Faculty and Staff Spotlights

Meet the New Faculty For UConn Mechanical Engineering

Posted on by

Meet the New Faculty For UConn Mechanical Engineering

Xu Chen joins the Mechanical Engineering department. Dr. Chen’s research interests are theory and applications of dynamic systems and controls to advance the technology development in advanced manufacturing, mechatronics, robotics, precision engineering, system and optimization, and human-machine interactions. He has worked closely with the precision control and information storage industries, and helped Western Digital Corporation develop multiple new servo designs for industrial mass production. Dr. Chen is a recipient of the Young Investigator Award in 2014 ISCIE / ASME International Symposium on Flexible Automation and the 2012 Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Students. He received his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in 2010 and 2013, respectively.

Julian Norato  joins the Mechanical Engineering department. His current research interests lie in incorporating localized failure mode criteria (such as stress and fatigue), as well as manufacturing, cost and geometric constraints in topology and shape optimization for the design exploration of structures and materials, with the aim of exploring efficient structures tailored to a specific manufacturing process. Prior to joining our department, he was responsible for the Product Optimization group at Caterpillar, where he and his team researched numerical methods and developed computational tools for structural and multidisciplinary optimization. He earned his Ph.D from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2005.

Savas Tasoglu joins the Mechanical Engineering department. His current research interests are complex fluid dynamics, micro-assembly approaches, magnetics, microfluidics, cell and tissue mechanics, regenerative medicine, cryopreservation, and cell-based diagnostics for point-of-care. Dr. Tasoglu’s achievements in research and teaching have been recognized by fellowships and awards including Chang-Lin Tien Fellowship in Mechanical Engineering, Allen D. Wilson Memorial Scholarship, and UC Berkeley Institute Fellowship for Preparing Future Faculty. His work has been featured as the cover of Advanced Materials, Small, Trends in Biotechnology, and Physics of Fluids and highlighted in Nature Medicine, Boston Globe, Reuters Health, and Boston Magazine. He received his Ph.D. in 2011 from UC Berkeley.

Xinyu Zhao joins the Mechanical Engineering department. Her research interests are in the area of computational fluid dynamics with a focus on high-fidelity simulations of complex reacting flows as well as heat and mass transfer in turbulent, particle laden flows. She received her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University in 2014.

UConn Formula SAE places in the top group in the International Competition

Posted on by

UConn Formula SAE places in the top group in the International Competition

Although still new to the competition, UConn’s Formula SAE team placed in the top group of competitors at the Formula SAE Competition at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

The four-day competition brings together teams of university undergraduate and graduate students from around the world to conceive, design, fabricate and compete with a small, formula style, competition vehicle. To give teams the maximum design flexibility and the freedom to express their creativity and imagination, there are very few restrictions on the overall vehicle design. Teams typically spend eight to twelve months designing, building and preparing their vehicles before a competition.

The cars are judged in a series of static and dynamic events including technical inspection, cost, presentation, and engineering design, solo performance trials, and high performance track endurance. These events are scored to determine how well the car performs.

The UConn team began competing at the Michigan event seven years ago, making it a relative newcomer compared to many of the other teams. Under advisor Dr. Thomas Mealy, the team nonetheless placed 20th overall out of the 120 teams in attendance at one of the most competitive events of the year. With the continuing support of sponsors and the department of Mechanical Engineering, UConn Formula SAE is working toward even greater success with the refined design and manufacture of the 2014-2015 vehicle already underway.

– Timothy Thomas, B.S., ME 2014, UConn SAE Team Leader

CASE Honors Two UConn Mechanical Engineers

Posted on by

 

Dr. Barber has served as a professor-in-residence in the Mechanical Engineering Department since joining UConn in 2000.  He enjoyed a distinguished career with Pratt & Whitney and the United Technologies Research Center prior to joining UConn.  Dr. Barber is an Associate Fellow of AIAA and a member of ASME, and he has served as an Associate Editor of the AIAA Journal for Propulsion and Power.  His induction into CASE recognizes his contributions to computational fluid mechanics, his leadership in expanding and managing the professional Master of Engineering (MENG) degree program and oversight and expansion of the Mechanical Engineering senior design program.

