Bearings - Spring 2001-final copy

B Spring/Summer E A R I N G S V o l u m e 4 2001 Plant-a-Seed for Future Growth... Future Rendition: By Gutierrez-Borowski + Associates, PC. In This Issue: ME Academy News • February's Annual Meeting • New 2001 Inductees Faculty & Research • Dr. Gabe Garcia • Dr. Joseph Genin • Dr. Yuwen Zhang ME Snr. Design Course Faculty: • • • • Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Edward Hensel Young Ho Park Linda Riley Patricia Wojahn As many of you know, we started the Jett Hall backyard “drainage improvement” project in 1997; and, in May of 2001, this work was completed. As you can see from the two photos below that, even at this stage, it looks much better, and it allows for proper drainage when we have one of our typical Las Cruces monsoons. Now, we are ready to start the gardening project. Many alumni have shown an interest in funding the planting of a tree and/or shrubs, or purchasing a bench for the area. Naturally, we would welcome your help with this activity, and, in appreciation, we will recognize each donation of $500 or more with a personalized plaque that will be placed on a bench or at the base of a tree. If you wish to make a donation, please see the insert in this newsletter for a menu of items for which you could provide support. The students will appreciate your help, especially through the enjoyment that the new landscaping in the back yard will bring to them. We hope you can stop by and see our progress on your next visit to campus. Projects: • In-Tube Radar • Mini Baja Competition Other Student Projects • Sip/Puff Fishing Rod Competition • BattleBots(TM) Update For Students & Other Information • IGTA Scholarship for Members • 2000 ME Academy Inductee • 1945 Alumni Member Before: January 2001 After: June 2001 For more information, please visit our website at http://me.nmsu.edu M echanica l E ngineering A cademy s pring/Summer2001 The 2001 ME Academy Annual Meeting was held during the 22nd and 23rd February in the ME Department at NMSU. Discussions ran for the two days, and guest speakers included the President of NMSU, President Jay Gogue; and the Dean of the College of Engineering, Dean Jay Jordan. The meeting concluded with a dinner on Friday evening at La Posta in Old Mesilla, Las Cruces. (For more news related to the ME Academy, turn to page 7.) ME Academy Members: In alphabetical order: Floyde Adams; Dan Arviso; Alan Clouse; B. Pruit Ginsberg; NMSU President, Jay Gogue; Louis R. Gomez; J. D. Lockwood; Teresa Lockwood; Bill Medcalf; George P. Mulholland; Robert G. Myers; ME Department Chair, Dr. Bahram Nassersharif; Mike Reischman; John Ruminer; Luis Salazar; Ron Seidel; James R. Sims; Robert Skaggs; Tom Stokebrand; Tim Thompson; and Mike Walker. At the Annual Meeting this year, three new Academy members were inducted into the ME Academy. Our congratulations to: Dr. John Ruminer; James R. Sims, Jr.; and Dr. Philip Smith. Dr. John Ruminer received his B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from the University of Michigan. Upon finishing graduate school, he was employed by the Lawrence Livermore National Labs., where he worked for five years on design and analysis of x-ray vulnerability and effects experiments. In 1975, he moved to Los Alamos, and he has spent the remainder of his career working for the Los Alamos National Laboratories(LANL). Currently, he is Deputy Director of the Engineering Sciences and Applications Division (ESA), which is responsible for engineering support of defense, energy, industrial, and environmental programs at LANL. 2 James R. Sims, Jr. received his BSME, with honors, from NMSU, and he has completed post-graduate courses at UNM-Los Alamos. In 1977, he joined Los Alamos National Laboratories as a member of the technical staff in the Engineering Science and Applications group. He has held increasingly responsible positions including Project Leader for multi-disciplinary teams, and he has been involved with extensive mechanical engineering design. Prior affiliations include Philips Petroleum, London, UK; Kemton-Hawaii at Kwajalein Missile Range; and PSL at White Sands Missile Range. Dr. Phillip Smith obtained a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University. He received his Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from the University of Kansas. In 1964, he joined the Mechanical Engineering Department at NMSU, where he has been very active in research, teaching, and service. Dr. Smith was Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department from 1976 to 1988. His research interests include transport of fires in ventilation systems, computational fluid dynamics and heat transfer, and turbulence and chaos. He is an accomplished theoretician and an experimentalist. Faculty and Research s In order to meet the students' needs at New Mexico State University, where students' interests are broad and diverse, faculty members of the Mechanical Engineering Department strive to meet this demand by being involved, remaining dedicated, and keeping abreast of current research and teaching techniques... pring/Summer2001 Researchers at New Mexico State University are developing