uconn me annual report 2011

Dear Colleagues and Friends, We are happy to share with you our department’s an-nual report highlighting the activities of the 2010-2011 academic year. Currently, the Mechanical Engineering de-partment is home to 25 tenured and tenure track faculty, three professors in residence and one lecturer. Two new colleagues joined our department in Fall 2011.

The department is continuing to expand its research port-folio with an increasing number of research grants and a growing graduate student population. Of the 142 graduate students in the department, half are pursuing their doctoral degrees. Seventeen M.S. and five Ph.D. degrees were conferred in the last academic year. Be-tween July 2010 and June 2011 faculty received new research grants and contracts totaling $9.1 million. In the same period the Mechanical Engineering faculty pub-lished 113 journal articles and contributed 102 confer-ence publications or presentations. Our faculty members continue to serve on the editorial boards of major techni-cal journals and conference organizing committees. Our research partnership with industry is growing under the

Pratt & Whitney – UConn Center of Excellence with fund-ing of many research projects from several UTC divisions. We are also expanding our distance education activities; we now offer graduate courses at UConn Avery Point and Pratt & Whitney East Hartford, and transmit courses elec-tronically to other sites.

The demand for our undergraduate program is stronger than ever with a current overall enrollment of 458 stu-dents. A total of 97 bachelor’s degrees were conferred in the last academic year. The capstone Senior Design proj-ect course featured 41 projects sponsored by 27 compa-nies and organizations. One of the project teams placed first in the ASME Old Guard Competition during the 2010 ASME-IMECE conference. This is the first time that UConn Mechanical Engineering students, among partici-pants representing Mechanical Engineering programs all around the world, won this first place prize. This year our senior class has a record enrollment of 150 students. The department has increased its support for undergraduate students engaged in summer research at various research laboratories in the department with additional funding from a recently awarded NSF-REU grant in Sustainable Energy Systems. While we are proud of our past accomplishments, we con-tinuously strive to improve our program and find ways to better serve our students, engage in research and de-velopment activities with our federal, state and industrial partners for economic development in our state and the nation. I hope you will enjoy learning about the activities of our department documented in this publication. We al-ways welcome your feedback on our programs.With kind regards,

Baki M. CetegenUnited Technologies Chair Professor and Department Head

2University of Connecticut - Department of Mechanical Engineering 1

from the DEPARTMENT HEAD

3University of Connecticut - Department of Mechanical Engineering

27 faculty members

23 tenured/tenure track faculty

3 professors-in-residence

1 instructor

142 graduate students

458 undergraduate students

113 journal articles published

102 conference papers published

106 active research projects

$5.1M in research expenditures

$28.4M in active research projects

$9.1M in new research awards

2010-2011 QUICK FACTS

Research Breakdown 2011

DoE8%

DEd7%

NIH1%

State 9%

Other 2%

DoD17%

NSF34%

NASA3%

Industry19%

ME Undergraduate Enrollment

Ph.D. Enrollment

M.S. Enrollment

Full TimePart Time

Full TimePart Time

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Research Areas: Design Analysis & Design Optimization under Uncertainty

Dr. Ikjin Lee joined the department as an Assistant Professor in fall 2011. Dr. Lee received his B.S. (2001) and M.S. (2003) degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Seoul National Uni-versity and his Ph.D. (2008) in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering from the University of Iowa, where he was a postdoctoral research scholar from 2008 to 2011. His primary research interests include analysis and design optimization under system input uncertainties especially focusing on weight reduction of systems for better energy efficiency.

NEW FACULTY

Research Areas: Computational Fluid Mechanics and Combustion

Dr. Zhuyin Ren joined the department as an Assistant Professor in fall 2011. Prior to that, he was a Fluid Specialist at ANSYS Fluent and a Mechanical Engineer at GE Global Research Center. He received his B.S. (2001) in Engineering Thermophysics from University of Science and Technology of China and his Ph.D. (2006) in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell Univer-sity, where he was a research associate from 2006 to 2007. His primary research interests include turbulence and combustion, statistical methods for turbulent reactive flows, and model-ing and simulation of reactive flows with detailed chemistry.

Ikjin Lee, Assistant Professor

Zhuyin Ren, Assistant Professor


Prof. Robert Gao was awarded the 2010-2011 academic year Mechanical Engineering Research Excellence Award for his contribution to our department’s research and graduate education.

Prof. Tai-Hsi Fan was awarded the 2010-2011 academic year Mechanical Engineering Teaching Excellence Award for his effective teaching in both undergraduate and graduate courses.

Prof. Wilson K. S. ChiuRESEARCH PROFILE

performance at the nanoscale

Schematic of the transmission X-ray microscope applied in the full field XANES nanotomography.

The distinction between Ni oxidation states is distinguished by primary features at in the X-ray absorption spectra.


The reduction-oxidation cycling of the nickel-based oxides in fuel cell and battery electrodes is directly related to cell performance. A greater understand-ing of nickel redox mechanisms at the microstructural level can be achieved in part using transmission X-ray microscopy to explore material oxidation states. Prof. Wilson K. S. Chiu’s lab, in collaboration with other researchers, use nondestructive X-ray na-notomography combined with X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy to study samples containing distinct regions of nickel and nickel oxide compositions. The nondestructive nature of the X-ray nanotomography measurements allows for sample preservation and can facilitate in situ observation of fuel cell and battery electrodes in controlled oxidiz-ing or reducing environments and under operational conditions. Such measurements could realize the di-rect three-dimensional observation of nickel oxida-tion and the structural modifications that result from lithium deintercalation in batteries and performance degradation in fuel cells. This work demonstrates full field XANES nanotomography as a technique that enables investigation of microstructural and chemical evolution in energy materials.

Images courtesy of Applied Physics Letters 98: 173109, 2011. The location of Ni and NiO can be identified in the 3-D

volume, and its phase size distribution calculated.

