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8/8/2019 Perspective Spring 2009
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Leading engineering research, education and innovation or your world
PERSPECTIVEVOL. 35, NO. 3 SPRING 2008
INSIDE:
Annual collegegift report
Global lea
dership in engineeringeducation, research, and innovation
SPRING 2009/ Vol. 35, No. 3
College of engineering University o Wisconsin-Madison
In early April, Adam Wilson posted a status update on the social
networking website Twitterjust by thinking about it.
Just 23 characters long, his message, using EEG to send tweet,
demonstrates a natural, manageable way in which locked-in
patients can couple brain-computer interace technologies with
modern communication tools.
Wilson, who earned his PhD in biomedical engineering in May,
is among a growing group o researchers worldwide who aim to
perect a communication system or users whose bodies do not
work, but whose brains unction normally. Among those are people
who have ALS, brainstem stroke or high spinal cord injury.
Some brain-computer interace systems employ an electrode-
studded cap wired to a computer. The electrodes detect electrical
signals in the brainessentially, thoughtsand translate them into
physical actions, such as a cursor motion on a computer screen.We started thinking that moving a cursor on a screen is a good
scientic exercise, says Biomedical Engineering Assistant Proessor
Justin Williams and Wilsons advisor. But when we talk to people
who have locked-in syndrome or a spinal cord injury, their No. 1 concern
is communication.
In collaboration with Research Scientist Gerwin Schalk and colleagues
at the Wadsworth Center in Albany, New York, Williams and Wilson
began developing a simple, elegant communication interace based
on brain activity related to changes in an object on screen.
The interace consists, essentially, o a keyboard displayed on a
computer screen. The way it works is that all the letters come up, and
each one o them fashes individually, says Williams. What your brain
does is, i youre looking at the R on the screen and all the other letters
are fashing, nothing happens. But when the R fashes, your brain says,
Hey, wait a minute. Somethings dierent about what I was just paying
attention to. And you see a momentary change in brain activity.
Wilson, who used the interace to post the Twitter update, likens
it to texting on a cell phone. You might have to press a button ourtimes to get the character you want, he says o texting. So, this can
be a slow process at rst . However, as with texting, users improve
as they practice using the interace. People are able to do up to
10 characters per minute, says Wilson.
A ree service, Twitter has been called a micro-blogging tool. User
updates, called tweets, have a 140-character limita manageable
message length that ts locked-in users capabilities, says Williams.
Tweets are displayed on the users prole page and delivered to
other Twitter users who have signed up to receive them. So, someone
could simply tell amily and riends how they re eeling today, says
Williams. People at the other end can be ollowing their thread and
never know that the person is disabled. That would really be an
enabling type o communication means or those peopleand I
think it would make them eel, in the online world, that theyre not
that much dierent rom everybody else.
Schalk agrees. This is one o the rstand perhaps most useul
integrations o brain-computer interace techniques with Internet
technologies to date, he says.
Implementation o brain-computer interace technologies is still
years down the road, but Wadsworth Center researchers, and others
in Germany, are starting in-home trials. Wilson will begin postdoctoral
research at Wadsworth and plans to include Twitter in the trials.
Williams hopes the Twitter application is the nudge researchers
need to rene development o the in-home technology. A lot o the
things that weve been doing are more scientic exercises, he says.
This is one o the rst examples where weve ound something that
would be immediately useul to a much larger community o people
with neurological decits.
Funding or the research comes rom the National Institutes o Health,
the UW-Madison Institute or Clinical & Translational Research, the UW-
Madison W.H. Coulter Translational Research Partnership in Biomedical
Engineering, and the W isconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
Leading engineering research, education and innovation
To understand riction on a very small scale, a team o UW-Madison engineers had to think big.
Friction is a orce that aects any application where moving parts come into contact; the more
surace contact there is, the stronger the orce. At the nanoscalemere billionths o a meter
riction can wreak havoc on tiny devices made rom only a small number o atoms or molecules. With
their high surace-to-volume ratio, nanomaterials are especially susceptible to the orces o riction.
Yet, researchers have trouble describing riction at such small scales because existing theories are not
consistent with how nanomaterials actually behave. Through computer simulations, the UW-Madison
group demonstrated that riction at the atomic level behaves similarly to riction generated between
large objects. Five hundred years ater Leonardo da Vinci discovered the basic riction laws or large
objects, the team has shown that similar laws apply at the nanoscale.
