MAE News

Ms. Wendy Okolo, Prof. Dogan Advisor, has been awarded the AIAA John Leland Atwood Graduate Award. The Leland Award, sponsored by endowments from Rockwell and Boeing North America, Inc., and named in memory of John Leland “Lee” Atwood, former chief executive officer of Rockwell, North American, is presented to a student actively engaged in research in the areas covered by the technical committees of AIAA. For further information, see https://www.aiaa.org/SecondaryTwoColumn.aspx?id=18469.

Bernd Chudoba, Associate Professor in MAE , was awarded the Most Valuable Faculty Award in Recognition of Outstanding Service to the Graduating Class of 2013!

The University of Texas at Arlington has recently created the Advanced Materials and Structures Lab (AMSL) under the leadership of Professor Andrew Makeev. AMSL is becoming a focal, world class organization with a critical mass of researchers empowered by state-of-the-art facilities. He, his team at UT Arlington and a team at Bell are working on an ONR project, "Integration of Design and Manufacturing Processes to Improve Performance of Composites".

In addition to the ONR program, AMSL researchers are working on a number of projects in materials and structures. In particular, Professor Makeev represents the UT Arlington in the Vertical Lift Consortium, a national organization comprised of the U.S. rotorcraft industry and academic institutions involved in the vertical lift aircraft research with the common goal of providing long-term advancement of rotorcraft. He leads the Advanced Materials Technology Research at VLC and participates in a number of other VLC efforts including the durability and damage tolerance and the condition based maintenance technology. Professor Makeev also represents UT Arlington in the Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence, a multi-university organization funded by the U.S. Army to conduct fundamental research in the rotorcraft areas.

For more information, please see http://www.uta.edu/mae/AMSL/

MAE student, Eric Haney has been selected as a NASA/Texas Space Grant Consortium Fellow for the 2013-2014 academic year! This scholarship is intended to recognize high-quality students and encourage their consideration of graduate studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields which will ultimately lead to careers in STEM related fields. Congratulations Eric!

Dr. Makeev is leading a research team from UTA and Bell Helicopter working in the newly created Advanced Materials and Structures Lab (AMSL). The Office of Navel Research project is focusing on "Integration of Design and Manufacturing Processes to Improve Performance of Composites". To read more about this exciting research see: http://www.uta.edu/mae/AMSL/.

Mr. Chris Abrego has been selected as a 2013 NASA Summer Intern in the Applied Physics Lab at John Hopkins University. Chris' adviser is Panos Shiakolas, Ph.D. Chris will be working on the Solar Probe Plus mission to send a spacecraft closer to the sun than any previous mission. For more information see https://www.aplapp.com/showProject.jsp?groupId=Project-7-10653

Mr. Joshua Sidin and Mr. Andrew Maddox have been selected to receive the Carolyn A. Barros Service-Learning Award. In response to Jeb Bush’s education challenge at his Maverick Series speakers address, they created a tutoring program for at risk pre-college students. Andrew, a veteran who served in Iraq, is graduating this Spring and is heading to the Navy Pilot School. Josh is graduating this Spring, as well. He has accepted an offer with Lockheed Martin and will pursue his MS at UTA.

Their proactive outreach is uplifting and speaks volumes of our MAE students’ community engagement and caring.

Dr. Jain will join a team investigating aircraft energy management for the summer. His research will hopeful be the beginning of a long-term research collaboration between UT Arlington and AFRL!

Elijah Stevens, a junior majoring in Mechanical Engineering, has been selected as a 2013 Goldwater Scholar, only the second UT Arlington student to receive this prestigious award. As a sophomore Elijah has developed a particular interest in analytical and experimental advanced materials research, joining Dr. Stefan Dancila’s research group working in the Ultra High Temperature Materials Characterization Laboratory. Under Dr. Dancila’s guidance and mentorship he has worked on a research project focused on the thermo-mechanical and non-destructive characterization of Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) carbon-carbon composite materials, a key technology for the advancement of hypersonic flight. TPS materials research represents the forefront of aerospace materials and structural research, a topic of great importance for national defense, space exploration, and hypersonic flight that may enable a five-fold reduction in flight time.

“Mr. Stevens is an outstanding student demonstrating a remarkable maturity level. I am impressed by his intelligent questions and remarks, his natural curiosity and the desire to learn and understand. He is a quick, focused learner and has demonstrated a positive attitude and enthusiasm, which will serve him well in his future endeavors as a student and scientist/engineer,” Dr. Dancila said.

With Dr. Dancila’s recommendation, Mr. Stevens applied and was selected for the Summer 2012 NASA Academy Program, allowing him to continue to expand his research horizons at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. The experience provided him with further motivation for research, and focused his interest on the related field of rocket nozzle structures and gas dynamics, and turbo-machinery.