Allan J. Brockett

Allan Brockett was inducted into the UConn Academy of Distinguished Engineers for his support and dedicated service to UConn Engineering. He is the Vice President of Engineering - Module Centers for Pratt & Whitney, East Hartford. During his 32-year career with the company he has held positions of increasing responsibility in systems and module center engineering and operations. Mr. Brockett led the development and production of a wide range of gas turbine hot section technologies for which he was recognized by the two Robert J. Collier trophies of the National Aeronautical Association in 2001 and

2006. He has fostered strong alliances between Pratt & Whitney and the UConn School of Engineering for several years. He led Pratt & Whitney’s establishment of the Center of Excellence at UConn for research in the field of advanced sensors, diagnostics, and controls for use in aircraft propulsion systems. He also spearheaded the United Technologies Corporation’s effort establishing the “Engineering Ambassadors” program between UConn and several other universities, aimed at attracting greater numbers of qualified female and minority students into engineering professions. He serves on the Advisory Boards for the Georgia Tech’s Gug-genheim School of Aerospace Engineering, the UConn School of Engineering, and the Pennsylvania State University Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering. He is also Board Chairman for Infotech Aerospace Services - Puerto Rico, and a director for Infotech Enterprises - India. He earned his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Oklahoma State University. As a part of his induc-tion ceremony, Mr. Brockett presented a seminar titled “Design for Variation” to students, faculty and guests.

Hadi Bozorgmanesh

Dr. Hadi Bozorgmanesh was inducted into the UConn Academy of Distinguished Engineers as a distin-guished alumnus. He is currently the Director of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the UConn R&D Corporation. Before joining UConn, he was the Senior Vice President for corporate development of Sci-ence Applications International Corp. (SAIC), La Jolla, CA. He is regarded as an authority on high-tech defense and energy technologies. As a co-inventor of thermal neutron activation technology for use in airport safety, he was honored with induction into Aviation Week & Space Technology’s Laureate Hall of Fame (1989). Thermal neutron analysis and related nuclear based devices were commercially devel-

oped by SAIC and are used in airports and other high-traffic transit centers for bomb and counterband detection. During his long career with SAIC, he served as Operation Manager at the San Francisco unit; Corporate and Senior Vice President for Corporate Development at SAIC in La Jolla; President and Managing Director of SAIE France; and Chairman of SAIC Europe Ltd. and SAIC Ltd. Dr. Bozorgmanesh led SAIC’s development of a $300 million/year subsidiary, SAIC Europe. He also secured the contract for, and oversaw design of, a bomb-detection system to screen cargo and freight trains traveling through the Eurotunnel. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a B.A. from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at UConn (’70), and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees (’77) in nuclear science and engineering at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. As a part of his induction ceremony, Dr. Bozorgmanesh presented a talk on “The Intrapreneurial Mind” to an audience of students, faculty and guests.

academy of distinguished engineers 2011



International Outreach: Dual M.S. Degree Program with Italy and SpainThis year the School of Engineering kicked off the FIPSE-Atlantis EAGLES Dual Master of Science in Engineering program, a collaboration between the University of Connecticut and Drexel University with Politecnico di Milano in Italy and Universidad Politecnica de Madrid in Spain. This program is aimed at developing “Engineers As Global Leaders in Energy Sustainability” (EA-GLES), and is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education and led by Drs. Mun Choi (Dean of the School of Engineering), Carolyn Lin (Asso-ciate Dean of the Graduate School) and Elizabeth Mahan (Associate Execu-tive Director of the Office of Global Programs). In this exchange program, students studying for their M.S. degrees will receive a second Masters de-gree from their partner institution upon one year of study. The participating students will focus on graduate-level coursework and research in the multi-disciplinary area of sustainable energy and power systems. Upon completing the requirements, they will receive M.S. degrees from both UConn and their respective home institution. In exchange, UConn students wanting to obtain a second M.S. degree in these two top European technical universities will study there and gain international experience. As a first cadre of students partici-pating in this program, UConn is hosting three M.S. degree students Fabio Poretti and Luca Lucera from Italy, and Mario Llorente from Spain. They are not only gaining new perspectives by studying engineering in a new environ-ment, but also enjoying the college lifestyle in a different setting.

Graduate Research Competition

First Place:

Hafez Bahrami, Ph.D. Candidate ‘Transient Heat-Mass-Charge Transport Phenomena in a Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) Using Pure Methanol as Fuel’ Advisor: Prof. Amir Faghri

Second Place: Edward Moore, Ph.D. Candidate ‘Model-Based Bayesian Structural Health Monitoring in Plates’ Advisor: Prof. Kevin D. Murphy

Third Place (tie):

Timothy Kurp, M.S. Candidate‘Adaptive Sensing forWireless Monitoring Systems’Advisor: Prof. Robert Gao

Eric Sirois, Ph.D. Candidate ‘Pre-Operative Planning for Percutaneous Heart Valve Intervention’Advisor: Prof. Wei Sun

“Senior Design Projects,” Thomas J. Barber with all de-partment faculty, various corporate supporters (ongoing), $254,000.

“Adaptive Control Logic for Turbo-Fan Engines,” Chengyu Cao, Pratt & Whitney, 01/01/11-12/31/11, $56,600.

“Pilot Induced Oscillation Suppression under Off-Nominal Conditions Using L1 Adaptive Control,” Chengyu Cao, NASA/ ZONA Technology Inc., 02/01/11-08/31/11, $20,000.

“Single Crystal Theoretical Development of Phase Field,” Brice Cassenti, Department of Defense / United Technolo-gies - Pratt & Whitney, 01/01/11-12/31/12, $30,662.

“Computational Framework for Phase Field Prediction of SX Cracking,” Brice Cassenti, United Technologies - Pratt & Whitney, 01/01/2011-12/31/2012, $30,662.

“Ignition Studies of Premixed Hydrocarbon and Vitiated Gas Mixtures at Atmospheric and Low Pressure,” Baki M. Cetegen and Michael W. Renfro, Innovative Scientific Solutions, Inc., 07/01/10-12/31/11, $90,000.

“Bluff Body Stabilized Flame Dynamics and Blowoff Studies,” Baki M. Cetegen and Michael W. Renfro, Pratt & Whitney, 01/01/11-12/31/11, $60,000.

“Partially-Premixed Bluff-Body Flame Dynamics and Acoustic Coupling in Vitiated Flows,” Baki M. Cetegen and Michael W. Renfro, National Science Foundation, 06/01/10-05/31/13, $325,000.

“Assessment of Reduced Order Modeling of Flame Extinction in Bluff Body Flames,” Baki M. Cetegen and Michael W. Ren-fro, Pratt & Whitney, 08/15/10-6/30/11, $40,000.

“Thermodynamic Modeling of a Rotating Detonation Engine,” Baki M. Cetegen, AFRL – Innovative Scientific Solutions Inc., 9/01/10-12/31/12, $120,778.

