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Feature Story121.Dean Cammy Abernathy and Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan receivingproclamation from city for Mechanic Arts Day2.Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan and John J. Benton (son of founding DeanJohn R. Benton)100 th Anniversaryof Mechanical Engineering at UFPhotos by Evelyn HempThe Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineeringcelebrated their 100-year anniversary over the weekend ofNovember 6-7, 2009. The milestone anniversary celebrationwas held in conjunction with the College of Engineering’s “100Years of Gator Engineering” yearlong centennial celebration.3

33.Jimmy Lu, Bala, and Sung Lu (Professor Emeritus of MAE)4.Erich Farber Professor Emeritus of MAE5.Carl Van Ness (Official University of Florida Historian), Gene Hemp(Vice Provost Emeritus and Emeritus Professor of MAE), Mayor PegeenHanrahan, John J. Benton454

Faculty NewsProfessor John Schueller and German colleagues organized a special event in northern Germany for 22 leading agriculturalmachinery engineering experts from ten countries in early November. They visited the main factories of five leading equipmentmanufacturers, participated in the Landtechnik AgEng 2009 conference, and were among the over 350,000 attendees at theAgritechnica show in Hannover. The visit was sponsored by Section III of the International Commission of Agricultural andBiosystems Engineering (CIGR), which Schueller chairs. (Professor Schueller is pictured in the center of the photo).Two Machine Tool Research Centerfaculty receive four new NSFgrantsHitomi Greenslet and Tony Schmitz,MTRC director, were awarded a grantentitled “Surface Functionalization byMagnetic Field Assisted Finishing”. Thegoal of the study is to produce surfaceswith characteristics in the nanometerto micrometer range that enable desiredfunctionality for complex-shapedcomponents. Surface generation willbe realized using a magnetic field tolocally manipulate abrasives, which causematerial removal and surface deformation.Tony Schmitz and Burak Ozdoganlar,Carnegie Mellon University, received agrant entitled “Collaborative Research:Unified Three-Dimensional DynamicModeling for Drilling and Milling ToolAssemblies (STaRC-3D)”. The objectiveof this study is to advance the drilling/milling modeling community by makingavailable a new analytical framework forpredicting the coupled torsional/axialand non-axisymmetric bending dynamicsof drilling/milling tool-holder-spindlemachineassemblies in an accurate andnumerically efficient fashion.Tony Schmitz and Ali Abbas, Universityof Illinois at Urbana-Champagne,received the grant “CollaborativeResearch: Applying Bayesian PredictiveModeling and Decision Theory toL to R: Alfred C. Loos, President of ASC; Sankar; and Anthony Deraco ofDEStech Publishing Co.Bhavani V. Sankar is the recipient of the 2009 ASC/DEStech Awardgiven by the American society for Composites. The award is sponsoredby Destech Publishing Co., a major publisher of books and conferenceproceedings in the area of composites.Milling Profit Optimization underUncertainty”. The objective ofthis research is to establish a newparadigm for the selection of optimalmilling parameters under uncertainty.The new approach combines Bayesianpredictive modeling and decisiontheory from mathematics, economics,and operations research with modelingcapabilities from machiningscience research and representsa fundamental departure fromdeterministic, model-based selectionof milling parameters to a morerealistic approach that incorporatesthe inherent uncertainty in modelpredictions.6

Photo by NASAMISSEPEC 7BMISSE 7ExPA & FSEMISSEPEC 7AOur Spring 2009 newsletter featured a pictorial of Professor Greg Sawyerand his students working to install their tribometers on the MaterialsInternational Space Station Experiments 7 (MISSE 7). On November 16,2009, the MISSE 7 was successfully launched aboard Space Shuttle AtlantisSTS 129. Sawyer, his family and some of his students attended the launch atKennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL. continue page 8Space Shuttle Atlantis STS 129 asviewed from the International SpaceStation prior to docking. The MISSE PECExperiments 7a and 7b are in the front ofthe cargo bay and the Express LogisticsCarrier (ExPa).Tony Schmitz was awarded a grant to organize aworkshop entitled “Uncertainty in Machining”. Theaim of the workshop is to assemble experts frommachining science, mathematics, economics, andoperations research to identify areas of opportunityfor the multi-disciplinary treatment of uncertainty inmachining and other manufacturing operations. It willbe held in Arlington, VA from February 24-26, 2010.Professor Hitomi Greenslet received the certificateof Merit for Excellent Paper of the Conference, 3rdJSME/ASME International Conference on Materialsand Processing, September 14, 2009. The award wasgiven by the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineersfor the paper entitled, “Study of magnetic fieldassisted finishing of quartz wafers.” Authors: HitomiYamaguchi (Greenslet), Kazuki Yumoto, TakeoShinmura, and Takahiko Okazaki.7

Photo by NASASTS-129 Astronauts on a space walk. During the third space walk the MISSE 7 experiments were installed and turnedon. All 8 tribometers successfully turned on and began making measurements in space. On the top right of the imagethe Express Logistics Carrier can be seen attached to the ISS.CurieT H EL e c t u r e S E R I E SThe Curie Lecture was established in honor of MarieCurie. She was both a physicist and chemist and the firstfemale winner (1903) of the Nobel Prize. Marie Curie isstill the only person who has been awarded the prize intwo different areas of science.Christine OrtizAssociate ProfessorMaterials Science and EngineeringMassachusetts Institute ofTechnologyDr. Christine Ortiz presented“Natural Armor: An Encyclopediaof Protective Engineering Designs”for the 2009 Curie Lecture, heldDecember 10. This annual seriesbrings prominent women engineers to visit the department. Ortizholds a B.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an M.S.and Ph.D. from Cornell University all in the field of materialsscience and engineering. She has 100+ scientific publications inmore than 20 different academic Journals and has given morethan 100 invited national and international lectures. For a detailedlook at Dr. Ortiz’s research please visit: http://dmse.mit.edu/faculty/faculty/cortiz8

Student NewsVijay Chandrasekharan, a Ph.D. studentof Professor Mark Sheplak, developed amicroelectronic systems (MEMS)-basedcapacitive wall shear stress sensor forturbulence measurements as part of hisdissertation. Chandrasekharan graduatedin May 2009 and is now a postdoctoralresearch associate at UF. The sensor consistsof a tethered floating element structure withcomb fingers for electromechanical transduction. Thedevice employs silicon-micromachining techniques todevelop a metal-plated, differential capacitive floatingelementbased design. A simple fabrication process withtwo lithography steps is used with deep reactive ionetching on silicon on insulator wafer. Chandrasekharan’scurrent research focuses on further development totransition the shear stress sensor to wind tunnel facilities atNASA with an ultimate goal to conceive a commerciallyviable product.Chandrasekharan recently also received one of thethirteen national post doctorial entrepreneurial fellowshipsawarded by the Kauffman Foundation. The award, givenby the Ewing Marion Kauffman, is a yearlong fellowshipprogram that uses entrepreneurship education andmentorship to equip the Fellows to commercialize theirscientific discoveries. In addition to providing a salary andbenefits to support the Fellows’ research, the KauffmanFoundation has matched each Fellow with an academicadvisor to mentor him/her on matters beyond research,and an experienced investor or corporate leader to serveas a business mentor. During the Fellowship year, eachFellow also will undertake an industry internship suitedto his or her research interests and objectives. Stemmingfrom his inclination towards MEMS technology,Chandrasekharan’s research interestsinclude MEMS sensor and actuator design,modeling, fabrication, and characterization.Chandrasekharan envisions a viable startupcompany in pursuit of his entrepreneurialambitions by commercializing his work in theemerging market for MEMS products withapplications in various fields such as aerospace,environment and medical sciences.Tyler Holley, Mechanical Engineering, has beennamed a UF Honorable Mention for OutstandingStudent Leadership, to be presented at Fall 09graduation.Hyo Soo Kim, a Ph.D. student supervised by TonySchmitz, was awarded the 2009 Korean GraduateStudent Research Award from UF’s KoreanScholastic Excellence Fund. The award included acash prize of $500.Baron Johnson received the AIAA Best StudentPaper Award for Atmospheric Flight Mechanicsat the 2009 AIAA Atmospheric Flight MechanicsConference held in Chicago in August 2009. Hispaper was entitled “Characterizing Wing Rock as aFunction of Size and Configuration of Vertical Tail”.Johnson is a 3rd-year PhD student working withProfessor Rick Lind. His email is vertguy@ufl.edu9

Student NewsPersonnel from the Machine ToolResearch Center (http://mtrc.mae.ufl.edu) participated in a group serviceproject through the Rebuilding TogetherNorth Central Florida, Inc. program onDecember 12, 2009. Faculty and studentsworked together to complete internal andexternal home repairs at a site north ofGainesville. The group leader was AndrewRiggs, an M.S. student supervised by Dr.Tony Schmitz. The MTRC group wasfeatured on the local CBS six o’clock newsfor their workRebuilding Together NCF (RTNCF) isa home repair organization dedicated toaddressing substandard housing needs innorth central Florida. RTNCF strives toincrease safety, security, and well-beingfor low income residents by providing amechanism for volunteers to get involvedin rebuilding efforts. Volunteers of all skilllevels are trained to help meet significanthousing requirements throughout AlachuaCounty. Home repair enables low-incomeresidents to remain in their homesand communities, giving them a firmfoundation for continuing a successful life.For more information, visit the RTNCFwebsite at: www.rebuildingtogetherncf.org.Joint Ph.D. ProgramThe department is graduating the second and third students with joint Ph.D.degrees between UF and the School of Mines at St. Etienne in France(EMSE). The School of Mines is one of the prestigious "grands ecoles" inFrance and was founded by Napoleon. The two students, Victor Picheny andChristian Gogu, spent approximately two years at UF and two years at theEMSE. They had each a chair and co-chair of their committee at UF (RafiHaftka and Nam-Ho Kim for Picheny and Rafi Haftka and Bhavani Sankarfor Gogu). In addition each had a chair and co-chair in France.It might seem that having so many professors to answer to would be hard onthe students. However, the benefits far outweighed any strife. Picheny andGogu worked and published papers with additional professors both at UFand in France (see their publications on the Structural and MultidisciplinaryOptimization at www.mae.ufl.edu/~mdo). Picheny has, in addition,spent a summer in Venezuela, and has been collaborating with ProfessorNestor Queipo from the University of Zulia in Venezuela (who is in activecollaboration with Professors Haftka, Kim, and B.J. Fregly in MAE).The joint PHD program graduated its first student in 2006, and while thefirst three students to complete it so far are French, the next student in theprogram, Diane Villanueva, obtained her BSAE in the department and hasbeen a graduate student at UF since June 2008. She will go to France nextAugust to complete the French part of the program.Besides the obvious benefit to the students of getting a degree withinternational cachet, this unique program has strengthened the research donefor the degree. The French professors provided more rigorous mathematicalfoundations for the research, while the UF advisors provided moreengineering know how and algorithmic creativity.10

