U.Va. Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
SPRING 2012
Volume 1, issue 1
News
School of Engineering and Applied Science
Left: Captain Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper, NSWC Carderock Commander and former astronaut, dives with U.Va.’s mantabot during a competition at Princeton, Right: As a final project for a jet
engine manufacturing course at the U.Va., students, led by Professor David Sheffler, constructed a one-quarter-scale working replica of the Rolls-Royce AE3007 turbofan jet engine
(which is found on the Air Force’s RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV) that was built from plastic using 3D printing.
undergraduate students learn the
essence of research
on real-world projects
David Sheffler (MAE, ’87) maintains that there is nothing wrong
with traditional textbook-driven learning — and he should know.
A 20-year veteran of the aerospace industry, Sheffler depends on his
knowledge of fundamental engineering principles every day. At the
same time, he understands that hands-on learning is important, too.
“Design is what gives students a chance to apply those principles.”
When Sheffler returned from the aerospace private sector to the
department to teach courses on jet engines, he decided to build the
course content around design. “Solving real-world problems with
real objects and real constraints gives students an appreciation for
how engineering is really practiced,” he says. His students have built
an impressive working replica of the Rolls-Royce AE3007 turbofan
jet engine using a 3-D printer in the department’s state of the art
Rapid-Prototyping Laboratory. Rather than using jet fuel, the engine
is powered by compressed air. The alternate fuel source required the
students to design a manifold to properly supply and distribute the air
to the turbine applying the actual stress and vibratory constraints used
in designing real engines.
These students’ experience is not unusual. Opportunities to take
on a design challenge abound in the department — and in most
cases they are directly related to a faculty member’s research. With
a Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative award from the
Department of Defense, Associate Professor Hilary Bart-Smith is
investigating the fundamental issues needed to develop undersea
vessels that move with the effortless agility and precision of manta
rays. Along with Professor Hossein Haj-Hariri, a co-investigator on
the project, she supervised a year-long senior engineering class that
built a manta ray robot based on her findings.
Other design opportunities are found with Professor James
McDaniel, who has organized his aircraft design classes around NASA’s
annual design competition for college students. His classes have
placed either first, second or third every year but one — for 18 years
— and have continued to outperform schools with larger aerospace
departments, like Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. This year, the
students took first place for their design of an environmentally friendly
airplane that could be produced by 2020. “One of the things that
students learn over the course of the year is that there are no correct
answers in design,” McDaniel says. “Rather, there are compromises
made as engineers strive to produce an optimal final product.”
read more: www.seas.virginia.edu/enews_july11/3eprinter.php
Developing Leaders of Innovation
MAE today
Contents
3
Understanding the
Design Parameters of
Hypersonic Engines
4
Learning
Mechantronics
By Doing
5
The RapidPrototyping
Laboratory
6
Profiles in Mechanical &
Aerospace Engineering
Writer
Charlie Feigenoff
Editor
Josie Pipkin
Contributing Editor
Wende Hope
Graphic Design
Travis Searcy
Mountain High Media
Photography
Tom Cogill
MAE News is published by the
University of Virginia School of
Engineering and Applied Science
Department of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering. An online
version of the magazine is available at
www.mae.virginia.edu/NewMAE/pubs.
Department of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering, P.O. Box
400746, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4746
or email lcs3b@virginia.edu.
Message
from the
chair
This has been a period of
dramatic renewal for the
Department of Mechanical
and Aerospace Engineering.
Our research enterprise is
flourishing as never before.
During the past five years, we
have led multi-university teams
to win two highly competitive
Multidisciplinary University
Research Initiative awards from
the Department of Defense, a
rare achievement even for departments in the largest engineering schools. In addition, we have
made U.Va. a hub for hypersonic research, securing a $10 million grant from NASA and the
U.S. Air Force to fund the National Center for Hypersonic Combined Cycle Propulsion. And
we also have dramatically expanded funding for the Center for Applied Biomechanics, now the
world’s largest university-based research center studying the biomechanics of injury. With the
existing initiatives and the recent addition of two new faculty members with highly regarded
research programs in the areas of microscale heat transfer and fluid mechanics, we can only see
this level of success accelerating.
Equally important, academics are flourishing here. Our enrollment has doubled and promises
to increase even further. This is due in part to national trends, but it also reflects the result of our
new vision for the undergraduate experience, one that emphasizes critical thinking, design and
the opportunity to conduct pioneering research. Newly added and renovated facilities also have
contributed to this surge of interest in our programs.
In short, we’ve created an environment in the department that promotes engagement and
discovery, where students and faculty can share in the excitement of advancing the fields of
mechanical and aerospace engineering. Thanks to their work and the contributions of alumni like
Dave Sheffler and Mike Garrett (featured in this newsletter) and others, this department is clearly
on the move. I invite you to join with us and take an active role in shaping our future by helping
to make an impact on the student experience, the department and our field.
