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The Autumn 2009 MEssenger is available online

Contents: Algae-based Aviation Fuel: Will It Fly?; Research Spotlight; ME Research Centers; 2009 Engineering Lecture Series; CAREER Awards; Alumni Corner; Academic Spotlight; Scholarship and Fellowship Recipients; Endowed Lectureship to Honor Kobayashi and Morrison; ME 2009 Graduation; Honors & Awards; Chair's Corner.

Download the Autumn 2009 MEssenger HERE.

ME student receives fellowship to study in Denmark

The Scan|Design Foundation sponsors UW graduate and advanced undergraduate students to study in Denmark. The fellowship allows students to earn UW credit for coursework taught in English at distinguished Danish educational institutions. Fellowships cover UW tuition, airfare, and most living expenses for the semester.

Elliott Schmitt, a UW ME PhD student, was chosen to study sustainable energy planning and management at Aalborg University for fall quarter 2009.

Elliott is pursuing a PhD in Mechanical Engineering with research interest in life cycle assessment and renewable energy technology. He works in the UW Design for Environment Lab with Professor Joyce Cooper. At Aalborg, he is enrolled in the graduate program in Sustainable Energy Planning and Management and working with both Danish and other international students on group-based engineering projects. Elliot works with Danish faculty at Aalborg who are pioneers advancing the field of consequential life cycle assessment, a methodology used to identify the environmental consequences of disseminating new technologies into economic systems. Elliott feels that his experience and collaborations in Denmark will broaden his understanding of sustainability and lead to future collaborations between UW and Danish engineers in solving global issues, such as clean energy and climate change.

Professor Ramulu's ME students assist with ICSAM 2009

TICSAM 2009, the 10th International Conference on Superplasticity in Advanced Materials, was held June 29–July 2, 2009 in Seattle with support from Boeing, the UW Mechanical Engineering Department's Manufacturing Science & Technology Laboratory, and UW Educational Outreach. This premier international forum brought together 92 researchers from academia and industry that are engaged in the study of superplasticity and superplastic forming (SPF) of materials. Representatives from 12 different countries attended, with some 83 papers presented. Peer reviewed papers will be published in the Key Materials Journal.

The ICSAM series of conferences have been held every three years since the first conference was organized and subsequently held in San Diego in 1982. The previous nine conferences were held in San Diego, Grenoble, Blaine, Osaka, Moscow, Bangalore, Orlando, Oxford and Chengdu was the host city for ICSAM 2006. There are usually fifteen or more countries represented at ICSAM conferences. The city of Seattle has many residents that are engaged in the study of superplasticity and we were proud to have the honor of hosting ICSAM 2009!

The industrialization of the SPF process has its primary roots in the aerospace manufacturing sector, but recent advances in technology and materials have driven broader applications. SPF isnow being used to fabricate automotive body parts, rail car fabrications, Class 8 truck parts, motorcycle components, medical implants, architectural panels, electronic housings and other products.

Organizers of ICSAM 2009:
Dr. Dan Sanders and Mr. Larry Hefty of the Boeing Company		 Professor Ramulu and UW Manufacturing Science & Technology Laboratory student volunteers with ICSAM 2009 organizers

Minoru Taya’s solar cell work featured in New York Times

Professor Minoru Taya’s research on improving solar efficiency for aircraft was featured in the July 15, 2009 article, “Research on Solar-Powered Air Force Drones Takes Off.”

Jae Chung receives prestigious NSF CAREER award

Assistant Professor Jae-Hyun Chung has received a National Science Foundation CAREER award for his research project titled “Nano-Tip Sensor for Rapid Detection of Dissolved DNA for Environmental Monitoring.” The award, $400,000 over five years from the Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems, will support Professor Chung’s research to investigate the use of a nanostructured tip detecting circulating DNA without amplification and labeling for disease diagnostics and environmental monitoring.

Mark Tuttle honored by SEM

Professor Mark Tuttle received the 2009 Tatnall Award from the Society for Experimental Mechanics at SEM’s Annual Conference in Albuquerque on June 3, 2009.

ME alum Quinton receives honors

Wayne Quinton (BMSE '59) received the award for entrepreneurial excellence at the College of Enginnering's 2009 Diamond Awards celebrated on May 8. Quinton’s inventions include the lightweight cardiac treadmill, the oxygenator for the first open-heart surgery in the Pacific Northwest, and the cannula system that enabled long-term kidney dialysis. He is recognized as the world's first bioengineer and is widely credited with coining the term “bioengineer.” Read more at:

ME student wins top prize in business plan competition

ME Ph.D. student Dustin Miller and his team took top honors in the 2009 Business Plan Competition run by the UW Foster School of Business and announced May 21, 2009. Their entry was for Nanocel, which provides high performance liquid cooling solutions to the electronics market. Nanocel’s technology is the result from research founded by ME professors Vipin Kumar and Wei Li. For more information, click HERE.

ME student part of winning team

ME junior Tim Campbell and students from other College of Engineering departments found out on April 1, 2009 that they won the UW's inaugural Environmental Innovation Challenge. Their $10,000 grand prize, furnished by UW TechTransfer, was awarded for created a sensor that determines water usage. Several articles about the competition can be found at the links below:

Profs. Ganter and Storti advance 3-D printing

ME Professors Mark Ganter and Duane Storti developed a homemade ceramic mix that helps make 3-D printing dramatically cheaper. Read more at the following links:

ME senior places first in ASME paper competition

Ben Shuman won the 2009 Student Paper Competition of the ASME Western Washington Section, held on March 12. He received $250 for his award-winning presentation, entitled "Development of a Microfluidic Shear Flow Test Fixture." His work was guided by Prof. Nate Sniadecki.

Eric Seibel develops new type of 3-D microscope

Research Associate Professor Eric Seibel and UW researchers are working with VisionGate, Inc. to develop what could be a new diagnostic tool for lung cancer. This microscope, called Cell-CT, has received much publicity in a variety of sources, both locally and nationally.

Various press articles and/or news stories can be found at the links below: