The Magazine of The College of engineering aT lawrenCe TeChnologiCal UniversiTy IN OVATION N spring 2017

CIMR at 10: A decade of leadership in infrastructure R&D Spring 2017 INNOVATION Volume 9

CONTENTS

1 From the Dean Published by the Office of Marketing and Public Affairs and the College of Engineering, Lawrence Technological University, 21000 West Ten Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075-1058; 2 CIMR boiling over with innovation 248.204.2200 or 800.225.5558, ext. 4; Fax 248.204.2318; LTU lab studies advanced materials for defense, infrastructure [email protected]; www.ltu.edu.

5 Power packed Virinder K. Moudgil Another grant from Johnson Controls aims to improve lithium-ion batteries President of the University

Nabil F. Grace 6 A great year for Blue Devil Motorsports Dean, College of Engineering University Distinguished Professor 8 A robot looks at history Thanks to LTU students, tour this 1904 Ford plant from … anywhere Lewis G. Frasch Associate Dean, College of Engineering

10 [Taubman] Complex solution Elin Jensen LTU’s latest building addition has expanded labs for bioengineering program Associate Dean, College of Engineering; Innovation Magazine Coordinator 12 Engineers as entrepreneurs Executive Editor: Bruce J. Annett, Jr. ([email protected]) LTU key national player in boosting innovation, design thinking in engineering education Managing Editor: Matthew N. Roush ([email protected]) 13 NAIAS, MAIN Event feature LTU talent Writers: Matthew N. Roush, Keith Kowalkowski 16 LTU moves up in engineering rankings Design: NetWorks Design, Inc.

17 In brief Production Team: Anne Adamus, Sofia Lulgjuraj International industrial engineering conference, MDOT classes, new engineering technology labs, urban flooding and pollution, tow plows Photography: Matthew N. Roush, Nic Lehoux, Sofia Lulgjuraj, Justin Munter, Glen Triest, and others

23 Faculty achievements © 2017 by Lawrence Technological University. All rights LTU professors champion the Great Lakes,win grant to advance fluid power education, reserved. Comments about the magazine, articles, or letters may receive patent be sent to the Dean of Engineering. Send address changes to (fax) 248.204.2318 or [email protected] . 26 Student achievements ASCE student competition, Blue Devils win IGVC, Innovation Encounter, University Innovation Fellows named, wooden bridge team success

31 Student awards

32 By the numbers

Back cover Taubman Complex features sophisticated tech to delight any engineer On the cover: LTU’s Center for Innovative Materials Research is a busy place, with students and faculty conducting experiments on building better roads, bridges, and buildings. In the foreground at left are Nabil Grace, dean of the College of Engineering, and Mena Bebawy, assistant professor. From the Dean T he College of Engineering at Lawrence Technological University is continuing its strong performance, both in terms of the number and quality of its students and their academic achievements. We’re proud to be part of a university where 88 percent of bachelor’s degree graduates either had jobs or had been accepted to graduate programs by commencement. And thanks to students recognizing the power of an LTU engineering degree, we also find the need to expand our faculty, with national searches going on for faculty positions in architectural engineering, electrical and computer engineering, mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, and robotics engineering. Over the past year, our students also enjoyed the opportunity to host the North Central Student Conference of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and to attend regional events like the Great Lakes Stormwater Management Summit, and global events like the Industrial Engineering and Operations Management Society conference, both hosted on campus. Last September, we formally dedicated the newest jewel in our constellation of facilities, the A. Alfred Taubman Engineering, Architecture, and Life Sciences Complex. This $16.9 million building boasts 36,700 square feet on three levels, including new laboratories for robotics, biomedical engineering, and embedded Dr. Nabil Grace (left) software. We are grateful to our many supporters, including the late retail innovator A. Aflred Taubman, and explains a test of composite former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, both of whom studied at LTU, and whose gifts made the Taubman materials in CIMR to student Complex and its Marburger STEM Center possible. Megan Dixon. We’re also preparing to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our Center for Innovative Materials Research (CIMR), which has produced several breakthroughs in infrastructure research, including replacing steel with carbon fiber reinforced polymer strands as a reinforcing material for prestressed concrete bridges. A major international company and supplier of carbon reinforced strands, which we have been working with for more than 25 years, has established a plant in Michigan’s Canton Township. There, its team members are producing carbon fiber strands for the bridges we are building using the data collected and the research conducted in the CIMR. All these student successes and new facilities continue to produce recognition for Lawrence Tech, which was once again listed among the top universities in the Midwest by the Princeton Review, and earned top marks as a green school for its environmental programs and focus. The University was also lauded for being a military-friendly school, and moved up on the U.S. News & World Report’s list of top Midwest 017 Regional Universities to 40, from 54 last year. LTU’s civil engineering and biomedical engineering 2 AMERICA’S BEST programs ranked in the top 10 nationally for value by Best Value Schools. UNIVERSITIES Once again, thank you for your support and interest in the excellent research, scholarship, and innovative U.S. News & teaching approach taking place at Lawrence Tech. World Report®

2017 BEST COLLEGES in the Midwest Princeton Review¨

Nabil F. Grace, PhD, PE, FESD 2017 Dean, College of Engineering NATIONÕS BEST ONLINE PROGRAMS University Distinguished Professor U.S. News & World Report®

Lawrence Tech Innovation 1 CIMR boiling over with innovation

O ccupant safety in extreme events was the driving motivation behind a state-of-the-art research center at Lawrence Technological University. Nabil Grace, 9/11 attacks – a combination of heavy Students prepare to load the Center for Innovative Materials dean of LTU’s College of Engineering, impact and high temperatures – to learn Research’s high-temperature Load-Fire Chamber with a what kinds of materials could be used concrete beam for testing. explains how LTU created its Center in the built environment that could withstand those conditions. CIMR also is home to research into for Innovative Materials Research. Grace also wanted to be able to test composite and carbon-fiber materials, a materials in a wide variety of weather particular research passion of Grace, Before 2001, LTU was already doing conditions, from subzero Arctic cold to particularly for their applications in quite a bit of research into advanced desert heat, from parched drought to highway bridges. materials, with funding from state driving ice storms. CIMR is about to mark its 10th transportation departments in Michigan Support for a new building was hard to anniversary, a decade marked by huge and Ohio, Iowa, Oregon, Minnesota, the come by, but Grace was able to secure a advances in materials science and Department of Defense, and other private federal contract for $11 million, including understanding of what happens to agencies – although space was getting $1.3 million for the building that today building components at the extremes of tight, and sometimes “we were walking is known as CIMR. The funding came temperature and loads. all over each other – we could not through a cooperative research agreement No single company built the huge accommodate all the demand,” Grace said. with the Army Research Laboratory and Load-Fire Chamber that is one of CIMR’s But after the events of Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Grace started asking himself, “What Research, Development and sort of research could we conduct in Engineering Center What sort of research could we areas where we have been shown to (TARDEC) in Warren, conduct in areas where we be vulnerable?” Mich. Ronnisch He submitted a proposal to test various Construction Group have been shown to be vulnerable? materials in conditions that simulated the served as contractor.

2 Lawrence Tech Innovation ‘ ’ LTU lab studies advanced materials for defense, infrastructure innovation centerpieces. “You could not buy this off the shelf,” Grace said, in this combina- tion of features. The fire chamber reaches 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit; is outfitted with actuators to test materials’ resistance to impact and loading at high temperatures; and has advanced computers for control and analysis. A special powered chimney had to be built to eject that much heat safely from the building and for analysis. “Computer, fire, structural, and mechanical engineers all sat around a table to build this,” Grace said. In the end, an Ohio company, Surface Combustion Inc. of Maumee, built the fire chamber, which was delivered on trucks in two pieces and assembled by a crane on site. The interior of the chamber is 22 feet long by 11 feet wide by 9 feet high. Five viewing ports, three on the front The other signature piece of equipment A unique bridge design undergoing load testing at LTU’s Center and two on one side, permit real-time in CIMR is a comprehensive environ- for Innovative Materials Research as a group of state transportation screening of the materials under fire and mental and loading chamber. Spanning engineers and students look on. load tests. some 3,600 cubic feet – 12 feet wide, pounds for the former and 1,570 pounds The test chamber has enabled research- 22 feet long, and 14 feet high – the for the latter. The instrument’s ers to investigate the response of armor chamber can simulate rain and ice and configuration is the only one of its and structural components to fire loading. winds up to 60 mph. Temperatures can kind in Michigan and offers unique be lowered to 90 degrees below zero to capabilities to test the behavior of new 185 degrees above zero Fahrenheit. It was composite materials. built by Russells Technical Products of During its first decade, CIMR has seen Holland, Mich. major advances in research into materials CIMR is also equipped with two large- for highway bridges, including the use of scale structural testing frames capable of carbon-fiber cables rather than steel for static and dynamic loading capacities up reinforcement, and bridges built without to 450,000 pounds. Two hydraulic pumps deck slabs or steel. power the actuators. Measurements of One of CIMR’s major research partners loads, deflections, accelerations, and has been the Michigan Department of strains can be taken electronically. Transportation, where Matt Chynoweth, “The foundation under the environ- deputy Metro Region engineer, calls the mental test chamber and the steel laboratory “absolutely unique.” structural testing frames is five feet Said Chynoweth: “Dr. Grace has been a of heavily reinforced concrete,” great partner for us. He’s been very good Grace noted. about coming up with new equipment to CIMR is also home to an MTS Model do new tests. Any way we can think of to 311 four-post load frame that can destroy a structural element, he’s created determine the compressive strength, a way to test that. We’ve got a couple of elasticity, and other properties of major projects going on there now.” composite materials under temperature Included are tests of carbon-fiber ranges of -200 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. materials to replace steel in bridges, Nearby is an ElectroPuls E10000 Chynoweth said. “Determining the linear-torsion all-electric test instrument. strength of the material is one part of it, Nabil Grace, dean of the LTU College of Engineering, checks Capable of performing combined axial but then we say, let’s also run it through out a test in the CIMR with a student. and torsional loading of up to 2,250 Continued