“FIPSE/Atlantis Program on Engineers as Global Leaders for Energy Sustainability,” Mun Y. Choi, Department of Educa-tion, 09/01/10-08/31/14, $208,000.

“Fuel Cell Heat Transmission and Storage,” Amir Faghri, Boe-ing Company, 02/25/11-12/31/11, $120,000.

“Controlling Protein Release via Intermolecular Hybridiza-tion,” Tai-Hsi Fan and Y. Wang, National Science Foundation, 07/01/10-06/30/13, $316,839.

“GOALI/Collaborative Research: Electrically-Enhanced Preci-sion MicroRolling,” Robert Gao, National Science Foundation, 04/01/11-03/31/14, $268,022.

“Collaborative Research: Multivariate Remote Process Sens-ing for Improved Observability in Injection Molding,” Robert Gao, National Science Foundation, 09/01/10-08/31/13, $362,779.

“Workshop/Collaborative Research: 2011 NSF CAREER Pro-posal Writing Workshop,” Robert Gao, National Science Foundation, 02/15/11-02/14/12, $8,500.

“Active Tool Wave Cancellation in LWD Acoustic Tools,” Rob-ert Gao, Schlumberger-Doll Research Center, 07/01/10-06/30/12, $296,156.

“Availability Analysis Methodology for Competitive Assess-ments of GTE Applications,” Yen-Lin Han and Jiong Tang, Pratt & Whitney, 08/01/10-12/31/10, $35,532.

“Characteristic Length Scales of Growing Nanorods,” Hanchen Huang, Department of Energy, 04/01/11-03/31/14, $510,000.


SOME RECENT GRANTS AND CONTRACTS

“EAGER: Visualization of Protein Folding for Nano-Machine Design,” Horea Ilies, National Science Foundation - CMMI, EDI, 08/01/10-01/31/11, $55,896.

“Introduction of Composite Materials to New Products,” Eric H. Jordan, Hamilton Sundstrand Co., 01/01/11-12/31/11, $114,760.

“Life Prediction for Ceramic Coatings,” Eric H. Jordan, Pratt & Whitney, 01/01/11-12/31/11, $60,000.

“TRAC: Prototype Instrument Development for Laser Clean-ing and Durability Measurements of Thermal Barrier Coat-ings,” Eric H. Jordan and Michael Renfro, National Science Foundation, 10/01/10-09/30/12, $200,000.

“NDE of Thermal Barrier Coatings,” Eric H. Jordan, Na-tional Science Foundation (subcontracted by Southwest Sci-ences), 08/14/10-08/15/12, $99,768.

“REU Site: Engineering Next Generation Energy Processes and Systems,” Kevin D. Murphy and Michael Renfro, National Science Foundation, 03/01/11-02/28/14, $299,242.

“The Development of Control for Hybrid Projectiles,” Nejat Olgac, Department of Defense / Association of Research Libraries / University of Hartford, 06/01/10-12/31/10, $40,000.

“The Effect of Airborne Contaminants on Fuel Cell Perfor-mance and Durability,” Ugur Pasaogullari and T. Molt-er et al, University of Hawaii / Department of Energy, 01/01/11-05/22/13, $1,710,676.

“Performance Testing of Axiome Advisors’ Fuel Cell with Conventional Gaseous Fuel,” Ugur Pasaogullari, Axi-ome Advisors / National Science Foundation, 10/01/10-01/31/11, $20,000.

“Direct Borohydride Fuel Cells for Air Independent Por-table Power,” Ugur Pasaogullari, P. Singh and S.-Y. Park, Northrop-Grumman, 09/10/10-03/15/11, $25,000.

“Role of Animal Models in Transcatheter Valve Intervention: A Mechanistic, Age-dependent Study,” Wei Sun, National Institute of Health/ National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, 05/01/11-04/30/13, $413,826.

“High Resolution XRadia X-ray Micro-computed Tomogra-phy System,” Wei Sun, UConn Provost Office Major Equip-ment Award, 07/01/10-06/30/11, $450,000.

“Hemodynamic Investigation of Percutaneous Aortic Valve Deployment,” Wei Sun (Pre-doctoral Fellowship for Eric Sirois), National Science Foundation / Graduate Research Fellowship Program, 08/01/10-09/30/13, $122,500.

“Chemical Reactor Networks for Jet-Stirred Reactor Mod-eling,” Chih-Jen Sung, Beihang University, 05/01/11-12/31/12, $35,000.

“Dynamic Analysis of IBR Type Structures,” Robert Gao and Jiong Tang, Pratt & Whitney, 11/01/10-12/31/10, $25,000.

“Rapid and Robust Evaluation of Bridge Load Carry-ing Capacity after Damaging Events,” Jiong Tang and R. Christenson, Department of Homeland Security National Transportation Security Center of Excellence (NTSCOE), 07/01/10-06/30/12, $200,000.


www.engr.uconn.edu/me


Thomas J. BarberProfessor-in-Residence Ph.D., New York University, 1968

Computational and Physical Fluid-Dynamics

Wilson K. S. ChiuProfessorPh.D., Rutgers University, 1999

Heat and Mass Transfer and Nanomanufacturing

Theodore L. BergmanProfessor Ph.D., Purdue University, 1985

Heat Transfer and Thermal Manufacturing

Zbigniew M. BzymekAssociate ProfessorPh.D., Warsaw University of Technology, Poland, 1967

Design and CAD Modeling

Brice CassentiProfessor-in-ResidencePh.D., Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, 1972

Applied Mechanics

Amir FaghriProfessorPh.D., UC, Berkeley, 1976

Heat Transfer and Fluid Mechanics

Tai-Hsi FanAssociate ProfessorPh.D., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2003

Biofluidics and Biotransport

Mun Y. ChoiProfessor and Dean of EngineeringPh.D., Princeton University, 1992

Combustion, Heat Transfer, Opti-cal Diagnostics, Soot Processes

Chengyu CaoAssistant ProfessorPh.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2004

Dynamics and Control

Baki M. CetegenUnited Technologies Chair Professor and Department HeadPh.D., California Institute of Technology, 1982Combustion and Fluid Mechanics

UConn Mechanical Engineering FACULTY


Horea IliesAssociate ProfessorPh.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison, 2000

Computational Design and CAD/CAM/CAE

Eric JordanUnited Technologies Professor of Advanced Materials ProcessingPh.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1978

Experimental and Theoretical Mechanics

Kazem KazerounianProfessor and Associate Dean for Research and Strategic InitiativesPh.D., University of Illinois at Chicago, 1984

Design, Kinematics and Robotics

Yen-Lin HanAssistant Professor-in-Residence Ph.D., University of Southern California, 2006

Thermo-fluid transport phenom-ena in MEMS devices

Robert GaoPratt & Whitney Chair ProfessorPh.D., Technical University of Berlin, Germany, 1991

Sensing, Mechatronics, Biomechanics

Hanchen HuangConnecticut Clean Energy Fund Professor in Sustainable EnergyPh.D., University of California at Los Angeles, 1995

Synthesis and properties of nano-structures (interfaces)

Tianfeng LuAssistant ProfessorPh.D., Princeton University, 2004

Combustion and Computational Fluid Mechanics

This year, Profs. Tai-Hsi Fan and Ugur Pasaogullai were both promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. Congratulations to both!

