Summer e-newsletter moves to monthly
The college's e-newsletter will be published once a month during the summer months (June 9, July 7, and August 4) and will resume normal biweekly distribution on Monday, August 25.
Faculty News
Gary Bertoline, assistant dean for graduate studies, was recently named associate dean for graduate programs and research for the college, effective July 1. Bertoline will assume the research dean duties from Melissa Dark, who will be involved in the Study in a Second Discipline project in 2008-09.
Russell Aubrey, professor of EET at the Anderson location, recently received the professor emeritus distinction. Aubrey, who specialized in solid-state and analogue and digital circuits, began at Purdue as a visiting professor in 1990 and accepted a full professor position the next year. Prior to Purdue, he owned his own electronics business in Anderson for 25 years. Aubrey received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Virginia and master's and doctorate degrees in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech.
CGT students present CAD method to Rolls-Royce in Germany
Nathan Hartman, assistant professor of CGT, and several of his students recently traveled to Germany, along with Joe Rasche from Rolls-Royce – Indianapolis, to discuss collaborations with the Technical University - Darmstadt and with Rolls-Royce in Germany. From May 17-23, they toured a Rolls- Royce production facility, met with representatives from the university, and visited a variety of cultural sites in Darmstadt, Frankfurt and Berlin.
The central objective of the visit was to present to Rolls-Royce a method for configuring computer-aided design (CAD) software tools that Hartman and his students have been working on for the last two years. The majority of this work has been done in conjunction with the CGT departmental senior capstone course and through Hartman's funded research projects. The configuration of the NX 2 CAD system, and one of its modules called Knowledge Fusion, would help engineers more easily create and quickly modify the design of common aircraft parts, specifically the turbine, compressor, and fan blade components of the Rolls-Royce engines. The geometry that defines these components is highly complex and quite time-consuming to create using traditional 3D modeling techniques within current CAD systems.
Rolls-Royce will consider implementing Purdue's configuration methodology of the CAD program, and if they decide to adopt it, it would be utilized as a new design standard by the company. Hartman said their work has shown that this methodology could save the company considerable money and time.
Hartman and his students presented an earlier version of this project to Rolls-Royce in England in 2006.
Students involved in the current iteration of the project who traveled to Germany are Adam Case, Corey Stauffer, Andrew Lowe, Tim Sisson, Ryan Verschoore and Karen Waldenmeyer.
Sponsored Research Update
For an updated look at sponsored research activities within the College of Technology, visit the applied research section of the CoT Web site.
CoT and TCN News available by RSS Feed
Subscribe to the college's RSS feeds on the Technology home page and TCN's site.
|
|
Student News
Vukica Jovanovic, a graduate student in mechanical engineering technology, received a full fellowship from the National Center for Telecommunications Technologies to attend the SAME-TEC Advanced Technological Education Conference in Austin, Texas, from July 28-31. The National Science Foundation-funded fellowship includes registration for the conference, registration for up to two days of preconference workshops and lodging. The fellowship is valued at more than $1,400.
Purdue students are collaborating with students from four European universities this summer to redesign a truck axle factory in Germany. Titled FIT-2011, the interactive project involves technology students from the MET and OLS programs and the mechanical engineering program within the College of Engineering.
Initiated in 1999, the project annually provides students with international awareness and problem-solving skills, both vital components to a technology and engineering education, according to Henry Kraebber, professor of manufacturing engineering technology. In a four-day span beginning June 3, Purdue students along with students in Germany, France and Austria accessed the factory and proposed improvements to the work design, the layout of work cells and related logistics to meet specific design criteria.
Via distance communication, the Purdue and European students are collaborating to assess the plant, document their findings and then present them to the German management team at the truck axle plant. The Purdue students spent this past week reviewing global manufacturing issues, plant layout fundamentals, and practicing with collaboration and communication software in preparation for the project. They also visited the heavy assembly at the Caterpillar Large Engine Plant in Lafayette.