Lawrence Tech Innovation 3 CIMR boiling over with innovation CONTINUED

some cycles of freezing temperatures and A concrete beam is loaded that heat chamber that he has there, and into LTU’s Load-Fire see what the impact is on the long-term chamber, which can be heated to 2,300 degrees performance of the material.” Fahrenheit. The military is also a frequent CIMR user. Scott E. Hodges, a project engineer on the Materials Application and Integration Team at TARDEC, was involved in the development of CIMR Workers install bridge with Grace. He said CIMR’s ability to beams made of advanced test the performance and behavior of materials tested at LTU advanced and composite materials at a on a new bridge in rural wide variety of temperature extremes Michigan. makes it unique. “LTU has really developed some expertise in this area,” Hodges said. “The wide range of equipment and capabilities in advanced materials testing and characterization, the vehicle-sized flame chamber, the equipment to test and characterize the toxicity of smoke, this is a unique set of capabilities not available in very many places. It’s a niche area, and LTU is, I believe, in a position to capitalize on that.” Adria Socks, a mechanical engineer at TARDEC, said she’d recommend CIMR to researchers after environmental testing of composite targets her group was fabricating. “It is difficult to find large environmental chambers like this that you can fit a vehicle in,” she said. “We did LTU so close down the road to utilize this completed its ninth bridge using carbon not have this size chamber available at equipment ... We had a positive experience fiber for reinforcement, on M-86 in TARDEC at the time we performed this using LTU to perform our environmental St. Joseph County, and this spring, the testing, and it was advantageous to have testing. Researchers in automotive, 10th and longest will be installed on I-75 composite materials, in Detroit. Tens of thousands of metro materials science, and Detroiters drive over other CIMR- structures like aircraft and technology bridges along Eight Mile road construction will find Road and over the Southfield Freeway the equipment beneficial every day. to their testing needs.” “These bridges, I call them the fruits And CIMR hasn’t just of CIMR,” Grace said. “Some of these been about research. It’s 10 bridges have monitoring equipment also about development. that can be checked over the internet.” Grace noted that the The future of CIMR is as expansive state of Michigan just as the future of advanced materials in structural engineering. The idea, Grace said, will continue “to bring equipment CIMR’s environmental test chamber together in one building that lets students can simulate rain, ice, high winds, do whatever their dreams tell them.” and temperatures from -90 to 185 MR degrees Fahrenheit.

4 Lawrence Tech Innovation Power packed

LAnother grant from Johnson Controls aims to improve lithium-ion batteries Lawrence Technological University James A. Mynderse (standing), LTU assistant professor of problem, but our students in mechanical joined forces with Johnson Controls Inc. mechanical engineering, is the principal investigator on this engineering and mechatronic systems to research improved methods for new Johnson Controls Inc. grant, which aims to improve the engineering have the technical manufacturing lithium-ion batteries. large-scale manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries. background, industrial experience, and A nearly $200,000 grant from Johnson drive to tackle the challenge. This Controls aims at making lithium-ion The principal investigator for this grant will provide students with an batteries – a key component of hybrid grant, which is effective January 2017 opportunity to apply classroom theory to and electric vehicles – significantly more through September 2018, is James A. a manufacturingPhilip application Olivier, chair with efficient and cost-effective. Mynderse, LTU assistant professor of real-world impact.”of LTU’s Department “Cost continues to be a major mechanical engineering and director of The new grantof Electrical comes and on the heels of challenge for mass adoption of hybrid the University’s Master of Science in a $150,000 grantComputer LTU Engineer- received from and electric vehicles,” said Tom Watson, Mechatronic Systems Engineering Johnson Controlsing, has in enlisted 2015 for research on the help of students technical fellow at Johnson Controls. program. Co-principal investigators are battery systems for start-stop hybrid Sahana Thanabalan “Addressing the manufacturability of Robert Fletcher, LTU professor of vehicles. The andincreasingly Christopher more popular lithium-ion battery systems will mechanical engineering and director start-stop technologyHorton on areduces research gas address this challenge so automakers of the University’s Alternative Energy consumption upproject to for5 percentFord Motor by having and consumers can achieve longer range Program, and Liping Liu, LTU assistant a vehicle’s engineCompany. automatically turn off at an affordable price. Lawrence Tech professor of mechanical engineering. when it is idling at a traffic light or in a offers great expertise and talent to help “This project is a step toward traffic jam and then automatically starts Johnson Controls optimize our vehicle improved, large-scale manufacturing of again when the gas pedal is activated. energy storage systems as well as conduct lithium-ion batteries, which will power This project is scheduled for completion research to discover new technologies to tomorrow’s electrified vehicles,” in 2017. MR improve battery performance.” Mynderse said. “This is not an easy

Lawrence Tech Innovation 5 A great year for Blue Devil

Below, LTU’s Supermileage car that topped 226 mpg in SAE competition and 319 mpg at the Shell Eco-Marathon.

A top 10 finish at SAE Supermileage, a successful flight at SAE Aero Design, and a great turnout for LTU’s annual Grand Prix were among the accomplishments Detroit and achieved 319 miles per Above, the competitors at the Shell Eco-Marathon. of the University’s Blue Devil gallon. Motorsports teams over the Lawrence Tech did better than top 10 considering what happened early in the design competition, a combination in the competition. past year. of scores for its written and oral “I’m very proud of the teamwork and presentations to judges, and finished in perseverance of the 2016 team,” Gerhart LTU’s Supermileage team ranked 10th fourth place. said. “They had a major crash on out of 28 teams in the 37th annual SAE Major sponsors of the team included Thursday and got everything rebuilt in a Supermileage competition, held June Ford Motor Co., Varroc Lighting, hotel room throughout the night to pass 9–10 at the Eaton Proving Grounds in ElectroJet, and DENSO. Team members tech inspection on Friday. And then they Marshall, Mich. said they look forward to improving their flew on Saturday. Not easy to do 2,000 That’s an improvement from the 2015 performance in 2017. miles from home.” competition, when LTU finished 13th Meanwhile, in Van Nuys, Calif., LTU’s All in all, Gerhart said, the competition and claimed the “Best Newcomer Aero Design team competed in SAE will provide “good building blocks for the Performance Award.” Aero Design West, Regular Class, in 2017 team.” No longer a newcomer, LTU’s vehicle, which the team is scored on a small radio- And in October, Blue Devil Motor- Beta, successfully completed the six-lap controlled aircraft’s reliability, weight, sports hosted its annual Grand Prix, run with a fuel consumption rate of 226 and payload, as well as a technical report featuring Formula SAE cars from LTU miles per gallon. LTU was not able to get and presentation. and the University of Michigan, a second run to improve fuel economy Andy Gerhart, professor of mechanical University of Toledo, Western Michigan performance because many teams passed engineering at LTU, said the team University, Ferris State University, technical inspection at the last minute finished eighth in the presentation Kettering University, and Hope College. during the competition, and before LTU competition and 18th for its written The event is intended as a fun day of could get in that second run, competition report, both improvements over last year. good-natured competition and networking authorities closed the track for the day. The team’s aircraft also flew and during the “off season” for Formula SAE The team competed with the same vehicle carried its payload successfully, which racing, which has its formal competitions in the Shell Eco-Marathon in April in Gerhart said was a major achievement in late spring and summer.

6 Lawrence Tech Innovation Motorsports

Three of LTU’s SAE teams at the annual Grand Prix – Formula, Baja, and Hybrid.

“A lot of these teams don’t have a chance to interact during the competitions in the spring,” said Steven Rehak, a senior in mechanical engineering at LTU who is business manager of the Formula SAE team. Students tune up the “The idea here was to give the students LTU Aero Design drone a chance to meet and start building a airplane. professional network now, because a lot of these students from the different universities will wind up working with each other.” Sponsors of the event included the auto supplier Brembo North America, the city of Southfield, and LTU’s Colleges of Architecture and Design and Manage- ment, A. Leon Linton Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Office of Student Engagement. Providing food and drink were Absopure, Better Made Potato Chips, Fuddruckers, and US Ice. Formula SAE has a long and rich history at Lawrence Tech. Student teams have participated in the competition since 1986, and LTU hosted the competition in The LTU Supermileage 1986, 1987, and 1988. MR team celebrates another great performance.

