From the Dean

Dear CoE Faculty and Staff,

As we are in the midst of Winter Break, I wanted to fill you in on happenings around the College.

Speaking of updating, I'm no longer going to be sending you PDF files. Instead, Engineering Update will be accessed over the web, which is the modern way.

Very best wishes to all for a slower period, or perhaps a catch-up period, this week. I and others from the College are traveling with a group of CoE students in India as we work to enlarge the scope of our international programs and also engage with our loyal alumni overseas.

Regards,

Dave

Strategic Plan Updates

Progress continues in implementing the College’s strategic plan. Following are some recent highlights:

MCubed

Developed in the College of Engineering, MCubed is a campus-wide, pilot, research funding program that provides immediate startup funds for novel, high-risk and transformative interdisciplinary projects. The second cubing phase, which closed in December, once again stimulated a staggering array of projects that powerfully attest to the creativity and talent of U-M faculty. This phase resulted in funding for 117 cubes, which takes the total to 167 cubes funded so far in the pilot cycle of MCubed. These cubes involve a total of 501 faculty investigators.

Many projects address pressing social challenges. For example, one cube investigates responses to biophysical limits such as a declining energy supply, limited food security and rising defense expenditures. Key themes across the second phase of cubes were transportation, social media, cancer therapy, big data, and the human-machine interface.

There are now approximately 2100 faculty collaborators in the MCubed system (entered into the MCubed website as token holders). The next cubing phase (date TBA, but coming soon) will operate on a first-come, first-served basis. More information about the overall program can be found at www.mcubed.umich.edu.

MconneX

Since its inception last spring, MconneX, a College initiative to create a stronger Michigan community, has attracted 15,000 viewers to its webpages. MichEpedia short research videos, longer BrownBag learning programs, and live and on-demand webcasts offer content that can be repurposed by all departments, both on websites and in electronic newsletters. In partnership with the Alumni Relations office, an alumni volunteer portal is under development.

Steven Wang has been hired full time to support MconneX. Steven earned his BA degree in Screen Arts and Culture from the University in December 2011.

Watch recent MconneX content:

MichEpedia: “Algae to Biocrude in 60 Seconds”

BrownBags: “The Science and Future of Extreme Weather”

Lectures On-Demand: “State of the College 2012”

More information about the overall program can be found at What is MconneX All About.

Michigan Engineering Plus

Michigan Engineering Plus is an effort to broaden engineering students’ thinking skills through experiential learning, including international opportunities, multidisciplinary design projects, arts collaborations and other means of taking advantage of the University’s excellence across disciplines. This effort builds on various other student initiatives. It has been a catalyst for the creation of the College’s just-launched Honors Program.

Foundational Initiatives

Several activities are underway to support the College’s emphasis on faculty leadership, effective educational practices, a diverse and global creative community, recognition of our impact, and amassing assets for operational excellence. Two areas of significant improvement have been the inaugural NextProf faculty diversity program and increased visibility through Communications & Marketing video production.

Student and Educational Programs Updates

International Education

"It is not called the professional city, state, nor country. It is called the professional world for a reason. The most effective way to be fully prepared for the professional world is through a global educational experience. My time in China helped me better understand the world and experience it first hand.
Sydney Hamilton (left), AERO, IPE program in Nuclear Engineering in Xiamen, China
Summer 2012
(Shown with Rachel Bielajew (right), NERS)

The CoE is rapidly becoming a leader in providing international experiences for students, having nearly doubled participation in the last five years. Our goal is that every undergraduate will study, work, conduct research, or serve abroad before graduation. Summer experiences are ideal opportunities for students to gain these international experiences, with cost-effective opportunities now available in locations around the world. Faculty encouragement is critical to helping students decide to go abroad. In order to allow the planning necessary for students to take advantage of these opportunities, now is the time students need to hear from faculty. For more information visit the International Programs in Engineering website.

Engineering Graduate Symposium

The 7th Annual Engineering Graduate Symposium, “Collaboration in Engineering,” was held in November. More than 180 top engineering students from across the country came to Ann Arbor to learn about the College and graduate student research. CoE graduate students presented 248 posters that highlighted collaboration, innovation and communication in an interdisciplinary environment.

The 2012 Richard & Eleanor Towner Prizes for Outstanding PhD Research were awarded to Robert Levine (ChE), Ravi Ranade (CEE) and Seid H. Sadat (ME). Jami Grindatto, Intel Corporation director of Talent Marketing and Sourcing Solutions, was a keynote speaker. Sponsors included Intel, SoarTech, the U.S. Air Force, Olga’s Kitchen, Qualcomm, Exponent, FedEx, National Instruments, Sandia National Labs, the Rackham Graduate School and Rackham Student Government.

College Awarded URM Grant

The College of Engineering has been selected as University Partner for the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) Scholars Program. Working in partnership, the Office of Student Affairs and the Center for Engineering Diversity and Outreach submitted a proposal applying for a block grant in NACME’s Scholars Program. As a result, NACME has awarded the College a five-year grant of $225,000. NACME block grants enable colleges and universities to support talented URM students enrolled in engineering programs.

