motors Corporation and Natural Resources Canada chose 17 teams from proposals submitted by colleges and universities in the US and Canada. A sequel to the four-year Challenge X competition, in which Michigan Tech anticipated, the new competition is called EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge. It will begin in fall 2008. Teams will re-engineer a Saturn Vue, using advanced propulsion systems and other clean-vehicle technologies to improve fuel economy and decrease emissions while retaining the vehicle's performance and consumer appeal. The faculty advisor is Dr. John Beard (associate professor, ME-EM).

Michigan Tech's Challenge X Enterprise team was highlighted in the SAE World Congress publication. Todd Cimermancic (BSME '08) was quoted in the article. Their advisor is Dr. John Beard (associate professor, ME-EM)

The SAE 2008 Clean Snowmobile Challenge held at Michigan Tech in March was highlighted in the May 2008 issue of the SAE International members' news magazine 'Update". Thomas W. Ryan II, 2008 SAE International President and David L. Schutt, incoming SAE International Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer, attended the event and were pictured in the article. Jay Meldrum from Michigan Tech's Keweenaw Research Center and co-host of the event with the ME-EM department was quoted in the article.

The ME-EM Senior Design capstone team "Golf Enabling Devise for Disabled People" was featured for their golf enabler on local television. The ME-EM Department funded the project for the Dickenson Iron Intermediate School District. The Senior Design team adapted a golf bag into an automated golfer. Compressed air makes the golf enabler work with the help of two giant gears. A joystick is used to swing the club back. With the press of a big red button, the club hits the ball. The students also included a safety feature in the golf enabling device. The red button doesn't work unless a second button is pushed at the same time. The idea to design a device to enable people with severe limitations to golf was that of Dickinson Iron Intermediate School District teacher Steve Cavalieri. He was inspired by a student with severe cerebral palsy who had the desire to hit a golf ball. Cavalieri says he has four other students in wheelchairs who might want to hit the fairway. Members of the team were: Christopher Miller, team captain, Jason Fuller, Phillip Gable, Bryan Sebeck, and Kevin Moretti. The team's advisor was Dr. Michele Miller (associate professor, ME-EM).

The Michigan Tech Undergraduate Expo was held on April 19, 2008. The University's Undergraduate Research, Senior Design, and Enterprise programs competed for cash prizes. ME-EM Department results include:

Senior Design Category
1st Place: Title: Spare Tire Beaming Damper: team members: Brian Mlezziva, Erik Lundberg, Chris Isaacson, Stephen Riutta, Keith White; sponsor: Chrysler LLC; faculty advisor: Dr. John K. Gershenson (professor, ME-EM).

2nd Place: Title: Shear Test System of Biological Tissue; team members: Scott Garver, Kyle Larson, Christopher Moore, Kyle Pullen, and Tara Swanson; sponsor: Tammy Haut Donahue (associate professor, ME-EM), faculty advisor: Dr. Dennis D. Meng (assistant professor, ME-EM).

Honorable Mention: Title Gas Generation and Storage Facility; team members: Ravi Peketi, Ryan
Bartholomew, Chanty Gober, Sungjung Kim, and Clayton Tacey; sponsor; Jeremy Worm (research scientist/grant writer, ME-EM): faculty advisor: Dr. Olanreqaju Aluko (lecturer, ME-EM).

Honorable Mention: Title: Hose Assembly Machine Design; team members: Kenneth Abbott, Joshua Ehlers, Michael Lennon, Mitchell McDonald, Matthew Myers, and Charles Swan: sponsor: Anchor Coupling; faculty advisor: Dr. William J. Endres (associate professor, ME-EM).

Enterprise Poster Presentation

1st Place: Enterprise: Integrated Microsystems; team members: Lewis Sweet and Josh Lecker, Comp. Eng.; sponsors: NSF WIMS, Michigan Tech, V.I.O. Inc, and General Dynamics Land Systems, faculty advisors: Dr. Paul Bergstrom (ECE) and Dr. William J. Endres (associate professor, ME-EM).

