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15371_UofM ME Annual Rep comp University of Michigan
College of Engineering teachin
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Driving the Technology of the Future
A Message from ME Chair Dennis Assanis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
GM, ME Establish New Levels of Cooperation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Its Whats Inside That Counts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Water Tunnel Research is No Drag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Energy Studies Hold Promise for the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Research Expenditure Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
From the Laboratory to the Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Life Sciences, NIH Grants Enable Valuable Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Centers & Programs Maintain Excellence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Research Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Donors & Research Sponsors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Guiding the Pioneers of Tomorrow
Life Sciences Class Reinforces Value of Interdisciplinary Approaches. . . . . 18
Shifting Gears in ME350 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Global Partnerships Flourish. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
ME Welcomes KAIST Colleagues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
PhD Degrees Conferred . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Enrollment and Degrees Conferred Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Innovative Course and Teaching Projects Funded by CRLT. . . . . . . . . . . . 24
On the cover: Color-enhanced image of an intracellular simulation of carbonic anhydrase
(CA) proteins binding free zinc ions in a red blood cell (~7.8microns in diameter).
CA molecules bound to zinc are shown encased by transparent green spheres representing
fluorescence (emission: 558nm), and apo-CA molecules are shown in blue. CA concentration
is ~20nM. These simulations were developed collaboratively, by the groups of ME Associate
Professor Ann Marie Sastry, Civil and Environmental Engineering Associate Professor Christian
Lastoskie and Chemistry Professor Carol Fierke. The images shown here were generated in
Sastry's group by ME Assistant Research Scientist Yun-Bo Yi and ME Ph.D. candidate Munish
Inamdar (pictured at left). The complete story and original image are on page 6.
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M E C H A N I C A L E N G I N E E R I N G A N N U A L R E P O R T
Inspiring Innovation & Excellence
Das Receives NSF Career Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
NSF Awardees, Past and Present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Albert Shih Joins Faculty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Faculty Promotions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
PRS On the Rise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
In Memoriam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Professors Dennis & Sick Receive ME Faculty Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Epureanu Receives National Honor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Instructional and Research Faculty Awards and Honors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
First Machine Shop Class for Staff Drills Success. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
ME Staff Excellence Recognized by CoE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Heralding Tomorrows Leaders
Two MEs Earn NSF Graduate Research Fellowships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
The Spirit Lives On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
UM Chapter of Pi Tau Sigma Recognized for Excellence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Mark Crawford Wins National Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Leadership Awards Recognize Commitment, Contributions . . . . . . . . . . . 40
ME Student Helps Deliver Improved Fuel Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Graduate Student Fellowships and Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Undergraduate Student Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Recognizing a Lifetime of Distinction
General Paul J. Kern Receives Alumni Society Medal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
ME Grad Fuher Helps Set EPA Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Newest EAB Member Brings Extensive Automotive Experience . . . . . . . . . 47
Alumni Society Merit Award Winner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
ME Alumni Society Merit Award Past Winners. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
External Advisory Board Spring Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
The Year in Photos
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46 T H E PA S T Y E A R H A S B E E N F U L L O F
S U C C E S S S T O R I E S A N D O U T S TA N D I N G
A C C O M P L I S H M E N T S
for the Mechanical
Engineering Department at The University of Michigan.
We have continued to excel in curricular reform, innovative
research and outstanding service. Our undergraduate and
graduate programs were both ranked fourth in the nation
by US News and World Report. Our research expenditures
increased by 22% and reached an all-time high ($26.3
million), despite the difficult economy. And our students,
alumni, faculty and staff have been recognized at the highest
levels for their professional accomplishments and innovations.
ME faculty members are breaking new ground in developing
the next generation of teaching methods that are necessary to
instill interdisciplinary thinking and hands-on experiences in an
asynchronous, web-based format. Award winning examples are
the introduction of a new engineering class in sustainable
systems engineering, a life sciences initiative class in sound,
hearing and deafness, and a self-paced instrumentation lab with
web-based tutorials to enable students to design, build and test
useful electronic circuits. Our global partnerships have also
continued to flourish and to provide valuable international
cultural and educational experiences for our students and
faculty. Among the highlights for the year, the first group of
SJTU exchange students received their U-M MS degrees in
April 2003, and the first KAIST-UM joint workshop on
reacting flows was a big success.
Among our major manufacturing and automotive research
partnerships that continued into 2002-03 are the NSF-
sponsored Engineering Research Center for Reconfigurable
Manufacturing Systems, which was renewed until 2007, and the
Department of Defense-funded Automotive Research Center.
Building on the successes of the former GM/U-M Collaborative
Research Laboratory (CRL) on Vehicle Systems (1998-2002),
ME has forged an enhanced partnership with General Motors
with the establishment of two new CRLs for the next five years,
one focusing on Engine Systems Research and the other on
Advanced Vehicle Manufacturing. In parallel, we have made
great strides into the emerging areas of Mechanical Engineering,
notably in bio-systems, nano-systems and energy/eco-systems.
In a path-breaking collaborative effort, researchers from the ME
Department are attempting to capture never-before-seen views
of the chemical activity inside living cells in real time and three
dimensions, bringing together public health, engineering,
chemistry, biology, physics and statistics. In other bio-mechanics
projects, our faculty engineer muscle actuators, cells and tissues
and conduct research that holds the promise for improving the
health and quality of life for injured, disabled and aging people.
And as our quest for energy independence and a cleaner
environment intensifies, our faculty and students are
investigating novel forms of fuel cell and hybrid power and
pioneering approaches to reduce drag of high speed vessels and
submarines in state-of-the-art, large scale water tunnels.
Working with the College of Engineering's Office of
Technology Transfer, a large number of our faculty have
commercialized the fruits of their research, thus making a
difference for our community through innovative applications
2
M E S S A G E F R O M T H E C H A I R
A Message from ME Chair
Dennis Assanis
Dennis N. Assanis 3
Our research expenditures
increased by 22% and
reached an all-time high
($26.3 million)...And our
students, alumni, faculty and
staff have been recognized
at the highest levels for their
professional accomplishments
and innovations.
ME Chair Professor D E N N I S A S S A N I S
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M E C H A N I C A L E N G I N E E R I N G A N N U A L R E P O R T
ranging from laser materials processing, to an active velcro for a space station
docking, and