Models present anew view of
nanoscale friction
Atom-level view of the nanoscale interface between amorphous carbon and diamond.At such a small scale, the suraces are rough, although researchers have been treating them as smooth.
IN THIS ISSUE
6
8
9
13
Innovation Day
pp. 6-7
Tweet, tweet: Look, no hands!Researchers use brain interface to post to Twitter
Student Leo Walton wearingthe electrode cap. Adam Wilson(seated in the oreground) andJustin Williams (standing).
Sleep improvementapplication wins at
innovation competition
Clean sweepor UW-Madisonsnowmobile team
Engineering EXPOsparks studentsinterest in science
College o EngineeringGIFT REPORT
(Continued on page 5)
8/8/2019 Perspective Spring 2009
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Setting and maintaining a strategic course is important or all
institutions, and especially or an institution as complex as the
University o Wisconsin-Madison. Given the global economic
turmoil and major societal challenges, UW-Madison must be
orward thinking in how it serves the greater public good.
In her rst year here, Chancellor Carolyn Biddy
Martin has led the university in setting strategic
priorities. A new strategic ramework completed
this spring, For Wisconsin and the World,outlines six core themes that will guide campus
decision-making or the near uture.
In the College o Engineering, this new
strategic plan gives us an opportunity to re-
examine our own priorities and assess the align-
ment with campus goals. I am pleased to report
that the college not only contributes greatly to the
six themes, but in selected places is demonstrating
leadership that is a model or the campus.
One o the top university priorities should come as no surprise:
Provide an exemplary undergraduate education.This has been an
area o intense ocus in the college over the past decade. We have
made major investments to give our students more hands-on,
technology-rich learning experiences. We are increasing the
scientic and engineering depth o the education we oer, while
providing more breadth, obtained by expanding interdisciplinarylearning experiences and oering new certicate programs in
business and the humanities. We are expanding the opportunities
or our students to develop their leadership skills and their innovation
and entrepreneurial capabilities.
These investments are producing a generation o engineers who
are critical thinkers, good communicators, uture leaders and global
citizens equipped to participate in a culturally interconnected world.
We also ground our students in meaningul real-world experience:
More than 800 students participate each year in our highly networked
cooperative and internship programs.
A Message from the Dean
Masters awarded nearly $1.7M from NIH
Biomedical Engineering Assistant Proessor Kristyn Masters has received $1.67 million over ve years rom the National Instituteso Health National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute or her project, Creating engineered models o valvular disease to study
anti-calcic therapies. With Mechanical Engineering Assistant Proessor Kevin Turner and University o Pitt sburgh BiomedicalEngineering Proessor Michael Sacks, Masters will use tissue-engineering techniques to pro duce physiologically relevant in vitromodels o diseased heart valves, and then use these disease models as platorms or testing t herapeutic treatments such asstatin drugs. The researchers hope that the tailored diseased valve environments will oer a controlled and readily availableculture system or studying the eects o various agents on valve unction and elucidating biological mechanisms that contributeto the progression o native valve disease.
Project HealthDesign funding continued
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has approved $5.3 million to continue unding or Project HealthDesign, an initiativedesigned to create a new generation o personal health record systems led by Lillian S. Moehlman-Bascom Proessor o Industrialand Systems Engineering and Nursing Patti Brennan. The grant, which brings total projec t unding to approximately $10 million,will support a program that engages our to six grantee teams to demonstrate how to improve peoples heath by enabling them
to record, interpret and act on health inormation that emerges in the course o their daily living. An import ant component othe new project will be to demonstrate how these observations o daily living can be integrated into the clinical practiceworkfow, helping patients and clinicians best manage chronic illness.
Engineers elected society fellows
Within the past ew months, several College o Engineering aculty were named ellows o societies in their elds:
The American Society o Civil Engineers chose Civil & Environmental Engineering Proessor Teresa Adams or election
to ellow. Adams research interests include inrastructure asset management, geographic inormation systems in trans-portation, location reerencing systems, spatial/temporal data modeling or transportation, and bridge management.
Steenbock Proessor o Chemical and Biological Engineering James Dumesic was among our UW-Madison scholars
elected to the American Academy o Ar ts and Sciences 2009 class o ellows. A member o the National Academyo Engineering, Dumesic is renowned or research in kinetics and catalysis, surace and solid-state chemistry.