MDP Student Project Opportunities

The Multidisciplinary Design Program enables students to work on significant, year-long, partner-sponsored projects that reflect the professional practice of a newly graduated, working engineer. Each project has a customer ready to implement successful solutions. Students participate in team evaluations and receive personal performance appraisals. All projects are led by students and each is mentored by both a faculty member and an engineer from the partner sponsor. Projects begin in winter term, continue with paid summer internships with the sponsor or a summer research experience on campus, and conclude during the fall term. The projects fulfill the major design experience requirement for the minor in Multidisciplinary Design.

2012 cohort results
45 students on 7 teams in the 2012 cohort completed their projects.
- The Stryker Medical student team produced a prototype currently being shown by the Stryker sales force
- 30% of the students began the fall term with a full-time job offer from their sponsor already in hand

2013 cohort selection
Last fall’s project fair resulted in 92 students from CoE, LSA, the Ross School of Business, the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, Taubman College, and the School of Music, Theatre & Dance being selected for 17 teams that started this semester. Partner sponsors include: Eaton Corporation, Detroit Manufacturing Systems, Harris Communications, John Deere, JPMorgan Chase, Navistar, North American Bancard, Procter & Gamble, Stryker Medical, Total Door, Union Pacific, Kellogg Eye Center, U-M Hospital Systems, U-M Department of Psychology, and a faculty member in EECS. See the 2013 cohort project descriptions.

MDP Workshops

The MDP has expanded the number and types of skills workshops it provides. Last fall, MDP offered 18 workshops, ranging from a two-hour introductory session to in-depth half-day sessions. New workshop topics included: Communications and Marketing for Project Teams, Project Management, Finite Element Analysis, Topology Optimization, and Animation and Rendering.

Advancement Update

Mechanical Engineering Department Chair Position Endowed

Tim Manganello, executive chairman of BorgWarner, Inc. and former member of the Engineering Advisory Council, and The BorgWarner Foundation have announced a $2 million gift to endow the Mechanical Engineering department chair position in the College of Engineering. This endowment will provide Mechanical Engineering with resources to enable new initiatives and achieve goals in the Department’s strategic plan. The gift is a landmark; it is the first endowed department chair position in the College.

Center for Entrepreneurship Updates

LectureTools Acquired by Echo360

U-M startup LectureTools, which uses technology to bridge the gap between students and professors, was acquired by Echo360. Perry Samson, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and professor of atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences, co-founded the company. Earlier this year, Weather Underground, co-founded by Perry and Alan Steremberg (BSE CompE ’94), was acquired by The Weather Channel. This semester, Perry is teaching a course as part of the master of entrepreneurship curriculum.

This semester, David Tarver (BSE EE ’75, MSE ’76) is teaching two courses to undergraduate students enrolled in the nine-credit specialized study in entrepreneurship. David earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan. He is founder of Telecom Analysis Systems Inc. and the Red Bank Education and Development Initiative and author of the recently published Proving Ground.

CFE Staff Updates

After two years as academic programs assistant, Amy Goldstein is transitioning to a new role within the Center for Entrepreneurship as marketing and communications specialist.

After one year with the Center for Entrepreneurship as mentor-in-residence and co-director of the Michigan Clean Energy Venture Challenge, Norm Rapino has been named I-Corps network specialist. In this new role, he will reach out to universities in the region to recruit faculty to participate in the regional I-Corps program. He also will build a national mentor network.

In addition, Amy Bishop (academic programs assistant), Martha Reck (academic programs assistant) and Meredith VanKoevering (I-Corps program coordinator) have joined the CFE staff.

Watch video of master of entrepreneurship faculty addressing the question, “Can Entrepreneurship be Taught?”

Staff Update

2013 Excellence in Staff Service Awards and 2013 Judith A. Pitney Staff Service Career Award Program

Faculty and staff will be mailed the announcement of the College’s 2013 Excellence in Staff Service Awards and the 2013 Judith A. Pitney Staff Service Career Award on March 11. These awards are a very important component of our efforts to recognize and reward our staff for their exceptional work on behalf of the College and its faculty and students. I encourage everyone to review the program announcements and to participate in the nomination process. Please note that Monday, April 1 is the deadline for submitting nominations for both awards.

Faculty Updates

Kim Hayes Appointed CEE Department Chair

Kim Hayes, professor of civil and environmental engineering, has been appointed chair of the department, effective January 1, 2013.

Thomas Zurbuchen Appointed to Northern Michigan University Board of Trustees

Governor Snyder announced the appointment of Thomas Zurbuchen, associate dean for entrepreneurial programs, to the eight-person governing body of Northern Michigan University. The appointment was effective January 2013, for an eight-year term.

Benjamin Kuipers Elected AAAS Fellow

Benjamin Kuipers, professor of computer science and engineering, has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This honor recognizes efforts toward advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished.