Dr. Chiu is a professor of Mechanical Engineering who is recognized for his pioneering work in heat and mass transfer, including his development of new approaches to understanding micro- and nano-structure induced transport phenomena in energy, photonics and semiconductor materials.  Dr. Chiu’s honors include the Rutgers University School of Engineering Medal of Excellence Award for Distinguished Young Alumni, the ASME Bergles-Rohsenow Young Investigator Award in Heat Transfer, the U.S. Army Research Office Young Investigator Award, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award.  He is an Associate Editor of the ASME Journal of Heat Transfer and the International Journal of Thermal Sciences.

Innovators Feted

Posted on by

 

innovate2UConn Engineering was well represented during the Second Annual Celebration of Innovation, presented by the UConn Office of Economic Development on April 10th. The gala event (see event photos here) afforded the innovation community an opportunity to network and to celebrate the achievements of some of its most outstanding members. Read a related story here. Importantly, the event underscored the vital linkages among academic innovation, commercialization and economic impacts that benefit the State of Connecticut. According to Dr. Mary Holz-Clause, UConn’s Vice President of Economic Development, in the past year, UConn researchers have developed 80 new inventions and filed 42 U.S. patents, and the university has signed 10 license deals. Commercializing university innovations is a growing resource for the university that has generated $1.2 million in patent revenue alone in the past year. “UConn, thanks to the innovative research done by our faculty and students, is re-inventing industries and driving new innovations.  The Celebration of Innovation is an opportunity to recognize the contributions the university is making in not only reshaping the state’s economy but also having a meaningful impact globally,” said Dr. Holz-Clause. Among the honorees were Dr. David “Ed” Crow, General Electric Corporation, and engineering faculty members who received U.S. patent awards in the last year.

Dr. David “Ed” Crow, professor emeritus of Mechanical Engineering (2002-11) and a 36-year Pratt & Whitney employee, was honored with the Innovation Champions – University Employee Award.  An elected member of the prestigious National Academy of Engineering, Dr. Crow has served as an outstanding role model throughout his engineering and academic careers.  In 2011, he established the D.E. Crow Innovation Prize at UConn, which helps engineering students turn their entrepreneurial inspirations into marketable products through seed funding. Dr. Crow joined Pratt & Whitney in 1966 and rose to the position of Senior Vice President of the company’s Engineering, where he oversaw 6,600 engineers responsible for the design, development, validation and certification of all Pratt & Whitney large commercial engines, military engines and rocket products.  Earlier, he served as Senior Vice President for the company’s Large Commercial Engines unit.  He is a past secretary of the SAE, a member of ASME and AIAA, and an elected member of the University of Missouri-Rolla Academy of Mechanical Engineers and the UConn Academy of Distinguished Engineers. Earning the Collaborator of the Year Award, which is presented to a partner whose collaboration is likely to have a strong and lasting impact on the State economy, was General Electric Corporation. Last fall, GE Industrial Systems expanded its partnership with UConn Engineering through a five-year, $7.5 million investment that includes an endowed professorship, undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships, and $3.3 million in funding for company directed research at UConn, focused on electrical-protection technologies, including circuit breaker technologies.   The investment brings together researchers from various academic disciplines and from the energy industry to conduct R&D on core electrical-protection technologies, including circuit breakers. Paul Singer, Technology General Manager of GE Industrial Systems, accepted on behalf of GE.

New Patents In addition, a number of UConn mechanical engineering faculty members were honored for their receipt of U.S. patents during the 2012-13 year. They are listed below: Baki Cetegen and Michael Renfro (Mechanical Engineering) – Fiber Optic Based In-Situ Diagnostics for PEM Fuel Cells, U.S. Patent # 8,268,493 Bahram Javidi (Electrical & Computer Engineering) ·  Depth and Lateral Size Control of Three-Dimensional Images in Projection Integral Imaging, U.S. Patent # 8,264,722 ·  Optical Data Storage Device and Method, U.S. Patent # 8,155,312 ·  Optical Security System Using Fourier Plane Encoding, U.S. Patent # 8,150,033 ·  System and Method for Recognition of a Three-Dimensional Target, U.S. Patent # 8,150,100 Aggelos Kiayias (Computer Science & Engineering) – Systems and Methods for Key Generation in Wireless Communication Systems, U.S. Patent # 8,208,628 H. Russell Kunz (Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Center for Clean Energy Engineering) andLeonard Bonville (Center for Clean Energy Engineering) – Bipolar Plate for Fuel Cell, U.S. Patent # 8,097,385 Richard Parnas (Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering) and Nicholas Leadbeater (Chemistry) – Systems for Alkyl Ester Production, U.S. Patent # 8,119,832 Lei Wang (Electrical & Computer Engineering) – Error-Tolerant Multi-Treaded memory Systems with Reduced Error Accumulation, U.S. Patent # 8,190,982 Quing Zhu (Electrical & Computer Engineering) – Method and Apparatus for Medical Imaging using Near-Infrared Optical Tomography and Fluorescence Tomography Combined with Ultrasound, U.S. Patent # 8,239,006

