College of Engineering

Formula SAE Competition in Fontana, California

The WSU Formula SAE Team competed at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California last month. Mechanical Engineering major Amanda Luba (bottom row far right) was a team driver. Her account of the competition is below.

A team of engineering students competed at the Formula SAE West Competition June 25 through 28 in Fontana, Calif. The Wayne State team worked on its mini Indy style car over the past year to compete at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. This year, the team earned its highest overall performance of 42nd place out of 82 teams from around the world, and earning an outstanding 7th place in the Cost Event.

This is the fifth Wayne State team to compete in one of the annual Society of Automotive Engineers international student competitions. The events, initiated by SAE in 1979, are now held at seven international locations each year. Past accomplishments for Wayne State include the Henkel Technologies Award for best use of structural foam in the 2005 Formula SAE car. The team has been advised for the past five years by Michele Grimm, associate dean for academic affairs for the college.

Amanda Luba, a mechanical engineering major and team driver, kept a journal of the five-day event. Below is her account of the competition.

Wednesday, June 25
Wednesday was the official registration day and first day of tech inspection. Some of the team members had been awake until 4 a.m. working on steering problems and we knew we had many more repairs to do before going to tech inspection. We split into two groups: half of the team would stay at the hotel and work on our design and manufacturing posters (the originals were left back in Michigan) and the other half of the team would take the car to the track to register.

The line for registration was so long that three team members stayed while three of us went back to the hotel to check on the car. The team members at the hotel told us that they needed to go to the nearby Chaffey College to use their shop to make the new half shafts. Sherman from Chaffey, whose shop we would use, was leaving around 4:30 so there was not much time. We drove out to Chaffey to drop off the team members who would work there and went back to registration.

At this time, we knew we were not going to make it through tech inspection that day, so we decided instead to focus on getting the team registered and the car tested. We were about to test the car in Chaffey’s parking lot when the cops pulled up and told us that we were not allowed to run the car there because we did not have the Dean’s approval. Luckily, a guy from Chaffey’s shop told us we could test the car at the storage place he worked at. When we got there, we ran a few laps around the building at a slow speed just to make sure that the car worked properly. Everyone was so excited we could not wait to actually see how our car did against the competition.

Thursday, June 26
We got to the track early to get ready for the Cost, Design and Presentation events. We had to print off the posters at the last minute, and made it back just in time for the presentations. At these events, the teams explain why they constructed the car in the way they did and give a report on what it would cost to mass produce the team’s car.

Around noon, we went to the Tech Inspection. The first thing we did was the Egress Test, in which the driver, suited up and strapped in, has to get out of the car in less than five seconds. We went over time because we couldn’t get the seat belts to unhook completely.

At 2:30 p.m. we had to leave Tech Inspection to go to the design presentation where the judges bombarded the team with questions about the car. Afterwards, we headed back to Tech Inspection where we spent another couple hours fixing things the tech officials thought could be unsafe. At around 3 p.m. we went to the Cost Presentation, then headed back over to Tech to finish the safety checklist. Once that was approved, we finally got all four drivers through the Egress Test and headed back for the night.

Friday, June 27
On Friday, we finally got to see the car run. Because we did not get to the Brake and Noise test on Thursday, we had to re-do the Tech and Egress tests first thing in the morning. This time we passed both tests on the first try - something that has never been done by the Wayne State team. As soon as those tests were done, we had to rush to the other side of the track to get in at least one run in Skid Pad and one in Acceleration. The Skid Pad event measures the car’s cornering ability on a flat surface and the Acceleration event evaluates the car on its accelerating abilities from a standing start over a distance of 75 meters.

For Acceleration we had two drivers: Lucas Bultema and our team captain Thomas Miller. Their times put us in 39th place for the acceleration event. Tom stayed in the car and we rushed him over to the skidpad event where he got in two runs that put us in 38th place.