2007
 Student Competitions and Team Awards

The Michigan Tech Challenge X Team embarked on the Lake Michigan Road Rally from December 21, 2007 through January 13, 2008.  The team traveled 2,000 miles and made visits to five sponsors and 15 team member's hometowns, giving up their holiday break to do so.

The MTU 2006 Clean Snowmobile Competition snowmobile was on display at the International Auto Show in Detroit (Cobo Center), Jan. 19 through Jan. 27, 2008 at the Denso booth. Dr. Jason Blough is the advisor for MTU's Clean Snowmobile, as well as MTU's SAE advisor.

Michigan Tech's Clean Snowmobile Challenge team is featured in this story on the Detroit Auto Show by Detroit Free Press writer Tina Lam. KRC director Jay Meldrum is quoted:  .

The Michigan Tech Nordic ski teams tied for seventh place with Denver in the College Cup at the US Senior Nationals, hosted at the Michigan Tech Nordic Training Center the week of December 30th.  The men's team tied for sixth place while the women's team finished 10th.  The program also finished third among teams in the Central Collegiate Ski Association.  The series of races over the week featured 28 of the 41 teams in the NCAA and featured every NCAA national champion except New Mexico.  The event was covered by the Detroit Free Press.

The Michigan Tech SAE Collegiate Branch received an Award of Excellence in the Honeywell Outstanding Collegiate Branch Awards competition. They placed in the top 9 in the nation. The faculty advisor is Dr. Jason R. Blough (assistant professor ME-EM).  This award is designed to encourage and reward exemplary performance in the areas of membership and recruitment, technical meetings, networking opportunities, SAE Collegiate Design Series teams, and community service programs.

The Michigan Tech Aerospace Enterprise is developing a self-piloting glider with a payload that can take wind measurements at various altitudes. The glider will utilize two weather balloons to reach altitudes of 20,000 feet.  A test flight is scheduled for April 1.  The project manager is Robert Piedmonte, senior, mechanical engineering and the team's advisor is Dr. L. Brad King, associate professor, ME-EM.  The project is funded by the Michigan Space Grant Consortium, with donations from freewave radio and assistance from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  Read more on this and other Aerospace Enterprise projects

The Michigan Tech Clean Snowmobile Enterprise team placed fourth overall and earned the ThermoAnalytics Award for Fourth Place in the internal combustion division, plus the Land and Sea Award for Best Performance at the SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge held at Michigan Tech March 11th through the 15th.  For details follow the links at:  http://www.me.mtu.edu/snowmobile_challenge/index.html.

The Keweenaw Research Center and the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics will host 2009 SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge (CSC) Competition March 16-21, 2009 for the 7th consecutive year. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend.

ME-EM Senior Design Team 20 took first place in the Regional ASME Student Design Competition held in Columbia, MO with their window washing robot, Frank Jr.  The team consists of ME-EM seniors Mark Chilar, Brad Howard, Nathan Kroodsma, and Andrew Timmons and is advised by Dr. William Endres, associate professor ME-EM.  The win qualifies the team for the national competition being held at the ASME International Convention in Boston this fall.  Read more Robotic window washer climbs to the top for title, Columbia Missourian March 30, 2008

Michigan Tech hosted the U.S. Senior Nationals Cross Country Ski championships the first week in January.  Out of 263 entrants in the Men's 10k Freestyle race, Karl Walczak, assistant coach and ME-EM PhD student, finished 37th and Kevin Heglund, Sr -EME, finished 83rd.  Out of 191 entrants in the Women's 5k Freestyle, Karen Jarvey, Sr. - EME, finished 129th.  Kristina Owens, BSME '07, finished 20th in the Women's 5k.

Michigan Tech again hosted the Winter Baja competition held on February 16th at Lake Linden, MI.  Twenty five entrants from thirteen universities competed.  Tech's three entrants finished sixth, thirteenth, and fifteenth.  Read more

Student Accomplishments/Awards

Emily Fossum, ME-EM PhD student, will receive one of five $2,000 Finishing Fellowships awarded for the spring semester.  The fellowship sponsors are Whirlpool Endowed Fellowship, Neil V. Hakala Endowed Fellowship, and the Michigan Tech Student Foundation.