Lawrence Tech Innovation 7 A robot looks at history Thanks to LTU students, tour this 1904 Ford plant from … anywhere

Henry Ford’s Piquette Avenue Plant was the birthplace of the Model T, the car that brought automotive transportation to the masses. Now, a robot designed by Lawrence Technological University students will bring tours of the historic, restored plant to the masses. A senior capstone class of robotics engineers, led by LTU robotics instructor James Kerns, built a robot that follows magnetic tape around the Piquette plant at the heels of a docent leading a tour. A camera attached to the robot allows visitors from around the globe to log in Hills, Mich.; Matt DiMilla of At top, the LTU senior capstone robotics engineering and join the tour, viewing the museum Brownstown Township, Mich., Patrick class visits the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant with their robot. from an eye-level perspective. Virtual Feliksa of Rochester Hills, Mich.; Below, some of the many historic early-1900s automobiles visitors can type in questions for the Christopher Leclerc of Canton Township, on display at the plant. docent, which are displayed on a screen Mich.; Ryan Martin of Redford on the robot. Township, Mich.; Charles Morton of Highland Park plant opened, home of the The students built a custom-made steel Muskegon, Mich.; Luis Rodriguez of first moving assembly line – which, chassis for the robot, which is powered Valencia, Venezuela; Nicole Turkus of coincidentally, was where Lawrence Tech by rechargeable batteries and uses Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.; and Joey was founded in 1932 with the help of wheelchair motors and wheels to Yudasz, team captain, of Waterford the Fords. get around. They named the robot Township, Mich. They started building At Piquette, automotive assembly was H.E.N.R.Y., for “Historical Engineering the robot in November. still done the old-fashioned way, in a Narrated Remotely for You.” The Piquette plant was home to Model plant that would have been at home in The nine students who worked on the T production from 1904 to 1910. On any New England mill town. Workers put project are Zachary Cowan of Rochester Jan. 1, 1910, Henry Ford’s more famous an automotive frame up on sawhorses and

8 Lawrence Tech Innovation The three-story plant where Henry Ford started the production of the Model T.

Above, this robot wears its cute acronym name on its skin. bolted and welded the rest of the car’s parts onto it, rolling it out the door when it was done. While no model of efficiency compared to the moving assembly line, the Piquette plant did set records for its day, at one point churning out 110 Model Ts a day. The students are proud to showcase a critical part of Detroit’s history through the use of modern technology. Yudasz said the robot “helps bring attention to one of Detroit’s most iconic products of history, the Model T.” And Cowan spoke for many on the team when he said, “I love the history of the Piquette museum and love the idea of helping them expand their digital reach.” Turkus added: “This project is important to me because as a child I spent a lot of time in museums. By building our telepresence robot, we are able to bring the experience of the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant Museum to anyone in the world with an internet connection.” for the plant, because “innovation is the LTU students gather around the robot to explain its operation Kerns came up with the idea for the central story of the Ford Piquette Avenue to Piquette Plant staffers and volunteers. robot, and Yudasz said, “we rolled with it Plant. Between 1904 and 1908, eight from there.” models were produced, each showing of the American automobile industry. The students said the project will serve incremental improvements. The process It has been an inspiration to see the them well in a bright future as robot- of sustained innovation culminated with professionalism, competence, and ics engineers. Morton said robots will the Model T – the car that put America on enthusiasm of the robotics team. They are only become more important in fields as wheels and changed history. Celebrating very talented and very well prepared for diverse as robotic surgery, space travel, and encouraging the spirit of innovation successful careers. Working with the team autonomous vehicles, and artificial is part of the Piquette museum’s mission. has given ample proof that the American intelligence. It is therefore with great enthusiasm that spirit of innovation is alive and well.” The cost of the robot is about $5,000, we welcome the Lawrence Tech group For more information on the Ford which students raised from sponsors. to the plant. Their project brings 21st- Piquette Avenue Plant museum, Jerry Mitchell, a Detroit preservationist century thinking and skills to the historic which houses a fabulous collection of and president of the Model T Automotive plant and provides an opportunity for period cars from the first and second Heritage Complex, the nonprofit that future innovators to gain inspiration from decades of the 20th century, visit owns the plant, said the robot is a natural actually working at the historic epicenter www.fordpiquetteavenueplant.org. MR

Lawrence Tech Innovation 9 A sophisticated ultrasound machine helps biomedical engineering students understand the workings of image processing and the human body.

[Taubman] One of the new collaborative studio spaces in the Taubman Complex. BME Assistant Professor Yawen Li said, “We used to have to go to a small cell culture lab in the Science Building Complex solution with two very old hoods,” referring to the sealed chambers that draw air out of the environment to limit exposure to materials used in experiments. “Now we LTU’s latest building addition have three interconnected labs with much more space and six brand-new hoods.” At LTU since 2008, Li has BS and has expanded labs MS degrees in materials science and engineering from China’s Xi’an Jiaotong for bioengineering University and a PhD in materials science and engineering from the program Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She was also a research fellow at the Center for Engineering in Medicine at O ne of the happiest Harvard University and Massachusetts tenants of LTU’s new A. Alfred Taubman General Hospital. At LTU, her courses Engineering, Architecture, and Life include tissue engineering, nanotechnol- Sciences Complex is the University’s ogy, and nanofabrication. newly named Department of Biomedical The labs and an adjacent Class 1000 Engineering (BME). cleanroom make teaching and learning

10 Lawrence Tech Innovation Far left, the Taub- man Complex’s new, larger robotics lab provides more work space for students. Left, robotics lab instructor James M. Kerns (left) and Associate Professor Giscard Kfoury (second from Donald Carpenter left) show students the workings of an industrial robot.

much easier, said Li, with no more Assistant Professor running across campus from classroom Eric Meyer measures the mechanics of to laboratory and no more bottlenecks of a golf swing in his students waiting to use the hoods. new, expansive Li’s classes have students biomechanics manufacturing different types of laboratory. biomaterials, fashioning them into three-dimensional structures, and seeing how those structures interact with living cells. In her MEMS (micro-electro- mechanical systems) classes, students design, fabricate, and test miniature devices used in medicine to do everything from deliver cancer drugs to brain tumors to test for diseases like MRSA. The Students work on Taubman Complex and its new cutting- the production of edge equipment will result in virtually biomaterials in all of that construction taking place on a new Taubman Complex lab. campus, cutting the need for visits to off-campus labs. biomechanics, tissue mechanics, and Added Assistant Professor Mansoor Li is not the only professor pleased mechanobiology as well. No more tear- Nasir, “The Taubman Complex provides with the new space and its state-of-the-art ing down and setting up the equipment state-of-the-art labs and collaborative design and equipment. he needs to measure the mechanisms of spaces where BME students can get Assistant Professor Eric Meyer has injury in athletics and exercise – now his practical, hands-on experience.” MR a much larger space for his classes in equipment is in fixed stations.

Lawrence Tech Innovation 11 Engineers as entrepreneurs LTU key national player in boosting innovation, design thinking in engineering education

What started out as a curriculum development program at Lawrence Tech, run by two LTU professors, has become a sprawling, national program.

The aim is the same, though: Injecting entrepreneurial thinking into the engineering curriculum. Donald Carpenter Andrew Gerhart Engineering professors Donald Carpenter and Andrew Gerhart started Demand for the course continues to opportunities and create value? How training professors in-house on modifying grow. In 2017–18, Gerhart will facilitate do you create value in ways other than course curricula to include active, workshops with colleagues in Arizona, purely technical?” In the broadest sense, collaborative, and problem-based learning Michigan, Washington, D.C., Colorado, they’re teaching engineers to think like to boost the entrepreneurial content in and Texas. Carpenter will teach some of businesspeople, like entrepreneurs. LTU courses in 2009. Their work is part those courses, as will colleagues from And Gerhart and Carpenter continue of LTU’s longstanding relationship other institutions around the country. to expand the workshops at LTU. with the Kern Family Foundation of The aim, Gerhart said, is to “use active Innovating Curriculum with the Waukesha, Wis., whose charitable pedagogies like problem-based learning Entrepreneurial Mindset will be offered efforts include entrepreneurial to instill the aspects of the entrepreneurial to 16 faculty members – mostly from engineering education. mindset. How do you look for the humanities faculty in communication Other universities – Ohio Northern opportunities? How do you take those and psychology – in May. MR University and Saint Louis University among the fi rst – heard of the effort and asked Carpenter and Gerhart to present to their faculty. The pair was also invited to facilitate workshops in Europe and South America. By 2013, the Kern Foundation’s Kern In the broadest sense, they’re Entrepreneurial Engineering Network, a growing group of schools committed teaching engineers to think like to providing more entrepreneurship education for engineering students, businesspeople, like entrepreneurs. formalized and institutionalized the courses, and Gerhart and Carpenter started presenting at other institutions.

12 Lawrence Tech Innovation ‘ ’ NAIAS, MAIN Event feature LTU talent LTU kicked off the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) with a popular display booth and an event celebrating the intersection of engineering and design.