Erwin W. Mueller Proessor and Bascom Proessor o Surace Science Max Lagally was elected ellow o theMaterials Research Society. Lagally has conducted groundbreaking research in both new and established areaso surace science.
Biomedical Engineering Proessor and Chair Robert Radwin (also industrial and systems engineering and orthopedicsand rehabilitation) was elected ellow o the American Industrial Hygiene Association. Radwin was re cognized orhis research in occupational biomechanics and ergonomics on musculoskeletal disorders in the workplace.
Engineering Proessional Development (EPD) and Mechanical Engineering Proessor Douglas Reindl was electedellow o the American Society o Heating, Rerigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. Reindl has contributed to
industrial rerigeration education through a series o proessional practice courses he oers through EPD that ocuson industrial ammonia rerigeration systems.
Industrial and Systems Engineering Proessor Emeritus Stephen Robinson was elected ellow o the Society orIndustrial and Applied Mathematics. A member o the National Academy o Engineering, Robinson is a pioneer odecision science and stochastic optimization.
Engineering Physics and Mathematics Proessor Leslie Smith was named ellow o the American Physical Society.The honor recognizes her important contributions to the understanding o turbulence in engineering and geophysicalfows through theory and numerical simulations.
Paul S. Peercy, Dean
COLLEGE NEWS
PINPOINTOther examples o selected campus priorities where the College
o Engineering excels include:
Living the Wisconsin Idea.The college is home to 16 industrial
consortia that allow our aculty, sta and students to spur
innovation and share expertise with nearly 300 member
companies. These relationships with industry are
making Wisconsin companies more competitive
and helping the state become better prepared to
reap the benets o the knowledge economy.One o our newest corporate partners, Vestas,
illustrates the power and potential o these con-
sortium relationships. The worlds leading wind
energy company chose the college because o its
stellar research program in power electronics and
its network o more than 60 companies in the
Wisconsin Electric Machines & Power Electronics
Consortium. Through this partnership, our students and
aculty are positioned to become major contributors to a
rapidly growing energy generation source (ull story on back page).
Investing in areas o highest research potential.The College o
Engineering continues to strengthen its impressive research
programs and also has orged a strong public-interest research
agenda ocused on national priorities such as energy, healthcare,
transportation inrastructure, nanotechnology and environmental
sustainability. We are breaking down disciplinary boundaries in highereducation. For example, the UW Energy Institute brings together
more than 50 aculty and sta members rom multiple disciplines
to address challenges such as sustainable energy generation,
distribution, consumption, conservation, economics and policy.
The Materials Science Research and Engineering Center and the
Nanoscale Science Engineering Center have ormal research
relationships with more than 60 campus partners.
I am also pleased that UW-Madison is supportive o the
College o Engineering goals, achievements and strategic direction.
This mutual support serves our students, sta and aculty well.
Aligning agreat college
with a great
university
Vaccine-deliverytechnology licensed
FluGen Inc., an emerging leader in development, production and delivery o infuenza
vaccines and related products, announced in late March that it w ill license patentedvaccine-delivery technology developed by Biomedical Engineering ProessorDavid Beebe and colleagues. With unding rom the Department o BiomedicalEngineering W.H. Coulter Foundation Translational Research Partnership award,Beebes team developed the technology, a disposable, palm-sized patch that
adheres to the skin and combines a microfuidic pump and microneedle array todeliver drugs. Based on the technology, Beebe and colleagues ormed the medicaldevice spino company Ratio.
UW-Madison computer scientistelected to national academy
A UW-Madison proessor is among 65 engineers andnine oreign associates elected to the National Academyo Engineering (NAE) in 2009. Gurindar (Guri) Sohi,John P. Morgridge Proessor and E. David Cronon Proessor has been ranked
among the most distinguished engineers in the nation, peer-elected or theirexceptional contributions to engineering research, practice or education.
Sohi joined the UW-Madison aculty in 1985 ater receiving his PhD inelectrical and computer engineering rom the University o Illinois. AtUW-Madison, he holds appointments in both the computer sciences
department, which he chaired rom 2004 to 2008, and the electrical andcomputer engineering department.
His research on high-perormance computer system design has led topapers and patents that have infuenced both research and commercial
microprocessors. In 1987, he published a processor model that has servedas the basis or many commercial microprocessors designed and built since
the mid 1990s. Since then, his research group has made many innovativecontributions that have infuenced the design o commercial microprocessors.The NAE honors his contributions to the design o high-perormance, super-scalar computer architectures through his election to the academy.