Nearly 75 students at Purdue and more than 150 in Europe have participated in this project since 1999.
Alumni News
Five College of Technology alumni work for Andretti Green Racing and were recently featured in a WLFI report. MET alums Bill Bates, Brian Junger and Joe Howard, IT alum Brent Knutson and EET alum Josh Fults were featured in the piece during the Indianapolis 500 racing month in May. In addition, Doug Shelby, a 2002 EET graduate, was recently hired as a data acquisition technician.
CoT News Submissions
Report your CoT news through the online reporting form. Feel free to use this form to notify the College of Technology communications team of your professional news and achievements. This information will be distributed to the team for potential use in news releases, the dean's e-newsletter, Innovation magazine and updating information on the college's Web site. The next e-newsletter is scheduled for distribution on Monday, July 7 .
Keeping students connected
During Day on Campus, remind any incoming freshmen that you come in contact with to stay in touch with the college this summer and throughout their studies at Purdue through the student mail list subscription and our RSS feed that are both available on the front page of the college Web site.
|
In the News
Purdue team to fly in women's cross-country Air Race Classic
Two students in Purdue University's Department of Aviation Technology will compete June 24-27 in the 32nd annual all-female Air Race Classic.
Marie Janus, a senior from Valparaiso, Ind., is the captain of the Purdue Air Race Team, and Juliana Lindner, a sophomore from Hanover Park, Ill., is the co-pilot. Purdue's team will be one of 36 competing in the race.
This year's race will begin in Bozeman, Mont., and continue to Miles City, Mont.; Aberdeen, S.D.; Mason City, Iowa; Decatur, Ill.; Frankfort, Ky.; Franklin, Pa.; Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; and Mansfield, Mass. The total distance covered will be about 2,009 nautical miles (2,312 statute miles).
The winners will be announced at a banquet June 29 in Mansfield.
University News Service
College of Technology at Columbus conducts summer Robotics camp
The Learning with LEGOs and Robotics Experience Camp took place at Shelbyville Middle School this week. Seventeen  incoming sixth-grade students enrolled in the three-day session that spanned Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon.
Professor. Joseph Fuehne, a mechanical engineering technology instructor at Purdue University Columbus who connected with Shelbyville Central Schools two years ago, teaches the camp and has taken it to schools in Columbus and Scottsburg.
The Shelbyville News
Photo: Prof. Fuehne explains a FIRST LEGO League robotics assignment using a challenge mat to incoming sixth-grade students at Shelbyville Middle School. (Lisa Jacques photo, The Shelbyville News)
College of Technology at Anderson receives $25,000 gift
Engineered Software Inc. recently donated more than $25,000 worth of software licenses and technical support to the College of Technology at Anderson/Muncie.
Engineered Software Inc., an independent technology company that develops hydraulic analysis software, is providing PIPE-FLO Professional software to the Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology. The software will be used in an applied fluid mechanics course. This course focuses on the study of compressible and incompressible fluid statics and dynamics as applied to hydraulic and pneumatic pumps, motors, transmissions and controls.
"We plan to use the software to allow students to verify their hand calculations and demonstrate how to design (piping) systems," said Allen Jordan, associate professor of MET.
The grant includes a five-user Enterprise license of PIPE-FLO Professional, technical assistance and support. PIPE-FLO software allows users to simulate the operation of the complete piping system showing the interaction of pumps, compressors, pipelines, control valves and components.
PIPE-FLO has been used in research and teaching at more than 35 universities around the world, including Clemson University, University of Limerick, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, North Carolina State University, Pennsylvania State University, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, University of Washington and University of Zaragoza, Spain.
Affiliated Computer Services donates $2,500 for Anderson STEM efforts
The College of Technology at Anderson will benefit from a $2,500 check  from Affiliated Computer Services, a provider of business process outsourcing and information technology services to commercial and government clients.
ACS moved into a building across the street from the Anderson location in the Anderson University Flagship Center in November. Since ACS’s building lacked desks, chairs, computers and other equipment, the College of Technology at Anderson allowed them to use their facility to interview and hire about 1,000 people. Jody Pierce, assistant location director at Anderson, said ACS is preparing to send some of its employees through Purdue’s organizational leadership and supervision program at the company’s expense.
The $2,500 check from ACS will be used for Purdue’s efforts to interest high school students interested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines.
Anderson Herald-Bulletin
Photo: Jodie Pierce, assistant director of the Anderson location accepts a $2,500 check from Affiliated Computer Services.
Purdue signs agreement with Tecsup in Peru
Don Buskirk, international programs officer, and others in the College of Technology recently traveled to Lima, Peru, to sign a memorandum of understanding with Tecsup, a Peruvian nonprofit educational institution that is a leader in technology. 
Purdue will work with Tecsup to establish a faculty exchange program and collaborate with the institution on research in a variety of areas, including component design, materials characterization, photoelasatic analysis and musical instruments, information security, software development, data communications and the development of a sustainable hybrid car.
The other members of the Purdue team involved in the visit were mechanical engineering technology faculty Christine Corum and Mileta Tomovic, Victor Barlow from computer and information technology, Athula Kulatunga from electrical and computer engineering technology, and Andy Gillespie from the Office of International Programs.
OLS conference set for September
Collaboration & Innovation 2008, an international conference sponsored by the Department of Organizational Leadership and Supervision, will be Sept. 14-17 in Stewart Center.
The conference will focus on best practices in collaboration, innovation and leadership. The three main themes will be on teams and collaboration, leadership and ethics, and creativity and innovation. Topics will include how to design high-performance work systems and teams, developing a collaborative culture, virtual teams, creating an innovation culture in an organization, responding to globalization, decision-making and leadership, and leadership development and others.
The conference is open to a wide variety of individuals, including directors, vice presidents, trainers, organizational development specialists, team leaders and members, union representatives, lean and Six Sigma professionals, plant managers, and human resource professionals, said OLS department head Michael Beyerlein, but the primary target is industry. The conference will feature presentations from:
IBM, Parker-Hannifin, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Novartis Pharmaceuticals,Royal Dutch Shell, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Sprint-Nextel, Boeing,Cummins Inc. and others, as well as presentations from members of academia and consulting firms.
For registration information, contact Kim Stockment, conference coordinator, at kstockme@purdue.edu or (765) 494-7225. For information about the conference content, e-mail cci@purdue.edu or call (765) 494-0940.
MET students win third place for research in poster contest
MET 499 students Chad Braver and Adam Harlow won third place for undergraduate student research in the Advancing Manufacturing Summit in May. Their poster presentation is based on their research completed in the MET 499 course.
Braver and Harlow worked with Qingyou Han, associate professor of mechanical engineering technology, on a project using ultrasound to process polymer-based composites, which are commonly used for the automotive, aviation, defense and other industries.
The research involved testing a novel way of combining power ultrasound with the traditional vacuum bragging for processing polymer-based composites. The research evaluated the effect of ultrasonic treatment during composite curing in an effort to increase interlaminar bonding strength (improving resistance to delamination), lower void content and improve the matric’s ability to transfer stresses to the reinforcement fiber. Han said the results showed that using this method, bending strength is increased 150 percent for the S-glass reinforced composite and 70 percent for the carbon fiber-reinforced composite.
Han said he is working with Purdue’s patent office to see if the idea is patentable.
Chinese delegation visits colleges of Technology, Engineering
A delegation from Beihang University in Beijing, China, met with faculty and staff from Purdue University's colleges of Technology and Engineering during a campus visit May 27.
The group from China met with several faculty and staff members from the College of Technology, the College of Engineering, the Office of International Programs and the Product Lifecycle Management Center of Excellence in Discovery Park. The two institutions signed a memorandum of understanding to establish research opportunities together.