LTU’s auto show booth , on the main concourse of Cobo Center, featured student-designed concept vehicles sponsored by several transportation companies, including Michelin and Mag- na. Visitors gave the booth high marks, with one alumnus saying the students staffing the booth “radiated enthusiasm and were more than willing to discuss the exhibits and LTU.” Featured at the booth was a booklet that was half transporta- tion design and half details on industry- sponsored engineering research being conducted at LTU, including hybrid

LTU’s booth at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit featured LTU’s excellence at the intersection of engineering and design. It also featured advanced immersive virtual reality technology. Continued

Lawrence Tech Innovation 13 NAIAS, MAIN Event CONTINUED The Main Event ... celebrating the best in automotive design

research with Johnson Controls Inc., Also presented was the MAIN Event delivery by drones attached to the vehicle, research into using nanofl uids to improve Digital Concept and Animation won this award. cooling system performance sponsored by Excellence Award, a new honor created More than $100,000 in Lawrence the DENSO North America Foundation, to recognize automotive industry Technological University scholarships and research into enhancing the quality designers using the language of digital was awarded to LTU students by of spoken commands to vehicle systems design. A Mercedes-Benz delivery van Ford Motor Co., Dassault Systѐmes, sponsored by Hyundai America concept called Vision, which features an and Magna. Technical Center Inc. DENSO also automated loading system and package Winning Ford Designing for the Future sponsored LTU research into improving autonomous vehicle software. The auto show booth also featured an immersive 3D virtual reality display of Lawrence Tech students’ auto designs, powered by 3D Excite software and services from Dassault Systѐmes. The MAIN Event 20, the seventh annual celebration of the best in automotive design and engineering, attracted a crowd estimated at 800 to Orchestra Hall in Detroit on Sunday, Jan. 8, the night before the auto show opened its Press Preview Days. At the event, a panel of auto experts named Tisha Johnson of Volvo Car USA the Industry Innovator of the Year. An employee of Volvo since 1999, she was most recently senior director of design for the company’s C26 autonomous vehicle concept.

‘The event was created to celebrate the important role design plays in the automotive i n dus t r y.’

14 Lawrence Tech Innovation and engineering, attracted a crowd estimated at 800...

Awards were Delaney Barr of Gold Hill, Winning the Dassault Systѐmes Next programs and executive chairman of the Ore., Ryan Schlottauer of Fresno, Calif., Generation of Design Innovation Award MAIN Event, said the event was created Richard Brabant of Clinton Township, was Andres Bastidas, a Colombian to celebrate the important role design Mich., and Spencer Schulte of Traverse student at LTU who designed a 24 Hours plays in the automotive industry. It is City, Mich. They were chosen out of a of Le Mans race car for the year 2030 also an opportunity for LTU students to fi eld of LTU students who were asked to that used a version of warp drive, like be recognized by the industry on the design an adventure – and then design a that found in science fi ction TV shows same stage as leading industry vehicle that could take on that adventure. and fi lms. professionals. And, he said, it’s an Winning fi rst place in the Magna Bold important way to boost the increasing Perspective Award competition was interdependence between automotive LTU industrial design student Dillon engineering and design. MR Kane of Long Island, N.Y. The vehicle was envisioned to include the features a photojournalist would need on a trip from the Arctic Circle in Russia to the southern tip of Africa. The LTU auto show display also featured the College Keith Nagara, director of LTU’s of Engineering’s competition SAE Formula and SAE transportation and industrial design Baja vehicles.

Lawrence Tech Innovation 15 LTU moves up

in engineering rankings

U.S. News & World Report 40th #11 Best out of 171 Midwest Best Mathematics regional universities Up from 54th last year #9 #26 Best Civil Engineering Best for veterans, the highest ranking of any university in Michigan #10 #44 Best Biomedical Best online Engineering graduate engineering

Princeton Review Best Value Schools

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16 Lawrence Tech Innovation In Brief

The world of industrial at Ford Motor Co., General Motors, Airbus, Eaton Corp., Siemens, and Accuride Corp., and researchers from the engineering comes to LTU University of Iowa and the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. There were also a wide variety of breakout sessions in Almost 300 experts in improving manufacturing gathered engineering education, lean operations, energy conservation, on campus in September to exchange best practices in the construction management, modeling and simulation, sustainable growing field of industrial engineering. manufacturing, project management, and data analytics. MR The Industrial Engineering and Operations Management Society’s Detroit 2016 conference drew attendees from 42 countries. It provided a forum for academics, researchers, and Before the web, the wire – practitioners to exchange ideas and recent developments in industrial, service, manufacturing, and systems engineering, and worldwide radio operations research, engineering management, operations management, and more. Student and professional paper Before the inter- competitions were also held, with selected papers published net, the only way in the International Journal of Industrial Engineering and to communicate Operations Management. instantly around the The event was co-chaired by Ahad Ali, associate professor world was to string of mechanical engineering at LTU, and Steven Sibrel, senior up a wire, hook up supplier quality engineer at Harman International, a supplier a radio transmitter, of connected vehicle technology based in Novi, Mich. and hope. Industrial engineering is a branch of engineering that deals Amateur radio, with the optimization of complex processes or systems. also called ham Industrial engineers work to eliminate wasted time, money, radio, uses “skip This “QSL Card” served as a written confirmation of a two-way radio materials, energy, and other resources, eliminating parts of propagation” – the communication between two amateur radio stations during the 1950s for the LTU amateur radio club. processes that do not generate value. property of radio Ali, director of LTU’s bachelor’s and master’s degree waves to bounce between the ground and ionized gases near the programs in industrial engineering, reports that enrollment top of the atmosphere – to send signals far past the horizon. in the program rose by a third this year. Lawrence Tech had an active amateur radio club form LTU President Virinder Moudgil provided a welcoming shortly after its 1932 founding. Interest waxed and waned over address. Carlo Materazzo, head of global world-class the years. manufacturing at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, provided the Now, in a generation beloved of all things vintage and retro, opening keynote, outlining his company’s efforts to boost ham radio is making a comeback, with the rebirth of the quality through Kaizen continuous improvement techniques. Lawrence Technological University Wireless Society. Other presentations were given by quality executives The society’s president, Kun Hua, LTU associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, said a background in ham radio can help prepare students for careers in wireless and satellite communication, software development, and embedded system design. “I believe this is a golden chance for LTU to improve its science, technology, engineering, and math education by exploring the radio spectrum,” Hua said. Amateur radio still maintains communication in emergencies – radio works when other communications systems fail – but it has come a long way from vacuum tubes, dots, and dashes. Learning Morse code hasn’t been a requirement for amateur radio operators since 2007, and today’s hams use advanced technologies like software defined radios and programmable controllers. LTU’s Wireless Society also gets a boost from the experienced ham radio operators in the Hazel Park Amateur Radio Club. The club counts a good number of LTU alumni Experts in industrial engineering and process improvement were part of the Industrial Engineering among its members, and Jerry Begal, the club’s education and Operations Management Society’s Detroit 2017 conference at LTU. coordinator, serves as the Wireless Society’s secretary. MR

Lawrence Tech Innovation 17 In Brief

For these road-building experts, “The people who inspect MDOT road or bridge construction projects have to know how to test the compaction of the ground, LTU classes have the right density or base, of the project,” Bandara said. “They want to have uniform capabilities among the people doing the tests, so results Lawrence Tech is now training dozens of highway workers in are consistent. This is about rocks and sand, different sizes testing soils and materials crucial to keeping Michigan’s roads and blends of in good shape. materials, so the The University’s Transportation Materials Laboratory technicians know started operations in the fall of 2016 with four classes on field how to identify density tests required of road technicians by the Michigan and test these Department of Transportation (MDOT). It’s the first time materials.” the classes have been offered in the Detroit area. The courses So far, about 60 people have taken the courses, which cost $690 to $750, teach technicians how to measure soil moisture content and depending on the compaction underneath road paving projects. subject. MR The lab is the brainchild of Nishantha Bandara, assistant professor of civil and architectural engineering, who joined LTU full time in 2012 after six years with MDOT.

The people who build Michigan’s roads learn how to determine the density and moisture content of soils in LTU’s new classes.

Mechatronics systems the U.S. Army’s Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Command. engineering growing These students are conducting high-level research that has been published in the journals of the SME, formerly the Society Most everything we use these days is controlled by of Manufacturing Engineers. mechatronic systems – a combination of electronics, Mynderse, who holds the PhD in mechanical engineering computer science, and mechanical engineering. from Purdue University, joined LTU in 2012. He said everything So it makes sense that LTU has a growing program in the from autonomous vehicles to industrial operations to smart- field. Under the direction of James Mynderse, assistant phones to cameras relies on mechatronic systems, which are a professor of mechanical engineering, LTU’s Master of combination of control systems, control electronics, mechanical Science in Mechatronic Systems Engineering program is systems, and computer systems. serving more students and the Mechatronics Systems The new Mechatronics Systems Laboratory was made Laboratory has moved to larger accommodations in the possible by the late A. Leon Linton, BSME’62, who made a Engineering Building. generous gift to the Department of Mechanical Engineering. LTU currently has 23 students in the program, including In gratitude, LTU renamed the department the A. Leon Linton working students from employers such as Akebono, Bosch, Department of Mechanical Engineering. MR Brass Craft, Faurecia, Ford Motor Co., General Motors, and

18 Lawrence Tech Innovation New electronics, audio labs expand student horizons

With many LTU engineering laboratories relocated to the A. Alfred Taubman Engineering, Architecture, and Life Sciences Complex, space has opened for new laboratories in the Engineering Building. One such space has become the Phono Lab for the Department of Engineering Technology’s audio engineering technology program. Made possible through a crowdfunding campaign led by students, the Phono Lab is a place where the audio experts of the future can discover the latest in sound. Steven Pascoe, BSAET’16, was among the leaders of the Students test loads on a model bridge in the new electronics and testing lab. crowdfunding effort, which was part of a senior capstone project. He and the students raised more than $2,000 to buy instruments, a guitar amplifier, and materials for acoustic software, high-end studio monitor speakers, percussion treatments for the Phono Lab walls. Students also donated equipment like an electronic keyboard. LTU’s audio engineering technology program is based out of Plymouth Rock Productions, a professional recording studio in downtown Plymouth. Pascoe says the Phono Lab gives students a chance to catch up on their studies while on campus. Another engineering technology lab was created in the space that was vacated by the robotics engineering tinker lab. Now an electronics and testing lab, it includes oscilloscopes, test equipment, and development testbeds with the unlikely name of ELVIS (Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite) that allow students to build microprocessors and circuits. Ken Cook, chair of the Department of Engineering Technology, said the multi-technology laboratory also can be used by students in electronics, mechanics, thermodynamics, manufacturing, and senior project classes. MR

Above, Steven Pascoe, BSAET’16, checks out the new computer-linked keyboard in the University’s new Phono Lab.