The Michigan Tech's record-breaking snowball fight was the answer on Tuesday, February 19's "Jeopardy!" as part of the winter sports category.  The clue mentioned a 2006 Michigan Tech event involving several thousand participants.

The Huskies Pep Band was recently invited to serve for the third consecutive year as the official band of the 2008 WCHA Final Five college hockey tournament, held March 20-22 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

The Michigan Tech SAE Student Chapter is the World's largest student chapter in membership at 170 (second place has 154). The SAE Student Chapter president is Sarah Schneider and the faculty advisor is Dr. Jason R. Blough (assistant professor ME-EM).
  Abigail R. Clarke (PhD student, ME-EM) was recently awarded a fellowship by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Educational Foundation. The AAUW promotes education and equity for all women, lifelong education and positive societal change. Fellowships are awarded to promising young women in traditionally male-dominated fields. This year, 29 women were awarded a Selected Professions Fellowship. Clarke's
research is focused on the siting of manufacturing/remanufacturing facilities to minimize cost and environmental impact.  Her faculty advisor is Dr. John W. Sutherland (professor, ME-EM).
 

Engineering Outreach

I want to stand before inner-city students as proof that they do not have to be products of their environment. It is possible to rise above.— Kari Brown

Global Engineering

My experiences at Michigan Tech and my work with Engineers Without Borders have created in me a sense of global citizenship that is critical in an increasingly smaller world.— Patrick Miller
  Mark Griep is engrossed in small mat-ters in a big way.Griep, a PhD student in mechanical engineering, is on a team of students making a nano-sensor that detects bio-logical and chemical toxic agents.
Success, according to senior Mechanical Engineering student and member of the Michigan Tech women’s basketball team, Catherine Rottier, is a simple matter of dedication, perseverance, and time management.
As a student and senior member of the Michigan Tech men’s basketball team, Stephen Folson knows the importance of teamwork. Soft-spoken and determined, he says, “To succeed in both academics and athletics is challenging, and it is essential to have a strong support network of teammates, family, and faculty.”
Juggling multiple roles as a PhD student, husband, new father, and political activist, Joseph Hernandez is undaunted—in fact, he plans to change the world. He sums up his inspiration simply: “I want to do work that creates change and has a positive effect on society.”

Margot Hutchins is passionate about her vision to create social equity through industry practices and is finding her niche in the newly formed Sustainable Futures Institute (SFI) at Michigan Tech.Read the Margot Hutchins Profile

Update: Margot Hutchins (ME-EM Ph.D. student) has been named head coach for Michigan Tech's track and field program and assistant coach for the Huskies' cross country and Nordic skiing teams. She recently completed her second year as an assistant coach for the Michigan Tech cross country and track and field squads after volunteering with both teams for two seasons. She competed for the Michigan Tech cross country and track and field teams as an undergraduate, where she lettered in both sports. Margo received her bachelor's and master's degrees from Michigan Tech in 2002 and 2007, respectively. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in mechanical engineering within the Sustainable Futures Institute.

  Diego Villegas-Bermudez (Ph.D. student - MEEM) received a 2007 Biotechnology Research Center Travel Grants toward his presentation "A Study of Collagen Orientation in the Bovine Anterior and Posterior Medial Meniscal Horn Attachments" at the 2007 Summer Bioengineering Conference held in Colorado, June 2007. Dr. Tammy Haut Donahue (Associate Professor - MEEM) is Diego's advisor.
  Ms. Xiaoxia Lai has received a Fall 2007 Finishing Fellowship in the amount of $2000 from the Graduate School. This fellowship is made possible through a generous donation by the Charles L. Lawton Endowed Fellowship.
  Karen Hauch (MS student, MEEM) is one of three MTU students selected to receive one of the Michigan Tech DeVlieg Fellowships. Funding is intended to contribute to the education and attainment of research goals by graduate students. Her advisor is Dr. Tammy Haut Donahue.
  Xiaoli Ye won the 2007 ASME/NSF Design Essay Competition. The award includes up to $1250 for travel expenses to the 2007 ASME Design Technical Conferences to be held in  Las Vegas, Nevada. Her advisor is Dr. John Gershenson.
  Casey Luskin (ME Sr.) and Elizabeth Vanheusden (ME Sr.) were two of the six ROTC students chosen by the Department of Defense to participate in the Army Science Board Summer Study.

