A Message from the Chair

exchangethe 2011

News for Mechanical engineering, engineering Mechanics, and Nuclear engineering Alumni of the Ohio State University

the old adage that claims necessity is the mother of invention might be aptly applied to the redesign of the mechanical engineering curriculum in preparation for the 2012 switch from quarters to semesters. Certainly, the inventiveness of some very resourceful faculty and staff is paving the way for an education model that includes more design-based learning. the occasion of the switch to semesters provided the necessary fillip for this inventiveness.

two important changes to the undergraduate curriculum include the creation of a sophomore design course and major changes to the senior capstone design course.

the motivation for these changes aligns strongly with recommendations of deliberative bodies involved with engineering education. to cite an example, ASMe’s Center for education surveyed hundreds of engineers and managers from industry in 2010 on the strengths and weaknesses of current entry-level BSMe graduates. Nearly a quarter of these respondents cited awareness of how devices are made and work as an area of weakness, and one in seven characterized oral and written communication similarly. turn the page to learn how two design courses will change the way Ohio State will prepare its mechanical engineering graduates for their future careers.

As we prepare for the upcoming fall quarter, the last before we switch to semesters in 2012, we look back on the past academic year and see a year marked by changes as well as by the accomplishments of the people who define us – our current students, our alumni, and our faculty members.

the most significant change is the one we initiated. Following extensive dialog with our alumni, members of our advisory board, and our students, faculty members agreed upon many changes to the required portion of the mechanical engineering undergraduate curriculum. the cover story features changes that will result in a stronger design thread in the curriculum, by introducing a sophomore design course and stronger senior capstone design experiences.

In undertaking an initiative of this scope and magnitude, we have been fortunate to receive financial support from our alumni and friends, and seek your continued support. to make this convenient, we’ve included a pledge card that we hope you’ll consider returning with your indicated level of support.

We take pride in the accomplishments of our current students recognized at our annual Spring honors and Awards Ceremony, and their team endeavors such as the Solar Decathlon or the theme Park engineering Group or, in the athletic arena, the OSU Men’s Volleyball team. We applaud their creativity, hard work, and initiative in these endeavors.

Our alumni are our ambassadors at large, and we are delighted to recognize their many accomplishments at the department level at

the Spring honors and Awards Ceremony, and at the college level at the Reunion Weekend, as noted in the accompanying articles. We welcome nominations for similar recognitions of alumni accomplishments, in 2012. We hope, too, that you’ll consider answering Rich Granger’s call for new Mechanical engineering Alumni Society board members.

Our faculty members chart our future and they continue to do so in very productive ways, as exemplified by our partnership with Pratt & Whitney. We are pleased by the significant recognitions they continue to receive from their peers, both inside and outside OSU. We are proud of the diverse areas of research our faculty are engaged in performing, and acknowledge with gratitude the many years of service provided by those who have chosen to retire. Finally, we are saddened by the passing of former faculty members, even as we note the numerous lives and careers they touched and influenced for the better.

K. (Cheena) Srinivasan Professor and Chairperson Department of Mechanical and Aerospace engineering

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace engineeringPeter L. and Clara M. Scott Laboratory 201 W. 19th Avenue Columbus, Ohio 43210 Phone (614) 292-2289 Fax (614) 292-3163

Just AheAd: the FUtURe OF DeSIGN IN the Me CURRICULUM

Curriculum pp1-4

theme Park engineering pp4-5

Pratt & Whitney pp6-7

Solar Decathlon pp15-16

Preparing for

SeMeSteRMeRGe

2012

and satisfying parts of engineering. Design uses all of the technical aspects of engineering as well as the ability to synthesize novel solutions to product or process design. At its most basic level design is problem solving,” he said.

In general, seniors will work in teams of four-to-five students to accomplish a given capstone project. Students will be expected to engage in preliminary design, analysis, and planning tasks. At the end of the fall semester they will present their product concepts and prototypes. During the spring semester, the prototypes will be further developed and tested, with the goal of producing completed devices and, in some cases, patent–ready concepts at the end of the academic year.

Looking forward, the faculty values the importance of introducing its seniors to activities that require thoughtful planning, organization, and time management, in addition to the more comprehensive design education planned for the semester curriculum. “It’s important that our job-ready graduates be viewed as competent engineers with good business and communications skills. We expect them to enter job interviews with a portfolio that summarizes the experience and knowledge gained through their capstone project,” said Associate Professor Blaine Lilly.

“I know that all of our Me faculty, and especially Associate Professor Anthony Luscher, Assistant Professor Rob Siston, and Associate Professor Blaine Lilly are committed to making the semester capstone course a success,” said Cheena Srinivasan, Chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace engineering.

sophomore design Course | INtRODUCtION tO DeSIGN IN MeChANICAL eNGINeeRING

Assistant Professor of Practice Lisa Abrams and Associate Professor Blaine Lilly are quick to point out that, though they are considered the architects of the new sophomore course, they borrowed ideas for the course from several sources and are happily collaborating with others in order to pilot an abbreviated quarter-long version of the new course this fall. First though, understanding why “Introduction to Design in Mechanical engineering” was added to the Me curriculum reveals a lot about the future of engineering education.

the sophomore course fills, in part, the major gap in design education that exists between the fundamentals of engineering course sequence (and its honors equivalent, both of which serve as a pre-requisite to the major) and the senior-year capstone design course. And while the freshman course sequences include a design-build project, there exists a wide variance in the machine skills and experience of entry-level Me students. “Ohio farm kids tend to come to us with more machine skills. they’re accustomed to working on tractors and farm equipment and have a leg-up on those who haven’t had significant exposure to any machines,” said Lilly.

Abrams added, “So, the sophomore course attempts to level-set the practical knowledge of machining among students in addition to filling the gap between the first- and the last-year design experience.” Lilly continued, “this course is intended to be an introduction to the whole discipline of mechanical engineering. We’re going to expose students to mechanical design, fluids and thermal sciences, dynamic systems and controls, and motivate them for later courses in these areas.” Students will also be expected to gain proficiency in data acquisition systems, CAD/CAM software and other common computing programs, and to sharpen their oral presentation and written skills.

the semester course will begin with a one- or two-week study of typical design and production steps – everything from exploring materials selection and manufacturing processes to analyzing systems and components. this lesson will include disassembling some common workshop items such as small electric drills or power screwdrivers and discerning how and why the manufacturer produced and then marketed the selected tool to the consumer. the following six weeks will be spent machining and assembling a small air motor. Students will investigate variations in the motor design and perform basic tests on the motors. the final six weeks will be more open–ended allowing students to apply the air motor to a specific design task. “We’ll assign the functional requirements, and leave it to them to be imaginative,” said Abrams.

Following a suggestion by Professor Mo Samimy, Abrams and Lilly will also task students with creating an “apprentice piece” in the Student Machine Shop prior to beginning work on their air motors. the apprentice pieces, which were designed by Me Machine Shop Supervisor Chad Bivens, will be simple three-part assemblies that involve basic machine operations such as milling, turning, drilling and tapping. Inspiration for incorporating the air motor into the sophomore course came from a video created by the students of Professor Igor Adamovich’s Me 581 class, which demonstrated how the students had designed and assembled an air motor.

the course is also meant to address additional employer concerns about teamwork, communication, and project management skills. In general, students will be grouped into three-to-four person teams to complete many of the course assignments. Abrams and Lilly expect to offer the course each fall and spring semester. this fall, while still on the quarter system, 26 students will participate in a 10-week pilot of the class.

Other faculty members who have been instrumental in the development of the course include Department Chair Cheena Srinivasan, Associate Professor Dan Mendelsohn, now retired Professor Gary Kinzel, and Assistant Professor Shaurya Prakash. Weekly meetings between Abrams, Lilly and Srinivasan helped flesh out the Me themes that the course would encompass. Mendelsohn and Kinzel were primarily involved from the ABet accreditation perspective, and Prakash along with PhD candidate Matt Detrick are helping craft lectures for the course.

Lilly concluded, “We want this course to motivate students while giving them some real skills that they can use in other Me courses and later in their careers.” he further noted that the input of industry employers and alumni would be useful as well. Interested readers may contact him at lilly.2@osu.edu.

extending the VAlue of the senior CApstone design Course

As further preparation for the “real-world,” college seniors are required to fulfill a capstone design experience which they may do currently in one of a number of ways. A minority of students take a year-long (three academic quarters) engineering capstone course, involving either an industrially sponsored design-build-test project (e 658/659) or a project involving the design of an assistive device for patients with movement disorders (Me 565). however, the majority of students take two courses, one involving a design project but no building or testing and another emphasizing experimental methods, to meet the current graduation requirement. Under the new semester system, all seniors will be required to take a year-long (two semesters) capstone design course involving a design-build-test experience. It’s a move that is intended to provide a more complete design experience.

In reformulating the capstone course for the semester system, Me faculty knew that they wanted to “bake” more robust design into the class and expose all Me students to the entire design-build-test process. Associate Professor Anthony Luscher, who was the first Me faculty member to pilot the year-long capstone course for the department, believes all seniors will benefit from the two semesters of capstone work. “Design is one of the most creative

“Design is one of the most creative and satisfying parts of engineering.”

Assistant Professor of Practice Lisa Abrams crafts a sample apprentice piece in preparation for the fall pilot of the new sophomore course.

ME graduate student Angelica Liu, right, was assisted by Research Machine Shop Lab Supervisor Chad

Bivens, left, in building the prototype air motor

Prototype air motor to be created in sophomore design course

Capstone OptionsTo meet the wide variety of interests of mechanical

engineers, a range of capstone opportunities will be offered.

Seniors may elect to take a ME specific capstone course or

one that is multidisciplinary and conducted by the College

of Engineering. The capstone “flavors” include:

industry projects that are sponsored by engineering corporations and that require students to focus on projects of interest to the sponsor and in turn require students to interface with their engineers. Projects may involve product or system design. the course was piloted by Professor Luscher of the Me department about seven years ago and, with success and growth to cover other areas of engineering, was transferred to the College of engineering.