FACULTY continued

George LykotrafitisAssistant ProfessorPh.D., California Institute of Technology, 2005

Cellular Mechanics


Chih-Jen (Jackie) SungConnecticut Clean Energy Fund Professor in Sustainable EnergyPh.D., Princeton University, 1994

Combustion, Propulsion, Laser Diagnostics, Fuel Chemistry

Bi ZhangProfessor and Director of Undergraduate StudiesPh.D., Tokyo Institute of Technology, 1988

Precision Design and Manufacturing

Jiong TangAssociate Professor and Director of Graduate StudiesPh.D., The Pennsylvania State University, 2001

Structural and System Dynamics and Control

Marcelle WoodLecturer and Assistant DeanM.S., University of Connecticut, 1988

Wei SunAssistant ProfessorPh.D., University of Pittsburgh, 2003

Tissue Biomechanics

Michael W. RenfroAssociate Professor and Associate Department HeadPh.D., Purdue University, 2000

Combustion and Optical Diagnostics

Ugur PasaogullariAssociate ProfessorPh.D., The Pennsylvania State University, 2005

Transport Phenomena in Fuel Cells

Kevin D. MurphyAssociate ProfessorPh.D., Duke University, 1994

Nonlinear Dynamics and Vibrations

Nejat OlgacProfessorPh.D., Columbia University, 1976

Control Systems and Vibrations


Jamie Maciaszek is a doctoral student working with faculty advisor Prof. George Lykotrafitis on cutting edge research in cellular mechanics and adhesion mechanisms related to sickle cell disease.

Using an atomic force microscope to measure the elasticity of red blood cells, Jamie detects changes in surface adhesion receptors by quantifying their frequency, distribution, and average binding force. Jamie says “it is fascinating to study how nano-scale changes in human cells can lead to extraordinary problems in the human body. By utilizing engineering tools and principles, I am able to better understand the pathophysiology of sickle cell disease and hopefully discover new therapeutic targets.” Jamie was recently awarded a pre-doctoral fellowship for this project from the American Heart Association in conjunction with the UConn Health Center and the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

Jamie graduated with honors from Lehigh University in May 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in bioengineering. As an undergraduate she used in vitro experimentation and computational modeling techniques to simulate endothelial cells in flow conditions associated with atherosclerosis. “This project sparked my interest in using mechanical engineering methods to solve biological problems,” she comments.

Over the past two summers Jamie has trained and mentored undergradu-ate students as part of the Northeast Alliance Summer Research Experi-ence. Jamie says “I really enjoyed teaching lab techniques and time man-agement, and the opportunity to work with two female high school students was very rewarding.”

In time away from the lab Jamie enjoys running, swimming, hiking, cooking, shopping, and “anything else to stay active.” She’s an avid Yankees and Jets fan, and she comments that her close relationships with family and friends helps her to stay grounded. “A balanced approach to scientific research helps foster creativity and consistency in my work.”

Jamie Maciaszek engineers mechanical solutions to biological problems.

Graduate Fellowship Recipients

Department of Education GAAN Fellowships Chris Robak Travis Ward Robert Nesbitt Kristin Kopp-Vaughan Charles Bonas

American Heart Association Jamie Maciaszek

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Eric Sirois

NIH-NRSA Fellowship Thuy Pham

Today’s engineering students need to prepare for a working world where innovation is a key component of success. The D.E. Crow Innovation Prize was designed to help Mechanical Engineering students turn their entrepreneurial inspirations into a marketable product, by awarding seed funds to students with a strong idea and a sound business plan. This spring a panel of judges chose three inaugural 2011 prize recipients from a field of enthusiastic ap-plicants.

First Prize winner Nishang Gupta was awarded $6,000 for his project “Re-verse Engineering of a Voltage Regulator.” Gupta’s plan involved optimizing technology for an inexpensive voltage regulator to improve voltage consis-tency for rural Indian farmers who lack access to a reliable electrical grid. Two other projects received runner up prizes of $ 2,000 each: “The Corner Office” by Bruno Chima and O’Rayne Clark and “Virtual Cardiovascular Fit-ness” by Hemal Shah, Andrew Jorgensen and Matthew Hock.

The winning teams were presented with their prizes on May 25, 2011 at the ‘UConn CT Venture Group Event’, organized by the Connecticut Technology Council. The students prepared posters and chatted with audience members about their plans.

Theodore L. BergmanFundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer, (with A.S. Lavine, F.P. Incropera and D.P. DeWitt), John Wiley & Sons, 1048 pag-es, ISBN-13: 978-0471457282, 2011.

Introduction to Heat Transfer, (with A.S. Lavine, F.P. Incropera and D.P. DeWitt), John Wiley & Sons, 960 pages, ISBN-13: 978-0471457275, 2011.

Amir Faghri Advanced Heat and Mass Transfer Authors Amir Faghri, Yuwen Zhang and John HowellGlobal Digital Press, 974 pages, ISBN-13: 978-0984276004, 2010

Robert GaoWavelet: Theory and Application for Manufacturing, (with R. Yan), Springer Heidelberg, 238 pages, ISBN 978-1-4419-1544-3, 2011.

Ugur PasaogullariModern Aspects of Electrochemistry - Modeling and Diagnostics of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells, (with C.Y. Wang), Springer, 394 pages, ISBN-13: 978-0387980676, 2010.

