engineering Dean’s Message ............................................... 2 Alumni inducted .............................................. 3 RoMeLa dominates RoboCup ........................ 4 Department heads appointed ......................... 6 SEB gets Rolls-Royce engine ........................ 8 inside VIRGINIA TECH COLLEGE OF ENGINEERINGnews SPRING 2013 Robotic jellyfish could roam the seas, oceans ollege of Engineering researchers are continu- jellyfish skin and is placed over the robotic body. When ity, [or to] monitor sharks,” said Alex Villanueva of St- ing to work on a multi-university, nationwide moving, the robots look weirdly alive. Jacques, New-Brunswick, Canada, a doctoral student Cproject for the U.S. Navy that one day will put In both cases, the jellyfish must be able to operate working under Priya. life-like autonomous robot jellyfish in waters around on their own for months or the world. Several sizes of the RoboJelly are under longer at a time as engi- various phases of development, some the size of neers likely won’t be able a man’s hand, while another – publicly debuted in to capture and repair the spring 2013 – is more than five-foot wide. robots, or replace power The main focus of the program is to understand sources, Priya said. That is the fundamentals of propulsion mechanisms utilized one of the many challenges by nature, said Shashank Priya, professor of me- facing development of the chanical engineering and lead researcher on the proj- jellyfish as they progress. ect. The robot jellyfish would have several uses once Priya added that, in addition put into the waters: Conducting surveillance, cleaning to a range of sizes, jellyfish oil spills, and monitoring the environment. display a wide variety of The idea for a robotic jellyfish did not originate shapes and colors, and are at Virginia Tech, but rather the U.S. Naval Undersea able to move on their own Warfare Center and the Office of Naval Research. vertically, but depend upon Virginia Tech, is teaming with four U.S. universities on ocean currents for horizontal the multi-year, $5 million project. The project: build the movement. jellyfish body models, integrating fluid mechanics and Several more years developing control systems. of work remain before any The smaller jellyfish are tested inside a 600-gal- models are released for lon tank for movement and energy self-creation and reconnaissance, be it with usage, as they are being tested for self-powering cameras, sensors, or other autonomous operation, using hydrogen, naturally devices. Other uses abound. Left to right, robotic jellyfish research team members Alex Villanueva of St-Jacques, New- abundant in water, as a “fuel.” The larger model, “The robots could be used Brunswick, Canada, and a doctoral student; Kenneth Marut of Washington, D.C, and Tyler named “Cyro,” requires a swimming pool for full tests, to study aquatic life, map Michael of Lexington, N.C., of Lexington, N.C., both master’s students. All three students and is operated by electric batteries built into the ro- ocean floors, monitor ocean are in the mechanical engineering program under Shashank Priya. botic creature. A thick silicone layer mimics the sleek currents, monitor water qual- Students use 3D printers to make Luttrell elected to National research models, tools, and totems Academy of Engineering he National Academy of Engineering in February 2013 se- f you dream it, we can build it.” That’s dolph Hall. Its inventory is infinite. You create lected Gerald “Jerry” H. Luttrell, the E. Morgan Massey Christopher Williams, assistant pro- the product, from scratch, or rather plastics. TProfessor of Mining and Minerals Engineering, as one of its Ifessor with both the Department of In 3D. In minutes. 69 new members. Mechanical Engineering and Department of DreamVendor is a set of four 3D print- Luttrell’s nomination was based on his advancement of separa- Engineering Education, tipping his hat, with ers that can create any physical shape that tion technologies for the mineral and coal industries, pioneering new tongue in cheek, to the sports drama “Field a user designs using software, with the con- fields of technology in the environmentally of Dreams.” tent prep-provided on an SD card inserted clean processing of mined materials. These He’s talking about his DREAMS – that’s into the machine. A few buttons pushed, technologies allow mining firms to now recov- Design, Research, and Education for Addi- and – voila! – instant manufacturing at one’s er much of the valuable materials previously tive Manufacturing Systems – Laboratory, fingertips. The only rule: The object has to gone to waste because they lacked appropri- dedicated to exploring the field of additive be smaller than a baseball. The device uses ate separation technologies. manufacturing, or 3D printing. More specifi- a form of melted plastic, the same material Election to the academy is among the cally, the DreamVendor, a high-tech vending used to make Legos, in a process similar to highest professional distinctions accorded machine located near the main lobby of Ran- using a hot glue gun. to an engineer. Only 14 other Virginia Tech Williams said any innovative idea a stu- College of Engineering faculty members dent has for an invention, object, or tool can previously have received the honor. (Luttrell Luttrell be made ready as a prototype within minutes. himself is a dedicated Hokie, earning his The public-access machine is one of a bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in mining and minerals kind, with no other known university having engineering, all from Virginia Tech.) such a set up. Luttrell has 18 patents, many of which are in commercial use. The printers are kit-built from a company His patents address three important industrial problems in mining: called MakerBot, with new software added by fine particle flotation, coarse particle flotation, and fine particle de- Williams’ students to make usage easier, and watering. Luttrell recently developed a new computer program for stacked inside a glass-and-metal case. optimizing mineral and coal processing plants. Funding for part of the set-up came from Luttrell co-invented the Microcel column flotation technology the Virginia Tech Student Engineers’ Council. with Roe Hoan Yoon, a fellow NAE member and Virginia Tech Uni- (See story on page five.) versity Distinguished Professor in mining. This technology is rapidly “We were very surprised at how quickly becoming an industry standard, and is one of the current best-sell- the community grasped some of the more ing flotation columns. Australian coal company BHPB-Mitsui Alliance complex concepts of additive manufacturing,” is using the technology for all of its new plants. said Amy Elliott of Fayetteville, Tenn., a doc- Luttrell’s HydroFloat coarse particle flotation system is used toral student in mechanical engineering who commercially in the phosphate and potash industries, while his works in the lab. StackCell fine particle flotation system is now being applied within The DreamVendor represents only a the coal and industrial minerals industries. He also commercialized sliver of the work undertaken by the group the hyperbaric centrifuge technology that is being marketed suc- of about 10 graduate and undergraduate cessfully by U.S. centrifuge company Decanter. students. In a lab one floor below, several Luttrell also has developed a computer program that can be high-end machines can print 3D objects far used to optimize the design of minerals and coal processing plants. larger and from such materials as polymers, In 2012 alone, he conducted more than 25 workshops, training 750- metals, ceramics, and even bio-materials and plus coal preparation plant employees. nano-composites. (Left to right) Assistant Professor Christopher Williams and master’s student Amy Elliott at the DreamVendor in Randolph Hall. engineering news C O L L E G E N O T E S Dean’s Message Signature Engineering Building progresses; college continues to grow programs, national stature As the economy continues to thaw in most sectors the building, see page 8. As well, record for the college, and a substantial jump from 2010 from the near-frozen state it sat in for several years, our we have a 24/7 live webcam cap- when federal stimulus-funded research projects jumped College of Engineering continues to expand like never turing the construction process. It our base to $137 million. In 2102, we received no such before. And our horizon only grows brighter. can be viewed at www.eng.vt.edu/ stimulus funding. Near the intersection of Prices Fork Road and signaturebuilding/livecam.) None of this would be possible without the help Stanger Street, on the north side of the Virginia Tech Out toward the Virginia Tech of our outstanding alumni and corporate support, es- campus, our $100 million Signature Engineering Build- Corporate Research Campus, our pecially in the face of shrinking state financial support. ing is halfway through its construction and roughly a Center for Space Science and En- The efforts of several present and past members of the year away from opening. For in-progress photographs of gineering Research, the new home College of Engineering Advisory Board during the past of Space@VT, opened in six or so years helped spur the Signature Engineering July. Toward the shore, in Building into the reality it is today, as we spoke time and Hampton, Va., the National Benson time again to the Virginia General Assembly and Gov- Institute of Aerospace Re- ernor’s Office. We emphasized engineering as a core search and Innovation Laboratories opened in driver in the well-being and future enhancement of the the spring. Overseen by the institute, Virginia state’s economy, and our college as the engine behind Tech owns the facility, which now houses the that drive. Bruel & Kaejer Laboratory for Aerospace Vibra- This past January, our alumni again joined us in tion and Acoustics, run by Christopher Fuller, Richmond for Hokie Day at the General Assembly, and the Samuel Langley Distinguished Professor of I am confident we demonstrated the great contribution Engineering, and the Vessel Dynamics Lab run our College of Engineering makes to the state’s future.
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