Auburn Engineering alumni magazine fall/winter 09 - Samuel Ginn ...

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22 Civil Soils Magic, a book by civil engineering faculty member David Elton, has sold more copies than any other American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) book, exclusive of conference proceedings. It is used by universities, Boy Scouts, public schools and service organizations to explain inexpensive, simple experiments that often have unexpected results. In the Elton interests students as ‘The Soils Magician’ as part of the Soils Magic presentation. book, Elton teaches the principles of soil mechanics in an amusing and insightful way. His Soils Magic experiments have been performed in venues all around the U.S., including the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev. Elton recently was awarded a National Science Foundation grant based on Soils Magic. The three-year, $300,000 grant, written with James Hanson of California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo, involves innovative methods and technologies for teaching soil mechanics. Their work will be distributed globally and designed for universal access. Soils Magic videos are available on YouTube. Computer Science and Software CSSE professor N. Hari Narayanan is collaborating with researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Kansas State University and Bentley College to design a virtual science experimentation platform for middle school science instruction. The project is supported by a $1.5 million grant to the four institutions from the Institute of Educational Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education. “This project will help introduce students to computational tools. It will also create an advanced physics simulation system, with an interface customized to children for building and running virtual experiments,” said Narayanan, whose research has previously been supported by the National Science Foundation and Office of Naval Research. “We will test the system in schools in Wisconsin and Kansas, and ultimately make it available to science teachers nationwide.” The project is designed to draw on the strengths of each partner institution. Auburn will lead computer science research and development, leveraging Narayanan’s expertise in human- computer interaction and educational technology. Faculty from the physics education research group at Kansas State will provide domain expertise, while usability testing will be conducted at the Information Design Department at Bentley. Wisconsin’s college of education will deploy and evaluate the system in schools. The researchers hope to carry out several design and test cycles during the three years of the project in order to produce a proven system ready for national dissemination. Electrical and Computer Adit Singh, James B. Davis Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has received two research grants from the National Science Foundation. Totaling $570,000, both grants will continue through September 2011. The first project, “Silicon calibrated scan-based timing tests for delay defect detection,” focuses on the integrated circuit testing and reliability area. Small manufacturing flaws that cause integrated circuits to fail in operation have become a major concern in nano-scale technologies. Such defects can potentially be identified during manufacturing tests by their subtle impact on signal timing. However, separating defect-caused timing changes from the normal signal timing variations caused by manufacturing tolerances and environmental noise can be challenging. The research addresses this problem for state-of-the art circuits such as high-performance, multi-core microprocessors. The second, “Dynamic Vertically Integrated Power-Performance- Reliability Modulation in Embedded Digital Signal Processors,” is a collaborative project with Georgia Tech that aims at sustaining the growth in the capabilities of embedded digital processing systems, even in the face of challenges from excessive leakage power, manufacturing variations and defect rates. Novel circuit and system level tuning techniques for managing power, performance and process variations are being investigated, along with fault tolerance schemes to address the high defect rates anticipated in end-of-the roadmap nano-scale, complementary metal-oxidesemiconductor technology. Industrial and Systems The Academy of Aerospace Quality (AAQ), sponsored by NASA with ISE faculty members Alice Smith and Jeff Smith, has teamed up with Auburn University’s Department of Physics in an attempt to put Auburn’s first student-built satellite, named AubieSat-1, into orbit. The AubieSat-1 program is one of two parts of the Auburn University Student Space Program (AUSSP) funded by the National Space Grant Student Satellite Program in efforts to provide student-operated, faculty-mentored space science and hardware capability on campus. AAQ utilizes NASA quality information with