Pictured above from left to right: Dr. Mun Y. Choi, Dean of Engi-neering; Nishang Gupta; Dr. David E. Crow and Dr. Baki Cetegen, Head of Mechanical Engineering


bright ideas from student entrepreneurs

recent books

For more ME faculty publications, visit

www.engr.uconn.edu/me/publications

Prof. Wei Sun

Dr. Wei Sun’s lab is working to improve the treatment of car-diovascular disease by applying a unique combination of state-of-the-art computational simulations with rigorous ex-perimental evaluation. In the Tissue Mechanics Lab (TML) tech-niques such as planar biaxial testing, tissue fatigue testing, vessel inflation testing, steady and pulsatile cardiac flow test-ing, and examination of tissue microstructure are used to quan-tify the mechanical properties of living tissue. This information is then implemented into dynamic solid and fluid mechanical simulations. These simulations are being used to better under-

RESEARCH PROFILE

stand how the cardiovascular system works, and how the body interacts with implant-able devices.

One example is the Percutaneous Transvenous Mitral An-nuloplasty procedure, in which two stents connected by a bridge are inserted into a patient’s coronary sinus. This min-imally invasive procedure is capable of reducing or elimi-nating mitral valve regurgitation. Currently, widespread use of this procedure has been prevented by poor perfor-mance during clinical trials, mainly due to device fracture in vivo. In the TML, virtual reconstructions of this procedure (figure below) have been used to identify regions of peak stress, and to give insight into future design improvements. Another area of interest in the TML is minimally invasive aortic valve replacement. In this procedure, a new valve is delivered to the patient’s aortic root using a transcath-eter procedure. Through collaborations with area hospitals, TML has developed the ability to turn pre-operative pa-tient CT scans into realistic predictions of valve deployment outcomes using comprehensive solid and fluid mechanical simulations. These techniques may one day improve device design and use, and ultimately benefit patients suffering from cardiovascular disease.

getting to the heart of the matter


Thomas J. BarberTeaching Scholar Award, Institute for Teaching and Learning (ITL), 2011.

Theodore Bergman“Flow-through Apparatus for Microscopic Investiga-tion of Dissolution of Pharmaceutical Solids,” (with R.H. Bogner, K. Greco, D.J. Michaels and S.J. Chawarski), U.S. Patent No. 7892492, February 22, 2011.

Baki M. CetegenUnited Technologies Chair Professor in Thermal Fluid Engineering, 2011.

Amir Faghri“Thermal-Fluids Management System for Small Direct Methanol Fuel Cells,” (with Z. Guo), U.S. Patent No. 7829211, November 9, 2010.

Robert GaoDistinguished Lecturer, IEEE Electron Devices Society, 2008-present.

Hanchen HuangVisiting Professorship, Royal Society of London KTP, 2010.

Elected Member, Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, 2011.

Chih-Jen SungElected Member, Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, 2011.

Bi ZhangFellow, International Academy for Production Engi-neering (CIRP), 2011.

Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), 2011.


What should a pilot do if confronted with a cloud of potentially deadly volcanic dust on a commercial flight filled with passengers? This year’s Pratt & Whitney Distinguished Lecturer, Prof. Micheal Dunn of The Ohio State University and Director of The Ohio State University Gas Turbine Laboratory, had some practical answers.

His timely presentation, titled ‘“Volcanic Ash – Aircraft Engine Encoun-ters,” provided information on the challenges volcanic ash presents to the airline industry. Covering known engine damage mechanisms, recommendations on preparing air crew to recognize and respond to cloud contamination, and techniques for safe operation of an engine until an aircraft can move out of a contamination area, Prof. Dunn concluded his talk with the current state-of-the-art in dust cloud migra-tion prediction in gas turbine engines and a discussion of how an air crew can manage cloud contamination beyond what was predicted by ground controllers.

The Pratt & Whitney Distinguished Lecture was established in 2010 with a gift to the Mechanical Engineering department from UTC Pratt & Whitney. Each year, an authority in gas turbine technology is in-vited to present a lecture at UConn, accompanied by a visit to Pratt & Whitney Engineering and United Technologies Research Center.

2011 Pratt & Whitney lecture by Prof. Mike Dunn

awards, honors and patents


Nishang Gupta is a senior pursuing a dual degree in Mechanical Engineering and Finance. Nishang’s inter-est in these fields started when his high school physics teacher invited him to join a team of students working to reduce the school’s carbon footprint. When he set off for his first year as an undergraduate at UConn, it felt natural to continue with this focus by supplementing his course work with applied research experience. As a lab assistant in Dr. Ted Bergman’s lab, Nishang had a chance to work first hand on a project developing an accurate method for measuring the effect of increased carbon dioxide exposure on plant biomass growth.

Nishang has further applied his interest in sustainable energy to volunteer positions in the local and larger communities. Working as a volunteer for the Institute for Sustainable Energy at Eastern Connecticut State University, and as a volunteer for the Town of Mans-field’s Clean Energy Task Force, he helped to increase the number of households and commercial properties signed up for clean energy options available through the electric grid. Nishang was also able to volunteer on-site in India for government’s national conference to plan improved power reliability through the integration of alternative energy systems.

Nishang also developed his interest in finance by co-founding Nishex Investments, LLC, a non-profit organi-zation designed to introduce young adults to the world of investing while simultaneously building their wealth.

This experience, coupled with his interdisciplinary ac-ademic curriculum, allowed Nishang to obtain two in-ternships at GE Energy. He worked on developing a strategy to successfully introduce GE technology into emerging energy markets, such as India, by targeting sectors with the most potential for energy savings.

In May, Nishang was awarded the D.E. Crow Innova-

tion Prize for the design and marketing of a low-cost voltage regulator for farmers in the developing world. He plans to pursue this project in his senior design course, and present his results to the Government of India.

In the future, Nishang hopes to remain involved in the field of sustainable energy, as an engineer, researcher, investor...or perhaps all three!

A winning combination: undergraduate student Nishang Gupta brings an entrepreunerial spirit to sustainable energy work

Nishang volunteering at Om Shanti Retreat, which has the largest solar powered facility near New Delhi, India.

Mechanical Engineering Lands an NSF-REU Grant in Sustainable Energy


This summer the Mechanical Engineering Department, in collaboration with faculty from the Chemical, Materials and Biomolecular Engineering; Civil and Environmental Engineering; and Chemistry departments, kicked off a comprehensive, three-year undergraduate research program focusing on relevant problems in energy generation and systems. This year, nine undergraduates teamed with nine faculty members on projects that addressed challenging engineering problems in fuel cells, combustion, dye-sensitized solar cells, and bio-fuels, to name a few. Along with these research efforts students participated in a host of other activities. These included external seminars given by local leaders in the energy industries, a series of discussions on engineering ethics, and a number of workshops on (i) how to do research and (ii) how to communicate engineering concepts effectively. The program concluded with all of the students participating in an end-of-program mini-conference of faculty, REU participants, graduate students, and engineers from industry. They described the details of their research progress, as well as laying out future work. Although the summer program has ended for this year, a number of students have continued their research into the academic year with the expectation of completing a larger body of research and publishing their findings.