AIAA participating in threecompetitions for Spring 2010The first competition, Design Build Fly,requires students to build an airplane thatcan demonstrate an ability to transporta variety of loads (softballs and batsthis year). Students are studying designoptimization for geometry and structuresand propulsion for this project and thenare actually building the vehicle for flighttesting.For the second competition, the HybridRocket Team is competing in a maximumaltitudecompetition to build and fly arocket with a class-g motor (typicallyaltitudes around 2000 ft are reached bythis size of motor). This team received$1000 from NASA to support theiractivities. They are optimizing their designbased on material/geometry for tail finsand nose cone.In the third competition, another UFrocket team is competing in the UniversityStudent Launch Initiative that will build alarge rocket to carry a scientific payload to5280 ft altitude. The rocket is considerablelarger so the team must formulate reportsfor design reviews and safety plans. Thepayload will be various types of straingages to evaluate their behavior underhigh-g loading impulses. Rick Lind is thefaculty advisor for AIAA.Papers presented at annual American Society forPrecision Engineering conferenceTony Schmitz, his students, and co-authors from UF, AgilentTechnologies, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne,and the National Institute of Standards and Technology presentedseven papers at the annual ASPE conference in Monterey, CA,October 4-9, 2009. The papers were entitled:Kumanchik, L., Schmitz, T., and Pratt, J., Validation of CantileverShape Analysis for Force MeasurementSchluchter, C., Chu, D., Ganguly, V., and Schmitz, T., RealtimePeriodic Error Compensation with Low/Zero Velocity ParameterUpdatesKim, H.S., Schmitz, T., and Rueff, M., Size Reduction ofAcousto-optic Modulator-based Heterodyne Displacement MeasuringInterferometer (AOM DMI)Traverso, M., Zapata, R., Schmitz, T., and Abbas, A.,Developing a Predictive Model for Milling StabilityMauntler, N., Mukras, S., Kim, N.H., Sawyer, W.G., andSchmitz, T., Kinematic and Dynamic Behavior of a Wearing Joint ina Crank-slider MechanismKarandikar, J., Zapata, R., and Schmitz, T., The MillingDynamics “Super Diagram”: Combining Stability, Surface LocationError, Tool Wear, and UncertaintySchmitz, T. and Graziano, A., Application of Receptance Couplingto Torsional and Axial Frequency Response Prediction.Bo Gao, a PhD student working with Professors Scott Banks (MAE), Nigel Zheng (Orthopaedics) andPeter Gearen (Orthopaedics), developed new techniques to accurately measure bone and joint motion bycompensating for motion of the overlying layers of skin and muscle (Left). Study subjects were examinedsimultaneously using x-ray video and optical motion capture to validate methods for soft-tissue motioncompensation (Right). These new methods will permit more accurate non-invasive measures of knee motions,with a particular emphasis on diagnosing sports injuries like anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries.11

Dr. Robert B. Gaither — in his own wordsChairman of Mechanical Engineering, University of Florida 1965-1992as told to Patricia Gaither, daughter“With a PhD in Physics and Mechanical Engineering from the Universityof Illinois, I headed to teach rocket engine design and plasma physics insouth Florida’s West Palm Beach area near Pratt & Whitney. At thattime, there was no on e in Florida who could help NASA reach the goalof landing a man on the moon within the decade. Two years later, I endedup in the middle of the state, at the University of Florida in Gainesville, asChairman of the Mechanical Engineering Department.When I arrived at the University of Florida, all engineering was housed inone building, across from the stadium. There were also a few offices dispersedacross the campus, I believe. Of about five or six faculty, only one understoodthe concepts of plasma physics, Dr. Erich Farber. Dr. Farber, a premiersolar energy expert, was one of several key individuals helping me shape thedepartment with an eye toward aerospace and new mechanical engineeringapplications. There was no PhD program. I hired in Dick Irey and DougHseih, whose doctoral specialties were machine design, fluid mechanics, andheat transfer, to develop one. We ended up with several students winningmedals from NASA.We had some great people. Dr. Vernon Roan was one of the smartest guysaround. He got his Master’s in ME from the University of Florida, and wentto Illinois to get his PhD in Aerospace before he came back to us to teach.Benton Hall and Annex circa 191812

Roan was also known for building one ofthe first electric buses. There were manyothers who contributed to the excellence ofthe department. Everyone appreciated thebeautiful and accurate glassblowing skillsof Ed Logsdon in the lab, for example. Irecall Alex Green, who (still) contributesto research in alternative applicationsof coal technology, Hal Ingman inthermodynamics and fluid mechanics(and athlete who helped us facultyimmeasurably in the student-facultygames), and Jacunski in graphics. The firstperson to get his PhD in our programwas Ken Soderstrom, a visiting professorfrom the University of Puerto Rico. I alsoremember Linda Volpi, and outstandingmechanical engineer at a time when therewere few women in engineering.After a time, we moved into a muchneedednew building. The last half of thecentury was an amazing time. We hadengineering fairs that began in the earlydays with students inside foil-coveredcardboard boxes pretending to be robots,and ended up with plasma experiments,turbine engine designs, lasers, andreal robotics. We linked up with otherdepartments to take advantage of growingsynergies in industry. As we realized theimportance of the interconnectednessof the various engineering disciplines,we reached out to other groups andincluded emphasis on newer applicationssuch as biomechanical engineering andceramic materials design. Dr. BettyAbbot, also with the University, althoughnot in the ME department) joined mein promoting and partnering with theFlorida Foundation for Future Scientists,an organization formed by the state ofFlorida to encourage careers in science andengineering.I am grateful to each and every one of thepeople who contributed to making ourMechanical Engineering Department aworld-class institution. One of the thingsthat meant most to me over the years wasthe strong loyalty and dedication of thefaculty and administrative personnel to theUniversity and to our department goals offostering an equitable balance of educationand research.“Benton Hall looking north with Peabody Hall in the backgroundBob Gaither and graduate student Charles W. Greene (PhD 1968)13