At the whiteboard, Ken Cook, chair of the Department of Engineering Technology, instructs students on the finer points of electronics design.

Lawrence Tech Innovation 19 In Brief

Keynote speaker Stopping urban flooding Bethany Bezak, and pollution BSAr’06, BSCE’06 in her element. Experts talk stormwater management at LTU

What should Michigan do with the extra water that comes from heavy rainfall events that now seem to come every few years? Nearly 300 government officials, engineers, and infrastruc- ture experts gathered last fall at LTU to figure that out. The fourth annual Regional Stormwater Summit, presented by LTU, the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner’s Office, and the nonprofit group Pure Oakland Water, had no easy answers, but speakers at the event said green infrastructure will be a key part of the solution. The keynote speaker was Lawrence Tech alumna Bethany Bezak, BSAr’06, BSCvE’06. Bezak is green infrastructure manager of the District of Columbia Clean Rivers Project, a A vendor fair of $2.6 billion, 25-year effort to reduce combined sewer stormwater overflows (CSOs) of the same type metropolitan Detroit is management addressing. CSOs occur when heavy rains overwhelm equipment and technology was a stormwater sewer systems, overflowing into the sanitary part of the Regional sewer system – causing a mixture of stormwater and untreated Stormwater Summit, sewage to be discharged directly to streams, rivers, and lakes. hosted by LTU. After graduating from LTU, Bezak earned a master’s degree at Virginia Tech in 2008. A registered professional engineer and accredited professional under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, she’s been working full time on the D.C. CSO project since 2013. Bezak said the D.C. project is a combination of “green” and “gray” infrastructure. Like Detroit’s solution, the nation’s capital is building large storage and water transport tunnels to hold excess stormwater runoff for treatment. That’s the “gray” part, since it’s made of concrete. The district is also creating wide- spread “green infrastructure” developments like permeable pavement in parking areas and alleys and bioretention and “Runoff from rainfall is now a key cause of our persistent bioswale areas – essentially, small, man-made wetlands that water pollution problems,” Hersey said. What’s holding up more use natural processes to treat stormwater runoff. work to address the issue? “The continued perception that Later in the conference, Chuck Hersey, a senior policy rainfall runoff is harmless,” and that the only job of rainfall fellow with the Lansing policy research firm Public Sector management infrastructure is flood control. Also, he said, Consultants, gave attendees a perspective on their work in anti-tax crusaders have labeled efforts to control runoff as a keeping Michigan’s water safe and clean. Continued

20 Lawrence Tech Innovation “rain tax.” But Hersey argued, “acting to manage rainwater “It’s really not debatable any more – the world is warming up,” is investing in our own economic prosperity” and improves a Andresen said, with data showing an average 1.8 degree community’s quality of life. Fahrenheit temperature increase worldwide since 1880. Donald Carpenter, professor of civil engineering at Michigan has had less overall warming than the global average, LTU and director of the and that warming has been University’s Great Lakes concentrated in the winters Stormwater Institute, and springs, he said. In presented findings some areas of northern of a study of combined Michigan, he said, the sewage flows in a Detroit average nighttime lows in neighborhood where he is winter have risen as much monitoring a pilot green as 10 degrees over the past infrastructure program to 30 years. And the frost- control stormwater runoff. free growing season in This is a large-scale Michigan has been effort that includes the extended by about 10 days Environmental Protection over the past 30 years. Agency, the U.S. Andresen also said heavy Geological Survey, and rainfall events and total the Detroit Water and annual precipitation are Sewerage Department. on a sharp rise since 1960. The goal is to define the “Warmer and wetter is “urban water cycle” and definitely the direction of determine how best to use The Regional Stormwater Summit’s educational sessions packed the house. our long-term trend,” green infrstructure in urban areas. he said. So is a rising number of extreme weather events. Jeffrey A. Andresen, state climatologist and professor of For more on LTU’s Great Lakes Stormwater Management geography at Michigan State University, closed the summit Institute, visit www.ltu.edu/water. MR with projected future climate trends in Southeast Michigan.

Steudle receives Steudle has been generous in providing time and counsel supporting Marburger Award LTU students and programs, serving on the LTU College of Engineering Kirk T. Steudle, BSCE’87, received the Marburger Champion Advisory Board. for Institutional Excellence and Preeminence at the In 2015, Steudle was named one of University’s Lawrence Excellence Awards program during America’s Top 25 Government Innova- the fall semester. tors by Government Technology. He Steudle has been director of the Michigan Department of received the Felix A. Anderson Image Transportation (MDOT) twice – first, from 2006 to 2010, Award from the American Council of under Gov. Jennifer Granholm, and again from 2011 to Kirk T. Steudle, BSCE’87 Engineering Companies of Michigan present under Gov. Rick Snyder. A registered professional in 2013, and he was one of the first engineer, Steudle rose through the ranks of the department to alumni inducted into LTU’s Engineering Hall of Fame in 2012. his current position. Steudle is the recipient of the 2011 P.D. McLean Award from the As state transportation director, Steudle oversees MDOT’s Road Gang for excellence in highway transportation. In 2010, $3 billion-plus budget and its 2,500 employees. He is he received the prestigious Thomas H. MacDonald Award from responsible for the construction, maintenance, and operation the American Association of State Highway and Transportation of nearly 10,000 miles of state highways and more than 4,000 Officials, recognizing him nationally for his continuous state highway bridges. He also oversees administration of a outstanding service and exceptional contribution to highway variety of multi-modal transportation programs and projects, engineering. MR ranging from aviation to the Zilwaukee Bridge.

Lawrence Tech Innovation 21 In Brief

LTU study finds ‘tow plows’ The device showed that the tow plow did just as good a job of clearing snow as a conventional plow truck. will clear snowy roads faster MDOT currently has 14 tow plows in 11 road maintenance garages around the state. Just using those regularly, the When it comes to snowplows, Lawrence Technological report showed, could save the state $1.4 million a year in snow University has discovered that wider is better. removal operating costs. And if state and county road officials More than two years of research conducted by LTU faculty make the investment to fully deploy tow plows, the projected reveals that Michigan could shave almost $5 million off its an- saving goes up to $4.8 million. nual snowplowing bill by deploying tow plows – trailers that The study also included a cost analysis of travel delays swing out diagonally from the back of snowplow trucks that avoided in several snowstorms. By analyzing travel speeds let them move snow off two lanes in one pass. on I-96 near Lansing when tow plows were tested, the report If state and county road maintenance officials had 42 tow estimated more than $100,000 in travel delay costs were avoided plows in their snow removal arsenal – the number required – in just one snowstorm. to cover the entire state – the state would save $4.8 million in Dozens of state highway departments, toll road authorities, personnel and other operating costs in a typical winter. That’s and private contractors around the country have adopted tow because the plows could clear snow from more lanes faster. plows, the survey found. States using tow plows include Maine, And there would be even more savings in avoiding winter Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, travel delays and accidents, according to Nishantha Bandara, and Utah. LTU assistant professor of civil and architectural engineering, The report’s other authors are Elin Jensen, associate dean of principal investigator on the study. graduate studies and research in LTU’s College of Engineering, Tow plows “can plow a 24-foot-wide path down a road, and Frank Holt, retired senior vice president of Dynatest’s office meaning you can clear a three-lane freeway in two passes in Westland. instead of four or five,” Bandara said. State officials are enthusiastic about using tow plows, which In the study, commissioned by the Michigan Department of cost about $90,000 each and are manufactured in Missouri. Transportation (MDOT), tow plows were tested in seven “This study says to me that this new tool is safe and snowstorms between January 2014 and March 2015. Most of effective,” said Melissa Howe, region support engineer in the tests were conducted on I-96 and US-23 in the Brighton, maintenance field services for MDOT. “We’ll see direct savings, Mich., area. and savings on the part of drivers in delays avoided.” Bandara said he drove behind the tow plow in a truck The cost of the study was $195,224, with 80 percent paid by outfitted with a road friction measuring device manufactured the Federal Highway Administration. MR by the Danish pavement engineering consulting firm Dynatest.

This Michigan Department of Transportation photo shows how a tow plow can remove snow from two highway lanes at once. A trailer packing a long snowplow swings out diagonally from the rear of the snowplow truck.

