Department of Mechanical Engineering

Fall 2020

Letter From The Chair

I would like to share with you the Fall 2020 edition of the Mechanical Engineering Newsletter. Even under current circumstances, our students, faculty and staff continue to be engaged in a broad range of activities centered around learning, teaching, research, and outreach. I invite you to read about some of them by browsing the web links or download a printable copy of the newsletter. Thank you for your readership and ongoing support of our distinctive program.

Go Vandals!

Gabriel Potirniche
Professor and Chair

Browse Newsletter by Topic

SUPPORT LAB UPGRADES — Pages 1-2

Elevating the Capstone Experience — Senior Design Suite renovation to drive entrepreneurship and incubate innovative student project development.

TEACHING INNOVATIONS — Page 3

Lean Manufacturing: Developing Alternative Delivery — Modifications made to safely deliver our three-week summer course online.
Interdisciplinary Capstone Design Embraces Online Format — Team formation process has been modified due to ongoing social distancing.

INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS — Page 4

3D Printer to Revolutionize Biofluids and Biomechanics Research and Education — Supported by a nearly $300,000 NSF grant.
New Laser Cutter for ME 123/223 Maker Space — New tool perfect for prototyping with cardboard and plywood.
ME 330 Gains Instrument Upgrades — Provides hands-on experience for junior laboratory course.

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT NEWS — Pages 5-7

Weather Under an Eclipse — Students tracking gravity waves, large-scale disturbances in the atmosphere, that help us predict the weather.
ASME Updates and Plans for 2020-2021 — By Rachel Stanley, ASME President.
Crowdfunding Unlocks Clean Snowmobile Competition Innovation — 30 donors (faculty, staff, current students, and alumni) raised over $3000 for chassis and ECU development.
Congratulations to our ME Advisory Board Scholars! — Students receive $1,250 in scholarship for the fall semester.
Building the Future Engineering Workforce — Society of Women Engineers (SWE) planned service and professional development activities.
NEUP Aids Undergraduate Experience — Cody Gibson develops cooling jacket for autoclave assembly.
Tyler Sand Earns DOE Scholarship — $7,500 earned for coming year.

GRADUATE STUDENT NEWS — Page 8

Samuel Van Horn, M.S. — Graduate Student Highlight
Nicolene van Rooyan, Ph.D. — Graduate Student Highlight
Nick Brubaker Secures LSAMP — Graduate Student Highlight

FACULTY & STAFF NEWS — Page 9

Building a Shelter-in-Place Scooter — Professor Ralph Budwig's family gift during COVID.
Aerosol Visualizations and Masks Topic of Virtual FARE Roundtable — Professor Ralph Budwig brings expertise to state discussion.
Gupta Earns AI Applied & AI Engineering Professional Certificates by IBM

ALUMNI NEWS — Page 10

Caitlin Owsley: A Privilege to Serve — Outgoing mechanical engineering advisory board chair reflects on two years served.
Jacobsen Assistantship Boosts Undergraduate Research — Scholar program honors past U of I College of Engineering alumnus, professor, chair and dean.