"The goal of this visit is to develop research collaboration between Beihang University and Purdue, initially in the area of product lifecycle management and later across additional disciplines," said Mileta Tomovic, W.C. Furnas Professor of Enterprise Excellence and head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology. "As the world becomes more interdependent, building relationships with universities like this will be vital for advancing knowledge in science, engineering and technology."
University News Service
Purdue Exponent
FAA ground equipment checks become less detail-oriented
The Federal Aviation Administration has intentionally become less detail-oriented in the way it maintains and certifies the safety of the country's air traffic control equipment, overhauling inspection standards in place since the 1970s.
The change is aimed at making agency inspectors more efficient, and is made possible by the fact that modern radar and other communications equipment is more reliable, FAA officials said. Instead of routine checkups on individual pieces of equipment, the agency now emphasizes "system performance."
Michael Nolan, a professor of aviation technology at Purdue University, said the only way to tell if the FAA made a good decision in changing its inspection practices will be to compare system performance under the old rules versus the new ones.
International Herald Journal, Global Edition of the New York Times
Purdue group modifies machine to help feed Africans
Purdue University students and faculty have converted an existing machine that pops a nutritious grain so it can be easily and economically utilized by malnourished populations in Africa.
The machine, called an amaranth popper, works something like a popcorn popper. Amaranth grain has been shown to be high in vitamins, minerals and protein. Many believe the ancient grain used by the Aztecs - which can be used either in flour or in its popped state and can be eaten alone as porridge or in combination with other grains - could go a long way toward boosting nutrition and combating hunger in countries such as Uganda, Kenya and Zimbabwe, where starvation, disease and HIV infections are common.
Amaranth grows as a vegetable, an ornamental and as a grain. The grain variety has been recently introduced into Africa.
Richard Dugger, an engineer and director of the Seyan Foundation in Culver, Ind., approached Purdue's Technical Assistance Program for help in solving a problem with the amaranth popper machine. He had worked with another university in building the prototype, which was originally powered by electricity.
"After attempting to market this machine to African villages, we discovered that electricity is not always accessible in the most needy areas, but propane is, so it became clear that we must modify the machine to make it marketable," Dugger said. "Our hope is to be able to offer these machines to them so they can easily pop amaranth and hopefully make a dent in the hunger and nutrition concerns in those countries."
Dugger was introduced to the Technical Assistance Program though friend and retired Purdue agricultural economics Professor John Huie. He was eventually connected with Mileta Tomovic, a professor of mechanical engineering technology who works with TAP. Tomovic and graduate student Milan Rakita, with assistance from graduate student Vukica Jovanovic, were able to successfully modify the machine to be powered by propane.
University News Service
Digital detectives
Rick Mislan, assistant professor of Computer and Information Technology, was interviewed recently on "Word of Mouth" on New Hampshire Public Radio. He discussed the first Mobile Forensics World conference held in early May in Chicago, which looked at the ways police can glean information from confiscated cell phones to help them solve crimes.
New Hampshire Public Radio
Expert: Communication key to harmonious workplace
A Purdue University expert says good communication is a key element in keeping workers happy. Associate Professor of Organizational Leadership and Supervision Rodney Vandeveer says the number one cause of employee turnover is a lack of organizational commitment. He says the way to establish that commitment is through communication. Vandeveer says when people are informed, "they feel connected and valued and want to invest more effort into the company."
Inside Indiana Business
Purdue joins FBI's cyber crime task force
Computer-security experts at Purdue University will help track online criminals as part of a new FBI task force in Indiana.
Steven Kelly, a supervisory special agent with the FBI based in Indianapolis, said in an interview that the agency has long worked with Purdue scientists informally, but that the formal membership in the Cyber Crime Task Force will increase that cooperation. As part of the task force, which will focus on electronic crime in Indiana, researchers will consult on cases and help in training law enforcement officials.
Purdue is not the first college or university to formally team up with the FBI — Carnegie Mellon University researchers have a relationship with the agency already, said Kelly. "Tapping into higher education institutions is a great way to stay up to speed on the latest exploits that are out there," said Kelly. And the university researchers benefit by participating in real-world cases, he added.
