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in Action
Undergraduate Expo 2004
| Study and investigation are what is underway for this year’s annual Undergraduate Exposition. The theme is “Quality Leadership and Innovation in Action.” Students will present their Senior Design projects along with Undergraduate Research and Enterprise Team projects. A distinguished panel of judges made up of University faculty members and corporate representatives will critique the projects in three categories: abstracts, posters and presentations. Student participants from all engineering and science disciplines will compete for a wide range of cash prizes. The goal of the Undergraduate Exposition is to provide an opportunity for students to present their research, design and independent study projects. Students will gain professional experience and build their resumes through direct exposure to real world problems and competitiveness. The Expo will not only serve as a means of showcasing the hard work of many of Michigan Tech's talented students, but also the quality of education that is afforded to Michigan Tech students because of the generous donations made by members of industry. Projects will be judged within their respective classes – Undergraduate Research, Senior Design, and Enterprise. Undergraduate Research participants will compete in three (3) categories – abstract, poster, and presentation. The Enterprise teams will compete in the poster and presentation portion of the competition. Finally, Senior Design teams will compete amongst themselves for the best poster. Many of the projects to be displayed are sponsored by industry. Through sponsorship, industry is able to link up with the fresh, new engineering talent at Michigan Tech and contribute significantly to their education and the mission of the University. Members of industry and various academic department advisory boards will be on campus to view the various projects. The projects and posters will also be available for viewing by the campus and community throughout the day. Enjoy your day as you witness America’s premier engineering students create the future.
The Expo is a combined effort of the Department of Educational Opportunity
and the College of Engineering. If you are curious as to how you
can participate in next year’s Expo or would simply like more information
surrounding the event, please contact Mary Raber at (906) 487-2005
or mraber@mtu.edu |
Click on the snapshot for a larger image. 
Expo 2004 Awards Ceremony 
View of the Expo in Memorial Union Ballroom 
Mary Raber and Mary Erva of College of Engineering |
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1st
Place Award Undergraduate Research Presentation
The Effects of Annual Hibernation on the Mechanics and Histology
of Black Bear Bones Sponsors: MTU SURF Program, Michigan Space Grant Consortium Abstract:
It is known that bone stiffness and strength are greatly reduced
by prolonged time in space and extended periods of bed rest due
to injury, illness, and other causes. This condition is known as
disuse osteoporosis and is due to a lack of mechanical stimulation
to the tissue, which leads to increased bone resorption. It has
been found that black bears maintain normal bone formation rates
and experience no bone loss during periods of disuse (hibernation).
Though the mechanism by which this is accomplished is not yet known,
it could lead to a greater understanding of how to solve the problems
experienced by humans confined to bed rest and astronauts during
extended periods of weightlessness. For this study, 8 black bear
tibias (one of the primary weight-bearing bones of the lower leg)
were prepared for histological analysis and 6 black bear tibias
were prepared for whole bone bend testing. The cross sectional moment
of inertia was determined for the first 8 tibias and was used to
determine structural properties of the bones. The remaining 6 tibias
were subjected to whole bone three-point bending to determine the
properties associated with fracture. The purpose of this study was
to better understand if the structural changes in black bear bones
during disuse are able to compensate for any potential changes in
material properties brought about by a lack of mechanical stress.
This is part of a larger project that may lead to the development
of methods that help to combat disuse osteoporosis. |
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Affects of Osteoarthritis on Moose Femoral Head Subchondral Bone
Thickness and Cartilage Thickness Sponsors: Michigan Tech SURF Program Abstract:
Osteoarthritis is a condition in which bones at the joints affected
lose cartilage over time, putting increasing frictional load on
the bones. Many studies have been done in an attempt to understand
the condition better as well as understand the process in which
theses symptoms occur. Studies have found that joints suffering
from osteoarthritis experience damage to the cartilage as well
as thickening of the subchondral bone underneath. No definitive
evidence has been found, however, to determine if the cartilage
damage precedes subchondral bone thickening, vise versa, or if
they occur simultaneously. Femoral head samples of moose from
Isle Royale were studied to see if there is, in fact, a set order
the changes occur in. Moose from Isle Royal provided a good population
to study since their lack of outside help forced osteoarthritis
to progress to a much more severe state than any found in human
subjects. The samples, therefore, offered a thorough range of
severity in osteoarthritis. The study obtained 16 femoral head
samples and they were prepared for histological analysis. Cross
sections of the femoral head were stained, mounted onto glass
slides, and studied under a microscope. Measurements were made
on the thickness of subchondral bone as well as the cartilage
at 20¢ interval around the perimeter of the head’s
cross section. The goal of this study is to find a correlation
in thickness of cartilage to the thickness of the subchondral
bone directly underneath to determine if one changes before the
other in the progressive severity of osteoarthritis. With the
knowledge this study will bring, a method of detecting osteoarthritis
earlier in its stages could become a possibility as well as perhaps
developing a method to treat osteoarthritis.