a new self-monitoring system to test and evaluate the safety of bridges. With a $225,000, four-year grant awarded by the National Science Foundation, Dr. Gabe Garcia--an assistant professor in Mechanical Engineering--and his research assistants will develop a system that will allow bridges to be monitored under normal operating conditions. Currently, vibrationbased methods used to test bridges require shutting a bridge down. This method is expensive, and it is not practical for bridges that have large amounts of traffic. “Simply telling someone that damage exists is not sufficient to make a judgement about how safe a bridge is. We have to be able to report where the damage is located and how the damage affects the stiffness and overall performance of the structure,” Garcia stated. Under the proposed self-monitoring system, it will help engineers address this issue. The self-monitoring system could allow transportation departments to regularly monitor critical bridges--especially those that have exceeded their expected life, experienced heavier traffic than they were designed for, or that contained structural anomalies. Also, it would allow officials to make quicker and more accurate conclusions on the degradation and safety of the bridges, he added. During the two-day annual meeting of the ME Academy, held in February at NMSU's Mechanical Engineering Department, Dr. Joseph Genin was presented with the ME Academy Professor of the Year award. Along with this title, he received a monetary award of $1000, which, in order to best serve the needs of the ME students at NMSU, he generously donated to the ME Scholarship Fund. Over the years, Dr. Genin has had a long and distinguished career in Mechanical Engineering. He holds a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the City College of New York and a M.Sc. in Structural Engineering from the University of Arizona. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1963. He held the position of Professor and Department Head of Engineering Mechanics at Purdue University from 1975 - 1981, and he was Dean of the College of Engineering at NMSU from 1981-1985. Currently, he is Director of the Center for Dynamics, Mechanics, and Control. His main area of interest is theoretical solid mechanics. Following his employment at Thermoflow Inc. as a senior engineer, Dr. Yuwen Zhang joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering in January 2001. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Connecticut in 1998, where he worked as a research scientist before accepting the position at Thermoflow, Inc. While at Thermoflow, a leading company on software development for the power industry, he worked on developing and testing Thermoflow flagship software, such as GT PRO®, and GT MASTER and THERMOFLEX®. He has published over twenty papers in various prestigious journals, such as the ASME Journal of Heat Transfer, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, ASME Journal of Solar Energy Engineering etc. He is also a reviewer for several journals and ASME conferences. His research interests are in the area of multiphase heat transfer, heat pipes, thermal manufacturing, and computational heat transfer. His teaching interests also include engineering analysis, thermodynamics, and heat transfer at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He is very excited about the wonderful opportunity to work with both faculty and students at NMSU. 3 Faculty and Research s pring/Summer2001 The ME Senior Design course, team taught by Dr Hensel, Dr. Park, Dr Riley, and Dr. Wojahn, strives to: prepare students . . for careers and lifelong learning; educate students in analysis and effective communication; teach pertinent design processes; and develop team building skills... all skills that are vital for success in the academy and the workplace... Dr. Edward Hensel holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from NMSU, where he is a tenured full professor for the department. As a professor, he teaches senior design project and product development classes in mechanical engineering, graduate courses in numerical analysis and design, and a variety of technical subject areas. His experience in working with industry, such as US National Labs. and the D.O.D., on multi-disciplinary undergraduate and graduate design projects has helped him understand the value of integrating practical design experience in the engineering curriculum. Dr. Hensel is passionate about mentoring undergraduate/graduate students in multi-disciplinary teams comprising of multiple engineering disciplines, computer science, chemistry, physics, business (accounting, management, marketing), and technical writing. His teaching interests include engineering design (thermal and mechanical), computational methods ing (commercial software usage and software development), and the engineering sciences. Dr. Young Ho Park joined the ME faculty at NMSU in the summer of 2000. He is an assistant professor, and he holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Iowa. Following graduation, he worked at the Ford Motor Co. for two years, where he provided design guidance for the