Casey Luskin, Sr. MEEM, was one of four Army ROTC cadets at Michigan Tech selected by the Department of the Army as Distinguished Military Graduates. He will be commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army upon graduation.
  Tara E. Swanson, Sr. MEEM, was an award recipient of the 2007 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) and participated in a poster session Saturday, Sept. 29. "Recovery of Meniscal Tissue following a Period of Spaceflight or Disuse", Advisor: Dr. Tammy Haut Donahue (MEEM)

Karl Walzcak (MEEM PhD student) was selected to receive the Marshall Family Fellowship. His advisor is Dr. Craig R. Friedrich.
  The Graduate School has announced the recipients of the Finishing Awards for spring, summer and fall 2007 and the Recruiting Awards for fall 2007 and spring 2008. The following ME-EM Ph.D. students received $2,000 awards:  Brian Eggart ME-EM) and Kiran Khadke (ME-EM).
1

Kristina Owen (Sr., ME-EM) turned in a time of 15:49.3 to capture the third-best time among Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA) participants in the women's 10k category.  The USSA National Championship competition was held at the MTU Nordic Training Center in Houghton on January 2-9, 2007. Owen finished 14th overall in the category, top for the MTU Nordic Team.  She also was the top MTU women skier in the 5k category finishing 7th overall.

  Michigan Tech Wins Theatre Tech Olympics
A two-member team from Michigan Tech won a lighting instrument worth several hundred dollars at the Theatre Tech Olympics held during this year’s Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival for Region III in Milwaukee. Colin Brandt (mechanical engineering and technical theater) and Dan Gossens (network and system administration with a minor in technical theater) defeated teams from the five-state region, including Purdue, University of Michigan, University of Illinois-Urbana, and University of Evansville
 
ME Students Place First in ASME Strategic Diversity Competition
By Diana Wadke, Tech Today editorial assistant

Michigan Tech American Society Of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Student Section representatives Daniel Vanderhoof, Daniel Michalski and Nick Dumler took first place at the ASME's Strategic Diversity Workshop for their entry, "Envisioning the Future of Engineering." The competition asked ASME Student Sections to illustrate their vision of what engineering in the future will be like. "Envisioning the Future of Engineering" discusses the advantages and disadvantages of a future in which computers are the main producers and humans are chiefly consumers. As first place winners, the three received $750 and presented their paper at ASME's International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition in Chicago on Nov. 7.

The three students made the nine-hour drive to Chicago to present the paper and attend a workshop. "It was an honor and a challenge to present the first place paper," said Vanderhoof, the section vice president and a junior. "Everyone was so welcoming once we made the journey down to Chicago," section president and senior Dumler agreed. He added that the timing for the conference was awkward because they had to work around their school schedules. "It was a busy week for homework and exams," Michalski, a sophomore, said. But all three agree that the experience was a rewarding one. "Seeing a lot of mechanical engineers all together for a convention like that was something special," said Michalski.

Travel expenses for the trip were paid by ASME. To see the winning paper, visit http://www.asme.org/Communities/Diversity/Envisioning_Future.cfm (be sure to scroll down to the "Envisioning the Future of Engineering" heading).
  Heath Nunnemacher and Chris Coughlin, two mechanical engineering students at Michigan Tech, were the first-ever all-MTU student team competing in the 2006 Lake Superior Performance Rally held Oct. 20-21 2006.
Kumar Nearly 50 posters were presented by graduate and undergraduate students at the 2006 Fall Student Research Poster Session at MTU. Thirteen awards were presented including Visual--first place, Shreehari Elangovan and Presentation--first place, Vishesh Kumar . The Student Research Poster Session is a forum for students, faculty and administrators to learn about the exciting research happening within different disciplines at Michigan Tech. The research presented often stimulates discussion and the generation of new ideas.
  Pavan Valavala, Ph.D. graduate student in MEEM received three awards. 1) NSF Fellowship - $2000 towards registration fee to attend NSF Summer, Institute on Nano-mechanics and Materials held at Northwestern University from July 31 - August 4, 2006. 2) 2006 AIAA Graduate Award - Open Topic category ($5000) - Award administered by American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Foundation and 3) ASCS 2006 - Travel Grant (approx. $ 1500) - Towards registration, travel, accommodation etc. to attend the CRYSTAL workshop held in Spokane, WA from September 17 - 22, 2006. He has also published an article in the International Journal of Solids and Structures. Pavan's advisor is Dr. Gregory M. Odegard
  Akshay Patil has been awarded The (TMS) Minerals, Metals & Materials Society/MS&T' 06 MPMD (Materials Processing and Manufacturing Division) Travel Grant to attend the MS&T 06 Materials Science & Technology Conference and Exhibition, Cincinnati, OH, Oct. 15-19, 2006. His advisor is Dr. Ibrahim Miskioglu
sfi posters