From left are AAQ researcher and ISE doctoral student Jeremy Barnes and ISE freshmen Ajesh Khanijow and Sophie Smith. Barnes works with AubieSat-1 director and physics faculty member J.M. Wersinger to establish, implement and manage the various topics covered under AAQ onto AubieSat-1. Smith and Khanijow provide management support to the program while learning invaluable experience to be used in the workforce. hands-on examples to help universities understand and teach the unique quality needs of space flight. Mechanical The Army Research Office has awarded a three-year grant to Hareesh Tippur, professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, to carry out basic research on novel multiphase structural foams with unique interpenetrating architecture. The grant is based on preliminary work carried out by his group on a relatively new class of materials inspired by biological systems such as skeletal tissue and other natural fibrous microstructures that offer excellent strength-to-weight ratio. “The key feature of these lightweight materials is that individual phases are interconnected throughout the microstructure, with each phase contributing its property to the overall mechanical characteristics of the component,” said Tippur. “If one constituent provides toughness, the other might enhance stiffness and strength.” Also, individual phases can be selected so that thermal and dielectric characteristics are tailored to a specific application. The interpenetrating architecture does not have dominant weak planes, which helps disperse mechanical energy more efficiently without premature failure or collapse. This is significant to the Army in protecting personnel and structures against shock and impact. The research outcome may also contribute towards the development of new light-weight energy absorbing materials for the automotive industry. During this project, Tippur’s group will be focusing on developing experimental and computational techniques to process and model these materials and understand complex interactions between micro features and macro responses. Laser-based diagnostic tools, projectile impact devices and ultra high-speed imaging facilities that Tippur has developed from previous Department of Defense grants will be used during the research effort. Materials Jeffrey Fergus, associate professor of materials engineering, has received $420,000 from the Department of Energy to study materials used to improve the performance of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). With additional funding over the next two years, the grant will total almost $450,000. Fergus’ research stems from recent interest in the development of clean, efficient fuel cells. To date, work in this area has focused primarily on polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells. However, these cells are intolerant of typical impurities, such as carbon monoxide, commonly found in hydrogen fuel. SOFCs work at higher temperatures, making them more tolerant to impurities. The higher operating temperature, however, can also cause materials degradation, the understanding of which is the focus of Fergus’ work. Auburn University is partnering with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to improve the performance of SOFCs, which are crucial for use in a wide variety of fuels, including hydrogen, methane, diesel, gasified coal and renewable biofuels, to supplement the use of oil. Polymer and Fiber Through a grant from the Air Force Research Laboratory, faculty member Yasser Gowayed, along with a team of researchers from the Department of Polymer and Fiber Engineering, is designing and constructing a high-temperature capable, lightweight blades for gas turbine engines. The blades are constructed from advanced ceramic matrix composites (CMC), which can operate 400-800 degrees Fahrenheit hotter and 75-200 pounds lighter than traditional metal engines. Using the blades can reduce fuel usage and Schematics of Gowayed’s lightweight blade models. engine size, decrease gas emissions, extend range, reduce operational cost and increase payload. The college is working with Goodrich Company, Rolls Royce North America Technologies and the Southern Research Institute to build physical models of the blades to better understand the material’s mechanical and thermal responses and enhance their load-carrying capacity and resistance to the operating environment. 23
Page 1: AUBURN engineering Fall/Winter 2009
Page 4 and 5: 2 One hundred years ago - in the 19
Page 6 and 7: 4 � letter �rom �ean �ilmor
Page 8 and 9: 6 Alums who return to Auburn are al
Page 10 and 11: 8 unexpectedly just before the star
Page 12 and 13: 10 The view from Samford Hall, 1905
Page 14 and 15: 12 Anthony Foster McKissick 1892-18
Page 16 and 17: 14 Like Father, Like Son by Beth Sm
Page 18 and 19: THEN NOW By Cheryl Cobb Education m
Page 20 and 21: 18 Marvin “Pip” Pipkin Chemical
Page 22 and 23: Into the lab 20 Chemical A team of
Page 26 and 27: 24 Each fall, the Auburn Alumni Eng
Page 28: 26 2008 Homecoming Alumni BBQ Aubur
Page 31 and 32: Photos by Sarah Harriage Its final
Page 33 and 34: the design process, the teams condu
Page 35 and 36: 1960 The Samuel Ginn College of Eng
Page 37 and 38: membership in the NAE, one of the h
Page 39 and 40: And the rankings are in . . . Each
Page 41 and 42: SC: A real, live goat inside Haley
Page 43 and 44: ENGINEERING Spirit Store www.eng.au

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