22 Lawrence Tech Innovation Faculty Achievements

Making harbors, infrastructure DNR Waterways Program feels this is an excellent, proactive tool to assist recreational boating harbor communities become more sustainable economically sustainable.” Even though Carpenter said each marina faces its own unique Civil Engineering Professor Donald Carpenter received two challenges, a common thread is “a lack of planning – not having major grants to work with government officials to make Great a long term vision and enacting a plan to implement that vision. Lakes harbors and stormwater management systems more We put together a flow chart for them to follow” based on a sustainable. vision of their community 20 years in the future, and how the harbor fits in. Sustainable Small Harbors Partners in the project also included Matthew Bingham, Carpenter last fall visited Rogers City and St. Ignace on the principal economist at Veritas Economic Consulting LLC, of $200,000 harbor sustainability project, funded by a variety Cary, N.C.; Constance Bodurow, associate professor of of Michigan agencies and institutions, including the Sea architecture at Lawrence Tech and director of studio[Ci], Grant program, the Office of the Great Lakes, Department a design collaborative; David L. Knight, an Ann Arbor of Natural Resources (DNR), and State Housing environmental consultant; and Sangiv K. Sinha, vice president Development Authority. “We’re using the classic definition of sustainability – economic, social, and environmental,” Carpenter said. “ A lot of these harbors are struggling financially. They were built with public money many years ago but there’s shrinking public funding for maintenance and increased maintenance costs.” Emily Finnell, chief strategist in the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s Office of the Great Lakes, said the Small Harbors Sustainability Project began earlier in the decade, when many harbors were challenged by falling water levels on the lakes. But even though the Great Lakes have returned to average levels, she said, the need remains for long-term environmental and economic-development and corporate director of water resources The public votes on a new look planning for harbor communities. for Environmental Consulting and for Pentwater’s marina at a “We’re looking at assessing all of the challenges that Technology Inc., of Gainesville, Fla. design charrette. confront small recreational harbors in Michigan – water level Also involved were officials of the Michigan variability, changing climate, more intense storm events, and State University Extension. changing economic conditions,” she said. The 80 Michigan harbors that qualify for help under the Championing Green Infrastructure grant are mostly in small lakefront towns where tourism is a The green infrastructure project, funded by a $120,000 grant crucial part of the economy. The project began last year with from the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, what Carpenter called “full-blown interventions” at harbors in supports Carpenter’s work with the Great Lakes Commission Au Gres, New Baltimore, Ontonagon, and Pentwater. These on a project called “Great Lakes Stormwater Technology spanned the state, from metro Detroit to the Sunrise Side to Transfer Collaborative.” West Michigan to the Upper Peninsula. The aim is to spread stormwater management best practices Community meetings and planning sessions took place in and technologies across all governments in the Great Lakes 2015, and the resulting product was an 80-page “tools and basin, with emphasis on financially struggling, small, or tactics guidebook,” Carpenter said. Paul Petersen, waterways rural jurisdictions that may face barriers to implementing grant program manager for Michigan’s Department of those technologies. Natural Resources, said, “As a partner in this project, the Continued

Lawrence Tech Innovation 23 Faculty Achievements

The Green Infrastructure Champions Pilot Program, a Added Carpenter: “We need to be smarter about how we sister project of the Great Lakes Commission, will create a manage water, and the tech transfer project aims to do just mentoring network of “green infrastructure champions” and that. Lawrence Tech and our partners at the Great Lakes emerging communities across the Great Lakes. The two Commission will work on technologies and techniques that efforts will work in tandem to reduce physical and institutional will lead to cleaner water in our streams, our rivers, and the barriers to a greener approach to stormwater management. Great Lakes.” Carpenter’s green The team plans on presenting infrastructure vision uses the technology transfer plan at natural stormwater runoff the Great Lakes and St. treatment technologies Lawrence Green Infrastructure like “bioswales” – essentially, Conference, to be held May man-made wetlands – green 31–June 2, 2017, in Detroit. roofs, permeable pavements, The conference will draw up and more, to reduce the to 1,000 engineers, landscape amount of runoff going to architects, water quality storm sewer systems. Green professionals, government infrastructure also helps officials, developers, planners, existing storm sewer systems academics, and nonprofit stretch farther in an era of organization executives to focus heavier rainfalls. on green infrastructure in the Pentwater harbor. “We’ve fractured the water Great Lakes. cycle with our pavement and our heavily engineered water The Great Lakes Commission is an interstate agency systems,” said Jon Allan, director of Michigan’s Office of established in 1955 to promote conservation and responsible the Great Lakes and chair of the Great Lakes Commission. development of the water resources of the Great Lakes Basin. Through both projects, he said, “we’ll be accelerating The states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, technologies and practices that re-create what nature Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin appoint members to the does – slowly filter the bad stuff out of water that’s going to commission. The Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec are go into the Great Lakes, rivers, and streams, while also associate members. MR helping to prevent flooding and reduce risks to property.”

LTU in new partnership doors and is vital in minimizing intrusion during a side collision. With the support of LTU Dean of Engineering Nabil with auto steel supplier Grace, who is also director of LTU’s Center for Innovative Materials Research (CIMR), this testing is being performed The LTU Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering using CIMR’s MTS uniaxial testing machine. Several recently forged a research partnership with Thyssenkrupp preliminary tests have been completed, and the research is Steel North America. Led by LTU Assistant Professor Keith expanding into static and dynamic testing of various material Kowalkowski and Civil and Architectural Engineering Chair grades and configurations. Edmund Yuen and Lay Knoerr, PhD, of Thyssenkrupp Steel Thyssenkrupp also provided LTU a plate bend test fixture that North America, the research focuses on applying unique gives researchers flexibility in performing various V-bend tests national and international testing standards that will enhance on high-strength steel sheet materials. Testing has begun using the understanding of mechanical properties of high-strength this fixture, which conforms to bending test standards that are steel used for automotive applications. Advanced steel grades used to understand forming behavior and the susceptibility to are constantly being developed, improved, or strengthened to failure of metallic materials during forming processes dominated be evaluated and applied in the automotive industry to reduce by bending deformation or during crashes. the weight of vehicles and improve fuel efficiency. Additional test methods are being considered as well. The Several material testing methods are being considered in research team has begun evaluating the application of 3D this partnership. LTU has initiated testing hat-shaped sectional noncontact Digital Image Correlation methods that will enhance channels in three-point bend configuration to statically the experimental data by measuring the strains of the material evaluate the impact of B-Pillars in a crash event. The B-Pillar tested. The information gained from all of these tests is is a critical component for structural integrity in an imperative in analyzing crash scenarios to improve the automobile body structure. It is located between the side prediction accuracy, ensuring the safety of future vehicles. KK

24 Lawrence Tech Innovation Grace receives patent for Liu said Lawrence Tech’s continuing efforts to develop engineering courses emphasizing entrepreneurship and advanced bridges innovation with the support of the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) provide a strong foundation for The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted U.S. the entrepreneurial-minded course modules to be developed Patent No. 9,309,634 to Nabil F. Grace, dean of the College of under the grant. Engineering, for “Continuous CFRP decked bulb T-beam Liu said the team is already at work developing fluid power- bridges for accelerated bridge construction.” based modules for LTU fluid mechanics and thermodynamics The office said the advance leads to “an improved courses, which are taught to mechanical engineering majors in pre-stressed, concrete bridge using longitudinal load members their junior year. Those modules will be shared with the larger of a single continuous beam including at least two types of engineering education community. concrete,” one of which is ultra-high-performance. Founded in 1953 and based in Milwaukee, the National Fluid The major advance of the bridge is that it does not require Power Association brings fluid power industry partners together deck slabs of concrete to be cast in place, reducing to advance fluid power technology and foster members’ suc- construction time and traffic disruption. The bridge beams cess. NFPA’s 315 members include fluid power manufacturers, themselves form the traffic surface of the bridge. MR distributors, educators and researchers. MR

LTU biomedical engineering students help disabled veterans

Students from LTU and the University of Detroit Mercy displayed five novel systems for addressing the needs of disabled veterans in a presentation before veterans and staff at the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center in Detroit. Here, biomedical engineering student Alexandria Glumb demonstrates the Walk & Testing a CFRP decked bulb T-beam bridge. Lift, a cane with a stirrup built in to assist people in lifting their legs. LTU profs win grant to advance fluid power education

Four Lawrence Technological University professors have won a $25,000 grant from the National Fluid Power Association (NFPA) to bring problem-based and entrepreneurial-minded learning to fluid mechanics and thermodynamics education. The LTU team is led by principal investigator Liping Liu, assistant professor in the A. Leon Linton Department of Mechanical Engineering. Other members are Robert Fletcher and Andrew Gerhart, professors, and James Mynderse, assistant professor, also in mechanical engineering. “The NFPA wants students to know more about fluid power,” Liu said. “Some of the elements are covered in our current fluid mechanics classes, but they want more students engaged in this area and to make students more aware of fluid power applications, including pneumatics and hydraulics.”

Lawrence Tech Innovation 25 Student Achievements

Happy campers

Karlene Robich of Escanaba, Mich., an LTU architectural engineering student, helped set up an architectural engineering summer camp offered as part of the University’s robust program of summer science camps for high schoolers. “It was an opportunity for high school students to explore architectural engineering and related fields to see if they liked it,” Robich said. “They did a mini-architectural engineering project – we had them renovating our field house with a green design focus.” Robich said the 13 campers came up with great ideas, from a living wall for water conservation and treatment to the addition of geothermal energy to a skylight roof to let in more natural light and cut the need for gym lighting during the day. “It was cool to see kids who have no idea what architectural engineering is come in and learn about everything architectural engineers do, and apply it, all within five days,” she said. “There was just so much to cover, and they turned in good projects. It was pretty amazing.” At least one of the students at the summer camp is already taking courses at LTU, and several others are considering it, Students in LTU’s architectural engineering summer camp enjoy a tour of Detroit’s beautiful Guardian Robich said. MR Building. One of the camp’s organizers, Karlene Robich, is in the back row, second from right.