I am proud to be a aculty member at Wisconsin, whose environment
allowed me to carry out the work or which this recognition is being given,Sohi says.
In addition to NAE, Sohi is a ellow o the Association or ComputingMachinery (ACM) and IEEE. He received the 1999 ACM SIGARCH Maurice Wilkesaward or seminal contributions in the areas o high issue rate processorsand instruction level parallelism. Founded in 1964, the NAE is a branch o the
National Academies, which also include the National Academy o Sciences,the Institute o Medicine, and the National Research Council. In addition to itsrole as advisor to the ederal government, the NAE also conducts independent
studies to examine important topics in engineering and technology.
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Think o it as the R&D lightning round: A rapid-re exchange o ideas
between University o Wisconsin-Madison researchers and 3M
Corporation R&D proessionals in April oered the chance to spark
new research collaborations.
During an April 22 technology exchange between UW-Madison
and the global technology company, nearly two-dozen UW-Madison
engineers and scientists spent the morning giving 10-minute elevator
pitches on a rich variety o research topics. Following lunch, members
o the 3M team then anned out across campus or individual lab visits,
gathering urther detail on promising research areas.
The novel event is part o a multi-year relationship between 3M and
the College o Engineering, which is one o the companys designated
key schools. About 20 scientists and engineers rom 3M participated
in the exchange.
There is just a antastic overlap between what
youre doing down here and our own research and
development interests at 3M, says Larry Wendling,
(pictured) vice president o 3M corporate research
labs based in St. Paul, Minnesota.Wendling also serves as the corporate liaison or
UW-Madison, which along with the University o
Minnesota is the companys most active academic
partner. Previous technology exchanges have resulted
in a signicant number o 3M Young Faculty Fellows being awarded to
assistant proessors at UWMadison, and sponsored research programs.
The partnership also thrives among 3M employees, where UW-Madison
has more than 320 alumni working within the 3M technical community
alone. Wendling says the success o 3M is driven by its commitment to
strong research and development. The company has developed more
than 55,000 products by ollowing a technology-driven rather than
market-driven innovation model: We develop solutions that are
looking or products that literally didnt exist beore, he says.
Name virtually any leading-edge technology pursuitdrug delivery,
sensors, fexible electronics, alternative energy, microbial detection,
nanoscale materialsand 3M has a research cluster assigned. That
diversity makes relationships with major research universities such as
UW-Madison important to 3M success.
The university oten has the gee-whiz, the eureka! advances,
Wendling said. But they may not have the understanding o what it
will take to turn that discovery into an economically viable commercial
product. You need both sides.
The April 22 presentations, mostly rom COE assistant proessors, had
gee-whiz as a pretty strong common denominator. Some examples:
Biomedical Engineering Assistant Professor Kristyn Masters is
working to move rom passive to bioactive with materials that
better incorporate drugs to treat chronic wounds;
Materials Science & Engineering Assistant Proessor Xudong Wang
described eorts to create nanoscale devices capable o harvesting
and storing energy;
Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor Frank Pfefferkorn is
working on laser-assisted manuacturing, riction-stir welding andlaser polishing o microdevices;
Electrical & Computer Engineering Assistant Professor Sumar Banerjee
is working on cyber-physical systems, or mobile computer systems
that can interace with the physical world.
While the exchanges give 3M a window into boundary-pushing
science, UW-Madison also sees valuable benets. The exchanges
have led to 3M providing research grants to non-tenured aculty, an
investment during a critical time in a young proessors research career.
The grant winners are invited to 3M headquarters each year and are
assigned mentors with the company.
A 3M graduate ellowship program also supports a number o
graduate students each year. That ellowship program was renewed
again in 2009 or a hal-dozen graduate students.
This is really aimed at making connections between our sta
scientists and the proessors here, said Wendling. This may lead to
unded research projects, but the nice thing is the university approachesthis rom a mature perspective and we do, too. The No. 1 thing is to get
that proessional contact and see where it leads us.
Lawrence Casper, assistant dean or research and technology transer,
organized the campus event, which was the ourth such exchange with
3M this decade. He says the aculty members appreciate seeing where
their work is nding relevance in industry. They can also see the really
sticky problems the company is dealing with, which they might be able
to address with ederal research, he says.