Student News

Posted on by

Student News

Read below for the following exciting news items:
  •   Rufat Kulakhmetov to Attend 2013 NASA Academy
  •  Joseph Mummert a NSF Grad Honorable Mention

Mechanical Engineering junior Rufat Kulakhmetov, has been selected one of just 15 students nationwide to participate in the 2013 NASA Propulsion Academy located at the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL.  The 10-week, residential summer research and educational experience is reserved for top students interested in propulsion and is a pipeline intended to prepare young professionals for employment in aerospace positions. As an intern, Rufat will work on a four-person team under the guidance of propulsion engineers at Marshall, local commercial entities, and local universities. A New England Scholar, Rufat currently works in the Combustion and Gas Dynamics Laboratory (adv.: Mike Renfro).

M.S. degree candidate Joseph Mummert (Mechanical Engineering) received an honorable mention for his submission for a 2013 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.  Joseph is advised by Dr. Wei Sun, with whom he expects to launch a business, ValveFix, LLC, in the future. ValveFix designs, manufactures and distributes an FDA-approved, durable tissue heart valve for young and old patients that eliminates the need for repeat open-heart surgeries and requires no anti-coagulation drugs. The valve relies on a patented, biocompatible, coated valve that offers superior structural stability and anti-calcification.

Published on: Apr 25, 2013

Mechanical Engineering Demos Shine at the Capitol

Posted on by

Mechanical Engineering Demos Shine at the Capitol

On Thursday, April 11th, a dedicated team of students and faculty demonstrated and discussed innovative “home grown” engineering prototypes at the Connecticut State Capitol during a rally in support of Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s proposed Next Generation Connecticut.

Next Generation Connecticut is aimed at reenergizing and redefining Connecticut’s economy through strategic investments in science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines (STEM) at UConn. The bill, which is making its way through the legislative process, was passed overwhelmingly by the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee on April 16th. 

Among the featured speakers were Gov. Malloy, UConn President Susan Herbst, UConn Provost Mun Y. Choi, elected officials, labor and business council leaders, as well as two outspoken executives from Connecticut businesses: Robert Friedland, co-founder, president, and CEO of Wallingford-based Proton OnSite; and Ed Murphy, Senior Director of Technology Planning and Intellectual Property at JDS Uniphase in Bloomfield.

But for many attendees, the most compelling demonstration of why Connecticut should invest in UConn’s STEM programs was evidenced by the array of extraordinary projects designed and developed by UConn students and faculty members. The selection of UConn Engineering projects displayed included a custom test stand for a common surgical implement, a fuel cell-powered model vehicle, unmanned autonomous aerial and land vehicles, a microbial fuel cell, and 3D manufacturing apparatus. The projects and demonstrators are summarized below.  See photos here.

Surgical Tool Test Device 

For their senior-year design project, Biomedical Engineering students Kathryn Dobler, John Burke and Jordy Schuller designed and built a custom, prototype testing device for a Covidien product, the Premium Surgiclip™, used to clamp off blood vessels during surgery. A hand-held, stapler-like device is used to apply the clip during surgery. The medical equipment giant Covidien tasked the students to develop a fixture capable of performing several different tests to determine the force applied by the clip dispenser and its effect on the clip. The testing unit is integrated within a machine that tests for tensile, compression, fatigue, impact and hardness, with the measures displayed on an attached computer screen. The students explained that the ultimate goal of the project is to establish a clinically acceptable product specification that can be measured and evaluated.

Hydrogen-Powered Fuel Cell Car

Seniors Nicholas Morse and Leia Dwyer, with their advisor, Dr. William Mustain (Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering) demonstrated “The Chegger,” a model car that runs on a hydrogen-powered fuel cell. The car was developed for an American Institute of Chemical Engineers-sponsored competition, ChemECar. Entries must rely on chemical reactions to power the motor and stop the car.  The Chegger employs a light-activated electronic circuit incorporating an iodine chemical reaction to stop the car. For the ChemECar competition, vehicles must travel a fixed distance while carrying a payload, but the distance and weight requirements are not revealed to teams until competition day.  Dr. Mustain and his research team are making advances in the area of electrocatalyst materials for energy conversion and storage, and in enhancing our understanding of the fundamental science behind fuel cell technology, that may contribute to the future of fuel cell applications in energy.