As he enters his final year of undergraduate study, Stevens’ aspiration is to pursue a master’s degree and then enter the private space industry and engaged in Rocket Propulsion research. “I would also like to become a mentor who would challenge my mentees to engineer a safe and prosperous future by using their talent to the fullest” he added. “Winning the Goldwater Scholarship not only will help me financially, it is also recognition of the quality education and mentoring I am receiving here at UTA”.

Prior to coming to UT Arlington, Stevens served in the U.S. Army where he was deployed to Iraq. “I experienced in the Army how engineering ingenuity kept me and my fellow service members safe” Elijah said. “My Service in the Army provides me with additional perspective to rise up to the modern engineering challenges we now face and hopefully, in so facing, improve our intellectual horizons and livelihoods” he added.

In addition to Dancila, who Stevens credits for giving him his first experience doing real research and opening his mind to cutting edge technology, Dr. Mahera Philobos, Assistant Provost at UTA, was the person who brought the scholarship to his attention. “Dr. Philobos’s encouragement and support throughout the application process was invaluable to me” he said.

“Because of his academic accomplishment and his excellent research experiences, Elijah was nominated and was selected for the 2013 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. He embodies the essence of dedication and commitment to the field of engineering and represents the best of UTA and the broader community” Dr. Philobos said. “Elijah is one of the most impressive and capable students I have ever met. He has enormous potential to make exceptional contributions as a ‘change-agent’ in this world, excelling in any endeavor he undertakes” she added.

College of Engineering Dean J.P. Bardet was thrilled to hear of Stevens’s accomplishment. “The Goldwater Scholarship is presented to the best students in the country, and Elijah represents the high caliber of students we work with every day in the College of Engineering. His determination and hard work have led to this award, and we are proud to have him as a student,” he said.

Congress established the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program in 1986 in honor of the former U.S. senator from Arizona and 1964 presidential candidate. The program’s goal is to encourage a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians and engineers by awarding scholarships in the fields. The scholarship is awarded to about 300 college sophomores and juniors nationwide. A maximum of $7,500 per academic year is granted.

The UTA MAE AERO-MAVERICKS ROCKET DIVISION traveled to Culpeper, VA this past Saturday to participate in the annual Battle of the Rockets competition.

A team of twelve dedicated ROCKET DIVISION members arrived at the launch site with two minivans, a mobile workshop, and a suite of uniquely crafted rockets-landers-rovers designed and built throughout the year. Last Saturday, this great team demonstrated the true spirit & proficiency of the UTA MAE Rocket Scientist by placing:

• 1st Place Target Altitude Event
• 1st Place Planetary Rover Event

The Right Stuff has been orchestrated by AE students Elizabeth Blaiszik (President Aero Mavericks) and Marcos Resendiz (Rocket Division Chief Engineer). The real stuff has seen implementation via a vibrant team able to define a competition focus, willing to align the academic and personal growing towards a unique learning experience, proficient to ready hardware and a mindset in time for the competition, finally representing the UTA MAE Rocket Mavericks spirit in a public setting. Aero Mavericks, the world is your oyster!

More information about the Battle of the Rockets

Professor Kent Lawrence will be honored on Thursday for his 50 years of service at UT Arlington. For the complete story in the UTA Shorthorn, please click here

Ms. Monica Hew, our most decorated undergraduate student thus far won the Annual Celebration of Excellence by Students (ACES) symposium's Undergraduate Sustainability Award and First Place in the Undergraduate Afternoon Oral presentation. Her Faculty Adviser is Prof. Haiying Huang! Monica has accepted a scholarship to pursue a PhD at Stanford.

The ACES symposium is a university-wide, daylong event that occurs in late March. ACES showcases the best of our students' research and creativity. Undergraduate and graduate students work with faculty mentors in their disciplines to write and submit abstracts for the competition. The approved abstracts are then turned into oral presentations or posters to be presented at the symposium.

Graduate student Eric Haney has been selected to participate in NASA Langley Aerospace Research Student Scholars (LARSS) program this summer. The project he will work on is investigating alternate hypersonic vehicle concepts and missions. Eric is advised by Bernd Chubdoba, Ph.D. Location: NASA Langley Aerospace Research Student Scholars Program!

Aerospace engineering graduate student, Laura Henderson, has been awarded the prestigious Amelia Earhart Fellowship for the second year in a row. She is advised by Kamesh Subbarao, Ph.D.

The Amelia Earhart Fellowship program helps talented women, pursuing advanced studies in the typically male-dominated fields of aerospace-related sciences and engineering, achieve their educational goals. The Fellowship enables these women to invest in state-of-the-art computers to conduct their research, purchase expensive books and resource materials, and participate in specialized studies around the globe. Amelia Earhart Fellows have gone on to become astronauts, aerospace engineers, astronomers, professors, geologists, business owners, heads of companies, even Secretary of the US Air Force.

