ME News
Download a PDF of "From ME to U," Spring 2008
ME Introduces New Innovation Partner Program
The Department of Mechanical Engineering has instituted a new Innovation Partner Program (IPP) to provide collaborations between industry, students and faculty members. This program partners ME students in their senior design class with individual corporate sponsors.
The IPP will allow an industrial sponsor to supply an idea for a senior design project. The description of the project is developed in consultation with a faculty advisor and an undergraduate student design team. The faculty advisors and industrial sponsors work as teams to help the undergraduate students pursue the agreed upon objectives.
Sponsoring companies receive well-conceived innovative approaches to their engineering problems, a comprehensive final report at the end of the academic year, and if possible, prototypes. Sponsors also get a close-up look at some of Utah's brightest engineering students as possible future employees.
By participating, faculty members make contacts with industry that potentially open new avenues of research and the University benefits from an engineering curriculum substantially enriched by the realism of engineering practice. Sponsorship of an IPP project is also a great way to build a lasting relationship with the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah.
ME Receives Scholarship Endowment
Through the generosity of Robert and Linda Wiggins, a new scholarship endowment has been established to provide help to undergraduate students in Mechanical Engineering at the U. The scholarship, funded by returns on the endowment investment, will be offered each year to an exceptional student with strong Utah roots and a clear financial need.
Bob is a member of the Engineering National Advisory Council and a graduate of both Mechanical Engineering and Humanities. He is president of Quartzdyne, Inc., a local manufacturer of high precision, high pressure quartz-crystal-based transducers for the oil and gas industry. Linda received a degree in English from the University of Utah.
This joyous announcement comes at a time of sadness, as Linda Wiggins passed away October 7, 2007. The Robert and Linda Wiggins scholarship will celebrate the couple’s commitment to helping those in need, and it underscores their belief in the power of education. Linda, always the optimist, brought out the best in those she touched. It is fitting that her spirit will live on through this scholarship, bringing out the best in undergraduate ME students for the foreseeable future.
David Dunlop, a junior, is the first recipient of this scholarship. David comes to us from Cottonwood High School where he graduated as class valedictorian. He is president of Tau Beta Phi and he is the cataloger of Pi Tau Sigma. He expects to complete both a BS and a MS in mechanical engineering here at the U.
Robotics Program Granted IGERT Funding
Through the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program, Robotics at the U has received substantial funding for special graduate study in Biocentric Robotics. Biocentric Robotics emphasizes three topics which are seen as particularly important for the future: Bioinspiration, Bioinstrumentation and Biomanipulation.
The School of Computing, the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and the Department of Bioengineering will jointly offer an integrated curriculum in Biocentric Robotics, including several new and revised courses and new laboratory space for research and teaching. This new and interdisciplinary graduate program in robotics will combine training in computer science, mechanical engineering, and bioengineering. Students will learn the relevant aspects of biological systems and will develop the fabrication and analysis skills necessary to build the next generation of robotic systems based on biological principles and on physical interaction with humans.
Biocentric Robotics is attractive for students wishing to pursue professional careers in engineering and computer science. Traditional engineering and computer science departments have a very low proportion of female students. The socially relevant goal of Biocentric Robotics to improve people’s lives may attract more women and minority students to technical careers by showing them how engineering and computer science training is broadly applicable.
To learn more about the IGERT program, please visit: http://robotics.eng.utah.edu/IGERT/
Faculty Member Recognized for Exceptional Teaching
Dr. Dan Adams, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has received the prestigious 2007 University of Utah Distinguished Teaching Award. This University-wide award recognizes outstanding teaching, innovative pedagogy, concern for students, and exemplary contributions to the educational process outside the classroom.
Dr. Adams is a favorite of ME students and his course evaluations always place him among the college’s teaching elite. “He has excelled at all levels of teaching, from undergraduate instruction to PhD supervision, and from chairing the curriculum committee to recruiting excellent new teaching and research faculty to our program.” said Dr. Kent Udell, Mechanical Engineering Department Chair.
Dr. Adams has previously received both the Department’s and the College of Engineering’s outstanding teaching awards.
New CFD Faculty Member
ME is pleased to announce that Dr. Rob Stoll has joined our faculty in the area of Computational Fluid Dynamics. Dr. Stoll earned his PhD from the University of Minnesota. His doctoral research at St. Anthony Falls Laboratory (SAFL) focused on high-Reynolds-number turbulent boundary layers and environmental fluid mechanics. “The U is a great environment for collaboration with both faculty and students,” said Dr. Stoll. “I’m excited to be here and look forward to continuing my research.” For more information, please contact Dr. Stoll by email: rstoll@mech.utah.edu.
ME Helps Girls Gear-Up for Careers in Technology
The Department of Mechanical Engineering has been helping “Girls Gear-Up for Careers in Technology” by facilitating hands-on experiments with female junior high students from local school districts.
In 2007, ME made nine outreach visits and reached over 600 students. Experiments included a wind turbine, a solar/fuel cell car, an autonomous robot and a mechanical dissection activity, providing the students with an opportunity to learn about alternative energy, computer programming, and simple machines.
ME chose to target middle school girls because it is around this age that many female students stop enrolling in science courses for reasons such as peer pressure, cultural pressure, and internalization of gender-stereotyped roles.
According to a recent report, girls are still less likely than boys to select an engineering major in college and women continue to be underrepresented in the engineering workplace. The Society of Women Engineers cites that only 10% of all employed engineers are women.
“The Department of Mechanical Engineering encourages and supports diversity,” said Dr. Kent Udell, Department Chair. “By providing girls with positive messages about women and science, we hope to nurture the next generation of female engineers.”