Autonomous Vehicles [View a video here]

Mechanical Engineering students Roseanna Warren, Yuqian Liu, Jiaxing Che and Robert Herman, accompanied by their advisor, Dr. Chengyu Cao, showcased prototype autopilots along with quad-copter and helicopter models – unmanned autonomous vehicles designed and constructed in the Adaptive Systems, Intelligence and Mechatronics (AIM) Lab. Dr. Cao’s lab is developing novel control algorithms to enable the vehicles to adapt to local and environmental uncertainties, such as obstacles and varying terrain. The team is also linking the vehicle control systems into networks that allow for more complex interactions among the vehicles. Other focuses include the auto-pilot technology and circuits that host the control and navigation algorithms. The team’s work will improve the robustness and adaptive capabilities of unmanned vehicle networks.

Benthic Microbial Fuel Cell (BMFCs)               

Graduate students Udayarka Karra (Civil & Environmental Engineering) and Ridvan Umaz (Electrical & Computer Engineering), accompanied by Dr. Baikun Li (Civil & Environmental Engineering), demonstrated two bench-scale microbial fuel cells that generate electricity through the metabolic activity of anaerobic bacteria and the decay of organic matter found in the top layer of sediment in bodies of water.  The research team anticipates these devices may provide a steady power supply for remote oceanographic devices used in sensing and monitoring ocean environments. A focus is on developing a distributed network to address the energy supply problems for underwater sensor network applications. Dr. Li and her team are exploring and testing various facets of the technology, including novel electrode materials, BMFC configurations, power management schemes, and microbial ecology analysis to enhance understanding of the various aspects related to underwater bioenergy conversion.

3D Manufacturing

Sonya Renfro, Program Coordinator for Diversity & Outreach, and junior Monica Smith (Mechanical Engineering and German) demonstrated 3D printing using a desktop device in which a three-dimensional object is built layer-by-layer using a plastic material.  The device is one of two used by UConn’s Engineering Ambassadors in outreach visits to middle and high school students aimed at exciting the students in engineering as a fun and creative career choice.  Often used for rapid-prototyping of highly complex geometries, 3D printing begins with a digital CAD design, which software interprets as a series of thin horizontal slices.  The 3D printer then builds the actual shape in successive layers.   Inexpensive machines are now being used to produce sculptures, machine parts, jewelry, home furnishings, and medical implants. 3D printing is related to the more complex additive manufacturing technologies underway at UConn’s recently announced Pratt & Whitney Additive Manufacturing Innovation Center, which hosts state-of-the-art Arcam electron beam devices that are suitable for manufacturing large, complex metal parts from a range of different materials at high temperature. 

Published: April 24, 2013

Student Snap: Monica Smith

Posted on by

Student Snap: Monica Smith

By Victoria Chilinski

Initially uncertain of her college aspirations and commitment, today Monica Smith – a double major in German and Mechanical Engineering – is the picture of a successful engineer-to-be.

After graduating from E.O. Smith High School, Mansfield, CT in 2007, Monica took part in the ACES program at UConn for her freshman year.  She then chose to spend her sophomore year abroad in Germany at the University of Stuttgart through one of UConn’s many tuition-exchange programs. “I knew [since high school] that I wanted to do something in German,” she says.

Monica had such a positive experience abroad that she then withdrew from UConn to stay in Germany for another year. Starting in the fall of 2009, she worked as an intern in the procurement department of MTU Aero Engines, Germany’s leading engine manufacturer. This experience with MTU led Monica to believe that engineering was right for her.

She returned to UConn for what would have been her senior year and began studying mechanical engineering. Monica didn’t completely leave Germany behind, though – she currently lives in McMahon Hall as an active member and resident assistant of the Eurotech learning community.

After a shaky first freshman year at UConn, the School of Engineering turned Monica’s UConn experience around. “The number of faculty in the School of Engineering makes [UConn] feel so much smaller,” she says. “They take really good care of you.” Monica mentions Assistant Dean Marty Wood, as well as Kevin McLaughlin and Sonya Renfro of the Engineering Diversity Program, as being especially helpful to her.

