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MECHANICAL ENGINEERING ANNUAL REPORT Mechanical Engineering 2018-2019 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 1 RESEARCH 2 4 5 15 32 44 45 46 MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR TRENDS AND STATISTICS IN THE NEWS ADVANCES IN RESEARCH EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDS AND HONORS HONORS & RECOGNITION Arruda’s First Year Faculty Profile ME Leads Taub, Rouse, Bala DEI Articles Marshall Jones Michael Korybalski Faculty Awards Distinguished Lecture Research Expenditures New Faculty Chandran, Banu, Grosh, Wise Gise Student Awards Degrees Conferred NSF Awards Thouless, Sangi Reddy & ME450 DTE Endowed Professorship Faculty Trends 150th Celebration Meyhofer, Wooldridge Student Blogs Robotics Building MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 2 2018 -19 ANNUAL REPORT MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 3 THE CHAIR When you picture U-M ME four years from now, what do you see? Q I see our department as THE place people want to be. We will have redoubled our reputation in computational methods as fundamental tools, transportation, smart materials and devices, bioen- gineering, smart artificial intelligence, robotics and mechatronics, and advanced manufacturing — all areas called out by the mechanical engineering A section of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) as rapidly evolving. Large-scale collaboration What do you get when you give some of the brightest and the U-M Board of Regents approved the is the hallmark of our research. We’re recognized as the place for innovation in most motivated student minds access to world-class schematic design for the $75 million Ford mechanical engineering education and community engagement. Our research Robotics Building. The new (and very cool) active faculty members are nurturing more PhD students and post-docs towards faculty and facilities and present them with extremely facility will include labs customized for many academic careers at top institutions. Engaged learning is happening in the class- difficult problems to solve? types of robotics technologies and applica- rooms of the future and beyond, utilizing technologies and methods we’ve barely Mechanical engineers who have a positive impact on the world tions. Several ME faculty conduct robotics begun to employ today. The staff members are professional partners adding value to around them. research and will have space in the new our research, teaching, and service enterprise. Our research portfolio is broadened As chair of the University of Michigan Department of Mechan- building for their work. with support from philanthropic and industrial sources. I envision an ME depart- ical Engineering (U-M ME), I have the privilege of seeing this on a In addition to receiving a number of ment that is excited, energized, and enthusiastic. daily basis. Our work — our teaching, our research, our service to the prestigious awards, our faculty are having profession — has a real, tangible, positive influence. Each day in ME, a broader impact through service, playing What are your main goals during your tenure as chair? our students, staff, and faculty work together to develop solutions leading roles in many areas of the University I really have two passions. One is elevating the research enterprise and the that improve our world and the quality of life of its inhabitants. and beyond. (Read more in ME Leads on page other is broadening participation in mechanical engineering. I think the RIP_ME Engagement, innovation, impact. These threads are woven 6.) Further extending our impact, we welcome and TIP_ME initiative I started speaks to how I am trying to infuse the former. MESSAGE FROM MESSAGE throughout the efforts and accomplishments we’re proud to share in five new faculty members this year: assistant Broadening participation in ME means finding ways to communicate the possibilities the following pages. professors Solomon Adera, Ashley Bucsek, with an ME degree to those segments of the potential undergraduate pool who don’t From AI, automotive engineering, and biosystems to robotics, Jon Estrada, and Nima Fazeli, and lecturer know that they can achieve what they want to achieve with an ME degree. We’ve left sustainable energy, materials, and transportation of the future, our Heather Cooper too many creative minds out of the applicant pool by not communicating broadly faculty conduct high-impact research that crosses traditional disci- We also welcome our new Diversity, how mechanical engineers solve the world’s big problems, have a huge impact, and plinary boundaries. Collaborations span the College, the University, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Coordinator Davon help people by making this world safer, cleaner, and better. and the world, spurring innovation. That spirit of innovation begins Wheeler, who will support DEI activities for “at home,” with several