Wendling said the 3M partnership with UW-Madison is about a lot
more than geographic proximity. When I think o UW-Madison, I think
o chemical and materials science and engineering as real strengths.
And that really ts into our sweet spot rom a technology perspective.
Theres also a good cultural match, he adds. The aculty here are
really open and there arent a lot o bureaucratic constraints. Maybe its a
Midwestern thing: We deal openly and honestly and try to nd a win-win.
On April 14, 2009, nearly 50 University o Wisconsin-Madison engineering aculty, sta, students, riendsand amily members gathered or a banquet at the University o Wisconsin Foundation. A celebrationo Grainger Power Engineering Award and Fellowship recipients, the event honored nine electrical andcomputer engineering students who already are making meaningul contributions in their feld.Sponsored by The Grainger Foundation, the awards recognize students or their academic success inthe feld o power engineering. Pictured (back row, rom let): College o Engineering Dean Paul Peercy,Marcus Hammonds, Robert Sandy, Andrew Redon, Adam Anders and Jonathan Lee; (ront row) AdamHughes, Zeb Breuckman, Brenton Smith and Jerey Gobeli.
3
Congratulationsto 2009 recipients of prestigious Grainger awards
Faculty and staff receiveuniversity and UW Systemhonors
Electrical and Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering Proessor Susan Hagness was awardedthe 2009 Alliant Energy Underkofer Excellence in Teaching Award by the University o Wisconsin System.The award recognizes teaching o outstanding quality that leads to substantial intellectual grow th in
students and is given to instructor s who display an uncommon commitment to teaching and who employ especiallyeective teaching strategies.
The UW-Madison Graduate School and Vilas Trustees have awarded unding t o Biomedical Engineeringand Pharmacy Proessor Weiyuan John Kao through the Vilas Associates program. Kao and his studentswill study white blood cell signaling pathways and how they interact with di erent biomaterials, including
nanomaterials, scaolding materials or tissue regeneration, and material devices or implants such as a pacemaker orhip. They will methodically study the relationship between the material structure and t he mechanisms through which
the white blood cells are being activated. A s a Vilas Associate, Kao will receive some salary support during the summerin 2009 and 2010 and a $12,500 fexible research und each scal year.
College o Engineering Associate Dean or Research and Grainger Proessor o Nuclear Engineering GeraldKulcinski is one o our 2009 UW-Madison Hilldale Award recipients. The awards honor excellence inteaching, research and service. Kulcinski is a leader in studying the economic and environmental issues
o usion power, including examining the impact o usion on the energy marketplace, and his research has includedenergy applications, basic materials research and detailed conceptual design o usion power plants. Early in his career,Kulcinski perormed experiments on radiation damage to materials or the rst walls o usion reactors, which involvedinnovative research on neutron irradiation to steels and on pulsed-irradiation damage to usion rst-wall materials.He also helped initiate and still leads the UW-Madison Fusion Technology Institute eort on the conceptual design o
usion power plants.
Earning the Emil H. Steiger Award, Biomedical Engineering Assistant Proessor Kristyn Masters is among10 UW-Madison aculty to receive 2009 distinguished teaching awards. In 2004, her rst year on campus,Masters attended ve teaching-related workshops, initiated outreach collaboration with a loc al high school,
ormed a collaboration with the Delta Progr am in Research, Teaching and Learning, and developed two new courses.
She developed an interdisciplinary course, Political, Ethical, Social and Global Issues in BME, which oers an issues-basedapproach to learning technical concepts while training students how to be responsible scientists and science-literate
citizens. Masters is a aculty adviser or the Society o Women Engineers chapter and a member o the biomedicalengineering undergraduate curriculum committee.
Chemical and Biological Engineering Proessor Manos Mavrikakis was among nine UW-Madison aculty toreceive a Romnes Faculty Fellowship. Presented by the Graduate School and unded by the Wisconsin Alumni
Research Foundation, the ellowship recognizes recently tenured aculty and provides $50,000 in fexibleresearch unding. He is a world leader in the use o rst-principles electronic structure calculations or developing aundamental understanding o the surace reaction mechanisms and or designing catalytic materials at the atomic scale.