MEEM Students Particpate in Sustainable Futures Poster Session

Sustainability Research Projects Poster Session and Dinner at the Rozsa Center Lobby September 2006
  Graduate students Mark Griep (ME-EM), Nancy-Jeanne Bachmann, Valerie Fuchs and Erin Satchell (Civil and Environmental Engineering) each received $40,500 for the first year of a potential three-year, $121,500 project from the National Science Foundation for the Graduate Research Fellowship Program.
  Abigail Clarke, Xiaoxia Lai, and Xiaoli Ye each earned a 2006 NSF Design, Service, and Manufacturing Grantees and Research Conference Student Travel Grant. These funds are used for travel to the conference where all NSF grantees in the areas of design, service, and manufacturing present their research and they too will present their research. These students are part of the Life-Cycle Engineering Lab in Product and Process Modularity and Product Family Design. Their advisor is Dr. John K. Gershenson.

Julio Rivera, a native of Puerto Rico and a graduate from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, is making a difference wherever he goes. A PhD student and member of the Sustainable Futures Institute, Rivera takes sustainability to heart, making certain to give back as much as he has received.

See Julio Rivera Profile

Grace Eaton is interested in boat engines and a concern for the pollution issues facing the Hudson River directed her passage into Mechanical Engineering at Michigan Tech. She discloses her future goals: “I want to be a part of changing how we view energy, how the world uses energy, and how we take care of the environment with the technology we have.”

Grace Eaton Profile

M.E. Student is 2003 Homecoming Queen for Michigan Tech
Ms. Tenasia Hatch earned a scholarship from the Automotive Women's Alliance and chose Michigan Tech to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. Read her student profile here.

Emily Fossum chose Michigan Tech because she was interested in studying engineering and continuing her volleyball career. “Michigan Tech has a strong athletic department and also a strong science and math program,” said Fossum. “It was the perfect match.”

Emily Fossum Profile article

Jorge Aguila has traveled a long way from home to study at Michigan Tech. Originally from Cuba, Aguila immigrated to the United States of America with his family at the age of 18 when his mother was granted a visa. He is looking forward to a career in the automotive industry

Student Profile on Jorge Aguila

Dan Adler, a senior at Michigan Tech, is leading his classmates into the future. Adler decided to come to this university because of his interest in science and mathematics, but has found many more reasons to stay. Adler said, “Although the course work is demanding, there are a lot of opportunities to explore interests outside the classroom.”

Dan Adler Student Profile

ME Student Appears on Junkyard Mega-Wars
Michigan Tech ME student Osanan L. (Sam) Barros Neto participated on The Learning Channel (TLC)’s Junkyard Mega-Wars and Discovery (Canada) TV shows. See the ME Student Profile and also a Michigan Tech news story.
Recently adding to the above, Barros, was mentioned in a Fortune magazine article, "Lightening Bugs."
ME Student is Named All-American
Joseph Berger of the Michigan Tech football team has been named to the 2003 Daktronics All-America Second Team. He has a 3.73 cumulative grade point average in mechanical engineering.  See the Michigan Tech Athletics story here.
Godwin Iduma Wins Mr. MTU
ME student Godwin Iduma won Mr. MTU Pageant, 2004. He performed in 'yooperwear,' followed by series of interviews and a talent show where Iduma and his partner displayed different dancing steps that held the audience spellbound. Iduma said, "I will treasure this title given to me not because of myself but because of those who supported me." Godwin is Vice president of the African Students Association. Of the six finalists, four were from ME-EM. Michigan Tech Lode Story

ME Student Chris Conner wins hockey honors
Chris Conner is a mechanical engineering sophomore student and is on the MTU Hockey Team. Chris Conner has been named to the All-Western Collegiate Hockey Association Second Team. He was nominated for the Hobey Baker Award.