ASCE student conference, against time to build a steel bridge and see how much weight it can hold, as well as a Concrete Canoe competition, in competition at Lawrence Tech which students raced canoes fabricated of concrete on nearby Pontiac Lake. Lawrence Technological University hosted the 2017 North The event also featured a technical paper presentation Central Student Conference of the American Society of Civil competition. Engineers April 6–8. More than 300 students from 10 participating universities Featured events included a Steel Bridge Competition in attended the event, which Lawrence Tech last hosted in LTU’s Ridler Field House, in which teams of students raced 2009. MR

The LTU concrete canoe team on a chilly but bright morning, ready for competition.

26 Lawrence Tech Innovation Talent and Tostadas plant and said, “I really liked it, and I decided I wanted to work there.” So Magan˜a was offered a summer position. And Bermudez A Lawrence Technological University international student said Magan˜a “almost from the first day was a big contributor.” has helped a Detroit food company get faster and more “When she came in, I gave her one problem, to analyze the efficient on the production line. process of how we manufacture tostadas,” Bermudez said. Ana Magan˜a, an industrial engineering major from Mexico “A tostada is a flat fried tortilla. It’s very labor intensive, the City, first visited Hacienda Mexican Foods as part of an process is very arduous, and the product is very fragile. I didn’t ergonomics class assignment from Donald M. Reimer, college frame what I wanted, I just told her to study it. After two weeks, professor in the College of Engineering. she made a presentation, and pretty much blew the whole staff Reimer has known the company’s founding family since away with what she was able to put together with minimal input. the 1980s, when they attended business conferences together. She was extremely well prepared.” Co-founder Lydia Bermudez said Reimer has been both a Magan˜a said she studied the line to determine how workers friend and a business consultant as Hacienda grew from a spent their time, interviewed the most experienced employees, food distributor in 1990 to a Mexican food manufacturer with and developed new product handling techniques and changed several locations and 70 employees. the layout of the production line to reduce waste. She also Gabriel Bermudez, Lydia’s son, was looking for ways to implemented a new production logging form to gather more data make his company’s operations more efficient and hit on about the product. the idea of using LTU student talent. Magan˜a visited the Magan˜a also conducted studies that sped up the cooling and drying process for tostadas and identified machine maintenance issues that caused variabilities in production. Of the overall experience, Magan˜a said, “I loved it.” Magan˜a plans to graduate in May 2018. She’s also a member of the Blue Devil golf team, which she said is how she heard about LTU – “I was in a program to look at colleges in America, and I wanted to study engineering, which is very difficult. A lot of coaches don’t like it. But at LTU, they don’t mind.” MR

Above, the tostadas – flat, fried tortillas, delicate and hard to handle – are packed for shipment.

LTU industrial engineering student Ana Magan˜a at the end of the tostada line that she helped improve for Hacienda Mexican Foods in Detroit.

Lawrence Tech Innovation 27 Student Achievements

Blue Devils win global autonomous vehicle competition

Lawrence Technological University’s Bigfoot 2 team bested those of 35 other colleges to win the Grand Award, called the Lescoe Cup, in the 24th annual Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC).

The competition challenges college student teams to design autonomous vehicles in a variety of unmanned mobility situations. Aiming to advance and promote intelligent mobility for ground vehicles, IGVC includes a navigation challenge like an obstacle course for robots. LTU’s Bigfoot 2 LTU’s victorious IGVC (left to right): Professor CJ Chung, Fan Wei, Gordon Stein, and Yuan Li. Not pictured: used computer vision, LIDAR (laser-based radar), GPS, and Devson Butani, Mirmit Changani, and Nithin Reddy. an electronic compass to guide itself. LTU Bigfoot 2 team members were Gordon Stein, BSCS’16, Co-hosted by Oakland University, the Association for MSCS’16, captain; Yuan Li and Fan Wei, both master’s Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Great Lakes, degree students in computer science; Devson Butani, a and the U.S. Army’s Tank Automotive Research, Development sophomore mechanical engineering student; Nirmit and Engineering Center, the competition promotes technologies Changani, a sophomore in robotics engineering; and Nithin that can be directly applied to the development of self-driving Reddy, MSME’16. vehicles, as well as advanced driver assistance and active The team’s advisors were C.J. Chung, professor of safety systems. computer science; Jonathan Ruszala, MSCS’11, a senior Other universities participating in the event included the controls engineer in self-driving vehicle research and United States Military Academy, Georgia Tech, the Rose- development at General Motors; and Florian Frischmuth, chief Hulman Institute of Technology, California State University engineer in central software and electrical-electronic systems –Fullerton, and Louisiana State University. Universities from engineering at Ford Motor Co. Canada, India, and Turkey also participated. MR

Showing off their winning robot in the LTU robotics lab are Devson Butani, Gordon Stein, CJ Chung, and Nicholas Paul.

28 Lawrence Tech Innovation Innovation Encounter puts Gerhart, LTU professor of mechanical engineering, on creativity and problem solving. Then the work began, and the engineers to work as product students only had a day in which to do it. developers Ford representatives who participated in the two-day event and served as judges were Eric Levine, manager of autonomous Lawrence Technological University finished in second place vehicle planning; Lon Zaback, manager of global design in the 2016 Innovation Encounter, a program of the Kern planning and strategy; James Carlu, BSEE’02, manager of Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN). global design planning and strategy; Elizaveta Bodarenko, Five schools in the KEEN network, which seeks to BSTD’16; and Andrew Dawson, BSTD’16. incorporate entrepreneurial thinking into engineering Each team was presented with a trophy that was designed and curricula, participated. Besides Lawrence Tech, they were built by students in LTU’s College of Architecture and Design Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which finished in first place; makeLab. Each team also received a cash award. This was the Ohio Northern University, which finished in third place; seventh year the Innovation Encounter has been held. Kettering University; and the University of New Haven. LTU faculty and staff participating in the event included Ahad The competition, held in October, was sponsored by Ford Ali, associate professor and director of the bachelor’s and Motor Co., which presented the student teams an industry master’s degree programs in industrial engineering; Cristi problem involving autonomous vehicles. Each team is Bell-Huff, director of the Studio for Entrepreneurial expected to create, develop, and present their solution with a Engineering Design (SEED); Katie Jolly, entrepreneurship supporting business case to a panel of judges. The coordinator; Heidi Morano, project engineer of SEED; and competition began with a workshop delivered by Andrew Donald Reimer, college professor of engineering. Also participating were members of LTU’s EMpwr student The LTU Innovation entrepreneurial group. Encounter team of Ashley Jordan, “The 2016 Innovation Encounter was an overwhelming Steven Graczyk, success,” said Don Reimer, LTU college professor and chair and Sarah Makki, of the 2016 Innovation Encounter planning committee. “Once with Ford Motor Co. again, this competition engaged students in a hands-on engineer Lon Zaback. interactive learning experience. Our deep appreciation to Ford Motor Co. and its design and engineering team for providing an exceptional challenge for our KEEN student participants. Lawrence Tech has been fortunate in attracting outstanding Innovation Encounter students at the corporate sponsors for the Innovation Encounter.” conclusion of their The next Innovation Encounter will be held at LTU program Oct. 20–21, 2017. MR

Lawrence Tech Innovation 29 Student Achievements

University Innovation Fellows leadership learning at the University. Included are getting students from fields other than engineering involved in an engineering design course that aims to improve employment Three LTU engineering students were named University prospects for the disabled; broadening LTU’s existing leadership Innovation Fellows, the third group to earn the designation. curriculum to include larger and more interdisciplinary LTU’s newest Fellows are Leah Hall, a sophomore from community service projects; and expanding LTU’s existing Kingsley; Aneeka Patel, a junior from Troy; and Joe Pishek, mentorship program for first-year students. a sophomore from Plymouth. Hall is majoring in biomedical The latest cohort of LTU Innovation Fellows joins earlier engineering, while Patel and Pishek are majoring in industrial Fellows Leah Batty of Macomb Township, Justin Becker of engineering. Romeo, Steven Graczyk of Troy, Ashley Jordan of Macomb The University Innovation Fellows program trains students Township, Sarah Makki of Dearborn Heights, and Nada Saghir to improve education in entrepreneurship, design thinking, and of Dearborn. MR creativity at their schools. Fellows design innovation spaces, start entrepreneurship organizations, host experiential learning events, and work with faculty to develop new courses. Run by Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, the program has trained 1,000 students at 185 schools since its inception. Fellows are sponsored by faculty and administrators as individuals or teams and are selected through an application process twice annually. Following acceptance, students go through six weeks of online training and travel to an annual University Innovation Fellows Silicon Valley Meetup. Throughout the year, they take part in events and conferences and have opportunities to learn from one another, Stanford mentors, and leaders in academia and industry. LTU Innovation Fellows Aneeka Patel (second from left), Leah Hall and Joe Pishek. At left is Cristi Bell- LTU’s latest class of Innovation Fellows is proposing Huff, director of LTU’s Studio for Entrepreneurial Engineering Design (SEED). At right is Heidi Morano, several steps to boost interdisciplinary project-based and SEED project engineer.