Haj-Hariri Hossein
Professor and Department Chair
News
2
Spring 2012
Developing Leaders of Innovation
Top: Supersonic commercial airliner,
designed to fly over land at supersonic
speeds with low sonic boom. 4th year
students won first place with this design
at a national NASA aircraft design
competition, Left: Student at the Aerospace
Research Lab. Right: Professor James
McDaniel, instructor for the aerospace
design courses and the lead primary
investigator at the National Center for
Hypersonic Combined Cycle Propulsion.
read more:
www.hypersonicpropulsioncenter.us
understanding the design parameters of
hypersonic Engines
The lure of hypersonic flight is undeniable, offering dramatically
higher speed and efficiency, but the challenges are equally daunting. To
achieve speeds of Mach 12 and above, hypersonic aircraft will require
a combined-cycle engine that changes its propulsion mode from gas
turbine to ramjet to scramjet as it boosts vehicle speed. One goal of
the National Center for Hypersonic Combined Cycle Propulsion,
led by Professor James McDaniel, is to examine these critical mode
transitions required to design the complex engines.
The competition for this $10 million, five-year program was
fierce. Over 26 university and industry teams submitted preliminary
proposals, and the U.Va.-led team was one of only three groups
funded by NASA and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. “This
is clearly the next frontier in flight,” says McDaniel, “We wanted the
opportunity to be at its leading edge.”
For NASA and the Air Force, the rationale for hypersonic flight
is straightforward: It provides a much more efficient platform to
News
boost payloads such as communication satellites into Earth orbit and
robotic and human missions into space. That’s because air-breathing
propulsion systems do not have to carry oxygen on board for burning
the fuel, like rockets do, and can therefore carry more payload.
The center’s research will also contribute to much faster
intercontinental commercial flights. While next-generation longhaul aircraft may not be truly hypersonic, their flight times will be a
fraction of those of today’s jets, thanks in part to the center’s research.
The center includes 11 academic and industrial partners, including
Stanford, Cornell, Boeing and ATK GASL. It collaborates with the Air
Force Research Laboratory and several NASA centers, as well as with
organizations in Australia and other countries. With this exceptional
team of investigators and collaborators, the objective of the center to
meet the challenges of understanding the critical mode transitions and
hypersonic propulsion is indeed becoming a reality.
3
Spring 2012
MAE today
Left: Assistant Professor Gavin Garner with students, Top Right: The Mech-E Mouse,
an autonomous robot that Mechatronics students have to program to locate a piece of
electronic cheese. Bottom Right: Students in the Mechatronics Lab.
learning
mechatronics by doing
Engineering disciplines evolve rapidly. That’s why mechatronics —
the union of mechanical, electrical, and software engineering — is
considered by many to be the mechanical engineering of the 21st
century. But instead of having students take courses in each subject,
the department takes a different approach, requiring all mechanical
engineering majors to take a mechatronics course in their third year
that integrates all three disciplines.
As taught by Assistant Professor Gavin Garner, the course does
more than introduce students to the field; it gives them a visceral sense
of its power. In both his introductory and advanced mechatronics
classes, Garner presents his students with a series of open-ended design
problems, which he believes suit engineers’ learning styles. “For most
of our students, a hands-on experience is the way to master concepts,”
he says.
In his advanced mechatronics class, for instance, Garner traces the
development of electronics from analog to digital logic. He claims
that “If students appreciate where this new technology has come from
and exactly how it has evolved, they will be better prepared to predict
where it will be headed in the future — long after they have graduated
News
from U.Va.” To illustrate his point, he gives students projects in each
area as the course progresses. He taps the capacities of the department’s
new Rapid-Prototyping Lab by having students design electric guitars,
complete with analog special-effects pedals. A Rotunda-shaped guitar
made its debut at the Thornton Society’s 175th dinner last fall. For the
digital portion of the course, students build a computer from scratch.
At the end of the semester, Garner teams up with faculty from the
Darden School who teach a course in product development, essentially
turning his class into a small prototyping engineering firm. Among
other projects this fall, students built a “smart” baseball equipped with
accelerometer and gyroscope and an automated cup washer that coffee
shop customers can use to clean their refillable mugs.
“I try to select projects that give students creative license,” Garner
says. “It’s this creative engagement that drives their learning. They have
a vision of what they’re trying to accomplish, and that motivates them
to learn what’s needed to translate their ideas into reality.”
read more:
4
Spring 2012
www.mae.virginia.edu/NewMAE/?p=1206
Developing Leaders of Innovation
the rapid-prototyping
laboratory
If you want to see the future of engineering
education, one of the best places to start is the
department’s new Rapid-Prototyping Laboratory.