Jaime Krull has selected to receive a Fulbright Award.
Krull will defend her MS thesis this spring and will begin doctoral studies this fall as a Fulbright scholar at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway. More details
 

Matt Holbrook, a senior in Mechanical Engineering has published the article 'Return of The Heavyweights -- The Mechanics of Current in the Underwater World' in the JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2005 (Vol. 16 No. 5) of Walleye Insider. His advisor is Dr. Jeff Allen.

Kristen Karnowski, Andrew Richards, Anthony Schwenn, Yuta Shokinji, Senior Design students, represented MTU and MEEM at 2005 Korean Capstone Design Fair. Their advisor is Dr. John Gershenson.

Osanan L. (Sam) Barros Neto, a Michigan Tech ME student, who appeared in Junkyard Megawars and Discovery Canada (which nicknamed him Plasmaboy), was mentioned in Fortune magazine recently. Barros is among a handful of electricity enthusiasts profiled in the Oct. 14 edition of Fortune magazine article, 'Lightening Bugs' by Ivan Amato, which chronicles the exploits of 'high-voltage hobbyists'.

Julio Rivera, a Michigan Tech Ph.D. student in the Mechanical Engineering department along with four others traveled to his native Puerto Rico visiting several universities, targeting recent engineering graduates who could go on to gain a master’s or Ph.D. at Tech. Dr. John Sutherland is his advisor.
 

Kiran Khadhe and Xiaoxia Lai, MEEM PhD students and Nikhil Sanyal and Drew Vettel, MSME students won the 2005 NSF/ASME Design Essay competition, which earns them a paid trip to the top conference in the design field. Faculty advisor: Dr. John K. Gershenson.

Jason Dreyer and Ashish Jangale earned the Second Place Award at the SAE Noise and Vibration Conference in Traverse City, MI, in May 2005 for their paper titled 'Analysis and Design of a Hemi-Anechoic Chamber Facility at Michigan Tech University. Faculty Advisor: Dr. Mohan D. Rao.

Undergraduate ME student, Laura A. Koning, has earned the 2005 SAE Long Term Member Sponsored Scholarship.

Undergraduate ME student, Kelly L. Willet, earned the 2005 Department Scholar Award.

Undergraduate ME student, Brian Sikkema, was awarded a $9,000 grant through NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) to investigate revolutionary ideas for space exploration in the next 10 to 40 years. He was one of five undergraduates in the United States to receive the award. Faculty advisor: Dr. L. Brad King.

Undergraduate ME student, Kelly Willett, and ME-EM PhD graduate student Melissa A. Marszalek were named Presidential Council of Alumnae (PCA) Women of Promise from the MEEM Department.

Undergraduate ME student, Sam Barros, was featured on NBC's Fear Factor, Monday, Jan. 31, 2005.
  Jason Gillespie was one of the recipients of the 2005 Michigan Tech Fund Merit Award announced for Spring 2005
  ME-EM students Andrew Barnard and Jason LaLonde won two of the three prizes awarded at the Noise-Con 2004 Conference held in Baltimore in July; More details here
 

The SEM Student Paper Competitions were originated to encourage excellence in technical communication in the experimental mechanics field. A regional paper competition was initiated in 1984 in a joint effort by SEM's Milwaukee Local Section and SEM's Student Chapter of Michigan Technological University. Since that time, students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Michigan Technological University have participated in the regional competition held each spring in Milwaukee at one of the regular local section meetings.

2002: 1st Place Angus M. Morison Michigan Technological University

2000: 2nd Place Scott A. Miers Michigan Technological University

March 21, 2008