body structure of Light Weight Steel Vehicles using design structural analysis(DSA) and optimization techniques. In October, 1996, he joined the Center for Computer-Aided Design(CCAD) at the University of Iowa, as a research scientist. He has much experience working in government and industry settings, such as the US Govt., United Defense, ARPA (Advanced Research Project Agency), Ford Motor Co., General Motors, General Dynamics, and Caterpillar Inc. His research areas are in computational solid mechanics with applications to process structural DSA and optimization methodology. His teaching interests are in the general area of solid mechanics and optimization. While team-teaching the ME 426 Design Lab, he commented that it is an exciting venture--both for faculty and students alike--and it is something of which he is proud to be a part. Dr. Linda Riley holds the position of Associate Department Head in the Department of Industrial Engineering at NMSU. Her teaching responsibilities include: simulation/computational modeling, manufacturing systems, engineering logistics, and freshman/ senior design courses. From a research perspective, her interests involve systems' analysis, design and modeling, applied simulation for systems' optimization, and logistics network modeling. Dr. Riley has won a number of awards focused on teaching, to include: 2001 National Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Technology; El Paso Energy Faculty Achievement Award; ASME Partners in Mechanical Engineering Grant Program Award; Boeing Welliver Faculty Fellowship; Professor of the Year, NMSU, (Selected by the University's Greek Organizations); and the ProModel Corporation National Grand Simulation Champion. Dr. Riley completed a Ph.D. concentrated in Manufacturing Logistics and an M.S. in Industrial Engineering from NMSU. She spent two years at Brown University on a full-time post-graduate fellowship studying Development Economics. Dr. Patricia Wojahn holds a Ph.D. in Rhetoric from Carnegie Mellon. At CMU, her work on an NSFfunded project led to her dissertation on computers and communication and to a Computer-Human Interaction publication. Over the years, she has worked on a campus-wide communications-across-thecurriculum effort at Robert Morris College. Currently, she is a second-year faculty member in the English Department at NMSU. Dr. Wojahn is interested in collaborative and multi-disciplinary work, in communication occuring within the development of shared projects, and in potential effects (negative and positive) of the technologies used to communicate, work, and write. She is particularly interested in the creation of peer reviews, the effects of peer reviews on writers, and the dialogue taking place during the production of shared projects--as well as the changes documents go through based on feedback. Another strong interest is in using reader-based/ user-based approaches to test and refine the tools used to write and communicate. 4 Student sProjects pring/Summer2001 At the end of the course, students will be trained in engineering design methods and concurrent engineering, team dynamics, and intellectual property issues by working on "real life" tasks, transforming clients' needs into tangible, tractible project definitions, and seeing those projects through to completion... in essence, each student will be ready to begin a career in the field of engineering... Non-Destructive Testing and Evaluation: In-Tube Radar Development Combined with efforts from Sandia National Labs and led by Dr. Thurlow Caffee, students at the ME Dept., are constructing an In-Tube Radar(ITR) for the U.S. Dept. of Energy. As of now, NMSU-ME is in Phase II of development of the three year project, which is headed by Dr. Bahram Nassersharif. The project started in spring 2000, and each semester thereafter, students have progressed on the earlier semester's work. Some of the students have been with the project from the beginning; some students are new members to the team. To create this dynamic multi-disciplinary team, capable of developing a functional In-Tube Radar and creating a complete project package--consisting of templates, user manuals, and consistent team documentation, this semester's students have come from varied backgrounds to include: ME, IE, and English. Currently, the team is working with Data Acquisition and Electrical Engineering in order to install components into the housing fixture and to prepare the project for testing during the summer months. Left to right: The In-Tube Radar Team - Spring 2001 Bashar Mohammed(IE), Kelly Winter(Engl.), Jarod Duncan(Team Mgr./ME), Donny Gregory(IE), Amy Jo Scoca(Engl.), and Aaron Ross(Lead Engineer/ME) Mini Baja Project: Spring 2001 During 26th-28th April 2001, the Mini-Baja Team, from the ME 426--Design Lab, represented New Mexico State University in Kansas at Dorothy's Demolition--Mini Baja West 2001.The team members for the project were: Evan Montoya (English), Wesley Morgan(ME), Cale Robertson(ME), Brian Stubbs (ME), and Daniel Wolfe (ME). In addition to lab instruction, Dr. Richard Hills provided advice in efforts to help the team. To prepare for the competition, the