After these events, there was a drivers’ meeting for the Autocross event that Dan Fryatt and I would attend. We thought we should go to the testing/practice area before we took the car out for Autocross. When we first got into the testing area, the car was running great, but suddenly Dan could not get it to move. The stub axle had sheared in half and so we spent the rest of the evening welding the new stub axle back together and missed the Autocross event.

Saturday, June 28
Saturday was the Endurance event and the final day of the competition. When I pulled up at the line to go out for the event, I was having problems starting the car, which made everyone nervous. We really wanted to finish this event, in which the car has to prove acceleration, speed, handling, dynamics, fuel economy and reliability. I eventually got the car running and ended up passing two, almost three, cars during my ten laps. I managed to only hit one cone, which was really good considering other teams were hitting four or five cones.

I pulled in and Dan switched places with me so he could run the last ten laps. When he tried to start up the car to go back out it wouldn’t start. We had about two minutes left to try to get the car to start but it was impossible. The battery had overheated and did not have enough time to cool down. And of course, as soon as we got back to the trailer we tried to start the car again and it worked.

Sunday, June 29
There were no events on Sunday. Everyone packed up and left to go home. Overall we learned a lot from the competition, had a lot of fun and even placed 7th in the cost event. We left the competition knowing what we should work on for next year and hoping that we’d do even better.

Better than Before - Career Services Online

Career Services has a new look and has replaced Warriortrak with a new and improved online job search system from CSO Research. Students must register in the new system in order for us to continue to serve their career-related needs, i.e., resume referral, job postings, sign-up for on-campus interviews, and more. To register, please visit our website. It's free!

http://www.careerservices.wayne.edu/

Google Sketchup - Easy to Use 3-D Modelling Tool

ECC Lost & Found

ECC’s Lost & Found

Items like articles of clothing, notebooks and folders, removable media (CD’s, DVD’s, USB drives), and even an expensive TI-92 are commonly found after being left in labs. Items like pens and gloves may be easily replaceable, but others may contain the hard workings of an important assignment or may have cost a fortune. Whatever is lost, we here at the ECC Help Desk will help you to overcome misfortunes. We have established a lost and found where all found items are stored for recovery by their rightful owner. After classes in rooms 1005 in the Manufacturing Engineering Bldg., and 2351, 2359 2360, 2409, in the Engineering Bldg., ECC staff checks for items left. These items are then taken to ECC office room 2351.1 (between 2351 and2359) and placed in our lost and found. The item is noted on a lost and found log sheet along with time and date at and session and room in which it was found. To claim an item that you believe was left in one of the fore mentioned labs visit our office on any weekday between the times of 10:00 am and 10:00 pm, Monday through Friday, and describe your lost item. However, if you lost a purse or wallet, you will have to print out, from either pipeline or blackboard, something that proves your identity...since your ID maybe in the purse or wallet.

WSU and Oakland Community College Agreement

WSU Enhancement Grant

A total of $292,000 has been awarded by the Wayne State University Research Enhancement Program to a cross-disciplinary team led by Greg Auner, director of the Smart Sensors and Integrated Microsystems lab, to develop advanced neural implants for the hearing impaired.

Auner has teamed with researchers in Otolaryngology in the School of Medicine, along with several Henry Ford System researchers, as well as with two colleagues from the College of Engineering, to develop a new auditory prosthesis system aimed to counter the existing clinical engineering problems of current devices used to recover hearing.

The grant is part of a total of $1.8 million recently awarded by WSU President Irvin D. Reid from the Research Enhancement Program, which is designed to strengthen the university’s position as a nationally recognized research institution and as a center of scholarship.

Golam Newaz, associate director for the Institute for Manufacturing Research; Pamela VandeVord, assistant professor of biomedical engineering; Jinsheng Zhang, associate professor of otolaryngology; Edwin Monsell, professor of otolaryngology; Michael Seidman, Henry Ford Health System and Kost Elisevich, Henry Ford Health System, are all named in the grant.

This new generation of implantable systems will be capable of delivering high definition information to more effectively stimulate and sense neuronal populations in an auditory brain structure, according to the researchers. The device will integrate nano- and micro-device structures, new materials, innovative processing strategies and functionally active bio-encapsulation.

