2020 MAE Magazine
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Cornell Engineering Silby School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering MAE Magazine 2020 2020 MAGAZINE USING CHESS X-RAYS TO UNDERSTAND ENGINEERING MATERIALS Page 2 TABLE OF MAE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE CONTENTS DAVID ERICKSON Hello Sibley School Friends, effort is funded by a large grant from the Air Force Research Lab and engages Well, it’s been an exciting year! several industry partners. INSIDE THIS ISSUE We also introduce the newly Faculty Profile: Cornell, along with nearly all higher established Veho Institute for Vehicle Matthew Miller .............................. 2 education institutions, shifted to online Automation as a joint effort between Alumni Profile: Steve J. Fujikawa ............................ 4 education midway through the spring Cornell Engineering, Cornell Tech Veho Institute ............................................................ 6 2020 semester because of the COVID-19 and several Italian Universities and Sibley School Advisory Council pandemic. This was a particularly difficult Automakers like Ducati, Ferrari, ............................. 7 challenge for a department like MAE Lamborghini and Maserati. Led and Faculty Awards and Honors .................................... 8 Professor Silvia Ferrari —where our education and research is founded by the Student Awards and Honors .................................. 9 so dependent on physical projects and center aims to “transport the world of New Faculty hands-on learning. The faculty and staff high-performance automobiles into the ................................................................ 10 found innovative ways to complete the future, not simply with autonomous cars Cornell Solar District Cup Team ............................ 13 term, including virtual Robotics labs. but also using all of the new areas of News ............................................................................ 14 Our success in the transition benefited artificial intelligence, data science and the from our early investment in programs science of autonomy.” officer managing several space missions like the active learning initiative and our This year we are also excited to and serving in an executive capacity at the wonderful instructional facilities in Upson announce the formation of the inaugural Naval Postgraduate School and Air Force About the Cover Hall. Sibley School Advisory Council. The Institute of Technology. Cover Design: Erin Philipson As I’m sure you’ve heard, Cornell was mission of the council “to serve as the Finally, we are excited to welcome Cover image: Matt Miller and Ph.D. student Mark Obstalecki inserting a titanium test sample into a loading machine for an in situ x-ray one of the few Ivy League Universities primary source of external guidance to the Lynden Archer as our new Dean of diffraction experiment at CHESS. to welcome all students back to campus Director of MAE, facilitate engagement Engineering, the former director of this fall for a combination of socially opportunities for MAE faculty and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering distanced in-person and online courses. students outside the University, and and a prolific researcher, member of The University has employed unique tools provide a channel of expertise and counsel the National Academy of Engineering, SUPPORT MAE to combat the virus including extensive between MAE and alumni” is even more and exceptional administrator. Lynden diagnostic testing and a behavioral important in these times of flux. Council assumes the role of Dean after 10 years compact. As I write this letter, after members come from a diverse set of of transformative leadership from Sibley Sibley School Discretionary Fund completing two coronavirus tests myself fields and all share the wish to deepen School Professor Lance Collins. Lance this week, I’m happy to report that the relationships between the Sibley School leaves an incredible legacy to our college The Sibley School’s Discretionary Fund supports the people, programs, and places of MAE. Making an unrestricted donation is invaluable plan is working better than expected. and their companies or industries. that includes the establishment of Cornell to the school’s Director. These gifts may be used to update a laboratory for virtual classroom presentations, create opportunities for students Cornell is already being recognized as In this year’s issue of the magazine Tech and advancement of his vision to to attend conferences, and further faculty research in cutting-edge areas of engineering. a national success story in controlling we’re excited to profile alumni Steve J. create one of the most diverse engineering infection transmission while maintaining Fujikawa MAE ’77, an entrepreneur in the programs in the country. The College Private gifts are essential and help to ensure the continued excellence, relevance, and impact of initiatives for MAE. For more information on an enriching on-campus experience. aerospace industry, where he has made of Engineering recently established the how your support can make a difference, please call Stephen Smith at 607.255.8285, or email him [email protected] . One of the great things about Cornell is a number of significant contributions, Lance R. Collins Fellowship, created to that we have access to some of the finest specifically in satellite technology. Steve support engineering graduate students To learn more about how your support can impact the Sibley School, visit our Giving Opportunities page. research infrastructure in the country like also made possible the establishment from traditionally underrepresented the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron of the Stephen J. Fujikawa Chair in populations, and to honor Lance for Source (CHESS). In this year’s magazine, Astronautical Engineering which was his leadership. Lance has moved on to Make we feature Professor Matt Miller’s awarded to Professor Mason Peck on July become the inaugural vice president Imagine research and leadership as the Associate 1, 2020. We also profile our new Assistant and executive director of Virginia Tech’s Accelerate Impactful Director of CHESS and the newly Professors, Jingjie (JJ) Yeo, Sadaf innovation campus. What’s established MSN-C (Materials Solution Sobhani and Elaine Petro. Professor Tim and Lasting Network-CHESS). This program allows Sands also joined the department as our I hope you enjoy the update. Discovery. high energy X-Rays from the synchrotron first Professor of Practice in Aerospace Possible. Change. to peer inside metals and other materials Engineering. Tim joins us following a to understand why some parts fail. The 30-year career as an active duty Air Force David Erickson Page13 | Fall 2020 1 FACULTY PROFILE saw the possibilities in this type of research on ways of digesting and understanding and the San Diego Supercomputing USING CHESS X-RAYS TO —recognizing the opportunity to test these data. As we move forward, utilizing Center, the award is shared by Carnegie metals and parts for aircraft, vehicles, and all of the data collected at the beamline is a Mellon University. UNDERSTAND ENGINEERING MATERIALS equipment. great opportunity for data science methods Before starting his career as an By Erin Philipson To help streamline what could such as machine learning,” says Miller. academic, Miller played football at the sometimes be a slow process, in 2019 “Can the raw data that is taken directly University of Colorado and for the NFL’s It has long been common practice for the Air Force Research Laboratory from the pixels on the x-ray detector be Cleveland Browns. Miller credits his mechanical engineers to conduct loading (AFRL) funded two new beamlines at used to say something definitively about mindset as an offensive lineman as some tests on metals like steel and titanium, then CHESS, providing dedicated access to what’s going on in the material?” of the driving influence in his academic to create models for the behavior of those experimental “beam time” to conduct Creating enhanced remote user access career. “It’s something where you’re metals based on the results of these tests. Department of Defense funded to datasets and data reduction workflows directly responsible for any successes Matt Miller, professor in the Sibley School experiments for unrestricted amounts of are the motivation for a Research the team makes but you’re never directly of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering time—a project that totals about $7M per Advanced and Interdisciplinary Science touching the ball,” says Miller. “As a (MAE) and Principal Investigator for year. and Engineering (RAISE) grant from NSF teacher, the mindset of an offensive MSN-C in the Cornell High Energy Miller is the principal investigator recently awarded to Miller and CHESS linemen is a good thing. You’re always Synchrotron Source (CHESS), did the same (PI) of this AFRL grant, which established for a project called “A Materials Science wanting to get people to the next level.” when he first started at Cornell. the Materials Solutions Network at Chess Gateway for X-ray Imaging and Modeling One of Miller’s overarching goals Miller’s research lies at the (MSN-C) and provides state-of-the-art of Microstructures.” since starting to work at CHESS nearly intersection of mechanical engineering X-ray tools developed from Miller’s The collaboration converges structural 20 years ago is to lower the bar for new and materials science—exploring how research program to understand processes materials data collected from the SMB users to the beamlines at CHESS, enabling the internal structure of metals