Timber bridge team a force The bridge was a box girder beam enclosed around a structural frame. It featured carbon fiber reinforcement through to be reckoned with the center of the box girder beam. And it used reclaimed wood for its strength and beauty. Lawrence Technological University earned several top ratings LTU student London Jocham was in charge of the project. in the National Timber Bridge Design Competition, held on The faculty advisor was Mena Bebawy, assistant professor college campuses around the country in of civil and late summer. architectural The competition, open to all student engineering. Other chapters of the Forest Products Society team members were and the American Society of Civil seniors Johnathan Engineers, is in its 24th year. Harden and John LTU’s bridge held up better under Leclerc, and weight than anyone else’s, with a small freshmen Scott net deflection of just 4.1 percent of Pangburn and the amount allowed, and a net deck Andrew Yarbrough. deflection of just 2 percent. And that MR was under 20 kilonewtons of force – more than 4,400 pounds – for 60 Members of the LTU Timber minutes. Bridge team, left to right: LTU also won second place for best Andrew Yarbrough, London Jocham, Jonathan Harden, and support structure, and third place for Scott Pangburn. Not pictured: most practical design. John Leclerc.

30 Lawrence Tech Innovation Student Awards

Outstanding Member of a Student Organization

Alpha Eta Mu Beta Honor Society (BME): Rob Karas American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE): Quinn Williamson American Society of Civil Engineers: Alisha Stidam American Concrete Institute: Christian Meara American Society of Mechanical Engineers: Cody Hoeffel Architectural/Engineering Outstanding Student Member Award: Hadi Abbas Biomedical Engineering Society: Brian Ziola Blue Devil Motorsports: Joshua Kreucher Chi Epsilon Honor Society: Remington Koch Sydney Kieler, BSArE’17, received the Senior Architectural Engineering Academic Excellence Award at Eta Kappa Nu Honor Society: Mohammed Alzahrani the College of Engineering Spring Awards Banquet in March. With Kieler are the event’s speaker, John A. Institute of Electrical/Electronic Engineers: Vinita Vilas Patil Swiatek, BSEE’85 (center), founder and CEO of Coliant Group LLC, and Engineering Dean Nabil Grace. Institute of Industrial Engineering Student Chapter: Miguel Sanchez Munos National Society of Black Engineers: Kristin Jordan Academic Excellence Award Paul Michel Award: Emily Lunn Phi Alpha Epsilon: Amber Zeulke Senior Architectural Engineering: Sydney Kieler Pi Tau Sigma Honorary: Nathan Wrobel Senior Biomedical Engineering: Curtis Ackerman SAE Collegiate Chapter at LTU: Jonathon Gunther Senior Civil Engineering: Lauren Gersch Society of Manufacturing Engineers: Venkata Rajasekhar Senior Computer Engineering: Robert Walkerdine Gandavarapu Senior Electrical Engineering: Matthew Willis Society of Women Engineers: Lacy Pyrzynski Senior Mechanical Engineering: Abel Felecan Tau Beta Pi Honor Society: Luis Rodriguez Senior Engineering Technology: Allen LeRoux Junior Engineering Students: Jonathan Behr and Outstanding Service Award Vincent Troher Dual Civil Engineering/Architecture: Jessica Hatfield Architectural Engineering: London Jocham Biomedical Engineering: Alexandria Glumb and Outstanding Student Award Mario Rossi Civil Engineering: Eric Schultz Architectural Engineering: Mark Fenty Electrical and Computer Engineering: Sudhir Khanal Biomedical Engineering: Aimee Tomlinson Engineering Technology: Shelby McPherson Civil Engineering: Jonathan Harden Mechanical Engineering: Steven Rehak Electrical and Computer Engineering: Ashley Julin Engineering Technology: Katherine Schmidt Mechanical Engineering: Ryan Fernandez

The women’s race team is all smiles after a good run in their concrete canoe LTU’s Steel Bridge team in competition on campus in early April, part of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ on Pontiac Lake. North Central Student Conference.

Lawrence Tech Innovation 31 By the Numbers A statistical snapshot of LTU’s College of Engineering and the Southeastern Michigan region.

LTU undergraduate engineering Projected new jobs in STEM occupations majors for 2017 Source: U. S. Bureau 200 of Labor Statistics of Gender Percentage STEM occupations’ Male 82.8% 180 job growth through Female 17.2% 2022 160 Athlete Percentage No 88.6% 140 Yes 11.4% 120

Ethnicity– Undergraduate and Graduate Students 100 Number Percentage American Indian or Alaskan Native 80 (Original Peoples of US) 4 0.2% Asian (Including Indian subcontinent 60 and Phillippines) 33 2.0% Black or African American 40 (Including Africa and Caribbean) 62 3.7% Hispanic 46 2.8% 20 Non-Resident 700 41.9% 0 Two or more races 20 1.2% [In Thousands] Unknown 52 3.1% White (Including Middle Eastern) 754 45.1% Software developers 218,500 Computer systems analysts 209,600 Grand total 1671 100.0% Civil engineers 120,100 Network and computer systems administrators 100,500 Retention Percentage Mechanical engineers 99,700 Engineering students who entered as freshmen in Fall Industrial engineers 75,400 2015 and were enrolled as of Fall 2016 80.0% Architectural and engineering managers 60,600

LTU growing enrollment Program Fall 2012 Fall 2013 Fall 2014 Fall 2015 Fall 2016 BS, Mechanical engineering 252 312 351 388 406 BS, Biomedical engineering 73 82 93 106 122 BS, Industrial engineering n/a n/a n/a 6 16 MS, Industrial engineering 8 11 28 46 57

At left, students test bridge loads in a new engineering technology laboratory. At right, students test hot air balloon designs for a first-year mechanical engineering class in the three-story atrium of LTU’s Buell Management Building.

32 Lawrence Tech Innovation Opportunities in Engineering at Lawrence Tech College of Engineering Leadership Lawrence Technological University Master’s offers a wide range of engineering Architectural Engineering (combined programs at its campus in Southfield, bachelor’s and master’s program) Nabil F. Grace MI. For more information, contact Automotive Engineering Dean the Office of Admissions at Biomedical Engineering University Distinguished Professor 800.225.5588 or [email protected], Civil Engineering Director, Center for Innovative Materials or visit www.ltu.edu/futurestudents. Construction Engineering Management* Research Electrical and Computer Engineering 248.204.2556 Bachelor’s Engineering Management* [email protected] Audio Engineering Technology Engineering Technology Biomedical Engineering Fire Engineering Lewis G. Frasch Civil Engineering Industrial Engineering* Associate Dean Computer Engineering Mechanical Engineering 248.204.2504 Construction Engineering Technology Mechatronic Systems Engineering [email protected] and Management Electrical Engineering Doctoral Elin Jensen Computer Engineering Civil Engineering Associate Dean, Graduate Studies and Electronics Engineering Mechanical Engineering Research Power Engineering Acting Chair, Department of Electrical and Embedded Software Engineering Minors Computer Engineering Industrial Engineering Aeronautical Engineering 248.204.2067 Mechanical and Manufacturing Energy Engineering [email protected] Engineering Technology Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Mechanical Engineering Edmund Yuen Alternative Energy Undergraduate Certificates Chair, Department of Civil and Automotive Electrical Power Systems Architectural Engineering Manufacturing Embedded Systems 248.204.2523 Nanoscience and Entrepreneurial Skills [email protected] Nanotechnology Solid Mechanics Graduate Certificates Badih A. Jawad Thermal Fluids Aeronautical Engineering Chair, A. Leon Linton Department of Robotics Engineering Electrical Power Systems Mechanical Engineering Energy Engineering 248.204.2553 Fire Engineering [email protected] Telecommunications Engineering Kenneth J. Cook *Also offered online Chair, Department of Engineering Technology 248.204.2507 [email protected]

Gerald LeCarpentier Chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering 248.204.2562 [email protected]

Lawrence Technological University College of Engineering

21000 West Ten Mile Road Southfield, MI 48075-1058 800.225.5588 www.ltu.edu/engineering www.ltu.edu Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 391 Royal Oak, MI College of Engineering

Lawrence Technological University 21000 West Ten Mile Road Southfield, MI 48075-1058 www.ltu.edu

Taubman Complex features novel building technologies

Visitors viewing the newest Another signature feature of the addition to LTU’s campus, the Taubman Complex is the Orb, an A. Alfred Taubman Engineering, egg-shaped structure some 44 feet Architecture, and Life Sciences tall and 20 feet wide that houses Complex, may wonder why the the building’s central staircase. building presents a blank white It, too, represents an innovation: face on its second and third floors. the most extensive application of The answer is one of the many advanced fiber reinforced polymer unique engineering touches to this as a structural material ever used in highly advanced laboratory and a building. collaboration center. The Taubman Complex also is A translucent white scrim heated and cooled by no less than wraps around the building 43 heat pumps – one for every 850 and is made of ethylene square feet in the 36,700-square- tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), a foot building. “That gives us fluorine-based plastic designed greater control over smaller zones to have high corrosion resistance for comfort,” Veryser said. and strength over a wide The building also has a large, temperature range. sophisticated heat recovery “The scrim keeps the heat off system, because so much air the wall of the building and from is being exhausted out of the being transferred into the building by its many experimental building, allowing for flue-type air hoods. “We throw a lot of action between the scrim and the treated air away, so we try to wall, which reduces the load on capture the heat of that exhausted the building,” said LTU university air, so that the fresh air coming architect Joe Veryser. “The concept is not new, but the material into the building can be preheated,” Veryser said. we’re using, ETFE, is – it hasn’t been used extensively Finally, the Taubman Complex captures the rainwater runoff in this country.” from its roof and stores it for use in lawn irrigation. The advantage of ETFE over other materials, such as metal, is MR that it allows a lot of light into the building, while blocking heat.