SAE International announces that Dr. Robert L. (Bob) Woods, professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington, has won the SAE Excellence in Engineering Education Award. Dr. Woods will receive the award during the Awards Ceremony at the SAE 2013 World Congress in Detroit. The Awards Ceremony will be held Tuesday, April 16.

This annual award recognizes outstanding contributions made by an individual toward activities related to the SAE Education Board, including the promotion of SAE student activities at the international or local levels, contributions that advance engineering education, contributions in support of the SAE Collegiate Design competitions, and the promotion of educational related activities at any level.

Bob’s quality mentorship is paralleled by the number of teams he advised: 67 in Baja SAE™, Formula SAE™, Formula Hybrid, Hybrid Electric Vehicle, and compressed natural gas Vehicle competitions.

What a superb recognition for Bob, MAE and UTA! We join generations of students in proudly sharing this acknowledgment!

The UTA MAE AERO-MAVERICKS consist of two divisions: (A) ROCKET DIVISION and (B) FIXED-WING DIVISION. The Rocket Division has been in existence for years scoring high in competitions. The Fixed-Wing Division has been formally formed in late September 2012 with the goal of providing MAE students aeronautics design-build-fly experience.

The design & construction of the AM-1 (Aero Mavs 1) started in October 2012 with an enthusiastic team headed by AE student Jerry Howell. Jerry has been pragmatically managing a group of novice RC model builders through a 5-month short course in design, report writing, ground & flight testing, and first SAE Aero Design competition exposure. This is the story of a team bypassing all expectations in rapid & quality learning.

This Spring Break has been dedicated to flight testing and readying the AM-1 for last weekend’s competition. In a nutshell, the AM-1 has been crashing during a competition run due to wing flutter (structural weakness identified in high-speed winds and gusts at airfield). The Aero Mavs Team decided to rebuild & improve the AM-1 during an all-night shift for the second competition flight. This dedication even surprised the SAE Aero Design organizers. This night-shift design iteration produced an AM-1 delivering flawless flying qualities. A high idle-thrust setting resulted in the plane veering off the runway with one wheel during the final competition flight.

Despite having barely missed a high score in this first international SAE Aero Design competition, the team’s goal of successfully engineering a flight vehicle in a team-environment has been far exceeded. Being the Aero Mavs academic advisor, both Aero Mavs divisions present The Right Stuff. Goal is to grow the AE Aero Mavericks in analogy to the successful ME Formula SAE racecar team activity headed by Dr. Woods. With the Aero Mavs having reached true critical mass, the following actions will formalize the Aero Mavericks setting aimed at representing UTA MAE quality aerospace education nationally & internationally:

• Aero Mavericks lab facility organization;
• Aero Mavericks webpage;
• Aero Mavericks sponsor & funds raising activities;
• Aero Mavericks competition planning.

2013 SAE Aero Design competition results:

Aero Mavs: 10th in Design (Design Report Score)!!!, 26th in Oral Presentation, 28th overall. 39 teams total.

http://students.sae.org/competitions/aerodesign/results/

http://forums.sae.org/access/dispatch.cgi/aerodesign_pf/showFile/103177/d20130318001206/No/Round_6_Regular.html

Here are links to the videos as well.

AM-1 Maiden Flight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMe4-p7t1wM

AM-1 Second Flight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI9kcRdRNP4 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMVJY0cBFQw

AM-1 Third Flight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkq4QSdQzWs

Competition Crash: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2InidW7B6k

Competition Run http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RRsfcveQwY

Dr. Haji-Sheikh, Dr. Huang, Dr. Michael, Dr. Moon, Dr. Nomura, Dr. Shiakolas, Dr. Subbarao and Dr. Wilson were nominated for the 2012-13 Outstanding Academic Advisor award. They will be recognized at the UTAAA luncheon in April. These nomiations underscores the positive impact this overwhelming group of colleagues has made on the academic lives of our students!

Mr. Emmanuel Fierro, currently completing his Masters degree under the supervision of Professor Kent Lawrence, was recognized as the “ASME North Texas Section 2013 Young Engineer of the Year” at the 2013 Engineers Week Awards Banquet on February 21. The Young Engineer of the Year Award recognizes both significant accomplishments and potential in the field of mechanical engineering.

Alumnus Emmanuel Fierro, BSME (With Honors in 2008), is a Production Support, Test, Design and Analysis Engineer for Raytheon. Mr. Fierro has received several Individual Achievement Awards through Raytheon and was part of a group which received an Excellence in Quality Award. He also has a pending patent for an optical mount.

MAE is proud of his accomplishment!