This program was funded through the National Science Foundation REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) Site Program, with additional support being provided by the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Engineering Dean’s Office. Another installment of this program will begin next May.

REU student Karan Ojha worked with

Prof. Richard Parnas on biodiesel fuels.

Advisors

Baki Cetegen

Wilson Chiu

Nick Leadbeater

Ugur Pasaogullari

Jeff McCutcheon

Richard Parnas

Baikun Li

Alex Agrios

Wei Sun

Students

John James Turner V

Kyle R. Bragshaw

Meghan Negus

Brian C. Allan

Breanne S. Muratori

Karan Ojha

Nirav Patel

Tulsi Patel

Christine Vogel

REU student Meghan Negus uses a microscope to learn more about biofuels

REU Participants

RESEARCH PROFILEProf. Ugur Pasaogullari

Dr. Pasaogullari’s research group is focused on understanding the role of transport phenomena in electrochemical energy systems. Electrochemical energy systems, like fuel cells, differ from other chemical energy conversion systems, like the internal combustion engines, as fuel and oxidizer stay separated and interactions between reactants occur through transport of charged species between electrodes through an electrolyte/separator.

In a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC), a central focus for the group’s research, many factors affect the transport of the charged species (i.e. protons) across the electrolyte (e.g. polymer electrolyte membrane, PEM) but the most important is the water content. Properties of the gas diffusion layers (GDL), which are porous layers made of carbon paper or cloth are found to affect the water content of the membrane significantly.

In order to reach very high power densities, which enables smaller and cheaper PEFC systems, it became essential to understand the micro-porous

energy for tomorrow

X-ray computed tomography of a carbon-paper based gas diffusion layer used in polymer electrolyte fuel cells, showing carbon fibers, liquid water clusters and open pore space.

characteristics and the morphology of water distribution in GDLs. In collaboration with NISSAN Motor Co., Kyushu University (Japan) and Xradia Corp., X-ray micro tomography of porous GDLs was conducted to investigate the porous microstructure as well morphology of liquid water distribution. By tuning the X-ray imaging parameters and analysis of obtained tomography images, it became possible to separate phases (carbon, air, water) in the porous GDL. Information related to water morphology obtained from the study is essential for design and optimization of next generation GDLs.

X-ray computed microtomography (mXCT) of a carbon paper based gas diffusion layer is shown in the figure on the left. Gas diffusion layers are used as structural support for thin membrane-electrode assembly, and also provide essential duties such as reactant distribution and heat and electron conduction.

An experimental fuel cell system in use by a large research project. Three ME faculty (Profs. Pasaogullari, Tang and Chiu) are involved in this program funded by DoE.


Pratt & Whitney Gift Enables Laboratory Improvements


The School of Engineering and the Mechanical Engineering Depart-ment have received a generous gift of $100,000 from jet engine giant Pratt & Whitney to support undergraduate and graduate edu-cation in Connecticut.

In May, three of Pratt & Whitney’s top engineers—Paul Adams, Se-nior Vice President of Engineering; Al Brockett, Vice President of Engineering – Module Centers; and Thomas Prete, Chief Engineer of Hot Section Engineering—presented the University of Connecticut with a financial gift enabling the School of Engineering to purchase a gas turbine module and to make much-needed upgrades to its un-dergraduate laboratories.

“This gift underscores the rich, multi-layered and symbiotic relation-ship that exists between UConn and Pratt & Whitney. Together, we are recruiting, training and nurturing exceptionally well trained engi-neering graduates who bring value to commercial industry and to the state,” remarked Dean of Engineering Mun Choi.

Mr. Prete concurred, saying “This gift to the School of Engineering underlines Pratt’s commitment to a long-term, productive relationship with the educational community. We are excited by the engaged dynamic that has been created with the University of Connecticut, and we look forward to continuing to build on this relationship in the years ahead.”

The new gas turbine module is an important new addition to a re-quired course taken by all junior-level undergraduate mechanical en-gineers. In this laboratory course, students conduct hands-on experi-ments that help them explore in practice the theory and experimental methods they have previously learned about.

Two years ago, Pratt & Whitney established a Center of Excellence at the University of Connecticut that set the stage for the company’s engineers and UConn faculty and students to collaborate on the de-sign and development of more efficient gas turbine engines. The cen-ter provides a core for activities in combustion, advanced sensing, diagnostics and controls that will aid the development of next-gener-ation commercial and military aircraft propulsion systems.

Gas turbine module purchased with funds from Pratt & Whitney gift.

From left to right: Baki Cetegen, ME Department Head; Thomas Prete, Chief Engineer of Hot Section Engineering, PW; Mun Y. Choi, Dean of Engineering; Paul Adams, Senior VP of Engineering, PW; and Allan Brockett, VP of Engineering Module Centers, PW

Prof. Eric JordanRESEARCH PROFILE

Dr. Eric Jordan, a Mechanical Engineering faculty member who also serves on the graduate program faculty in the Chemical, Materials & Biomolecu-lar Engineering Department, joined UConn in 1979. His current work fo-cuses on thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) for gas turbine engines, which are ceramic coatings that allow gas turbines on aircraft and power plants to run hotter and burn less fuel. With faculty collaborators and partners at Inframat, Inc., he has developed a new method of fabricating such coatings directly from chemical precursors, called Solution Precursor Plasma Spray. This technique has been successfully used to deposit thermal barrier coat-ings that are currently undergoing testing in gas turbines under a contract from the Ohio Aerospace Institute. These new chemical precursor-based coatings have unique properties, and TBCs made this way are being inves-tigated for commercialization.

Dr. Jordan is conducting other fundamental research on the composition and performance of temperature sensing coatings and the development of computer models to predict thermal barrier coating failure. Other research involves the development of optical methods to estimate the remaining life in coatings, which will allow coatings to be replaced only as needed, po-tentially resulting in large monetary savings on preemptive replacement.