Engineering General Resources Assistant Dean Don Woolston received one o nine 2009 UW-Madison
academic sta excellence awards. Woolston received the Chancellors Award or Excellence in Ser vice to theUniversity or his contributions to the College o Engineering and to the UW-Madison campus. Woolston
leads the sta that provides advising, orientation, academic support, counseling and admissions services or under-graduate students in engineering. His contributions have extended to the broader campus through his role on theAthletic Board, SOAR planning team, Council on Academic Advising, A ssociated Academic Council, Wisconsin Allianceor Minority Progress, and the University Book Store board o trustees. He currently leads a UW System initiative to
enhance access to UW-Madison engineering transer students rom MATC.
College grad programs listed in latest U.S. NewsrankingsSeveral College o Engineering graduate programs are r anked among the nations best in the 2010 edition othe U.S. News and World ReportBest Graduate Schools. Not all programs are ranked every year. The College
o Engineering ranked 16th overall. Program rankings include chemical engineering (tied or th), computerengineering (tied or 12th), environmental engineering (tied or 13th), mechanical engineering (tied or 15th),biomedical/bioengineering (tied or 22nd), civil engineering (17th), electronic/electrical engineering (tied or15th), industrial engineering (10th), materials engineering (tied or 17th) and nuclear engineering (tied or third).
3M-UW technology exchangemines partnership opportunities
8/8/2019 Perspective Spring 2009
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AUW-Madison research team has developed a new method or
using nanoscale silicon that could improve devices that convert
thermal energy into electrical energy.
The team, led by Erwin W. Mueller Proessor and Bascom Proessor
o Surace Science Max Lagally, published its ndings in the March 24
issue o the journal ACS Nano.
Thermoelectric devices can use electricity to cool, or conversely
convert heat to electricity. To improve eciency in tiny thermoelectric
devices, called heterojunctions, researchers build superlattices
alternating thin layers o two dierent semiconductor materials.
Charges in multi-layer heterojunction wires travel through a periodic
electric eld that infuences their motion; however, it is dicult to
create modulation large enough to be eective with traditional
heterojunctions, Lagally says.
The UW-Madison team addressed the problem by creating a
superlattice rom a silicon nanomembrane and cutting it into ribbons.
The researchers can induce localized strain in the silicon, creating an
eective strain wave that causes charges the electric eld in the ribbon
to vary periodically. Essentially were making the equivalent o a
heterojunction superlattice with one material, says Lagally, whose
home department is materials science and engineering. Were
actually doing better with these strained regions than you can do
easily with multiple-chemical-component systems.The strained-silicon superlattices display greater electric eld
modulation than their heterojunction counterparts, so they may
improve silicon thermoelectrics near or above room temperature.
In addition, they are relatively easy to manuacture. Lagally and his
group theorize that their method could apply to any type o semi-
conductor nanomembrane. Its cool in several ways: Its a single
material, the modulation in the electric eld is bigger than what
others can make easily, and it s very straightorward, says Lagally.
Co-authors o the paper include Lagally, UW-Madison postdoctoral
associate Hing-Huang Huang, graduate students Clark Ritz and
Bozidar Novakovic, assistant scientist Frank Flack, associate scientist
Don Savage, Materials Science and Engineering Associate Proessor
Paul Evans, and Electrical and Computer Engineering Assistant
Professor Irena Knezevic, along with Decai Yu, Yu Zhang and
Proessor Feng Liu o the University o Ut ah.
The U.S. Department o Energy, the National Science Foundation
and the Air Force Oce o Scientic Research supported this work.
Silicon superlattices:New waves of thermoelectricity
New airport method takes fight66
Nowak and Parrish developed a new workfow or processing data
rom waveorm lidar, taking into account models or both distortion
and signal characteristics. The approach resulted in a robust, reliable
obstruction mapping method that addresses previous challenges
while simpliying workfow. Parrish applied the new methods to lidarsignals collected around the Madison area with great success. The
two published their results in the May 2009 issue o the Journal o
Surveying Engineering.
This is a huge advance, says Nowak. It totally revolutionizes how
well theyre able to do these automatic airborne surveys o airports.
Parrish estimates a 46-percent decrease in total obstruction survey
completion time and a 38-percent decrease in human labor time,
rom the most recent NGS lidar obstruction survey.
One o the things that makes this interesting is that its an
application, but the basic principles are part o a very important
area o signal processing rom highly distorted, incomplete or noisy
measurements. Lots o signals t this kind o rameworkMRI, or
example, says Nowak. This is a great example o how those ideas
can make a big dierence in practical application.