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Quantification of Type I Collagen Sponsors: MTU SURF Program, Michigan Space Grant Consortium Abstract:
The purpose of this research was to develop a reliable protocol
for Western blot analysis to quantify type I collagen produced
by rabbit meniscus cells. The goal of the overall research that
this task was a portion of was to investigate the role of mechano-transduction
in the form of fluid flow induced shear stress on meniscus cells
in vitro. Western blotting involves a series of steps once the
proteins have been isolated. First proteins separation is done
using a gel electrophoresis method. Next the proteins are transferred
from the gel onto a thin membrane. Once the transfer is complete,
antibodies are introduced that bind selectively to the collagen
on the membrane. In the last step color reagents are applied to
the membrane and then the collagen is visualized using film and
a cassette. Several problems were encountered along the way that
resulted in poor visualization of the protein. It was not known
if the collagen was primarily in the cell lysate or if it had
been released by the cells into the culture media, so both were
tested. Then the sample solutions containing the collagen were
concentrated so that more protein could be loaded into the wells
of the gel. This did produce limited visualization, but in the
end the results were considered too unreliable. The major reason
for the failure of this technique was hypothesized to be limited
cross-reaction between the rabbit collagen and the antibodies
used. These factors lead to the conclusion that a different method
for collagen type I quantification is needed.were concentrated
so that more protein could be loaded into the wells of the gel.
This did produce limited visualization, but in the end the results
were considered too unreliable. The major reason for the failure
of this technique was hypothesized to be limited cross-reaction
between the rabbit collagen and the antibodies used. These factors
lead to the conclusion that a different method for collagen type
I quantification is needed. |
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1st
Place Award Senior Design Projects
Ben D Almquist, Kaajal-Raj Juggernauth, Dale Anderson Advisor:
Dr. Stephen Hackney, Professor, MSE Sponsors: UES Inc., Michigan Tech Heterogeneous
thin film integration on substrates is required for advanced semiconductor,
optoelectronics and microelectromechanical (MEMS) devices. However,
problems such as lattice mismatch, interdiffusion, and reaction
with the substrate material prevent the growth of different materials
with desirable properties directly on the same substrate. Therefore,
developing new techniques to fabricate thin films is becoming more
important for many engineering applications. One process currently
used to produce thin films is based on high-energy ion implantation,
which has been used extensively in the semiconductor industry for
doping and in the creation of an intermediate “damaged layer.”
Bulk (1-x)[Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3]-(x)[PbTiO3] (PZNPT) single crystals
are known to exhibit piezoelectric coefficients about four times
greater than those of state-of- the-art piezoelectric ceramics as
well as field induced strain responses greater by a factor of 10.
In addition to their superior piezoelectric properties, they also
exhibit an extremely large electro-optic response making them an
excellent candidate for the manufacture of highly efficient optical
modulators. The main objective of this project is to develop a manufacturing
process for layer separation of PZNPT thin films and optimize the
parameters for single crystal |
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2nd
Place Award Senior Design Projects
Andrew G. Bjorne, Sara T. Flessert, Ryan T. Little, Trevor L. Roose,
Dereck A. Kowalski Sponsor: Caterpillar The
objective of our project is to design a system that will perform
a four-point bend test on a sample within the chamber of Caterpillar’s
LEO 1550 Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). This project consists
of two main parts: controlling the bending of the sample and relaying
the information back to the computer. With this test, Caterpillar
will be able to observe the stress/strain curves of the sample and
coatings that will be applied to the samples being bent. |
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3rd
Place Award Senior Design Projects
Marcus A. Haney, Luke J. Barron, Bryan M. Eisen, Jacek K. Spiewla, Mark R. McCormick, Sponsor: Visteon Corp. The
goal of the project is to design and implement a cheaper, more efficient
data-logging system to be installed in fleet vehicles in the form
of a Compaq iPaq connected to the vehicle's OBDii bus. Information
such as speed and distance traveled will be collected when the vehicle
is in use. The iPaq will connect to a web server and transfer data
logs using an 802.11b wi-fi connection automatically when the vehicle
comes into range of a wireless access point, and a web page displaying
each vehicle's statistics will be made available to the fleet manager.