Dr. Jordan is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechan-ical Engineers and a member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering and the Academic Advisory Board to the U.S. Department of Energy’s UTSR program. He has also served as an As-sociate Editor for the ASME Journal of Engineering Mate-rials and Technology.


making a splash with protective coatings


Mechanical Engineering senior Maxim Budyansky placed first at the ASME International Old Guard competition in November 2010. The competition took place at the 2010 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition in Vancouver, Canada. Maxim’s presentation was based on his senior design project, titled ‘Coherent Gradient Sensing Shearing Inter-ferometry Adapted to the Nano-World.’ Budyansky worked with teammate Christopher Madormo on a project sponsored by Prof. George Lykotrafitis, who also served as the team’s faculty advisor. The goal of the project was to develop an optical technique that would ultimately allow for quantitative measurement of curvature and mechanical properties of cellular specimens. This successful project was recognized with the Faculty Award at the Mechan-ical Engineering Senior Design Demonstration Day event in April. The award is granted to the Mechanical Engineering design team that most successfully applies fundamental Mechanical Engineering principles to design solutions.

Budyansky also placed first with his presentation on the project at the 2010 ASME Northeast Regional Student Professional Development Conference at Union College, allowing him to participate in the international competition. Three of the five other top awards in the competition went to UConn students, who were competing among more than a dozen area universities. Sponsor and project advisor Prof. George Lykotrafitis commented that “(Budyansky) is self driven, inquisitive, and very bright. His work has been outstanding and while still a senior he prepared a manuscript for journal publication based on his independent study work. In particular, he demonstrated an ability to focus on the important portions of the problem, to go beyond what was asked of the project, and to provide physical explanations for his analysis.”

Prof. Tom Barber, head of the Mechanical Engi-neering Senior Design program, expressed his pride in Budyansky’s accomplishment, and noted that it speaks to a larger success. “Feedback from industry tells us that communication and teaming abilities are important requisites for new engi-neers. In the Senior Design course we prepare students in these skills through presentations and competitions. What Maxim achieved competing at the international level demonstrates that UCo-nn Mechanical Engineering has been successful in meeting these goals.” The first place prize at the ASME International meeting included a certificate of achievement and a check for $2,000. This is the first year that one of UConn’s Mechanical Engi-neering students, among participants representing Mechanical Engineering programs all around the world, won first place. In 2006 another Mechani-cal Engineering senior, Matthew Teicholz, received the second place award in the same competition. Budyansky is currently a graduate student at the Entrepreneurial Biomedical Engineering program at Johns Hopkins University.

ME Senior Wins First Place in International Competition

2010 Senior Design Team featuring Christopher Ma-dormo, Prof. George Lykotrafitis (faculty mentor) and Maxim Budyansky

Maxim explains his project at Senior Design Demonstra-tion Day 2010


Engineering students know first-hand that engineering applies scientific concepts as tools in the creation of new and better products and services. Unfortunately, secondary school chil-dren are not usually introduced to engineering as a course of study and a path to a rewarding career. Engineering stu-dents at UConn now have a new avenue available to them for outreach to the larger K-12 community, thanks to a program sponsored by United Technologies Corporation (UTC) called UConn Engineering Ambassadors.

Engineering Ambassadors places UConn’s School of Engineer-ing in an elite four-school association with Penn State, Rens-selaer Polytechnic Institute and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Each week, UConn’s Engineering Ambassadors travel to schools throughout Connecticut with the goal of introducing school-age children and teachers to engineering, both as a profession and a way to understand and improve the world around them. In particular, some programs focus on engaging under-served populations who can bring new insights and perspectives to engineering and problem solving. This past fall the group started holding weekly trips to the Woodstock education sys-tem, introducing engineering to the K-12 students.

“It’s an excellent opportunity to engage our youth [in engineer-ing], most students truly have a lot of fun with our activities,” said Leah Pruzinsky, a junior in the engineering program at UConn. In the coming years, they plan to expand their visits to include up to 30 schools throughout the state. Although their main goal is to support the creation of engineering clubs at the middle and high school levels, the Engineering Ambassadors do not limit the students to engineering in general. “If our pre-sentation leads students anywhere on the STEM (science, tech-

nology, engineering and mathematics) path, then we achieved a success,” said Engineering Diversity Program Coordinator Sonya Renfro.

The Engineering Ambassadors program owes its genesis to UTC, whose $50,000 startup donation supports the group’s activities. UTC has vowed to continue their financial support for the coming years. “UTC has provided us with the catalyst we need to move forward, so that we can truly increase aware-ness about what engineering is all about,” said Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education & Diversity Marty Wood.

Beyond school outreach, the Engineering Ambassadors are also working on their own to help promote engineering. During the semester, team members volunteer at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, with a common goal of informing the public about engineering, often by engaging them in stimu-lating activities. Through their demonstrations, the Engineering Ambassadors hope to instill simple engineering lessons and plant the seed for future students in the field. “Most people aren’t thinking about engineering, and they don’t understand that almost everything they use on a day to day basis has been created by engineers,” said 6th semester biomedical en-gineering major Christine Filosa, “And raising that awareness is our overall goal,” she added.

Adapted from an article By Nick Gagliardipublished in the UConn School of Engineering’s eMaginations March, 2011

Engineering Ambassadors Program thrives with UTC Support

Students give a presentation on engineering tools.

Tylaska Marine is a small manufacturer of high end sailing hardware. Its original product line consisted of a quick re-lease shackle which helped revolutionize the release of load-ed spinnakers. The invention is now used on every entry of the America’s Cup yacht race as well as on the majority of boats in every major racing event throughout the world.

Tylaska Marine began from the need of Tim Tylaska to find a way to release his towed hang glider from behind a motor boat. Other release devices at the time tended to require more force to activate as the load increased, eventually mak-ing them impossible to operate. While still an undergraduate, Tim made a crude cam type release mechanism that some-how worked. By trial and error of changing the curvatures, it seemed to release with the same activation force regardless of load. The invention remained a curiosity until Tim, just finish-ing his Ph.D in mechanical engineering at UConn, happened to show the device to his advisor Prof. Kazem Kazerounian. Dr. Kazerounian encouraged Tim to use his engineering back-ground to figure out why the device worked. After analyzing the mechanism using vector calculus, Tim was able to come up with a differential equation that resulted in a solution curve very similar to the shape of an opening flower petal or nau-tilus shell. Tim CNC machined a device to the exact solution set and it amazingly opened with the same release force re-gardless of load. The invention worked!