departmental initiatives designed to fuel faculty, staff, and students so that these con- What do you believe is the greatest challenge for the field of mechanical creative teaching and research strategies. cepts become even more ingrained in who we engineering in the coming years, and how is U-M ME proactively preparing Our Research Innovation Program in ME (RIP_ME) and Teach- are and what we do. (Read more about Davon students and faculty to overcome it? ing Innovation Program in ME (TIP_ME) are two examples, helping and his role in the Q&A on page 35.) We’re Mechanical engineering is a discipline that is rapidly evolving in every one of our faculty explore visionary approaches. This year faculty submit- excited, too, about our new WoMEntoring its sub-disciplines. U-M ME is preparing for this evolution by evolving as well. To do ted many compelling proposals, and three were selected. Teaching student group, launched to support communi- that, I believe we need to focus on a strategy that elevates our research to height- innovation projects include development of next-generation student ty-building among female students and open ened levels of visible novelty and impactfulness. In our teaching we need to create design experiences that inherently take into account social, ethical, to all students. (You can learn more about the meaningful interactions with our undergraduate students that inspire them for environmental, and economic factors and creation of an integrated impetus for WoMEntoring in the Q&A with careers in research and prepare them to be adaptable, resilient members of the online component of core undergraduate courses to improve engage- co-founder Laine Katherine Chan on page 33.) future ME workforce. We need to explore opportunities to overhaul the lecture ment and learning. The winning RIP project focuses on revolutionary You’ll find many other examples format, integrate “campus of the future” concepts such as augmented/virtual/ experimental and computational tools to address grand challenges in throughout this report of how our work is mixed reality, flipped classrooms, videotaped lectures, in-class cloud access to energy conversion, transport, and storage. making a difference and preparing our stu- massive databases, etc., and otherwise optimize faculty involvement for efficacy Enabling our research are state-of-the-art facilities. Following dents for careers defined by contribution and and efficiency. the completion of several major building and renovation projects, service. I hope they inspire you the way they do including the $46 million Mechanical Engineering Research Complex, me — everyday. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 4 2018 -19 ANNUAL REPORT MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 7 RESEARCH TRENDS & NEWS STATISTICSNIH $1,739,852 Faculty JOURNAL CHIEF EDITORS 4 NSF Profile JOURNAL EDITORIAL BOARD OR ASSOC. EDITOR APPTS. 77 $4,459,535 NSF CAREER OR PYI AWARDS 45 IN THE NAE MEMBERS 10 NSF PECASE OR PFF AWARDS 5 DoE SOCIETY FELLOWS 82 ALL OTHER $5,602,624 $15,610,155 PhD 55 Annual Research Expenditures 2018-19 DoD TOTAL RESEARCH EXPENDITURES $7,817,683 $35,229,849 MSE 142 BSE Degrees 309 Conferred 2017-18 70 Faculty 60 Trends 50 Tenured 40 and 30 Tenure- 20 Track 10 0 FA14 FA15 FA16 FA17 FA18 FA19 Assistant 11 11 15 14 15 18 Associate 13 14 13 15 17 13 Professor 39 39 37 39 40 42 Total 63 64 65 68 72 73 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 6 2018 -19 ANNUAL REPORT MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 7 IN THE NEWS STEVE CECCIO ME has rapidly evolved into a very Professor, Mechanical Engineering diverse discipline in recent decades, Vincent T. and Gloria M. Gorguze Professor of Engineering ” Michigan Engineering Associate Dean for Research covering many different aspects of As Associate Dean for Research engineering and science. (ADR), I support the research activities across the College of Engineering. There are over 1,400 sponsored research VOLKER SICK projects going on at any given time in ” the CoE, from very small to very large, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Mechanical Engineering totaling about $270 million in annual ME Leads DTE Energy Professor of Advanced Energy Research expenditures. In this role, I enjoy having Director, Global CO2 Initiative a bird’s-eye view of the many research topics our faculty and stu- ME FACULTY dents are exploring — they teach me something new every day. Our Featuring nine ME faculty who are motivating and inspiring others through their leadership — team in the ADR’s office is committed to helping our faculty engage on campus, nationally, globally. We’re proud of the prominent roles they play at the University The Blue Sky-funded project I in impactful research efforts. Much of what we do is embodied in of Michigan and beyond, and we asked them to briefly describe their work, their favorite parts lead provided funding to launch a new the College’s