(Left to right): Photos, discrete lidar and waveorm lidar point-clouds ocommon airport obstructionsa tree(top)and tower(bottom)showingthe achievable point density increase using ull-waveorm data.
Rob Nowak
Max Lagally
Does a tower near an airport need a fashing beacon on top?
What sizes o planes can land on a given airstrip? Where can
a busy airport add a new runway? A new method developed by
UW-Madison engineers could quickly and eciently answer these
questions and others.
Airports need regular area surveys that map possible obstructions
to help plan construction, tree maintenance and runway approach
patterns. Typically, a surveying crew physically takes measurements
on the ground, an expensive and time-consuming process. For his
graduate studies in civil and environmental engineering, Christopher
Parrish chose to investigate another promising method o sur vey:
airborne light detection and ranging or lidar.
Lidar works similar to radar, but uses laser light as its signal. As
a surveying plane fies over the area that ocials want to map, it
sends out a laser pulse. Sensors on the plane detect the signal as the
laser refects o the suraces it encounters. Then, engineers collect
data rom all the beams that scanned a particular point in space and
map all the detected refections in a scatterplot. Ocials can use
the resulting point clouds to determine the shape, size and location
o obstructions.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations National
Geodetic Survey (NGS) has researched lidar or the past decade.
Traditionally, NGS has used discrete data, ocusing on only the initial
return o each laser pulse, or the ront edge o the return signal.Now, systems can digitally acquire and save the entire laser return,
a process known as waveorm lidarParrishs main interest.
Waveorm methods return much more inormation, creating
scatterplots with an average o 252 percent more data points.
However, in processing the ull return signal, traditional methods
require a trade o between resolution and noise. As ltering
methods try to sharpen the signal to pick out individual points o
refection, they also ampliy atmospheric noise, making it dicult
to distinguish genuine signals.
While wrestling with these issues, Parrish sought advice rom
McFarland-Bascom Proessor o Electrical & Computer Engineering
Rob Nowak. An expert in signal processing, Nowak suggested
Parrish try a dierent approach. Traditional methods ocus on what
happened to the signalthe process that distorts it, says Nowak,
but they ignore the physical characteristics o the signal itsel.
Top: A scanning electron microscopy view o ree-standingsilicon ribbons; attached at the ends, they are about 300 nanometers wide and about 20 nanometersthick. Lagallys group grew germanium quantum dots on both the top and bottom suraces o the siliconribbons. The dots organize into a regular lattice and, since they also act as stressors, they create a strain
lattice, as shown in the fnite-element analysis oa local region consisting o two neighboring dots.
8/8/2019 Perspective Spring 2009
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Sangtae Kim, director of the Morgridge Institute for Research, snaps a picture of construction work on the institute
rom the roo o the UW-Madison Computer Sciences and Statistics Building.
Lk m hs, S Km s luld k
sks. H ks h h h ss d, mpl, h
ks h s up.
The thing I remember about the corporate world, especially the
(industrial) pharmaceutical world, is high risk, high reward, says
Kim, the former UW-Madison chemical engineering professor who
was named in all 2008 to lead the Morgridge Institute or Research,
the private side o the Wisconsin Institutes or Discovery (WID). Isaw rsthand the enormous risks associated with drug discovery
and development. Many projects ail.
Kim will certainly draw on his experiences with the likes of Eli Lilly,
Pzer and Parke-Davis, where high-rolling on billion-dollar drugs
was the stu o everyday experience. His latest venture, to be sure,
is also a game o chance: sculpting a program or a private research
institute with aspirations o not just doing groundbreaking research,
but doing it on a continuum that transcends discovery by shepherding
the ruits o the laboratory to the commercial world.
Its a high-risk job, says Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director o
the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), the private,
not-or-prot organization that manages intellectual property on
behal o the university. WARF and alumni John and Tashia Morgridge
are providing the major private unding that makes the new institute
possible. An additional $50 million in state support is directed toward
the public hal o WID. Building something rom a blank slate is not
an easy task, Gulbrandsen notes. But it also is a position o greatopportunity. With the risk comes the potential or very high returns.
Many view KimSang to friends and acquaintancesas the
perect pilot or the Morgridge Institute. Amiable and sot-spoken,
Kim is known for his energy and intellect, his varied occupational
experiences, and vast network o contacts. In short, he seems to
have all the leadership qualities required to weave disparate
academic undertakingscomputational science, engineering and
biologyinto a seamless research tapestry under the Morgridge
Institute banner.