Tim applied for a patent on the device and started making them in his basement. Since Tim was from the sailing town of Mystic, the majority of the demand for the product was for releasing sailing spinnakers. The product line grew, the operation moved from a basement to another building until Tylaska Marine built its own shop and finally its own 70,000 sf industrial park. Tylaska Marine now has distribution in 42 countries and a product line of almost 100 items, with the shackles used in a large variety of industrial and military ap-plications besides the original sailing market.

Tim Tylaska is proud to say that it still manufactures all its products 100% in the USA. It has avoided the need to send production overseas by manufacturing most of its components in house and implementing many cost saving methods. Tylaska also generates almost 100% of its own power using its own solar array. These cost saving techniques have helped Tylaska succeed as much as the products themselves.


Tylaska Marine: UConn alumn builds company, creates jobs

Founder and President Tim Tylaska in the plant.


A group of dedicated UConn students worked hard to design, build, and test drive “an entirely new car” for this year’s International Formula SAE Competition at the Michigan International Speedway. Problems with a brake light failure hurt the team’s overall score, but they sailed through the technical inspections and scored in all of the technical events. Despite their set-back the UConn Formula SAE team had its best showing yet, finishing at # 37: up 26 places from last year’s position at # 63.

Formula SAE is a student design competition in which teams are challenged to design and build a racing car to meet a set of requirements. Designed to “promote clever problem solving,” the annual Michigan event brings together stu-dents from across the country and the world to find unique solutions to the problem of designing a fast and reliable vehicle.

Last year, technical inspection problems disqualified the UConn car from some of the dynamic events. The team was serious about learning from their past mistakes, and wanted to be sure this year’s car would measure up to the technical testing. They set themselves the goal of scoring in at least the top half of the 120 participating schools,

preferably within the top quarter. Team member Donald Conroy said: “the car ran well in the autocross event and gave the drivers a good look at what Saturday’s endur-ance track would be like. Saturday morning we hit the track confident that our car would complete the endur-ance/fuel economy event.”

What they didn’t foresee was that half way through the course the stock wiring connector for the brake light would vibrate loose. When the team pulled in for the driver change after lap 14, this brake light failure meant they were not permitted back on the track. Being unable to finish the race was “frustrating, unfortunate, and it hurt our overall score and standing. But, in general, we were pleased with the performance of the car under race con-ditions.”

There were no seniors on the 2011 team, so the entire group will have the chance to reunite for next year’s com-petition. They’re already setting goals for their next race; planning to test the car during the summer and continue to make improvements. On the top of the list is a schedule that allows more validation time, and a lot more checking of the brake light connector.

UConn’s Formula SAE Team Races Ahead


2011 Senior Design Class

The UConn Senior Design Project Program is a hallmark of success for the Department of Mechanical Engineering. In this two-semester course, senior students are mentored by department faculty and industry engineers as they work to solve real-life engineering problems for company sponsors. Students learn about the principles of design, how ethics affect engineering decisions, how professionals communicate ideas and the day-to-day implications of intellectual property. In the course of a year, the student teams learn to synthesize data analysis, judgment, tech-nical skills, creativity and innovation to design, optimize and manufacture a prototype model, or to perform prod-uct simulations.

Over the past 10 years, the program has grown from 22 seniors working on 11 industrially sponsored projects to

Senior Design Program

98 students working on 41 industrially sponsored projects. Many of these seniors have been offered jobs from their company spon-sor before graduation, and four patents are pending from Senior Design projects completed in the last five years. In addition, one of our senior design students placed first in the ASME National Conference competition for best oral presentation.

The culminating experience of the senior design program is the annual Demonstration Day event at the close of the academic year. When the program was small, this event was held in avail-able space within the Engineering Department buildings. This ac-ademic year, the School of Engineering held its first all-school se-nior design demonstration day. All of the graduating engineering seniors were united under Gampel Pavilion’s roof before a large and attentive audience of students, sponsors, university officials, state policy makers, families and faculty. Visitors and students explored over 120 senior design team projects from every disci-pline on display in Gampel by engineering students from every discipline.

Among the 120 projects displayed was a “helicopter sonar unit load/upload fixture” developed for HABCO, a small Glastonbury, CT-based firm providing ground support and testing equipment


to the U.S. mili-tary, defense and aerospace manufacturers, industrial and power genera-tion providers, and medical device manu-facturers. Team members designed and constructed a proto-type hoist intended to lift a nearly 400 pound sonar unit from a ship onto a helicopter. The fixture is designed to incorporate collapsing features, enabling compact storage and loading door clearance aboard a frigate. A critical limitation for the team in designing the unit was the need to maintain stability in “sea state 3” conditions. In addition to considering an optimal design, the students had to consider what materials offered greatest durability and strength for the hoist, caster treads, and hubs. The team tested their prototype and verified their calculations us-ing finite element analysis. HABCO personnel were im-pressed with the prototype and have begun to show it to prospective customers.

A multi-institutional team sponsored by Energy Beam Sciences of East Granby, CT developed a tissue biopsy apparatus that may be installed in physicians’ offices for on-site tissue preparation. The team of ME students, joined by biomedical engineering seniors, also

included Smith College students. The team developed a Lab Pulse Point of Care Tissue processor that takes on-site personnel through the major steps in sample prep-aration: fixation, dehydration and embedding. These steps are typically completed at an off-site laboratory. The students explained that their apparatus will not only save valuable time in getting tissue sample results pre-pared for diagnostic analysis – thereby reducing pa-tient anxiety – but will also reduce the potential for er-rors that can emerge in busy, high volume laboratories.

All of the projects began with a problem challenge pro-vided by an industrial or private sponsor. Sponsors pro-vide students with an exceptional opportunity to apply classroom skills toward genuine design problems. This year’s commercial sponsors included Alstom, ASML, Bev-ilaqua-Knight, Capewell, Courtbridge Consulting, Cre-atac, Energy Beam Sciences, General Dynamics/Elec-tric Boat, GKN Structures, HABCO, Hamilton Sundstrand, Henkel Loctite, Jacobs Vehicle System, Maks PacRim Renew-able Energy, Nufern, OSIM, Otis Elevator, Pratt & Whitney, RBC Bearings, Sikorsky, TTM Technologies, Westinghouse Electric, and Wiremold.

The HABCO student team shows their UConn spirit

uconn me annual report 2011

Documents

research projects

summer research

research partnership

new research grants

academic year

various research laboratories

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