Assistive device projects that focus on aiding people with movement disabilities. the course currently involves seniors from mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering working with graduate students in occupational therapy, physical medicine and rehabilitation, to ensure that the assistive devices created by the students meet the needs of the patients as well as the objectives of the capstone course. the course was piloted by Professor Siston three years ago, and was recently joined by the biomedical engineering department.

motorsports projects that involve design tasks relevant to the automotive competitions that our students have participated in successfully for many years. examples are the Formula SAe competition, the ecoCAR competition and its precursors sponsored by the Department of energy, and the Buckeye Bullet. Design projects that may be carried out in structured educational settings compatible with a capstone design course are identified and senior year students assigned to perform the tasks.

product design projects that give students a holistic view of a product and allow them to examine all design phases from idea generation to fabrication to the marketing of a product. these projects might also vary greatly in design and function, and could really be anything from a re-envisioned aluminum can to a programmable thermostat. this version of the capstone design project would take advantage of the highly successful Product Design course that has been taught for many years by Professor Lilly and would be a follow-on to the course.

social innovation and commercialization (siAC) projects that pair the capstone teams with the associates or clients of a nonprofit or charitable organization that wishes to fund the creation of a new product or device that would aid its user community. SIAC projects are expected to become self-sustaining through commercialization of project designs with funds returning to the sponsoring organization and Ohio State for reinvestment in further exploration of additional products or devices. this is an initiative of the College of engineering, and the Me program has participated in this initiative for a few years.

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Q: Do you have a favorite memory from your five years of employment at Geauga Lake?

A: I think one of the most memorable activities was preparing a picnic for 10,000 people. We had to be there at 5 am to start cooking. Otherwise, just seeing people leave the park with a smile on their face was always a great freeze-frame.

Q: As a career choice, what attracted you to theme park engineering?

A: I knew I wanted to do something that would bring joy to a lot of people and something I would also enjoy which was mechanically inclined and that led to theme park/attraction engineering. I think if you are passionate about something you should pursue it.

Q: Who, if anyone, influenced your ME career path?

A: As far as my academic path goes, my faculty advisor Emeritus Professor Dennis Guenther and my friend Steve Engelhaupt nudged me into the BSMS program. And of course, my mom and dad always supported me and pushed me to do the best I could.

Q: All-time favorite amusement park ride and location?

A: Whoa . . . big question, I am probably going to have to cheat a little bit and say my favorite theme park attraction is a close tie between “The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man” and “Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey” both at Islands of Adventure at The Universal Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida. And then my favorite amusement park ride would have to be Maverick at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.

Q: Scariest ride you’ve ever been on (or maybe most hair-raising)?

A: Hmm, I’d have to say any RipCord/SkyCoaster. They harness you into a flight suit, strap you onto a cable and then usually haul you hundreds of feet up into the air. Suddenly, you’re looking down at the ground and then you have to pull the cord to release yourself. Very scary.

Q: What’s in the future for theme park engineering?

A: As far as green initiatives, I think there are a lot of interesting advancements in the water park realm. I know there are some designers

that specifically work on high-efficiency systems and those are really interesting.

As far as technology in attractions, there have been some that really push user interaction such as Men in Black Alien Attack at Universal Florida and Toy Story Mania! at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Museums, too, are looking to have a new level of user interaction, such as the Spy Museum in D.C. They recently launched an experience called Spy in the City. You’re given a GPS device, clues and codes and sent out on a walking tour of the capitol with the goal of learning about various historical landmarks in D.C. It’s a really bold step forward for a museum as they try to overcome the stigma that museums are stuffy and boring.

Q: What Ohio State trait will you take with you to Florida?

A: I will definitely “Pay it Forward”, I know I couldn’t have reached my current goal without the help of others and I will try my best to help others as well. If you are reading this feel free to contact me (okeson.2@gmail.com) and I will try my best to give you (or your future Buckeye) some guidance about breaking into this unique and amazing industry.

About the theme park engineering group

The purpose of the Theme Park Engineering Group is to enhance the knowledge of science, engineering, and creative design throughout the academic community through the utilization of experiences within the theme park industry. For more information, visit themeparkeng.org.ohio-state.edu.

Brad Okeson wishes to publicly thank Ohio State ME alum Bill Watkins for mentoring him as an engineering student at Ohio State and for his encouragement and guidance in creating the student Theme Park Engineering Group. Watkins is a former Chief Mechanical Engineer for Walt Disney Imagineering. He co-founded Ride and Show Engineering, Inc., in 1984. The company, which he sold approximately 15 years ago, is located in California.

Brad Okeson Gets Ready For the Ride of his Life Some people like to describe the highs and lows of their careers as

a roller coaster ride. In the case of one recent Ohio State graduate,

the thrill of the career climb began when he founded the theme

Park engineering Group at Ohio State. Brad Okeson, BSMe Spring

’11 and MSMe Summer ’11, will relocate to Orlando, Florida in

September to become part of Universal Studios’ ride development

R&D team. Before departing Columbus to begin his Universal

experience, Brad took a few minutes to share his thoughts about

how his mechanical engineering degree allowed him to enter the

exciting world of theme park engineering.

Q: What prompted you to start the Theme Park Engineering Group at Ohio State?

A: The Theme Park Engineering Group grew from the passion I have for the theme park industry. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, which was “next door” to Geauga Lake and SeaWorld. My parents bought season passes to those parks almost every year. In the early 2000s, Geauga Lake was bought by Six Flags and beginning at age 15, I worked there for five seasons in the catering and special events department. Growing up, I always knew I wanted to design various rides or attractions. Also, I participated in the roller coaster design competition for First-Year Engineering students and was lucky enough to meet Jeff Gramke (Chief Engineer of Operations at Kings Island). He gave me some advice about how to break into the industry.

Q: How do you recruit members to the Theme Park Engineering Group?

A: Similar to many student organizations, we use the Student Involvement Fair and the Engineering Expo in the fall to gain exposure to a large concentration of students. We draw most of our membership from those two events. Otherwise, we advertise via flyers, online, or using visual set-ups such as the roller coaster model displayed at the Ohio Union.

Our message to potential members is if you are interested in pursuing this industry on a professional level or if you want to learn more about this industry, then this is the right organization for you. We have a lot of ways to be involved from hands-on projects to educational trips at various sites where we get guided tours from engineers or park managers who show us the ins and outs of different rides. We travel to different industry conventions and participate in various outreach activities where we talk to high school or middle school students about why science is awesome! We also mention that many of the members in our organization have had internships or are now actively employed by a theme park. We have had members do internships at Cedar Point, The Gravity Group, Great Coasters International Inc., Disney, Roto Studio, and Universal Studios. We really do try and promote membership in the Theme Park Engineering Group as a great way to break into this industry.

me565 students Continue to shine in Competition

Assistant Professor Rob Siston continues to draw some very

ingenious seniors to his mechanical/biomedical engineering

section of the year-long Me 565 capstone design course.

Students who have studied with Siston took second and third

place at the 4th engineering Capstone Design Showcase, held

this past May. the competition included 47 teams of students

who displayed their capstone projects at a special event held at

the Ohio Union. First place was awarded to team Vision for its

Low Vision Music Device, which was designed to enable those

musicians who have vision impairments to use an application

created for a tablet device to increase the size of sheet music so

that they might continue their musicianship despite issues with

low vision. team Vision included Me seniors Laura Christobek

and Nic Campos. their Social Innovation and Commercialization

capstone project was developed for the Vision In Vocational

Services organization. Second place was awarded to team

happy trails for the off-road wheel chair attachment that they

created. third place went to team New elevations for the

transfer device for adapted adventure sport athletes.

In addition, Siston’s students also swept this year’s honda

iDream challenge, winning first and second place in each of the

following challenge categories:

mobility division

1st - Mobile arm support

2nd - hip continuous passive motion device

safety division

1st - transfer device for adapted adventure sport athletes

2nd - Redesigned walker

Wheel Chair mobility

1st - Off-road wheel chair

2nd - Adjustable wheel chair for clinical fittings

“this is obviously a testament to how bright and hardworking

these students have been over the past nine months! they are

clearly thriving in our interdisciplinary program,” said graduate

teaching associate erin hutter, who coached some of the Me 565

design teams.4 5

earlier this year, time magazine published an article titled, “how to Build a Job engine.” the article focused on Pratt & Whitney’s new PurePower PW1000G engine, and, as you might correctly deduce, how one smartly designed engine is generating job growth in North America and abroad. What you wouldn’t have learned from the article is that Ohio State is contributing to research associated with the geared turbo fan (GtF) technology of the PurePower engine.

Just two short years ago, P&W entered a strategic partnership with Ohio State to establish a University Center of excellence. the partnership was created, in part, to complement P&W’s fundamental research needs for the development of new technologies in the gear and power transmission area. Since the launch of the P&W Center of excellence in Gear Box technology at Ohio State, researchers from the mechanical and aerospace engineering department have been busily performing fundamental research in the fields of fatigue, tribology, dynamics and mechanical design with applications to aircraft engines, more specifically the PW1000G engine family. Knowing that research related to GtF technology is in the mix of research projects associated with the P&W Center of excellence injects a bit of Buckeye pride into the buzz surrounding the next generation P&W engine.

to borrow a football cliché, the innovations designed into the PurePower engine haven’t just inched the ball down the field, they have consistently “moved the chains” when it comes to fuel efficiency, noise reduction and reduced emissions.

As reported in the time magazine article, the PurePower engine is identified as a “green engine” and is said to reduce engine noise by 50 percent and to deliver 16 percent better fuel burn and carbon emissions, which would represent an impressive $400-per-hour operations savings for many types of jets.

After speaking with Mechanical engineering Professor Ahmet Kahraman, who is also the director of P&W Center of excellence at Ohio State, you gain a better understanding of how the research performed at Ohio State factors into the investment that Pratt & Whitney has made in developing the PW1000G.

As Scott Lab’s resident GtF expert, Kahraman is aided by a team of researchers, which includes one senior research engineer, one postdoctoral fellow, two PhD candidates, a master’s degree student and an undergraduate. together they are collecting data about the GtF that is ultimately used by P&W product development teams to predict the all-important lifespan of the gear set.