This $2 million facility features a growing array of
sophisticated 3-D printers including an $180,000
Fortus 400mc capable of producing objects in plastic
within an accuracy of +/– 0.005 inch.
“These machines are marvels of technology,” says
Dwight Dart, the design lab engineer. “They take
designs produced in computer-aided design (CAD)
programs and translate them into real objects,
building them up a layer at a time.” The lab also
includes computer numerically controlled (CNC)
machines, automated machine tools that cut designs
from solid materials. Dart has just installed a second,
powerful CNC in the lab, which can work with
virtually any kind of metal.
As impressive as this technology is, the real
impact is felt in the classroom. “There is no better,
more immediate way for students to understand
the strengths and weaknesses of a particular design
than through rapid prototyping,” Dart says. “In the
process, they also gain a better appreciation of what
it takes to be a more thoughtful, creative designer.”
Although the lab has been operational for
just a year, rapid prototyping has already been
incorporated into the curriculum of many
department and Engineering School courses.
In a section of Introduction to Engineering, for
instance, students compete to design and produce
the strongest cantilever using just 2 cubic inches of
plastic. Last semester’s winning design supported 85
pounds.
In his third-year mechatronics class, Assistant
Professor Gavin Garner used the 3-D printers to
create all the parts needed to create a 2-D printer
and supplied the necessary motors and switches.
He challenged students to perform the software
and electronic engineering necessary to make it
functional, both in manual and automatic mode.
Not surprisingly, the Rapid-Prototyping
Laboratory is now a gathering place for students
working on design projects — just as it was meant
to be. This modern, light-filled facility includes
a lounge where students can collaborate on their
projects, and also houses more than a dozen CAD
workstations, separated from the prototyping area by
a wall of glass. “It’s a place where students can take
an idea and turn it into something tangible,” Dart
says. “That’s a powerful experience.”
“These machines are marvels of technology. They
take designs produced in computer-aided design
(CAD) programs and translate them into real
objects, building them up a layer at a time.”
The Rapid Prototype Lab was created with a contribution of $2 million from the Commonwealth
in support for U.Va.’s partnership with Rolls-Royce. It includes collaborative design spaces, 3-D
printers and computer numerically controlled machines.
News
5
Spring 2012
profiles in mechanical & aerospace
Alumni
michael
garrett
patrick
hopkins
Mike Garrett (MAE
’79, ’97) knows the
kind of engineer that
corporate America
needs. As director of
airplane performance
for the Commercial
Airplane Division of the
Boeing Company, he’s
been heavily involved in
Boeing recruiting.
“We look for wellrounded people with deep technical knowledge, an understanding
of the factors that drive business decisions, and the ability to
communicate their ideas clearly,” he says. “This is the kind of
engineer that U.Va. produces.” In addition to our graduates,
Boeing also values research being done in the Engineering School.
Boeing is particularly supportive of the department’s expertise in
rotational machinery, heat transfer and propulsion.
Garrett’s interest in the department and the Engineering School
is personal as well as professional. He credits former aerospace
engineering professor George Matthews for “lighting a fire under
me and inspiring me to develop the skills that have enabled me to
live my dream.” Garrett has served on the Dean’s Advisory Council
and is currently a member of the Engineering School Board of
Trustees and the MAE Advisory Board.
Patrick Hopkins (MAE ’04,
’08) can’t tear himself away
from the department for long.
After spending eight years as
an undergraduate and doctoral
student in the department, he
was lured away to Albuquerque,
N.M., by a prestigious Harry
S. Truman Postdoctoral
Fellowship at Sandia National
Laboratories. Now he’s back
as a newly minted assistant
professor, where he focuses on thermal transport processes on the
nanoscale. “One of my interests is developing new kinds of materials for
thermal barrier coatings,” he says. “I’m also pursuing thermal electronics,
understanding on the atomistic level how to convert heat into electrical
energy.”
From a professional point of view, Hopkins wanted to return to the
Engineering School because it offered many opportunities to collaborate.
“The University’s just the right size,” he says. “As a result, it’s easy to
connect with people from different disciplines who are focusing on
similar problems.”
He also was attracted by the prospects of working with mentors
like Professor Pamela Norris, who played such an important role in
developing his skills as an engineer. “Even when I was an undergraduate,
Pam treated me like a colleague,” he explains. “Now I really am one!”