Junior Faculty Awards

Sam Daly (ME), NSF CAREER Award
Prabal Dutta (CSE), Intel Early Career Faculty Award
Vikram Gavini (ME), AFOSR Young Investigator Award
Ann Jeffers (CEE), NSF CAREER Award
Charles Monroe (ChE), NSF CAREER Award
Shai Revzen (ECE), ARO Young Investigator Award
Juan Rivas (ECE), NSF CAREER Award
Dave Wentzloff (ECE), NSF CAREER Award
Zhaohui Zhong (ECE), NSF CAREER Award

New Faculty

We are pleased to introduce the following new instructional faculty members who joined the College in January 2013:

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Branko Kerkez, Assistant Professor
Professor Kerkez’s research focuses on intelligent infrastructure, operational hydrology, and cyber-physical systems. More specifically, he is interested in the deployment of large-scale wireless sensor networks and the applications of control and machine learning theory to civil and environmental engineering problems.

Krista Wigginton, Assistant Professor
As the world’s increasing population and climate change place unprecedented stresses on Earth’s freshwater systems, changes in the transport and abundance of waterborne pathogens and the potential for new pathogen strains are expected to create acute challenges for environmental engineers and public health scientists. Professor Wigginton’s research involves addressing these problems by advancing the detection and inactivation of pathogenic organisms in water.

Computer Science and Engineering

Kevin Fu, Associate Professor
Professor Fu’s research is in the area of trustworthy computing and low-power embedded devices. In addition to systems security, RFID-scale computation, and energy-aware architectures, his interests include medical devices and health IT.

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Laura Balzano, Assistant Professor
Professor Balzano’s research projects are in the areas of statistical signal processing and estimation, particularly dealing with large data. She has worked in the areas of online algorithms, compressed sensing and matrix completion, network inference, and sensor networks.

We are pleased to introduce the following research faculty members who joined the College in 2012:

Computer Science and Engineering

Ronald Dreslinski, Assistant Research Scientist
Dr. Dreslinski’s research focuses on exploring emerging technologies to enable low power computer architectures. His research interests include the use of near-threshold voltage computation to reduce power consumption, three-dimensional (3D) integrated circuits to increase density and form-factor, and novel circuits for interconnecting large numbers of cores in future many-core designs.

Materials Science and Engineering

Hui-Chia Yu, Assistant Research Scientist
Dr. Yu’s research areas focus on investigating electrochemical processes in Li-ion battery electrodes and solid oxide fuel cell electrodes, using computer simulations. Through his work, we are able to understand the detailed electrochemical dynamics that occur at the electrode-particle level during charge-discharge cycling.

Mechanical Engineering

Kiran D’Souza, Assistant Research Scientist
Dr. D’Souza’s research addresses challenges associated with complex dynamics arising from nonlinearities and large dimensional systems. Specific applications include reduced-order modeling for multi-stage turbomachinery; parametric reduced-order models for battery packs; and forecasting bifurcations in nonlinear systems with applications in a variety of fields including the aerospace industry, population dynamics, climate dynamics, biological systems, and the electric grid.

Erik Hellstrom, Assistant Research Scientist
Dr. Hellstrom’s research areas include modeling, dynamic analysis, and control of internal combustion engines and automotive powertrain systems.

George Lavoie, Research Scientist
Dr. Lavoie’s research interests include internal combustion engines, combustion and emissions, engine modeling, flammability, fuels, optical engine diagnostics, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and heat transfer. Currently he is involved in several projects which combine aspects of compression ignition and spark ignition to enable combustion in dilute, high pressure thermodynamic regimes previously inaccessible to gasoline engines, and which will allow significant gains in vehicle fuel economy.

Jason Martz, Assistant Research Scientist and Adjunct Assistant Professor
Dr. Martrz’s research interests pertain to the application of the thermal and fluid sciences to internal combustion engines, including the simulation and model development of premixed combustion processes and the experimental investigation of factors affecting engine performance and emissions.

David Reuss, Research Scientist
Dr. Reuss’ research interests center on fundamental in-cylinder physical processes unique to reciprocating internal-combustion engines; in particular, gas flow, fuel-spray, ignition, and combustion. Efforts focus on the root causes of intra-cycle evolution and stochastic variability of these processes. This effort includes a combination of high-speed laser and optical diagnostics, statistical analysis, and partnership with computational efforts employing Large Eddy Simulation.

Shiva Rudraraju, Assistant Research Scientist
Dr. Rudraraju’s research draws from nonlinear mechanics, transport, phase transformations, and advanced numerical methods. His primary interest is in modeling of multiphysics and multiscale phenomena in material science and biology. He also works on fracture prediction and propagation in composite materials.

Jason Siegel, Assistant Research Scientist
Dr. Siegel’s research interests are in modeling, model validation, and control of alternative energy conversion and storage systems for automotive applications. His current research involves the use of in situ neutron imaging techniques to measure the lithium concentration gradient inside an operational battery for the validation of electrochemical models.