Mathematical models created by Kahraman, et al, help to simulate the performance of the GtF. these systems or gear sets generate very high speeds under very high

temperatures and must withstand a very high degree of stress on some relatively lightweight materials. high reliability and precision in engine design is, without question, the name of the game. “everyone understands that there’s no acceptable margin of failure when it comes to the gear sets of jet engines. We’re developing computer programs or mathematical models to predict or simulate the conditions in which these gear sets will operate across the life of the gear set. Our work involves some multi-faceted activities to model and measure the variable attributes of fatigue, tribology, dynamic behavior (vibration), and design. Courtesy of the research funding provided by P&W, we’re able to produce reduced-size GtF components for fundamental experimentation on test machines so we can validate the findings of our computer modeling programs,” said Kahraman. he noted that actual, scaled-up system testing is done at P&W facilities in Connecticut.

the working relationship between Ohio State and P&W research teams is fluid, with the two groups meeting three to four times during the year to review the findings of their current research and exchange data collected from simulations and modeling. A recent visit to Columbus by Paul Adams, Pratt’s senior vice president of engineering, and other P&W visitors provided Pratt engineers the opportunity to tour the gear lab where GtF research is conducted. Department Chair Cheena Srinivasan remarked that the July meeting affirmed the positive impressions that have developed between Pratt and Ohio State and he was particularly pleased with the comments made by the P&W team regarding the Ohio State research team’s adherence to time efficient practices – a factor which P&W considers no small achievement given the perception that academia and industry don’t always operate at the same pace. Coupled with the age-old

dictum that time is money and that in the world of jet engine design, every R&D minute counts or rather costs, it’s been a real accomplishment for Ohio State to match the anticipated timelines of each P&W research project.

to be sure, Kahraman hopes the predictions for the “forward thrust” that this engine will deliver to the economy will create continued research opportunity for Ohio State as well. “the market and aftermarket for these newer engines represents a significant amount of long-term business for P&W and its suppliers. It’s our hope that theoretical and experimental analysis of the GtF technology and related engine advancements will continue over a number of years as well.”

About ohio state’s p&W Center of excellence

the P&W Center of excellence, established in 2009, represents a portfolio of research projects, which gives Ohio State researchers the opportunity to participate in the continuous improvement activities related to the geared turbo fan technology of the PurePower engine.

About the p&W purepower engine

the first test flight for the PW1500G geared-turbofan engine (of the PW1000G engine family) was made June 20 at Pratt & Whitney Canada’s Mirabel Aerospace Centre, in Mirabel, Quebec. Additional engine testing will continue for the next year with engine certification scheduled for 2012. Pratt & Whitney, based in hartford, Conn., is a division of United technologies Corp. and P&WC is a subsidiary.

the time magazine article “how to Build a Job engine” (May 30, 2011 issue) can be found online at www.time.com

Left to right: John Groholski, P&W Engineering Director; Neil Anderson, P&W Staff Engineer; Paul Adams, Sr. VP of Engineering, P&W; and Ohio State Professor Ahmet Kahraman

p&W Center of excellence in gear Box technology

“

”

p&W engineer and former ohio state graduate student reflects on Work in Kahraman’s lab

Fortunately for Ohio State, Pratt & Whitney continues to be

a regular recruiter of Ohio State engineering talent. One of

Professor Ahmet Kahraman’s former students, Mark Klein

(MS ’09), now a senior engineer within the Fan Drive Gear

System unit in East Hartford, Connecticut, had the following

to say about his Ohio State experience.

I am very fortunate for the direction my career has taken, as well as for working here at Pratt during such an exciting time in the company’s history. Had it not been for my work at OSU with Dr. Kahraman, I would not have had the opportunity to work here at Pratt.

I met Dr. Kahraman during my first quarter at OSU. He was the Professor for my Discrete Vibrations course. I could not have had a finer teacher as a new graduate student. After not attending any college courses for nearly 10 years, I had one quarter to catch-up with the knowledge of the other 30 students in the class. Needless to say, I attended Dr. Kahraman’s office hours frequently. During his office hours, he mentioned a gear and transmission project that OSU’s GearLab was performing for GM Powertrain. He said if I were to become a full-time student, I may be able to perform research as a Graduate Research Associate for the project, which involved experimental studies on gear fatigue life. I did not know what path this research would take me, but I knew after speaking with Dr. Kahraman that it was a path worth taking.

As my research and graduate work at OSU approached its last quarter, I read about Pratt and Whitney’s new GTF jet engines. These new engines place a planetary gear system between the Fan and the Low Pressure Compressor (LPC). In a normal jet engine, the Fan and LPC are connected directly to each other and share a common rotational speed. This new gear system, called the FDGS, allows the fan to spin at slower rotation speeds, which in turn allows the LPC to turn at faster, more optimized speeds. This new configuration provides significantly improved fuel consumption, as well as reduced noise levels during operation.

Shortly after reading about the new GTF PurePower jet engines, I learned that Pratt & Whitney approached Dr. Kahraman with the need for research to be performed similar to the work I performed for GM Powertrain. As the collaboration grew between OSU and Pratt & Whitney, my research experience at OSU helped create the opportunity for a job interview with Pratt & Whitney here in Connecticut. Immediately after I arrived for the interview and met the other employees within the FDGS group, I knew this was the place for me.

I have been here at Pratt & Whitney for over a year, but it seems like I arrived yesterday. The excitement and pride of working on the GTF PurePower engines is still as fresh as ever. Although I am no longer a student, I am always learning something new. I will always be grateful to Dr. Kahraman for his guidance, OSU for my education, and the OSU’s GearLab for the experience I needed to start my career here at Pratt & Whitney.

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fueling the Job engine time magazine recently reported some statistics about the ten highest earning college majors and it turns out those obtaining mechanical and aerospace engineering degrees continue to fare well.

• Aerospace Engineering was ranked the 4th most lucrative undergraduate major 4Median earnings per year reported at $87,000 per year

• Mechanical Engineering was ranked the 8th most lucrative undergraduate major 4Median earnings per year reported at $80,000 per year

this past academic year, Ohio State’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace engineering conferred 293 Bachelor’s degrees, 100 Master’s degrees, and 25 PhDs.

Source: 2011 time 100, (May 24, 2011)

NOMINAtIONS FOR 2012 ALUMNI reCognition progrAmIf you would like to nominate an Ohio State alumnus for a specific

award in 2012, you may download a nomination form via the Me

Alumni Recognition Program information page located on the alumni

section of the MAe web site or contact Anna hoza (hoza.7@osu.edu)

for more information. Nominations for next year’s awards will be

accepted through the end of February 2012.

Alumni AWArds

A special Award of Appreciation was presented to Glenn Baker ’63 BS MAth, ‘66 MBA. Mr. Baker is president and CeO of SeA Limited, a company he founded in 1970 that provides investigation services in the event of serious accidents and mechanical failures. his contributions to the department have included support of both undergraduate and graduate student involvement in automotive competitions such as the Formula SAe, Baja SAe, Buckeye Bullet and Challenge X student teams. he has also demonstrated his confidence in the professional competence of our students by hiring 23 graduates of Ohio State’s engineering programs. Over the course of the past 30 years, his additional gifts to the department have helped to support 16 master’s students and six doctoral students.

the ralph Boyer Young Achiever Award was presented to Jacqueline Marshall DiMarco, ’95 BSMe; ’96 MSMe ’96. the Ralph Boyer young Achiever Award is presented to alumni who have risen rapidly in their chosen profession and made significant contributions before the age of 40.

As an Ohio State student Ms. Di Marco was actively involved in several projects of the Center for Automotive Research. She began her career at Ford in 1996 and shortly thereafter completed rotations in powertrain design, engine development, and product launch before accepting a role as a powertrain development engineer. Since that time, she has assumed a variety of leadership roles at Ford. In 2010 she was appointed to the position of Chief engineer of the F150, expedition, and Navigator. throughout her career, she has demonstrated the leadership required to manage the interface of the design studio to engineering, manufacturing, and launch on very large-scale projects.

the e.g. Bailey entrepreneurship Award was presented to Sandeep Vijayakar ’84 MSMe and ’87 PhD Me and Don Caudy ’68 BSMe and MSMe. the award is presented to alumni who have invented new products, processes, or procedures that have been successfully manufactured, adapted, or utilized.

Our co-recipients of the e.G.Baily Award, Sendeep Vijayakar and Don Caudy have established, over the course of their careers, that they are very comfortable wearing the hats of engineer, inventor and entrepreneur. Vijayakar’s zeal for innovation was unleashed immediately after earning his PhD, when he established his own company, Advanced Numerical Solutions, and began designing computational tools for geared systems. the software he created transformed gear system design from 2D-ratings-based procedures to math-and-physics-based processes. today, his software programs are widely considered the industry standard among automotive and aerospace companies with gear and power transmission design responsibilities. those who follow the central Ohio business and technology scene are likely familiar with the career milestones of Don Caudy. Over the course of his career, Caudy has been a management consultant, briefly served as President and CeO of the edison Welding Institute, Inc., and was Vice President, Commercial Operations for Battelle. his experience at Battelle included the development and management of Battelle’s medical diagnostics and device development business. Don was also the President and CeO of Inergia, a start-up which developed the technology for a combined heating and power generation product and licensed it to a leading european boiler manufacturer.

the Bertha lamme feicht Award was presented to Steven Arndt, ’81 BS eng Phys, ’84 MSNe, ’10 PhD Ne and James Duffy, ’96 BSMe. the Bertha Lamme Feicht Award is presented to alumni

who have made noteworthy contributions to their chosen professions while overcoming significant obstacles or barriers to the completion of their education and/or obstacles in their careers.