The Chronicle for Higher Education
Purdue prof schools law enforcement on Mac 'cyber forensics'
Marc Rogers, director of Cyber Forensics Lab at Purdue, lead a three-day crash course for law enforcement officers from around the state of Indiana. He hopes this will be the first of many such training sessions that focus on forensic examination of Macs, iPods and iPhones. Rogers has published two papers on iPod forensics and has authored a paper on iPhone forensics, expected to be published this fall.
ars technica
Purdue-supported teams compete in national TOYchallenge
Two teams of Lafayette sixth-graders, coached and advised by Purdue University faculty, students and an area teacher, competed in the TOYchallenge national contest May 17 in Alexandria, Va.
TOYchallenge is a toy design competition for fifth- through eighth-graders in which students create a game or toy and learn about science, engineering and the design process at the same time. The contest is open to all students in those grades, but at least half of each team's members must be girls.
One local team, the Braille Board Bronchos, received an honorable mention in the originality category.
Both local teams will do a presentation to the Lafayette School Corp. board in June and later to the Lafayette Breakfast Optimist Club.
Journal and Courier
Air-traffic controllers warn of shortage
South Bend Regional Airport's control tower had to close down in the early-morning hours of May 10 because of a staffing shortage — leaving radar coverage to controllers, who are already overworked, some 130 miles away, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association announced recently.
Purdue University aviation technology professor Michael Nolan said the shortage is very real, but what it will mean for the traveling public is not as clear.
The FAA is working hard to hire more controllers, but because it takes two to three years for a new hire to become certified, it is already too late to avert the shortage, Nolan said.
WSBT - South Bend, IN
Summer courses offered at Anderson
Two eight-week classes are being offered this summer at the Purdue College of Technology at Anderson. The summer semester began May 12 and ends July 3. Each class will be held at the Anderson University Flagship Center, which is located off Interstate 69, Exit 22.
Anderson Herald Bulletin
Summer camps offer new ways to turn kids on to technology
Purdue University's College of Technology will offer several camps in June that feature hands-on activities that will introduce students from diverse backgrounds to career opportunities offered in technology.
The first camp, called TOTAL (Turned on to Technology and Leadership), is for seventh- and eighth-graders and will be June 8-12. It is targeted toward a multicultural audience but is open to any student in those grades, said Antonia Munguia, director of diversity for the College of Technology.
A second camp, TEAM (Technology Expanding All Minds), will be June 22-26. The target audience is young women in eighth and ninth grades. Activities will relate to technology in ways that will be of particular interest to teen girls.
University News Service
Purdue camp uses cheerleading to teach technology concepts
Getting teenagers, especially girls, interested in pursuing careers in technological fields is no easy feat, but a former Purdue University cheerleader says a camp she is organizing can help make those subjects more enticing.
For the second year, Christi Jacobs, who was a Purdue cheerleader for four years and captain of the squad her senior year, is in charge of Cheering in the Classroom, a camp for middle school and high school students who have an interest in cheerleading or dance.
The camp will be offered June 22-26 on the Purdue campus and is directed toward girls, but is open to any student who is an incoming seventh-grader to a high school senior.
University News Service
Purdue Exponent
Purdue offers two camps focusing on computer graphics
High school students can learn more about computer graphics and possible career paths at two computer graphics technology summer camps in June at Purdue University.
The Department of Computer Graphics Technology will offer an advanced-level camp June 15-20 and a beginner's-level camp June 22-27.
Students in both camps will learn fundamentals in 3-D modeling, animation, scripting, illustration, image editing, Web design and interactive media development .Participants will use a variety of software programs commonly used by computer graphics artists, including 3D Studio Max, Maya, Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator and RHINO.
University News Service
College of Technology at Kokomo students receive degrees
View photo gallery from the Kokomo Tribune
|