2009-2010 MAE Outstanding Alumnus AwardFor the academic year 2009-2010 we encouragenominations for both the MAE OutstandingYoung Alumnus Award and the MAEOutstanding Alumnus Award. These awardsare the highest honor the department bestowsupon an alumnus/a, and are in recognition ofa particular achievement of noteworthy value,a series of such achievements, or a career ofnoteworthy accomplishments.The Outstanding Young Alumnus Awardrecognizes the budding accomplishments ofyoung alumni under the age of 40 on April 1stof the year they will be bestowed the award.The Outstanding Alumnus Award is establishedto recognize the significant accomplishments ofsenior alumni.Nomination forms are due by January 31, 2010and will be evaluated by an award committee.Decisions will be reached by February 19,2010, and the awards will be bestowed on theawardees at the MAE Annual Awards Banqueton April 9, 2010. We request the nominationprocess to be discreet and without theinvolvement of the nominee.Nominations can be done over the web at www.mae.ufl.edu/MAE-OAAor mailed toMAE Outstanding Alumnus AwardDepartment of Mechanical & AerospaceEngineering231 MAE-A, PO Box 116250Gainesville, FL, 32611.Alumni UpdatesWe would like to extend thanks to our most recent alumni who updated their profiles via our newon-line form. If you have not had a chance to check out our new MAE web page, which includes ouron-line alumni update form, please do so. The web page is at www.mae.ufl.edu, and the form can beaccessed directly at www.mae.ufl.edu/alumni/request/index.phpDonald R. Baker, BSME 1961, resides inLawndale, CA. He retired in 1980.David Goshorn, BSME 1995, resides inHamilton, OH. He is a Senior Engineer atGE Aviation.Kathik Srinivasan, SMDM 2008,resides in Orange Park, FL. He is aSenior Design Engineer at SandvikMining and Construction.Elizabeth (Santana) Mariano, BSAE1992, resides in Boca Raton, FL. Sheis a Senior Equipment Manager at CITAerospace, an aircraft leasing companythat specializes in the worldwide leasingof Airbus and Boeing aircraft. Marianois pursuing an MBA at Nova SoutheasternUniversity, Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Sheand her husband Vincent Mariano havea 19-month old boy and are expecting ababy girl in April 2010.Dustin McLarty, BSAE 2009 residesin Irvine, CA. He is attending graduateschool at the University of CaliforniaIrvine and is working as a lifeguard atHuntington Beach, CA.Bob North, BSAE 1991, resides inState College, PA. He is a Research andDesign Engineer at the Applied ResearchLab at Penn State University.Greg Nott, BSAE 1986, resides inAvondale Estates, GA. He works as aResidential Architect for Park Heydt andAssociates.Paul L. Nunez, BSAE 1962 & MSAE1963, resides in Covington, LA. Nunezreceived his Ph.D in Engineering Physics atthe University of California at San Diego in1969 and continued postdoctoral trainingin the neurosciences at UCSD MedicalSchool from 1971-73. He is currentlyan Emeritus Professor of BiomedicalEngineering at Tulane University and thehead of Cognitive Dissonance, LLC, asmall consulting firm. His fourth book,entitled Brain, Mind and the Structure ofReality is his first book aimed at a generalaudience and will be published by OxfordPress at the end of 2009.14