Our Bertha Lamme Feicht Award winners are individuals who have raised the bar high for a life of achievement. Despite a diagnosis for severe Dyslexia and Attention Deficit Disorder, Steven Arndt’s accomplishments have included earning a Six Sigma black belt, publishing more than 80 journal and conference papers, becoming a technical reviewer for a dozen journals related to nuclear technology and engineering, and service as a Lieutenant Colonel of the Maryland Defense Force. he has also been a member of various NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) committees and a program evaluator for ABet(Accreditation Board for engineering and technology). he and co-recipient James Duffy have never permitted the obstacles they encountered to become boundaries to success. the 1990 motorcycle accident that occurred when Duffy was a sophomore at Ohio State may have caused a slight delay in his graduation plans, but it never slowed down his desire to learn or ability to teach. his professional career has included a turn as a mechanical designer at texas Instruments, a lead design engineer for a top telecommunications company; as a systems engineer for a contractor supporting NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Duffy completed his master’s degree in industrial and manufacturing systems engineering via distance-learning classes at Ohio University in Athens in 2008 and is now an aerospace engineer at the Marshall Space Flight Center. Now 21 years after his life-changing accident, Duffy continues to live by the motto “Always stay current, always keep learning. education is the means to achieve a fruitful life.”

Daniel Smith, ’82 BSMe was presented the Alan gregory loofbourrow Business Achievement Award. this award is given to alumni who have distinguished themselves in their chosen business or industry. In October 2009, Dan Smith became the vice president of honda engineering North America, honda’s in-house engineering company responsible for production equipment development. Previously, Smith served as the plant manager of the Anna, Ohio engine Plant. Prior to that, he was the plant manager of the east Liberty, Ohio Auto Plant. his rapid and successive

Alumni & Undergraduate Awardsthe annual Spring honors and Awards Ceremony, held this past April, honored the accomplishments of mechanical engineering, nuclear engineering, and engineering mechanics alumni, current undergraduates and faculty.

promotions in engineering at honda prompted the Japan Ministry of transport to honor him as a factory chief inspecting engineer. Before joining honda of America, Smith was a reliability engineer with the Cummins engine Company.

marion smith service Award: David Meredith ’72 BSMe. this award is presented to alumni who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to their community, the University and/or society. Over the past 20 years, Meredith has been committed to encouraging students to consider Science, technology, engineering, and Math (SteM) careers through myriad activities sponsored by the Fayette Chapter of the Pennsylvania Society of Professional engineers. he has served as advisor to a co-ed explorer Post, which is focused on promoting careers in engineering. In 1990, he developed a “space experience” summer camp for grade school students, which has been attended by well over 750 students. he also co-founded “engineering Days” (or e-Days) for area middle school students so that they might better experience the world of engineering. In 2000, he initiated an academic competition for 9th and 10th graders in which teams of students solve engineering problems. And somehow he has also found time to volunteer at local career fairs and career days; to take on leadership roles with his local Boy Scouts organization; and to speak at local community groups on topics ranging from energy conservation to the production of hi-tech products made in or around Uniontown.

Charles Kettering lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Leonard Senkfor, ’51 BMe. Of the many accolades associated with Senkfor, perhaps being recognized as one of the world’s foremost experts in bevel gear manufacturing nears the top of the list. how he became an expert in gear manufacturing truly begins with his service to our country. Leonard joined the Navy in 1944 and saw active duty in the South Pacific during World War II. his military service qualified him for the GI Bill and so he entered Ohio State, where he eventually earned his engineering degree. his first professional position was with Skidmore Gear. After 12 years with Skidmore he moved to Bedford Gear rising to the rank of General Manager there. In 1970 he founded Precision Gear. the business of manufacturing custom pitch gears for a number of industries grew

significantly and many major US companies came to rely on Precision Gear for its expertise in gear design. During the course of his career, he has been actively involved with American Gear Manufacturers Association. As a testament to his vision for Precision Gear, his two sons later joined him in the business. While Leonard retired in 2004, he continues to work in leadership roles with several charities and to administer his family’s charitable foundation.

fACultY & gtA AWArds

Professor Giorgio Rizzoni was presented the teaching excellence Award by Dr. Lynn Faulkner of the department’s external Advisory Board. In his presentation remarks, Dr. Faulkner noted that Professor Rizzoni has twice before earned the teaching excellence Award and continues to be nominated and selected for the award because of the glowing student remarks made in course evaluations and other inputs that factor into the award selection process.

Pi tau Sigma President Jonathan Davis presented the honor society’s annual Above and Beyond teaching Award to Assistant Professor Lisa Abrams.

the recipient of the annual graduate teaching Associate Award was Michael hudoba, and Michelle Wilson was a finalist for the honor.

undergrAduAte AWArds

outstanding research Awards were presented by Department Chairperson Cheena Srinivasan. the award recipients, chosen for their research accomplishments, included: Neil Figurella, Ron taulbee, and Adam Miller.

top Academic Awards were presented by Amy Wolfinger of the Mechanical engineering Alumni Society (MeAS), to the following six students: Freshmen Scott Koch, Andrew Stryker, and ethan Lane; Sophomore Bo Jiang; Junior James Brenneman; and Senior travis Walker.

the rob Wolf outstanding senior Award, established in memory Rob Wolf, ‘97 BSMe, recognizes a senior who excels academically while taking an active role in department, college, university or community organizations. the award, presented by selection committee member Prof. Alison Sheets-Singer and MeAS member Amy Wolfinger, went to

Steven engelhaupt. Finalists for the award were Laura Christobeck and travis Walker.

As an undergraduate, Steven engelhaupt served as the President of Sigma Phi epsilon fraternity. he has been a participant in several short-term service projects, and while volunteering at a homeless shelter, Steven noticed how difficult it was for many homeless people to keep what little they have together. to help resolve this problem, Steven created the Steven engelhaupt Charitable Foundation. his Bags 4 All program has issued over 4,550 bags to homeless throughout the state of Ohio. Steven has served multiple rotations as an intern at Proctor and Gamble. he is now pursuing his master’s degree in mechanical engineering at Ohio State.

Beginning in her freshman and sophomore years, when she was inducted into Alpha Lambda Delta/Phi eta Sigma and Romophos honorary societies as well as the Women in engineering organization, Laura Christobeck became actively involved on campus and in the Columbus community. the support she gained in these groups helped Laura in her involvement with the Undergraduate Student Government. After serving as a First-year Intern, Laura was then elected as Senator for the College of engineering and served as the USG Chief of Staff. She completed three internships with Proctor and Gamble Baby Care engineering, which led to the full-time job offer she received from the Baby Care engineering group.

travis Walker distinguished himself as a member of Alpha Lamda Delta/Phi eta Sigma national honors societies and Pi tau Sigma. through his position on the Board of the Ohio State Campus Chapter for habitat for humanity, he secured lodging, transportation and food for his fellow OSU volunteers during three spring break service trips in Missouri, Mississippi, and North Carolina. As a member of the Ohio Union Activities Board, travis built wheel chair ramps and worked at a tennessee food pantry. A gifted scholar, travis served as an undergraduate teaching assistant and gained additional experience in the field of engineering at his internships at Rockwell Automation and DNV Columbus. he is now a master’s degree student working as a research assistant in the department’s Smart Materials and Structures Laboratory.

WalkerChristobeckRizzoni Wilson

Hudoba EngelhauptAbramsDuffy

Arndt SmithMeredithVijayakarBaker

Marshall Dimarco Senkfor

8 9

Samimy Receives Distinguished Scholar AwardDr. Mohammad Samimy was presented the University Distinguished Scholar Award during a surprise visit by Ohio State President e. Gordon Gee at a department gathering in March. the award is in recognition of Dr. Samimy’s exceptional scholarly accomplishments and research activities. Also on hand for the surprise presentation were Vice President for Research Caroline Whitacre, Senior Associate Vice President for Research Jan Weisenberger, College of engineering Associate Dean Stuart Zweben, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace engineering Chair K. Cheena Srinivasan, and other department faculty members. A reception in Dr. Samimy’s honor immediately followed the award presentation.

the University Distinguished Scholar Award recognizes and honors six faculty members who demonstrate scholarly activity, research, or other creative works which represent exceptional achievements in their fields. Recipients of the award receive a $20,000 research grant and a $3,000 honorarium to pursue their scholarly activity. Dr. Samimy along with the other five faculty members chosen for the award were publicly honored during a subsequent awards ceremony in April.

Dr. Samimy’s research has focused on fundamental physical understanding of fluid flows in engineering applications using experimental and analytical tools. he has made significant contributions in several areas including compressible turbulence, flow/acoustic control, and laser based flow diagnostics. During the course of his career at Ohio State, Dr. Samimy has supervised approximately 75 doctoral, masters, and honors BS students and postdoctoral researchers. these students and researchers have collectively received roughly fifty national and university fellowships (including fellowships from NSF, NASA, the Air Force, and Navy, and Ohio Space Grant Scholarships, Ohio State University Presidential Fellowships, Postdoctoral Fellowships, and single and multi-year Graduate Fellowships).

Dr. Srinivasan noted, “Mo Samimy exemplifies excellence in scholarship and research, of course, but couples it with an extraordinary dedication to mentoring his students for success.” the University Distinguished Scholar Award, which was established in 1978, is supported by the Ohio State Office of Research. Recipients are nominated by their departments and chosen by a committee of senior faculty, including several past recipients of the award.

Dr. Samimy, who has been a member of the department since 1985, is a Fellow of the American Institute Of Aeronautics And Astronautics, the American Physical Society, the American Association For Advancement Science, and the American Society Of Mechanical engineers. he is the second member of the department to receive the award since 2007.

Samimy and Kahraman Appointed to Named Professorships the Ohio State University College of engineering has appointed two faculty members from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace engineering to named professorships. Dr. Mohammad Samimy has been named the John B. Nordholt endowed Professor and Dr. Ahmet Kahraman has been appointed as a howard D. Winbigler designated professor. Both appointments will be effective July 1, 2011.