mechanical problems from last year were addressed: the ride height was adjusted to prevent rollovers; the suspension was re-worked; and the engine mount was refined to strengthen the engine and to reduce noise and vibration. However, with these changes, new problems arose, such as the steering, and the front and back weight distribution, so these will be worked on for next year's competition. Other areas of focus for the team were the sales presentation and design report. For performance on the day, the vehicle did extremely well in acceleration and the hill climb; however, it became apparent that more work on maneuverability needed to be done. And, what else did the team learn about this experience? That prior experience would have helped them tremendously--especially as this group was new to the Mini-Baja event. Overall, the vehicle placed 45th out of 88. The competition was tough; the team was pleased with the results; and they had, as Wes Morgan stated, "Loads of fun!" Left to right: Members of the Mini-Baja Team - Spring 2001 Wes Morgan, Brian Stubbs, Tom Seay, and Daniel Wolfe For those interested in multi-disciplinary team teaching--particularly between the mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, and English fields, there will be an article published in an upcoming edition of Technical Communication Quarterly(TCQ)--sponsored by the Assoc. of Teachers of Technical Writing(ATTW). 5 Student Projects s pring/Summer2001 Every semester, students in the Mechanical Engineering Department at NMSU work with more and more clients; undertake more and more projects; and compete, nationally, in more and more competitions... BattleBots' Team 2000 ASME National Design Competition 2001: Region XII "Sip-and-Puff" Fishing Rod Left to right: Henry Valenzuela, Blake Ahrens, Cale Robertson, and Dean Rambow Left to right: Kyle Hickerson, Jarod Duncan, Andy Johns, Philip Perez, and Will Tsun Left to right: Dean Rambow, Ian Cady, Robert Ortega, and Blake Ahrens The American Society of Mechanical Engineers National Design competition for 2001 required students to build a "Sip-and-Puff" Fishing Rod. For ASME student members, this challenge was to design and demonstrate a well-tested, cost-effective, and reliable prototype apparatus which would allow a quadriplegic to cast a fishing lure using a specified rod and reel. Sixteen NMSU students registered for the student conference for Region XII, and it was held over the weekend of March 23-24 in Flagstaff, AZ. All of the entrants were from NMSU; therefore, it was no surprise that one of the NMSU teams won first place and team members--Elana Jurado and Cale Robertson--received a $1000 travel stipend to compete in the ASME nationals to be held held in New York City in early November. Congratulations--we wish you all the best...! Back Row: Left to right: Dean Rambow, Matt Marple, Robert Ortega Ian Cady, Neil Hamilton, Omar Mireles, Juan Jakoboski, Jason Cook Front Row: Left to right: David Siegel, Henry Valenzuela, Blake Ahrens, Cale Robertson Every semester, there are many innovative projects being designed in the senior design class--ME 426/427. One such innovative project is to create a BattleBot(TM) for the nation -wide BattleBots'(TM) competition. BattleBots(TM) is a new robotic sport, where two or more robots fight against each other in an arena. The winner is determined by the levels of damage each robot receives. In September of last year, a team of students from the ME Department at NMSU joined together to build a BattleBot(TM) for the national competition to be held at the All-American Sport Arena in Las Vegas. The team consisted of: Jarod Duncan, Patricia Garcia, Kyle Hickerson, Andy Johns, Phillip Perez, and Will Tsun. They received this project at the beginning of September; and, in order to be ready for the competition, it had to be completed by the middle of November. Within a short period of time, they researched, designed, and built a robot, which they named "Mr. Roboto". "Mr. Roboto" features a pyramid shape wedge--for flipping over other robots; a two 1/3 hp motor power-for moving a total weight of 250 lbs; and a shell made with 1/8 inches thick high-grade steel--for resisting .22 caliber bullets. In November, the team took "Mr. Roboto" to join the 130 other robots in the BattleBots'(TM) competition. Due to "Mr. Roboto's" unique design, it was recognized as one of the best robots in its class; consequently, the team was invited to a rumble match with robots in the same weight class. Although they did not win the competition, they did win the crowd...and Bill Nye, the Science Guy, even signed the shell as a souvenir for the team! Good job team! We look forward to more BattleBots' meetings in the future... 