The fleet manager will have the option to receive email alerts,
and be able to customize the information displayed on the web page.
The deliverables will be the PDA software as well as the web server
and database code. |
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Honorable
Mention Award Senior Design Projects
Patrick J. Wu, Christopher O. Bowers, David M. Fagan, Bennett
W. Hartsell, Robert S. Johnson, Randall N. Lau, Sponsor: General Motors The objective
of this project is to design, install, and test a fault-tolerant
steer-by-wire system for a 2003 Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck.
Major technical issues of this project include development and
refinement of control laws governing road and steering wheel
movement, development of a CAN based communication network,
programming of a four-way redundant computing cluster, selection
of reliable actuators and sensors, and integration of the system
with the target vehicle. |
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Honorable
Mention Award Senior Design Projects
Kyle N. Golsch, Steve L. Charapata, Erik L. Hoversten, Tony
L. Kelly, Ben C. Williams, Sponsors: Kimberly-Clark Corporation In assembly
line machines used to manufacture personal care products, encoders
are used to determine machine position at any given time. It
is important to relate sensor events with the assembly line
position. In order to make the relationship, events need to
be "time stamped" with the encoder position of the
machine. The goal of this project is to develop a PC based system
that stores rotational position from an encoder when triggered
by a change in state of an input sensor. The board should broadcast
the position data to other PC's using Ethernet. |
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Honorable
Mention Award Senior Design Projects
Daniel Rebori-Carretero, Cory J. Walters, Brent D. Kantola,
Daniel Hebel Sponsors: Federal Mogul Corporation (joint project with MEEM) As
a major seal and gasket supplier to the automotive industry,
Federal-Mogul verifies the performance of its products through
extensive testing. Currently, Federal-Mogul tests its dynamic
radial lip seals, such as those used on the driveshafts of large
trucks, on a test stand conforming to the Society of Automotive
Engineers J110 standard. This stand is capable of testing the
seal at a wide range of temperatures and speeds. Desiring to
more closely model conditions observed in the field, Federal-Mogul
requested that Team #9, along with a mechanical engineering
counterpart, design an add-on unit to superimpose a torsional
(axial) vibration to the rotational motion through the seal.
This oscillatory motion was to occur with a frequency of 40Hz
and amplitude +/- 2 degrees. Technical obstacles include designing
the mechanics to create this vibration at the seal and maintaining
this vibration over the life of the test. Deliverables include
a working prototype and extensive documentation, including wiring
diagrams, logic, training manuals with setup procedures, and
schematics. Successful completion of this project will result
in an increase in Federal-Mogul's ability to model actual field
conditions and ensure the performance of their seals. |
1st
Place Award Enterprise Poster Presentation
3nd Place Award Enterprise Poster Presentation
Judges
Center for Biomedical Engineering Chemical Engineering Civil and Environmental Engineering Electrical and Computer Engineering Geological Engineering and Sciences Materials Science and Engineering Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics œ School of Technology œ Department of Educational Opportunity œ School of Business and Economics œ College of Sciences and Arts Special Thanks of the private and corporate sponsors of each of the Enterprise and Senior Design Teams. œ Special thanks also goes out to each of the faculty advisors to the Undergraduate Research students, Senior Design Project, and Enterprise Teams. œ The College of Engineering would like to thank all of the judges who gave of their time and talent to help make this years Expo a success. œ To all of the support staff who are the behind the scenes heroes. Thanks! We couldn’t do it without your help.
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