“I am delighted that two of our faculty members have been recognized by the College of engineering as

deserving of these honors. their contributions to the department, college and university have helped us to earn an outstanding reputation for research, teaching and scholarship,” said K. “Cheena” Srinivasan, Chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace engineering.

earlier this year, Dr. Mohammad Samimy was presented the University Distinguished Scholar Award, which recognizes and honors faculty members who demonstrate scholarly activity, research, or other creative works that represent exceptional achievements in their fields. A member of the department since 1985, Dr. Samimy is a Fellow of the American Institute Of Aeronautics And Astronautics, the American Physical Society, the American Association For Advancement Science, and the American Society Of Mechanical engineers. Dr. Samimy is also the Director of Ohio State’s Aeronautical and Astronautical Research Lab. his research

has focused on fundamental physical understanding of fluid flows in engineering applications using experimental and analytical tools. he has made significant contributions in several areas including compressible turbulence, flow/acoustic control, and laser based flow diagnostics. Dr. Samimy received a master’s degree and PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Samimy had been a howard D. Winbigler Professor within the College of engineering.

Dr. Ahmet Kahraman has been a member of the department since 2003 and is a Fellow of the American Society Of Mechanical engineers. In 2009, Dr. Kahraman received the Ohio State University Alumni Award for Distinguished teaching. Nominations for the Distinguished teaching award are submitted by current and former students and colleagues and are chosen by a committee of alumni, students and faculty. Dr. Kahraman is also the Director of Gleason Gear and Power transmission Research Laboratory at Ohio State as well as the Director of the Pratt & Whitney Center of excellence in Gearbox technology. he has published nearly 70 journal papers and 30 refereed conference proceedings. Dr. Kahraman received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from the Middle east technical University in turkey and his doctorate from Ohio State. Prior to joining Ohio State, he was an Associate Professor of Mechanical engineering at the University of toledo.

Mazumder elected As Fellow of ASMeSandip Mazumder, associate professor of mechanical engineering, was recently elected as Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical engineers (ASMe). Mazumder was recognized for his distinguished contributions in three important mechanical engineering fields: his early groundbreaking work on the interactions between turbulence and thermal radiation remains the foundation for this important topic in the field of combustion; his rigorous models of PeM fuel cells have had great impact and have been used by many researchers and are widely cited, and his pioneering work on application of the Monte Carlo method to solution of the Boltzmann transport equation for phonons forms the basis of later research by others.

Nuclear engineering Faculty Awarded $1.5 Million in Nuclear energy University Programs Funding

the Department of energy (DOe) has notified two Nuclear engineering Program (NeP) faculty within the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace engineering that it will award three grants worth a combined $1.5 million to fund their research through the Nuclear energy University Programs (NeUP) initiative. Professor tunc Aldemir is the Principal Investigator (PI) for two of the Ohio State projects awarded DOe funding. his projects titled, “Pathway Aggregation (Clustering) in the

Risk Assessment of Proliferation Resistance and Physical Protection of Nuclear energy Systems” and “Methodology Development for Passive Component Reliability Modeling in a Multi-Physics Simulation environment” will each receive funding of over $533,000 across two years. Also receiving DOe funding is Assistant Professor Lei (Raymond) Cao, NeP, for the project titled, “A high temperature-tolerant and Radiation-resistant In-core Neutron Sensor for Advanced Reactors.” Cao’s project will be funded across three years for over $455,000.

Dapino to Develop New Manufacturing System with Wright Project AwardProfessor Marcelo Dapino has received a $1.22 million award from the Ohio third Frontier Wright Project Program to develop an advanced manufacturing technology for fabricating novel smart materials and structures. the project title is Integrated Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing and Laser Machining for Realization of Novel Smart Structures. the award will support the establishment of a new manufacturing facility on the Ohio State campus. A commercialization program associated with the award will be carried out by edison Welding Institute (Columbus, Ohio) in collaboration with Solidica Corporation, the Boeing Company, Velocys, the National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center on Smart Vehicle Concepts, Polytec, honda R&D Americas, Parker Aerospace, Dukane, and Intelligent Assembly Solutions. this is one of only three Wright Project grants awarded in fiscal year 2011.

engineers, Medical Researchers Receive $1.134 Million National Grant to Study Knee Replacement Outcomes

Assistant Professor Robert Siston of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace engineering has been awarded a four-year, $1.134 million National Institutes of health grant to study patient functionality and clinical outcomes following total knee replacement (also known as total knee arthroplasty, tKA), a common surgical

procedure used to treat degenerative joint diseases such as osteoarthritis. Working in collaboration with his co-investigators from the Ohio State University College of Medicine, Siston will explore potential causes for the wide gap that separates those patients who cannot perform the basic activities of daily living, like comfortably climbing stairs, to those who can go back to activities they enjoy such as hiking, golfing or playing tennis after a total knee replacement procedure. this award, granted through the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Division of the National Institutes of health, is called an R01 Research Project grant.

Sutton Receives NSF CAReeR Awardthis past winter, Assistant Professor Jeffrey Sutton, a faculty member since 2008, won a prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) CAReeR Award. the $400,000 award will be funded over five years and will aid Sutton’s research for “A New Understanding of Flame Dynamics and turbulence-Chemistry Interaction from 2D/3D/4D Spatio-temporal Measurements.” the objective of this research is to quantify the time-dependent coupling among the highly unsteady flowfield, species concentrations, local temperature, and reaction rates in turbulent flames.

Canova, Castro and Su Join MAe Facultymarcello Canova joined the department at the beginning of Fall Quarter 2010. Prior to accepting his Assistant Professorship as Ohio State, he had been a visiting scholar, research associate, and later a research scientist at Ohio State’s Center for Automotive Research (CAR). Canova received a MS in mechanical engineering in 2002 from the University of Parma; he also received his PhD in mechanical engineering from the university in 2006. this past academic year he taught Me502 thermodynamics and Me 627 Introduction to turbomachinery. he is a 2010 recipient of the Society of Automotive engineer’s Vincent Bendix Automotive electronics engineering Award. Since 2002 he has been the co-author of at least 29 papers submitted to conferences held here and in europe and South Korea.

Carlos Castro joined the department as an assistant professor earlier this year. Prior to relocating to Columbus, he was a post-doctoral researcher at the technical University of Munich, and recipient of the humboldt fellowship. An Ohio State alumnus, Castro earned his BS and MS in Me in 2005. he completed his PhD at MIt.

his post-doctoral research was in the field of DNA nanotechnology, focusing on building tools to facilitate and enable new experiments for the study of biological systems, using a technique called DNA origami, whereby DNA can be assembled into nanostructures with a pre-determined shape. he is currently working to build a sensor to test the dynamic behavior of single molecules. Many biomolecules exhibit conformational changes as a part of their physiological function. the goal of his work in Germany was to build a nanoscale sensor from DNA origami that was capable of measuring the displacements and dynamics of single molecules, in particular, proteins.

haijun su joins the department as an assistant professor this fall. he has been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County since 2007. Su received his BS and MS in Me from Beijing University of Posts & telecommunications in Beijing, China and his PhD from the University of California, Irvine’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace engineering.

Last summer, Su was appointed a Summer Faculty Fellow at the Air Force Research Laboratory. he was a post-doctoral associate in mechanical engineering at Iowa State University. In 2010, he received ASMe International’s Freudenstein/GM young Investigator award. his research interests cover a broad spectrum of design process from conceptual design through detailed design and prototyping. his research goal is to systemize design innovation by incorporating both (quantitative) design science and (qualitative) design art aspects into the design process and to apply these powerful tools to a range of design applications where kinematics and mechanisms play a central role.

KahramanSamimy

10

Assistant Professor Robert Siston has been awarded a four-year, $1.134 million National Institutes of health

grant to study patient functionality and clinical outcomes following total knee replacement surgery.

Assistant Professor Lei (Raymond) Cao (left) and graduate student Padhraic Mulligan (right) stand next to the high-

vacuum chamber designed by Mulligan. the chamber provides an irradiation environment for detector evaluation

and neutron sensitive material characterization.

Faculty NewS

Faculty Retirementstwo mechanical engineering professors retired from teaching this past year. Retiring in April was henry (hank) Busby, followed at the end of June by Gary Kinzel, who also served as the Associate Department Chair. Professor Busby had been a member of the department since the spring of 1982 and Professor Kinzel joined the department in the fall of 1978.

two of hank Busby’s former students and fellow faculty members shared thoughts about Professor Busby. “I’ve no doubt that some students thought hank could be intimidating, but I knew him to be very supportive. he was truly dedicated to imparting principles of mechanical engineering and always had the best interests of students at heart,” said Associate Professor Blaine Lilly. “he held students to high standards and embraced those who lived up to those standards. Personally, I’m very appreciative of the graduate school

and career advice he offered,” added Assistant Professor Carlos Castro.

Professor Kinzel is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical engineers (ASMe), and received several career awards in 2005, including Ohio State’s Alumni Award For Distinguished teaching, the American Society of engineering education’s Ralph Coates Roe Award, and ASMe’s Ruth & Joel Spira Outstanding educator Award.

On the occasion of Professor Kinzel’s retirement, Dept. Chair Cheena Srinivasan commented, “Gary has been a principal force for changing our educational culture from one of weeding out the students to one of helping

students succeed. Such personal integrity, coupled with concern for the student, does not go unnoticed. Many is the time that I have heard former students of our department attribute their decisions to stay in engineering school despite the difficulties they faced, to go to graduate school, or to aspire to enter the academic profession and higher education, to their very positive individual interactions with Gary Kinzel.”

Staff Retirementsthe Department of Mechanical and Aerospace engineering’s long-time machinist and Research Machine Shop Lab Supervisor Gary Gardner retired at the end of January. Gardner began his career at Ohio State in 1981. his retirement plans include many more visits to the John C. Campbell Folk School, located in Brasstown, North Carolina, to further his interests as a woodworking hobbyist. the Folk School has been a favorite vacation destination for Gardner and his wife Joy over the past several years. Later this summer, the

Student Machine Shop will be co-located with the Research Machine Shop when the Student Machine Shop moves to the first floor of Scott Lab.

Replacing Gardner is Chad Bivens. A certified tradesman of Sinclair Community College, Bivens worked for 15 years at estee Mold in Dayton, building and repairing molds for the automotive, military, medical, and aerospace industries. he also owned and operated his own business, Velocity Mold, for five years.