One of our MAE Senior Design Project teams, under the guidance of Mr. Nicholas Schroeder, Facilities Engineer w/UT Arlington’s Office of Facilities Management, and Professor Dereje Agonafer were recognized with the “Rising Star 2012 Student Design Project Competition HVAC System Design” (4th Place Award) by ASHRAE. Members of the team were Jahed Ahmed, Ben Engstrom, Paul Hudlow, and Omar Rosales. (all BSME 2012) Their project focus was the Chicago Library Renovation. Mr. Schroeder states "Considering UT Arlington does not offer any HVAC-specific curriculum and yet competes against universities with entire degree programs focused on facilities design, their accomplishment is particularly impressive!" We think so too! Congratulations team! For more information see: ASHRAE Student Design Competition

Dr. Moon has been selected as a 2013 NSF CAREER awardee. Her project is entitled "CAREER: Digital Microfluidics to Optimize and Screen 3-Dimensional Tissue-Based Analytical Processes". According to the NFS, "The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations."

Professor Robert Woods has received the prestigious "Triple E Award" from the Society of Automotive Engineers. The Excellence in Engineering Education Award is given to one person in the world each year at the SAE Annual Congress held in Detroit in the spring. He joins the ranks of Carroll Smith, Michael Royce, and numerous other professors that Woods admires.

He has been invited to serve on a ABET panel at the same conference in which they are considering making Automotive Engineering be a degree program just as Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering. Considering Dr. Woods’ "Arnold E. Petsche Center for Automotive Engineering", MAE’s Certificate in Automotive Engineering, the two Automotive Engineering courses offered, and MAE’s long history in FSAE, Woods thinks there is significant story to tell.

Dr. Woods gives credit for his recent successes stating that they are “an outgrowth of our banquet last fall to celebrate 30 years of FSAE. Dr. Armanios kept saying "great things are going to happen, you just watch". Well, he was right.”

The real spark for all of this came when MAE offered to name a Center for Arnold Petsche and he gave a $1M donation for an endowment that was matched by the university to make a total of $2M. This was a significant part of the university's overall donations last year. That donation inspired Woods to get approval for the named Center, get approval for a Certificate in Automotive Engineering to be awarded to selected students with their degree, and have an office and showcase room for the center's activities with huge glass doors off the lobby in Woolf Hall.

More donations are coming in growing our "Dr. Bob Woods Endowment for FSAE", and new significant sponsors are showing a high level of interest, especially in the electric race car.

Last year UTA was listed as number five in the "Top 10 Universities in Automotive Engineering". http://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/top-10/top-10-automotive-colleges-and-universities-in-the-us.html

This year UTA is listed as number 4 in the World Ranking and number 1 in the USA Ranking of universities competing in Formula SAE. http://mazur-events.de/fs-world/?cl=1#

During the recent ABET accreditation program review, the Mechanical Engineering Program received a "program strength" for the Arnold E. Petsche Center for Automotive Engineering. They are allowed to list only one program strength.

Arnold was recognized at the recent "Spirit of Philanthropy" banquet held in Ft. Worth.

MAE’s FSAE team is currently entering a new car in FSAE that will have more power and a revolutionary active aero package. In 2014 we will build a FSAE car and a very innovative all-electric FSAE race car. Both will be entered in the USA and in Germany. Excitement and support for these cars are growing. We are also teamed with an off-road all-electric 4-wheeler company that will use the same technology as the FSAE electric race car to build a vehicle for the hunting market.

Drs. Alan Bowling and Kamesh Subbarao and two other UT Arlington faculty members comprise one of the 11 teams chosen to participate in the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s Robotics Challenge. They are partnering with the Pittsburgh-based RE2 and Michigan-based Soar Technology to develop software that will run in a government-provided simulation environment. The program's goal is to develop, build and demonstrate innovative robotics technologies to aid in disaster response operations when conditions are deemed too dangerous for humans. UT Arlington's research will be done at the UT Arlington Research Institute. For additional information, see the DARPA Robotics Challenge

MAE congratulates Elizabeth Blaiszik and Sarah Hussein, students of Frank Lu, for winning second and third place, respectively, for engineering at the LSAMP conference! For more information on LSAMP, see http://grad.pci.uta.edu/programs/lsamp/.

Dr. Haiying Huang’s patent entitled: “ Optical Fiber Based Polymer Core Sensor” ( US 8,215,834 B2) was issued July 10, 2012. According to Dr. Huang, "The optical fiber based polymer core sensor can be used to detect mechanical parameters as well for bio-chemical sensing. The patent covers a fabrication technique that can produce the optical fiber based polymer core sensors at a low cost. The technique also enables precise control of the size and composition of the optical fiber polymer core sensor for various sensing purposes."