The project brings together research expertise in areas crucial to its success -- Newaz’s research in developing miniaturized devices for biomedical applications; the Smart Sensors and Integrated Microsystems lab and its experience with bio-sensors; VandeVord’s research in traumatic brain injury and nerve regeneration; and the clinical and research experience in otolaryngology. The researchers anticipate their work will help treat other neurological disorders including tinnitus, Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.

WSU Transportation Research Group

LANSING - July 7, 2008 - Following the annual two-week Buckle Up or Pay Up. Click it or Ticket safety belt mobilization in May, safety belt use in Michigan has increased to a new record high of 96.2 percent, according to the just-released direct observation statewide survey provided by the Wayne State University Transportation Research Group.

The first indication safety belt use may have increased came when law enforcement agencies reported significantly fewer citations issued during the mobilization, largely in safety belt enforcement zones. With late reports now counted, officers issued approximately 10,500 safety belt citations, a significant drop from 2006 when nearly 18,000 citations were issued.

“This is a positive achievement for Michigan motorists who have adopted the important and life-saving habit of buckling up,” said Col. Peter C. Munoz, director of the Michigan State Police. “We believe this bodes well for summer safety on our streets and highways.”

Safety belt enforcement zones have made the enforcement effort far more visible to motorists. The use of a sign announcing the zone alerts all passing motorists that officers are focusing on safety belt use.

In 2007, Michigan was one of 10 states with a safety belt use of 90 percent or higher. Hawaii had the highest belt use at 97.6 percent last year. In 2007, Michigan’s rate was 93.7 percent.

This press release was issued by the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning.

DAPCEP Robotics Workshop

Renaissance High School students Terrance Collier (left to right) and Luba Burdette and Cass Technical High School student Jazzmine Dixon learned to program a robot.

In just one week they built and programmed their own robots, created sophisticated PowerPoint presentations, and documented the entire experience by editing and producing their own videos. Eighteen high school students and nine teachers participated in the Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program (DAPCEP) Robotics workshop held the week of June 23 at the College of Engineering.

Ece Yaprak, professor of engineering technology, and Karen Tonso, associate professor of education, drew from their respective disciplines and developed the special program with a NSF grant to help pre-college students learn the basics of robotics programming, as well as how to research and use the Wayne State library system.

Dana Robinson, a teacher from Chadsey High School, said the workshop was for the teachers as much as it was for the students. “The students were engaged and enjoyed themselves, but I learned a lot, also. The most difficult thing was keeping my own hands off the robots.”

Associate Professor Tonso said the workshop “is for students to learn new things and teach other students, and it's for the teachers to learn new ideas and teach other teachers. It’s been one of the most successful I’ve seen.”

Save The Dates

5th International Congress of Nano-Bio & Clean Tech

Sun Technology Training

This free educational service is offered through the Sun Academic Initiative Program, of which Wayne State is a member. WSU students, faculty, and staff -- full-time or part-time -- have free unlimited access to selected Web-based training courses through the Sun Learning Center portal. Topics cover: Java technology, two types of Unix system administration (Solaris and Linux), network management and security, Web services and publishing, Sun ONE infrastructure products, and the complete StarOffice productivity suite. These free courses will introduce you to Sun Microsystems technologies, prepare you for industry-leading certification, and equip you with marketable IT job skills. For registration information and browser requirements click the link below or contact C&IT Help Desk at (313) 577-4778 Monday-Friday or email helpdesk@wayne.edu

computing.wayne.edu/suntech/

DiverseAbility - Career Workshop

Learn about diversibilty, work opportunities, how to address disclosure, accommodations, and related disability issues. Educational Accessibility Serivces and Career Services are co-hosting this program on Thursday March 27, 2008 from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm in room 1339 FAB. Register by contacting Jane DePriester-Morandini by email at aa7740@wayne.edu or phone at (313) 577-1851. Light refreshments will be served.

Click for more info