Lester (Les) Barnhart, Senior Director of Development assigned to the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace engineering since April 2000, retired at the end of April. Barhart was an employee of the university for nearly 26 years, having served in various capacities for the Office of University Development. During his time with the department, Les connected department faculty to our many alumni, and we plan to build on these relationships in the years to come.

Debbie Schroeder has filled the vacancy left by Barnhart. her previous positions with Ohio State include development roles in the College of education and human ecology and the President’s Club/Special Gifts. She earned an MBA and BS in Psychology and Communication Management from the University of Dayton. ”

“Ernest O. Doebelin, who taught mechanical engineering from 1954 to 2010, died November 10, 2010. He received his graduate degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Ohio State (MS '54 and PhD '58). Professor Doebelin originated the OSU curriculum in system dynamics, measurement and control, and developed eight courses in this area, from sophomore to PhD level. He also authored 12 textbooks for use in these courses. While a

faculty member at Ohio State he received several awards, including the Ohio State Alumni award for teaching in 1966, American Society for Engineering Education Award for Excellence in Laboratory Teaching in 1987, McQuigg Award of the OSU College of Engineering in 1977, Pi Tau Sigma Award in 1990, and a special recognition from the OSU Mechanical Engineering Department Industrial Advisory Board in 1992. “Ernie Doebelin brought the practice of engineering to the classroom and to our students in a way that few others have done,” said Cheena Srinivasan, chairperson of the department. “He would research commercial products and systems of interest thoroughly, communicate with their designers and developers in great detail, and relate the underlying engineering to the principles being taught in the classroom, quantitatively and comprehensively. He made engineering tangible to the student.”

Emeritus Professor Denny Guenther paid tribute to Doebelin as well, “I always told my graduate students to enroll in Professor Doebelin’s graduate level classes as they would be very useful in their engineering career. He made the understanding of mechanical measurement systems and their usefulness clear and concise such that the student would take that with them into their job. Indeed, many students often relayed their appreciation to me for having taken Doebelin’s class. Ernie was an engineer’s engineer.”

Faculty Memorial: Ernest O. Doebelin

Ernest O. Doebelin & Ohio State timeline | In remembrance of Professor Doebelin, Professor Emeritus Michael Moran prepared a timeline of Doebelin’s career achievements. In Moran’s own words, “When a career spans 56 years, as in the case of Ernest Doebelin, it is helpful to keep his major achievements in perspective relative to events—momentous and whimsical—that are often used when thinking of the passage of time.”

1954

Finishes his MS program and begins his Ohio State teaching career.

Woody Hayes leads the Buckeyes to an undefeated season and Woody’s first football National Championship

1966

Publishes Measurement Systems: Application and Design and receives Ohio State Alumni Award for Outstanding Teaching

1972

Publishes Systems Dynamics

1977

Receives College of Engineering

MacQuigg Teaching Award

1958

Completes his PhD program

1961

Berlin wall is erected

1962

Publishes Dynamic Analysis and Feedback Control

Nelson Mandela is imprisoned

1969

Manned Moon landing

1978

Woody Hayes ends Ohio State coaching career

1985

Publishes Control System Principles and Design

Windows 1.0 is released

1980

Publishes System Modeling and Response

1987

Receives ASEE Award for Excellence in Laboratory Teaching

1989

Fall of Berlin Wall

1990

Receives Pi Tau Sigma Teaching Award

Nelson Mandela is released

1992

Receives Department of Mechanical Engineering Teaching Award

1995

Publishes Engineering Experimentation

The name ‘euro’ is adopted for the currency of the European Union

1998

Publishes Systems Dynamic Modeling

2005

Hurricane Katrina is costliest U.S. natural disaster

2010

Publishes Instrumentation Design Studies

Kinzel

Gardner

Barnhart

remembrance of ernie doebelin by Professor Emeritus Don Houser

When I first came to interview for a faculty position at Ohio State

in 1968, one of my professors at the University of Wisconsin had

commented that he was in the process of adapting Doebelin’s

Measurement Systems book for an undergraduate course. Then, as my

interview was near its completion I met for the first time with Ernie.

In typical Doebelin fashion, there was no mincing of words when he

said: “Don’t let the talk of the other faculty fool you, when you get here,

you will not be teaching machine design but will be teaching courses

in system dynamics, controls and measurements.” And that is certainly

what came to pass.

His controls book was one of the first written for mechanical engineers,

as most earlier controls books were written for electrical engineers. I

rate his measurements book as being a truly great book; it is, literally,

like an encyclopedia of mechanical measurements that goes into great

detail on the theory and modeling of measurement devices and systems.

The book is now in its eighth edition and has been translated into

many languages.

But in my opinion, the most outstanding skill of Professor Doebelin was

his ability to create student-friendly experiments that were designed to

show, in real hardware, the principles being taught in each course that

he developed. If one simply adds up the experiments that he developed

in undergraduate required courses for ME 281 (now ME 481), ME

482, ME 571, ME 570 and the four upper level courses he taught on a

regular basis, one comes up with something like 50 experiments.

13

Busby

Faculty Memorial: James E.A. JohnJames E. A. John, former Chairperson of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Ohio State from 1976 to 1983, passed away November 28, 2010. He graduated from Princeton University and received his PhD from the University of Maryland. His career in higher education and collegiate administration also included terms as Dean of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Chair of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Toledo; and President of Kettering University in Flint, Michigan. He also served on the Board of the National Commission for Cooperative Education. John authored popular engineering textbooks on thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and gas dynamics, some of which are still in use today.

Faculty Memorial: William E. Clausen William E. Clausen, a 30 year faculty member of the department of Engineering Mechanics, later Mechanical Engineering, passed away August 10, 2011. His specialty was structural dynamics and vibration measurements. Clausen was co-author of the last three editions of Beer and Johnston’s classic textbook of “Vector Mechanics for Engineers-Dynamics”. “He was such a great teacher and cared so much about his students,” recalled Prem Kumar, former student advisor in the department. His passion in life was music. He was an accomplished organist and pianist and was organist-choirmaster at St. John Episcopal Church in Lancaster, Ohio for 25 years. He studied in 1981 at the Royal School of Church Music in England. He was an active member of the Columbus Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Clausen was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa honorary, Columbus Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, St. John Episcopal Church in Lancaster, Ohio, American Radio Relay League (call sign W8IMI), and supporter of the Mid-Ohio Food Bank.

RetiRemeNtS

recipe for construction of a Passivhaus. however, our entry is close to the Passivhaus standard with some compromises made in order to maintain a relatively low overall construction cost.”

the result of building toward these extremely strict heating load and air tightness guidelines is the need for a radically different hVAC system. the loads are, in fact, so small that a conventional system would not be effective or efficient. O’Kelly continued, “What we have designed was initially centered around a newly available heat pump from Daikin. the Altherma system allows for heating, cooling, and domestic hot water production all in one unit. tempered air is circulated and exchanged with fresh air through an air handler and an energy recovery ventilator” While the heat pump could meet all heating and cooling needs, Kramer, McCoy, and Aung were asked to try to integrate solar hot air collectors into the hVAC design. these collectors are actually very simple devices constructed much like a window with a black absorber plate blocking the viewing plane. In fact, in another class, Associate Professor Walter had several students build a hot air collector using window glass and some empty soda cans.

the capstone team was able to connect the hot air system to two devices that operate at different times of the year. In the summer and late spring, the system is used to regenerate a desiccant dehumidification wheel. this wheel helps to dry air sent through the air handler, thus reducing the load on the cooling coil. In the winter, the system is coupled to a phase change material plenum. this plenum acts like a thermal battery. When fully charged the plenum is able to supply the air handler with a boost of stored, solar hot air for up to 30 hours.

Associate Professor Walter expects the enCORe team to make the most of the fact that they are repeat decathlon contestants. Getting the perspectives of those who viewed Ohio State’s 2009 entry was valuable to returning decathlete ellen Gentry. “everyone that visited our house was looking for something different and had questions about different

aspects of the house. It really challenged me and taught me how to explain each concept in different ways so that many people could understand. For example, some people needed quantifiable evidence that our house was net-zero, so we would show them the readout from our monitoring systems. Other people wanted to know how they could implement our technologies in their house, so we would talk about retrofitting and the best options that got the shortest payback time. Participating in the Solar Decathlon competition was the most challenging and the most incredibly rewarding experience of my life, which is why I can’t wait to go back for the 2011 competition,” said Gentry.

Results of the competition will be posted on the department’s web site at mae.osu.edu in early October.

If you would like to donate to the cost of constructing the Ohio State Solar Decathlon house, please visit www.giveto.osu.edu/solardecathlon.

For more information about the senior year capstone design course, see the related article on page 3.

When Ohio State’s Solar Decathlon team

arrives in Washington, D.C. in late September

and begins the process of settling its solar

house on D.C. soil, it will have effectively

moved from one “Ohio” location to another.

This year’s competition will take place in the

National Mall’s West Potomac Park, located

just off of Ohio Drive – providing a pseudo

address that the OSU team, no doubt,

considers a good omen for their repeat

decathlon appearance.

Shortly after the eco-friendly structure

is reassembled on the banks of the West

Potomac River, it and the 18 other sun-

powered structures will compete in a series

of ten contests that assess the performance,

livability, and affordability of each home. The

15 domestic and 4 international collegiate

decathlon teams will earn competition

points through successful completion of

typical household tasks such as cooking,

washing dishes, and doing laundry; through

monitored performance of the house’s

mechanical systems such as maintaining a

comfortable (71°–76°F) indoor temperature

range; and for more subjective features of

the home such as aesthetics and design

inspiration.

the enCORe team considers its entry to be a family-friendly solution reducing residential energy needs. Some of enCORe’s unique features include:

• high-efficiency, triple-pane, gas-filled windows

• Super-insulated walls designed to Passive house Institute standards

• A sloped roof to collect rainwater and a bioremediation system to filter and recycle greywater, which is typically the water drained from dishwashers, showers, and washing machines.