6 Student Organizations s pring/Summer2001 The faculty strongly encourages students to participate in local chapter student organizations, sporting events, and volunteer activities, in fact, in any way that the ME student body can benefit those around them and in their communities... NMSU-ME student receives scholarship from International Gas Turbine Institute (IGTA). Jarod Duncan, as a member of the Student Section of the ASME, was the proud recipient of a monetary award for $1000. During the morning of January 26, 2001, the Officers of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering - Student Organization, led by Dr. Conley, joined together to elect the recipient of the International Gas Turbine Institute Scholarship. This is the first time in five years that the scholarship has been awarded. The objective of the award is to recognize those students who actively participate in supporting the ME Department through outstanding scholarship and volunteer activities.There were four candidates nominated for the scholarship: Jarod Duncan, Kyle Hickerson, Elana Jurado, and Shane Palmer. The competition was tough; and, after much deliberation, the board awarded Jarod Duncan with the scholarship. Jarod has been a member of the ASME for many years, and he has been very active within the Mechanical Engineering community. He is the Engineering Council President and he has contributed much time to the student body. Congratulations Jarod! Engineering Olympics: 2000-2001 As always, the ME students are full of competitive spirit. Twice a year the engineering departments--chemical; civil and geological; electrical; engineering technology; industrial; and mechanical--at NMSU compete amongst each other Left to right: in a number of sporting events to include: tug-ofCarlos Lara Elias, Sam Bridges, Jesus Gonzales, Cale Robertson, war, volleyball, and frisbee. These sporting events ME student, David Siegel, Kyle are great fun and generate much camaraderie Hickerson, Maureen McCamley, Jarod amongst the departments! Duncan, and ME student. Left to right: Daniel Wolfe and Jarod Duncan Academy ME Academy ( c o n t . f r o m p a g e 7 ) Other Events... Ev NMSU ME Department Visited by 1945 Alumni Member: Mr. Chet Rolland During his visit to the NMSU ME Department in December 2000, Mr. Chet Rolland presented a seminar on his career in the communication industry. Chet graduated from NMSU in 1945 with a BSME. Left to right: Dean Jay Jordan; Dr. Bahram Nassersharif; Chet Rolland; and his new bride, Mrs Rolland To Honor ME Academy Spring 2000 Inductee: Tim Thompson Tim Thompson has an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and he has been active in precision engineering since 1978. He has over twenty three years of engineering and management experience. Up until 1985, he worked as an aerospace engineer for Allied Signal (now Honeywell) in Phoenix, AZ, where he was responsible for the design and analysis of turbine componentry used in jet engines. In 1985, he joined the staff at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Here, he led the Design Engineering team on designing the world's first all composite satellite--FORTE-- and was Chief Engineer for the Super Conducting Collider's Particle Tracker--GEM. Currently, he is the President/CEO of HYTEC, Inc. (hytecinc.com), a company that focuses on developing new non-destructive measurement technologies. It is a leader in stable structures and advanced composite design, industrial computer tomography (CT), and optical methods used in measuring residual stress. While working for HYTEC Inc., he has been responsible for the acquisition of the Cooperative Research and Development Agreements, and he has worked with international organizations, such as: NSF, NIST, CERN, DOE, LANL, NRL, NASA, MIT, and Caltech. 7 R I N B E A2001 G S One-Lungers Draw Attention at NMSU's ME Department The ME department at NMSU were delighted to be visited by Floyde Adams with his One-Lunger machines. Adams, who "rescued" one from being a lawn ornament, spends much of his time restoring these beautiful engines. Originally, during the 1920's, these cast-iron machines provided the main power source to farms. Following the depression, the use of electricity increased, and these machines with their "hit and miss" 3-hp engines became obsolete. Many of them were used for scrap metal--especially during WWII. So, it is "thank you" to Floyde Adams, for, without his dedication to these mechanical beauties, we would not be privileged to witness a part of American rural life from decades ago. Spring/Summer Vo l u m e 4 Bearings Editorial Staff Editor-in-Chief: Assistant Editor: Editor-at-Large: Research Team: Connie French Felt Mounce David Siegel Will Tsun Wesley Morgan Cale Robertson Louis Smith VI Athena Visel Debra Sumner Jessica Salvo Dr. Bahram Nassersharif Left: Floyde Adams (owner) shows off his One-Lunger machine, while B. Pruit Ginsberg and James R. Sims look on. All three are members of the ME Academy that met in February of this year. Above: Outside of Skeen Hall Back row: Louis "Chip" Smith VI, Felt Mounce, Dr. Bahram Nassersharif, Debra Sumner Front row: Athena Visel, Wesley Morgan, Jessica Salvo Mechanical Engineering Dept. MSC 3450 New Mexico State University P O Box 30001, Las Cruces, NM 88003-8001 Below: Goddard Hall Below: Goddard Hall Bearings is a publication of the Mechanical Engineering Department at New Mexico State University, Box 30001, Dept 3450, Las Cruces, NM, 88003. Bearings serves its readers as forum for presentation of news and information regarding the constituencies of the ME Department.