Monica also credits many of the programs within the School of Engineering as being helpful to her throughout her post-Germany years at UConn. She’s the co-president of UConn Engineering Ambassadors, which she calls her “support group” within the School of Engineering.

“[Engineering Ambassador’s] mission is to promote engineering to younger people… and inspire [students,] especially women and other underrepresented populations to pursue engineering as a career,” says Monica.

Now in its second year, UConn’s Engineering Ambassadors reached out to over 3,000 students last semester through day-long visits to schools around the state by Engineering Ambassador’s Presentation Team, of which Monica is also a member. Members of the Presentation Team receive special training on communication and presentation at a weekend workshop in the fall.

Through her work with the Presentation Team, Monica was eligible for a United Technologies Corporation Ambassador internship. She was placed in the Engineering and Integrative Solutions Group and worked with them through the summer of 2012. Within that group, Monica discovered her interest in additive manufacturing and 3D printing.

“I’m 99.9% sure when I graduate that I’d like to work in a 3D printing group,” she says. “After my internship this summer, I went back to [Engineering Ambassadors] and I was like, ‘We have to bring this to kids.’” She then worked with Engineering Ambassadors to purchase two tabletop 3D printers and created an entirely new program within the Presentation Team to demonstrate 3D printing to students around the state. She also started a 3D printing club for 7th and 8th graders at the Academy of Aerospace and Engineering in Bloomfield, CT.

She further explored this interest in 3D printing during an internship on the UConn campus last semester that allowed her to research electron beam melting, another type of 3D printing. Monica is currently continuing her research through a part-time co-op with Pratt & Whitney. This summer, she will intern with them again and start research in propulsion system analysis.

Given her incredible extracurricular record, leadership skills, seemingly endless initiative, warm personality and contagious energy, there’s no doubt that she’ll succeed whatever her aspirations.

Hybrid Bike: Optimizing Pedal Power (VIDEO)

Posted on by

Hybrid Bike: Optimizing Pedal Power (VIDEO)

Junior Robert Herman (Mechanical Engineering) is a serial tinkerer. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, he converted a bicycle into a hybrid electric/pedal bike to manage the five miles of hilly terrain between his home in Coventry and the UConn campus.
“I was tired of pedaling all the time.  Initially, I thought about a scooter, but parental pressure nixed that idea.  I ultimately decided to retrofit my bike, a Trek 7.2 FX.”

Using a CAD program to design the apparatus, Robert says “Most hybrid bikes use a hub motor. I decided to place mine with the crankset so it could benefit from the bike’s transmission.  I watched some YouTube videos to familiarize myself with different options for converting bikes into hybrids; I learned there are no standard components or methods, so I had to improvise on my own.  Also, in the original design, I was going to build force-feedback pedals, but I scrapped it in lieu of a simple knob to vary speed.”

Like electric cars, the hybrid bike is remarkably quiet and gets great mileage: about 15-25 miles per charge. The assembly includes a lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) rechargeable battery, motor with a re-wound armature for enhanced power, motor driver, speed controller, 24 volt charger and battery management system that balances the battery voltage. After assembling and testing the bike, Robert enclosed everything in an aluminum casing that he machined himself, adding weather stripping to prevent moisture from seeping into the pristine assembly.

 

 

Unlike most UConn Engineering students, who arrive on campus with degrees from traditional high schools, Robert is a graduate of Windham Technical High School.  While he trained for the HVAC trade at Windham Tech, Robert taught himself machining technology and developed more advanced skills in the design and construction of complex machines.  Robert thrives on “projects” and always has at least one underway.  He confesses that movies are a source of many ideas, and games flexed his creative aptitude. Most projects are executed in the family basement/design workshop.

This school year, Robert has worked in the Adaptive Systems, Intelligence and Mechatronics Laboratory of Dr. Chengyu Cao.  Robert contributes toward the design and manufacture of a prototype autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), along with the mechanical and some electrical components – including the AUV’s circuit boards and wire components – on the testing platform.

He also conducts independent research within the AIM lab.  During the fall semester, he learned a programming language and began to develop code intended to direct a Nao humanoid robot to walk.  His current efforts focus on a four-legged spider robot.  For this project, he has developed a stereoscopic camera setup with the aim of converting the camera’s two-dimensional images into three dimensions so the robot can effectively navigate a room.

Robert’s mechanical inclinations and love of hands-on work underscore his career aspirations.  As the engineer that he is training to become, he remarks, “After I graduate, I want to be a tinkerer.”