• A solar hot air system that uses phase-change technology to reduce heating and cooling loads by up to 20%

• A cost-effective solar array that consists of a flat-plate hot water collector and thin-film PV panels, which can be effective even under overcast skies

• An adjustable screening system that serves as a rain screen and enhances the aesthetic identity of the house.

the floor plan utilizes a sophisticated central core that contains the house’s plumbing, mechanicals and systems. Graduate Me student Matt O’Kelly pointed out that, in keeping with Solar Decathlon rules, all contest entries, including Ohio State’s enCORe structure, comply with accessible design standards. he also noted that, enCORe, like several other entries, features a flat roof (and a separate, angled structure for photovoltaic panels) that plays into the building’s contemporary design aesthetic and makes shipping the house easier, especially given the 12-to-13-ft. bridge clearances encountered on the road trip to Washington. D.C.

the range of contest requirements and team-member responsibilities makes Decathlon participation an exceptionally rich learning experience. Students Brett Kramer, Joel McCoy, and Phyo Aung designed the enCORe hVAC system as part of a senior year interdisciplinary capstone design course. O’Kelly added, “Associate Professor Mark Walter (an enCORe advisor) and I discussed the direction of the hVAC system at length during the proposal stage of the project. We had determined that the house would adhere closely to “Passivhaus” (Passive house) standards. this set of standards deals with air-tightness requirements as well as maximum acceptable heating loads. Due to climate variability, there is no exact

enCore to

from ohio state to ohio drive [move]

14 15

or engineering but I’d have to say my favorite so far is twitter. I’m new to it, but it’s pretty entertaining to tweet nonsense back and forth with my teammates. You can follow me at @rollinwitholen.

Q: When do you expect to graduate?

A: I will not be graduating until spring of 2013. I redshirted my freshman year (2008-2009) so I still have two more years left. It is certainly not bad stretching out the ME degree over five years though, especially with a sport on the side. I’m in no rush to leave Ohio State. I can’t imagine life getting much better than it is here.

the OSU Men’s Volleyball team

will begin play again in January

at St. John Arena. Admission to

OSU season volleyball matches is

free. Check the OSU Athletics web

site for scheduled dates and start

times. www.ohiostatebuckeyes.

com

the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace

engineering is proud of all its student athletes,

and most especially the success enjoyed by John

tholen, mechanical engineering undergraduate and

member of Ohio State’s 2011 NCAA Men’s Volleyball

Championship team. We caught up with John when

he had a moment to catch his breath, after the

volleyball season ended and spring quarter exams

were completed.

Q: When did you know that you wanted to pursue a mechanical engineering degree?

A: I actually didn’t decide on ME until after the end of my freshman year. I spent my first year as an exploration major and finally landed on mechanical engineering after almost picking about a half dozen other majors. My parents always said I should be an engineer because I excelled at math and physics and was intrigued by how things worked growing up. At first I didn’t know if I wanted to deal with all the work of both engineering and a varsity sport but after experiencing some easy classes in other majors I knew I actually wanted this challenge and to learn as much as possible in my time here.

Q: What branch/concentration of mechanical engineering are you most interested in?

A: System dynamics interests me the most so far out of the material I have covered. I enjoy working with tangible parts and systems similar to things I see in everyday life and like the physics side of engineering.

Q: How did volleyball get to be your sport?

A: I used to run track but freshman year of high school an injury was hindering me there and a kid in gym class who was on the volleyball team suggested I give his sport a try because of my height. I never planned on it becoming what it was, but the guys I was playing with were great and the coaches had such a passion for the game that it was contagious. Those guys became my best friends and it didn’t take me long to fall in love with volleyball. It’s an addicting game and what I consider to be the ultimate team sport.

Q: Best thing about being on the 2011 Championship team?

A: The best thing about being on the 2011 national championship team is sense of pride that comes with accomplishing something of this scale. I was born and raised in Columbus so I’ve been a Buckeye for life, and to think that I was part of one of only 23 teams to win it all makes me feel so proud. It was a huge moment for Ohio State and men’s volleyball as a whole as the sport has been dominated by the west coast since it’s been around. We were carrying the flag for our school and an entire region. It is something every athlete dreams of and best of all I have a chance to repeat next year!

Q: What was the biggest surprise of the season?

A: The biggest surprise of this season was without a doubt the way the final four played out. To get to the national championship we beat Penn State on their home court, in the exact same gym where we had lost 25-9 to them a few weeks before. On the other side of the bracket University of California, Santa Barbara, who was nearly .500 and barely made the playoffs, beat University of Southern California, who was ranked first all season and had only lost 2 matches in the entire regular season. Although it wasn’t an upset in our book not a single person outside of Columbus or Santa Barbara picked that matchup for the National Championship game, which made it all the sweeter.

Q: Will you be involved in the OSU volleyball summer camps for grades 7 to 12?

A: This summer I will be interning with Mettler Toledo so I will not have the chance to work the camp, although I did work it the past two years. We get to directly coach the campers, leading practice sessions and each

coaching a team in a tournament on the last day. It is a great way to try and build the sport around here and get more kids involved, something that I’m hoping our national title will help with as well.

Q: Do you expect to continue to play after college, if so, in what format?

A: I don’t expect to continue playing after college except recreationally and in some adult indoor or sand volleyball tournaments. There are some great leagues that are not too hard to get into overseas where volleyball is a little more popular, and a couple of my teammates are doing that. To play professionally here in the US your only option is beach volleyball, but it’s a tough gig to make money in unless you’re one of the top guys.

Q: Favorite volleyball term?

A: My favorite volleyball term is probably “stuff block.” Nothing feels quite as good as blocking someone’s attack straight down into the floor, and it also happens to be how we won match point of the national championship match.

Q: Do you expect to continue as middle blocker next season?

A: I will be playing middle blocker again next season. We lost a great 5th year senior at the position in Kevin Heine along with several other starters. We have a very solid group of seniors though so if I can step in and have half the impact he did, we’ll be doing pretty well.

Q: If you’re a smart phone or tablet user, do you have a favorite app -- maybe one that’s designed for engineers or volleyball players?

A: I just recently upgraded to the iPhone so I haven’t gotten to explore all of the apps yet or found any related too much to volleyball

this Volleyball

Champ digsengineering

16 17

New Dean for College of engineeringthis past April, Dr. David B. Williams became the new Dean of the College of engineering at Ohio State. Formerly president of the University of Alabama at huntsville, Williams is a native of Leeds, england, and holds BA, MA, PhD, and ScD degrees from the University of Cambridge.

“We are very fortunate to have attracted David Williams to Ohio State,” said President e. Gordon Gee. “he has a superb track record as a scholar and an academic leader, and he has created substantial partnerships to spur innovation and the commercialization of faculty discoveries. Dr. Williams will build on the strong progress made by Greg Washington in his service as interim dean.”

“I know that the College of engineering and the university community join me in thanking him [Greg Washington] for his superb dedication, energy, and leadership as interim dean. Under his leadership, the college has progressed significantly.”

Before joining the University of Alabama at huntsville in 2007, Williams spent 30 years at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. At Lehigh, he earned extensive academic research and administrative credentials, serving as professor of materials science and engineering and in many administrative posts. his research and administrative experiences were strongly supported by many federal agencies, including NASA and the U.S. Army.

Greg Washington, who served as interim dean for the previous three years, recently accepted the position of Dean of the henri Samueli School of engineering at the University of California, Irvine. Washington joined the Me department in 1995 as assistant professor, was promoted to associate professor in 2000 and professor in 2004. In 2005, he assumed the role of associate dean for research in the College of engineering and was named interim dean in 2008. We thank Greg for his many years of service to the department, the college, and the university, and wish him well at UC Irvine.

As you may surmise, the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering is investing considerable resources to prepare for the switch to semesters next year.

The sophomore design class and the senior year capstone course, featured on pages 2 and 3, are but two components of a larger vision of a renewed ME curriculum to be implemented a little over a year from now.

As noted in the Chairperson’s newsletter to alumni last December, at no other time have we attempted to simultaneously alter to a significant extent a dozen required courses and six elective courses. Implementation of these changes will incur costs associated with faculty effort during the summer months when they are not compensated, graduate associate costs, equipment acquisition costs, and costs involved in third-party evaluation and assessment of the changes. A little more than $ 2 M is needed for implementation, of which $ 0.75 M is being covered by the department

as part of the normal overhead incurred in the semester conversion, leaving $ 1.28 M to be raised from other sources. As noted in the 2010 year-end newsletter, Ralph Rockow (BS, MS, ’58) has graciously pledged half of the needed amount. His pledge includes a matching component in the form of a challenge, with the provision that we raise the remaining half, namely $640,000, from other sources.

We are most especially thankful for and keenly aware of the efforts of those who are aiding us in this activity. To assist us in completing the work that must be done to reform the curriculum, please consider a gift to the ME Curriculum Reform Fund (313090). Donations may be made online at giveto.osu.edu or via this newsletter’s pledge form insert.

With your assistance, we will be able to seize the opportunity afforded by our switch to semesters and maximize the impact of this change, and be among the national leaders in re-tooling mechanical engineering undergraduate education.

CurriCulum reform FUND

1960s

Frederick B. Buoni, MS '67 and PhD in NE '71, retired from Florida Institute of Technology in 1999. At the time of his retirement, he was Associate Dean of Engineering and Interim Dean of the Graduate School. He enjoys singing with several local choruses and will participate in the Festival of the Aegean on Syros Island, Greece, this summer. Married Dr. Mary Buoni, on May 1, 2010.

Richard Hammond, '69, retired as Plant Manager, Bekaert Corporation, Rome, Georgia in 2007. Since then, has served, part time, as Project Leader for the Northwest Georgia ‘Auto Alley’ Work Ready Region, a workforce development initiative organized under the Georgia Governors Office of Workforce Development.

Frank W. McNabb, '60, is a professor at University of Connecticut teaching Entrepreneurship. He also serves on the Board of Directors for: the University of Vermont Business School; Windham Hospital, Willimantic, CT; University of CT/Mansfield CT/State & Federal Governments Downtown.

Richard Pender, '69, retired from FirstEnergy Corp. after 32 years of service. Presently working as a consulting engineer. Brunswick, OH

1970s

David Beerman, '77, retired from SPARTA, Inc. / Cobham Analytic Solutions in May 2010. Continue to do some part-time engineering consulting in Erie, CO.