Graduate Students
john duda
The astounding properties of modern semiconductors derive in
part from our ability to sandwich an ever-increasing number of
ultrathin layers of material on a single chip. With greater density,
however, comes greater heat, which can degrade function. Thanks
in large measure to the work being done at Professor Pamela Norris’
Nanoscale Heat Transfer Laboratory, the distinctive processes
governing thermal transport at the nanoscale are being uncovered.
John Duda (MAE ’12) is building on these advances by using
computer simulation to test strategies for tuning and controlling
thermal transport at the interface between layers.
“We can now measure these phenomena experimentally,” he says,
“but with simulation, you can very finely control the characteristics
of the system.” Duda was awarded a prestigious National Science
Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship for his work. He is also a
News
recipient of a 2011 Award for Excellence in Scholarship in the Sciences
and Engineering from the University. “I came to U.Va. for graduate
school because I felt there was a real commitment to graduate education
here,” he says. “My experience has borne this out.”
6
Spring 2012
Developing Leaders of Innovation
Graduate Students, cont.
Undergraduate Students
jane hawkins
bahar
sharafi and
niccolo
fiorentino
Muscle strains are the bane of weekend
warriors and professional athletes alike.
Working in Associate Professor Silvia
Blemker’s Multiscale Muscle Mechanics
Laboratory, graduate students Bahar Sharafi
(MAE ’11) and Niccolo Fiorentino (MAE ’14)
are developing computer simulations that
are helping to unravel the biomechanics of
muscle injury. The two took first and second
prize for the New Investigator Award at The
Technical Group on Computer Simulation in
Leuven, Belgium.
Sharafi presented a fiber-scale
micromechanical model that focuses on
individual muscle fibers and their connections
with tendons. Her model predicts how fibers
deform when muscles stretch. Fiorentino’s
macroscale model complements Sharafi’s
work. It shows the entire muscle–tendon unit
as a whole responding to lengthening.
Blemker believes that one reason Sharafi
and Fiorentino outshone other presenters was
that they successfully used experiments to
validate their models. “In our work this can
be very difficult, but doing so helps make a
powerful scientific case,” Blemker says.
When Jane Hawkins (MAE ’13) decided to
attend the Engineering School Career Fair her
first year at U.Va., she had no idea what to
expect. Thanks to the contacts she made there,
she was able to forge a relationship with RollsRoyce North American Technologies that has
significantly enriched her engineering education.
After further interviews, Rolls-Royce gave
Hawkins the opportunity to do a co-op with
the company, which meant interspersing periods
of paid, professional work at Rolls-Royce with
her Engineering School coursework. She spent the summers after her first and
second years at the company’s 2.6 million square-foot complex in Indianapolis and is
spending the second semester of her third year there as well.
“This experience has given me perspectives on business and engineering that
would have been impossible for me as an undergraduate to gain otherwise,” she
says. Working with an 11-person team that includes seven Ph.D.s, she had the
opportunity to apply concepts she learned in the classroom. She also had the chance
to expand her knowledge, taking a Rolls-Royce organized seminar for co-op students
on Computational Fluid Dynamics.
“Throughout my co-op experience, I’ve always been excited to go to work” she
says. “It’s reinforced my feeling that engineering is the right path for me.”
alexander
russomanno
To compensate for the atmospheric distortion
of light, modern ground-based telescopes use
a mirror membrane controlled by an array of
microactuators. Each microactuator deforms
a portion of the membrane to produce a true
image. Alexander Russomanno (MAE ’12) is
working with Associate Professor Carl Knospe
to perfect a next-generation microactuator that
would be smaller, faster and more sensitive than
current models.
With guidance from staff member Huihui Wang, Russomanno has learned to
create a 2mm-square capillary force actuator in the Engineering School’s Clean
Room. This spring, he will be working on his own to create a much smaller version
of the prototype. “The process of research is much more self-directed than taking
a class,” he says. “It’s up to me to successfully shrink the microactuator while
maintaining its power.” Russomanno has been reading the literature and learning the
processes he will need to use from other researchers in the Clean Room. “This has
been an awesome experience that has confirmed my desire to go to graduate school,”
he says.
News
7
Spring 2012
News
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David Bihl is a graduate of Princeton
University and is married to a ’Hoo. He is a
Certified Financial Planner® and practiced for 21
years before joining the Engineering Foundation
last year. His wife and he live in Waynesboro
with two of their four sons. The other two have
flown the nest and are currently undergraduates.
Dave officiates swimming and diving for USA
Swimming, Virginia high school, and NCAA
contests in his spare time — when he is not out
hiking with his two dogs.
As the development officer supporting
the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace
Engineering, Dave works to communicate
to alumni, friends and institutions the work
being done in the department and how their
philanthropy can help. He can be reached at
davdibihl@virginia.edu, 434.924.7519 (office),
or 434.987.0883 (cell).