Winter - Rose-Hulman

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feature innovation celebration INNOVAtion celebration February 27, 2010 Graduate Student Thomas Reives shares his Rose-Hulman experience. President Matt Branam, left, and Sara Erhart, president of the Student Government Association, present the inaugural “Excellence in Innovation” award to Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. Former President Samuel F. Hulbert tells the crowd that Rose-Hulman’s best days are ahead. More than 700 people pack the Indiana Roof Ballroom in downtown Indianapolis for the “Leading the Next Decade of Innovation” celebration. President Matt Branam, center, visits with Nico Bastolla and his father, Mike. Rose-Hulman Ventures helped develop a minimally invasive surgery tool that removed a tumor from Nico’s brain. Dinner Chairman James Baumgardt unveils a memorial tribute to the late Dr. August “Gus” M. Watanabe, M.D., who played a role in launching applied biology at Rose-Hulman. Participating in the unveiling is Watanabe’s widow, Peg Watanabe. 22 Winter 2010
feature innovation Out of This World Technology Benzing Helps Invent ‘Spring Tire’ For Moon, Possibly Earth Jim Benzing was dreaming of becoming an engineer the last time America had a vehicle riding across the surface of the moon. Now, his ingenuity and can-do spirit have helped The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) develop an airless tire to transport large, long-range vehicles across the surface of the moon—and possibly revolutionize transportation on Earth, too. Benzing, a 1977 mechanical engineering alumnus, served as Goodyear’s lead innovator on the new “Spring Tire,” designed to carry much heavier vehicles over much greater distances than the wire mesh tire previously used on the Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). The new tire will allow for broader exploration and the eventual development and maintenance of a lunar outpost. The tire was installed on NASA’s Lunar Electric Rover test vehicle and put through its paces at the Johnson Space Center’s “Rock Yard” in Houston, where it performed successfully. Further testing is under way. “This tire is extremely durable and extremely energy efficient,” notes Benzing, a principal engineer with Goodyear. “The spring design contours to the surface on which it’s driven to provide traction. But all of the energy used to deform the tire is returned when the springs rebound. It doesn’t generate heat like a normal tire.” Development of the original Apollo lunar mission tires, and the new Spring Tire, were driven by the fact that traditional rubber pneumatic (air-filled) tires used on earth have little utility on the moon. This is because rubber properties vary significantly between the extreme cold and hot temperatures experienced in the shaded and directly sunlit areas of the moon. Furthermore, unfiltered solar radiation degrades rubber, and pneumatic tires pose an unacceptable risk of deflation. Further complicating matters were requirements for the Spring Tire to handle 10 times the load capacity and 20 times the durability of the original lunar mission tires. This was a significant change in requirements that required innovation, according to Vivake Asnani, NASA’s principal investigator at the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. “With the combined requirements of increased load and life, we needed to Continued on page 27 The Technology behind the Spring Tire... The Spring Tire lives up to its name, with 840 load-bearing springs and an intricate wiring system allowing the tire to carry much heavier vehicles over much greater distances. The tire was designed without a single point failure mode, meaning that a hard impact that might cause a pneumatic tire to puncture and deflate would only damage one of the 840 load-bearing springs. Along with having this ultra-redundant characteristic, the tire has a combination of overall stiffness yet flexibility that allows off-road vehicles to travel rapidly fast over rough terrain with relatively little motion being transferred to the vehicle. The tire is eight inches wide, 28 inches in oval circumference and weighs 42 pounds. The tire’s characteristics are a great improvement over the wire mesh tire previously used on the Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle. The new tire will allow for broader exploration and the eventual development and maintenance of a lunar outpost. n Jim Benzing on the cutting edge. Echoes 23
Page 1 and 2: Vol. 2010, No. 1 Winter 2010-11 Stu
Page 3 and 4: IN THIS ISSUE features Building a N
Page 5 and 6: campus PRESIDENT matt branam while
Page 7 and 8: CAMPUS what’s new RECORD Freshman
Page 9 and 10: CAMPUS National Recognition FISKE G
Page 11 and 12: CAMPUS what’s new New Design Bett
Page 13 and 14: campus development Rose-Bud Program
Page 15 and 16: campus development Rose-Hulman Alum
Page 17 and 18: feature faculty of the year Elton G
Page 19 and 20: campus sports Jordan Goslee Earns H
Page 21 and 22: feature innovation celebration LEAD
Page 23: feature innovation celebration GOVE
Page 27 and 28: feature innovation Promising Future
Page 29 and 30: feature innovation “There is no b
Page 31 and 32: feature innovation Studying The Bod
Page 33 and 34: alumni development WARREN AND JOYCE
Page 35 and 36: alumni career achievement GE Succes
Page 37 and 38: By Professor Emeritus Herb Bailey P
Page 39 and 40: alumni class notes Robert Patti (EE
Page 41 and 42: alumni OBITUARIES Obituaries 1934 A
Page 43 and 44: PERFORMING ARTS SERIES 2010-2011 DE

Winter - Rose-Hulman

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