Art and Norma Butts, '78, has expanded family’s computer and local wireless Internet service, SkyRunner, that serves the Mohican area of Ohio, to include a full electronics store and an Internet Café in Loudonville, OH.

Teryl (Tim) Craig, BSAAE '72 and MSME '74 & Cecilia (Ceal) Craig, '74, will celebrate 40 years of marriage at the end of 2011. Living in northern California, Tim and Ceal have continued their 9+ years of volunteer involvement in high school robotics competitions. By helping to organize local competitions and giving workshops on Strength of Materials, Computer Vision, and Project Management to students and mentors, they hope to encourage young people to consider engineering fields of study and work. Ceal works for IBM and is pursuing a PhD in Education. Tim has been focusing on developing robotics computer vision software programs and is active in the Homebrew Robotics Club.

Tom McNaull, '71, is a part-time adjunct instructor at Ohio State’s Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster, OH. He

is proud of son Patrick J. McNaull, who earned an MSME from Ohio State in 2009.

William Stewart, '77, is a Sr. Mechanical Engineer at Erdman Anthony, Harrisburg, PA. and volunteer with Boy Scouts of America.

Chris Wollam, NE '78, is pursuing a writing career in Richland, WA.

1980s

Mark F. Horstemeyer, MS '87, recently became the Giles Professor at Mississippi State University and was also recently bestowed the Plasticity Research Award for Young Investigator, International Conference on Plasticity, Puerta Vallarta, Mexico. In 2010, he became an ASM Fellow and was an Honorary Professor at Xihua University, Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China.

John Milenius, '87, is working for Karpinski Engineering. Major project includes the design of mechanical systems for the Cleveland Convention Center and Medical Mart.

Don Richards, PhD, '81, was appointed Director the Center for the Practice and Scholarship of Education at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, IN.

Luis Alberto Rojas, '86, MS '89, is a Machinery Engineer in ExxonMobil. Currently assigned as Head of Rotating Equipment Engineering in RasGas in Qatar

Jim Schrader, '83 and MS '87 MS, operates TECHnology SITE Planners, a company which designs, builds, and maintains Data Centers. The organization was selected as the Union County (Ohio) Small Business of the Year for 2010. (He credits his co-workers for ranking 4th in the micro business category in Columbus Business First Best Place to Work competition.

Lou Ziebold, '80, purchased Southeastern Tool & Design with his son in June 2010. The company provides engineering and maintenance support to manufacturers in the Greater Chattanooga, TN area.

1990s

Bader Alshuraiaan Alazmi, MS '99, PhD '03, is the Minister of Electricity and Water, State of Kuwait

Eric Bates, '95, recently accepted a position as an Aerial Design Engineer with the Sutphen Corporation in Dublin, OH.

Josh Bergman, '95 (MBA '03 Ashland University), is a project manager at Bunge North America’s headquarters in St Louis MO. He and wife Laura, welcomed their first child – a girl, Elena (Ellie) Grace, last October.

Keith W. Gilbert, '98, is a senior design engineer with General Motors Advanced Vehicle Development Center, working on chassis systems for future GM vehicle platforms.

J. Wesley (Wes) Hines, PhD NE '94, MS NE and MBA ‘92, has been appointed the head of the Nuclear Engineering Department at University of Tennessee-Knoxville. His appointment will begin on or before January 1, 2012, once the university has concluded its search for a permanent vice chancellor for research.

Douglas C. Longhitano, MS '97, was honored with the SAE International/InterRegs Standards & Regulations Award for Young Engineers during the SAE International 2011 Government/Industry Meeting, held earlier this year in Washington, D.C. He has been employed by Honda since 1997.

Victor (Scott) McBride, '95, is employed as a quality engineer at Diamond Power International, Inc. in Lancaster, OH. He has earned the status of Certified Quality Engineer through the American Society for Quality.

Antonio F. Rodriguez, MS '93, works for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and more specifically for the ALMA Project (Atacama Large Millimiter Array) being constructed on top of the Andes mountains in northern Chile at 5000 meters above sea level. He is an Antenna IPT Engineer for the North American Antennas being built by General Dynamics.

Joe Sabo, '98, is now the Chief of Operations for the IP Solutions and Onshore Delivery (IPOD) business unit at CGI, a large IT consulting firm.

Scot Snyder, '97, is currently a MBA student at Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business.

2000s

Scott Batdorf, '05, is a R&D Testing Engineer with Honda R&D Americas in the Powersports division.

Eric Emmons, '09, is a production supervisor at Graham Packaging Company in Hammond, LA.

Tim Ganger, '08, works for Marathon Petroleum Company on Detroit Heavy Oil Upgrade Project in Detroit, MI.

Nicholas Halley, '04, is a Nuclear Services Director for GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy in Chicago, IL.

Jimmy Holtgreven, '05, was recently promoted to Engineering Manager - R&D Test Labs at Eaton Corporation in Kalamazoo, MI. He won the 2010 Outstanding Technology Achievement award winner for the development of a Clutch Damper Life modeling tool at Eaton Corporation.

John Karl, '07, plans to relocate to Japan in September for a two-year Toyota team member development program.

David Mikesell, PhD '08, won the 2011 SAE Ralph R Teetor Educational Award. He currently resides in Bluffton, OH.

Thomas D. Miyano, '01 and '03 MSAE, is a Lieutenant in the United States Navy (USS George Washington as an AIMD Division Officer). He and his wife Dr. Tonya Miyano, and their one-year-old daughter Leila will be moving to Yokosuka, Japan, the home port of USS George Washington.

Scott Moser, '08, is currently a law clerk at Standley Law Group, LLP. He is also a third year law student at Capital University in Columbus, OH.

Ryan Noward, '04, works as a Senior Consultant in Ernst & Young’s Performance Improvement Practice with the Customer group. Earned MBA from University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business in 2010.

David Pan, '08, transferred from Procter & Gamble FemCare in Cincinnati, OH to Procter & Gamble Beauty & Grooming Gillette Blades and Razors in Boston, MA. He is also the Operations Manager and Collegiate Committee Co-Leader for the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE).

Victor (Matt) Penrod, '00, MSNE '01, is a technical specialist-Design at Cummins Inc. in Columbus, IN.

Josh Trimmer, '08, is the Haynesville Shale Resource Coordinator for Schlumberger in Shreveport, LA.

2010s

Kyle Johnson, '10, works in a Surface Mobility lab supporting robotics development for the Moon and Mars at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH.

Cally Williams, '10, now works in research and development at Procter & Gamble (FemCare, Always brand products) in Cincinnati, OH.

Mark Wishart, MS '10, is a senior engineer with ERIN Engineering and Research, Inc., in Bethesda, MD.

Nicholas Yontz, MS '10, works for Nike as Golf Ball R&D Engineer in Beavertson, OR.

Dear ME Alumni,

Over the past five years, I’ve enjoyed serving as board president for the Mechanical Engineering Alumni Society

(MEAS), working with other board members to plan events for our alumni, and interacting with many of you at

MEAS-sponsored activities, especially the annual football tailgate event during Reunion Weekend.

I’m very proud of how we’ve increased our outreach and engagement with undergraduate and graduate ME students.

Through your generous support, we’ve doubled the number of cash awards we give out each year at the department’s

awards banquet. I’m also proud of how MEAS has utilized several online tools to reach out to our membership to keep

everyone connected to each other and to the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Many of you are

frequent visitors to our society group page on Linked In and our society’s Facebook page. And now, our new web site

(http://meas.clubexpress.com) makes it even easier to renew membership and register for society events.

Our society board meetings, too, are more accessible to members everywhere as we adopt newer teleconferencing

methods for interacting with each other. I’m aware that many of you are succeeding in your careers and are

appreciative of the education you received at Ohio State and the opportunities that earning your degree created for

you. I invite you to take this opportunity to give back to your alma mater by considering how you might be more

directly involved in the present business of our organization – the way in which it will evolve and how it will continue

to support graduate and undergraduate students. There are now several openings on the MEAS board of directors,

including my own position. I have served as president since 2006 and have determined that it’s time to pass the torch

to another individual who shares my enthusiasm for the direction of our society. We are also seeking nominees for vice

president, treasurer, membership chair, and events chair. Current board members will continue to provide support to

new board members during this transition period.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be your society president. I encourage you to call or email me (or any of

the other current MEAS board members) to submit your name for consideration as an MEAS board member. This is

a great opportunity to share your talents and ideas, while polishing (or developing) valuable leadership skills. I look

forward to hearing from you and appreciate your support of the Mechanical Engineering Alumni.

Sincerely,

Rich Granger (BS '98, MS '99)

President, MEAS

granger.9@osu.edu

Alumni Updates

Call for MEAS Board

Members

18

CeLeBRAtING 100 BUCKeyeS You ShOULD KNOW

If you’re a frequent visitor to the Ohio State Alumni Association web site,

you’re aware that this past spring the organization began celebrating

alumni with a running feature titled “100 Buckeyes you Should Know.”

to date, Me grads Jeff Rodek ('75 BS) and Ralph Rockow ('58 BS/MS)

have been celebrated. Check the web site to follow along as the Alumni

Association continues to highlight additional Buckeyes who are notable

for their achievements and contributions. Visit www.ohiostatealumni.org.

in the loop

Please continue to keep us posted about your activities and accomplishments. Visit us online at

http://mae.osu.edu/alumni/update

social media sites

www.facebook.com/OhioStateMAE

www.facebook.com/osuengineering

www.youtube.com/OhioStateMAE

www.youtube.com/OhioStateEngineering

twitter.com/osuengineering (@osuengineering)

look like Block “o”

The OSU Alumni Association is asking all Ohio State alumni to change their Facebook profile photo to Block “O” on Saturday, September 17 in recognition of Founder’s Day. Details on www.facebook.com/OSUAA

Join us!

Alumni are invited to attend Graduate Research Day, Friday, October 4 in Scott Lab and the MeGA sponsored tailgate at Scott Lab on Saturday, October 5. See mae.osu.edu for details.