Ahoya february 2018 Newsletter

Engineers Week revived at the Opus College of Engineering

Thanks to the hard work of the Engineering Student Council and several other student organizations, the Opus College held a revival of Engineers Week, or E-Week, from Feb. 21–24. The celebrations included industry-sponsored lunches, panels, faculty-student events, an Engineers Ball and even a flash mob dance including cameos of Opus Dean Kristina Ropella and alumnus Rick Smith, Eng ’73, Grad ’87. E-Week is part of a national week to celebrate engineering and the difference engineers can make through their work. For a recap of E-Week, visit our photo album on Facebook. E-Week flash mob

Faculty participate in Intellectual Property Showcase

Several Opus College of Engineering faculty and staff participated in the Office of Research and Innovation’s Intellectual Property Showcase in January, where they highlighted their latest work. Dr. Henry Medeiros Dr. Henry Medeiros, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, and his team created “Autonomous Target Tracking Using an Unmanned Air Vehicle,” which allows a UAV to autonomously follow an object as it moves to collect information from multiple camera-based detection algorithms. Dr. Joseph Schimmels Dr. Joseph Schimmels, Robert C. Greenheck Endowed Chair in Design and Manufacturing and professor of mechanical engineering, and his team created Early Stance Y-deflection (EaSY-Walk), a passive ankle prosthesis that generates powered push-off at the ankle, propelling an amputee forward during walking. The prosthesis allows for near-normal gait, works without motors or batteries and is low-cost and lightweight. Dr. John LaDisa and Chris Larkee Dr. John LaDisa, associate professor of biomedical engineering and director of the Marquette Visualization Lab, and Chris Larkee, visual technology specialist, created Surround Fit and Wellness, a company offering on-demand group fitness and wellness classes with built-in instruction. Their technology provides immersive visualization techniques that virtually transport users to a variety of environments, providing an alternative to expensive, stagnant and time-restricted group classes. Drs. Richard Marklin (left) and Mark Nagurka (right) Drs. Richard Marklin, professor of mechanical engineering, and Mark Nagurka, associate professor of mechanical engineering, crated the Smart Trigger System, a tool designed to reduce the risk of accidental nail gun discharge while increasing production rates.

Meet “Arnold” the autonomous snowplow

In January, a mechanical engineering senior design team competed at the eighth annual ION Autonomous Snowplow Competition in St. Paul, Minn. Better known as “Arnold,” the team’s snowplow safely operates in remote control mode and has safety sensors and controls that will stop the vehicle should something come in its way. The team finished 7th out of 11.

Check out “Arnold” in action on our Facebook page.

"Arnold" and Team

Registration now open for summer Engineering Leadership Academies

The Opus College of Engineering invites rising high school juniors and seniors to join us this summer for our pre-college residential programs. This summer, residential programs include:

• Hands on Engineering Experiences for Leaders of STEM Academy (HEELS): Monday, June 18, through Friday, June 22 (women only)

• Engineering Leadership Academy (ELA): Monday, June 25, through Friday, June 29 (co-ed)

Additional information and application materials can be found online. For questions, please contact the Office of Enrollment Management and Outreach at (414) 288-6720.

Accomplishments

Congratulations to the following individuals on their recent accomplishments:

• Dr. Somesh Roy, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, was awarded a two-year, $174,951 grant from the National Science Foundation for his project, “CRII:OAC: Novel techniques for improving convergence and scalability of a Monte Carlo radiation solver for large-scale combustion simulations.” The proposed project aims to develop a portable, high-efficiency radiation solver suitable for massively-parallel combustion simulations in HPC environments.

• Mary Sizemore, current student in the Opus College of Engineering, was honored with the Sharon D. Banks Memorial Scholarship from the Women’s Transportation Seminar Wisconsin Chapter.

• Dr. Yong Bai, McShane Chair in Construction Engineering and Management and professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering, traveled to Cuba with the American Society of Engineering Education to learn more about higher education in Cuba.

Dr. Yong Bai (right) and colleague

Upcoming events:

STEaM Summit for Girls: Hosted by the Milwaukee Business Journal
Saturday, March 10
7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago Street, Milwaukee

Electrical and Computer Engineering Seminar Series: Hosted by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Spring 2018

Joint Bioengineering Seminar Series: Hosted by the Marquette University and Medical College of Wisconsin Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering and the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
Spring 2018

Environmental and Water Resources Engineering Seminar Series: Hosted by the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
Spring 2018

Engineering on social media — join the conversation!

For the latest real-time updates on the Opus College of Engineering, follow us on social media and be sure to like, comment and share to help spread the word:

• OCOE on Facebook

• OCOE on Twitter

• OCOE on Instagram

• Dr. Kristina Ropella, Opus Dean, on Twitter