Universities are lled with really smart people. But every once in a
while you encounter someone who is head and shoulders above the
rest, observes Engineering Physics Proessor Greg
Moses, one o the people who recommended
Kim for the job. He brings together all the
dierent pieces. He walks in all these
elds. Any subject you bring up withSang, he seems to know more about it
than anyone else in the room.
Kim is indeed an accomplished
academic. Born in Korea and raised in
Canada, he received his bachelors and masters
degrees rom Caltech simultaneously. Ater obtaining
his PhD rom Princeton in 1983, he began his career at UW-Madison
as an assistant proessor and climbed the ranks to a named
proessorship and chair o what is now the Department o Chemical
and Biological Engineering. As a professor here, Kim became friends
with and established close working ties with ormer chancellor
John Wiley, who at the time was a College o Engineering
administrator and who is now the interim director o the public
Wisconsin Institute or Discovery.
Kim left UW-Madison in 1997 to work for major pharmaceutical
companies and joined the Purdue aculty in 2003. He is a member
o the National Academy o Engineering. His university pedigreegives him the street credentials hell need to engage the UW-Madison
community in ways that match the sweeping vision o the Morgridge
Institute and the larger Wisconsin Institutes or Discovery.
His experiences also include an 18-month stint at the National
Science Foundation, where he led the charge to transorm the
agencys national science and engineering inormation technology
network into an integrated system better suited to the modern
scientic enterprise.
I think were ortunate to have him, says Gulbrandsen. He
has great academic experience. He has government experience.
He has worked in industry.
5
For Kim, calculated riskis all in the game
The team, led by Materials Science & Engineering Assistant Proessor
Izabela Szluarska and including materials science & engineering graduate
student Yifei Mo and Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor Kevin
Turner, published its ndings in the February 26 issue o the journal Nature.
Current nanoscale riction theories are based on the idea that nanoscale
suraces are smoothyet in reality, the suraces resemble a mountain
range, where each peak corresponds to an atom or a molecule.
The UW-Madison team perormed computer simulations that looked
at nanoscale materials as a collec tion o atoms, monitoring their positions
and interactions throughout the entire sliding process. For the rst time,
we modeled riction at length scales very similar to experiments, while
maintaining atomic resolution and realistic interactions between atoms, say Szluarska.
The team discovered simple laws o nanoscale riction. They ound that riction is proportional to the
number o atoms that interact between two nanoscale suraces. The researchers simulations showed
For now, it is Kims academic experience and his intimate knowledge
o the culture o the big research universityand o W isconsins
research landscape in particularthat may serve him best. Morgridge,
like its sister institute, the public Wisconsin Institute or Discovery,
is intended to be bigger than just a building or a research program.
The intent is to make both institutes integral parts o the abric o
the university.
The biggest challenge in the short term is managing the scientic
community. The institute appearing on the scene as a new opportunity
leads to a lot o expectations, and university and state budgets make
for a very challenging environment, says Kim.
On the opportunity side o the ledger is the
chance to build on an intellectual property
model that is the envy o universities
everywhere: Wisconsin and WARFare viewed as the gold standard or
technology transer. We have an
opportunity to take something thats
already been successul and take it to a
whole new level.
Art Ellis, a ormer UW-Madison chemistry proessor
who is now the vice president or research at the University o
California, San Diego, and who worked with Kim at the National
Science Foundation, says Kim has the background and moxie to
orge a new intellectual model in the Morgridge setting.
Sang has a deep understanding o intellectual property and
technology transer that will help him bridge the proound dier-
ences in academic, government and corporate cultures, Ellis says.
Kim believes the emerging programmatic structure of Morgridge
is the platorm that will help the institute, WARF and the university
more eectively capitalize on scientic discovery. Now, the plan
or Morgridge calls or a central theme o discovery to delivery.The discovery platorm will be built around two research strengths
o UW-Madison, regenerative medicine and virology. The element
of delivery, Kim explains, involves a chain of opportunity from the
point o discovery to application.
Throughout the discovery-to-delivery chain, there are multiple
research opportunities, he notes. The notion o using stem cells
as crucibles or drug discovery, or instance, is one that could be
supported by engineering new nanoscale suraces or culturing cells,
and bioinormatics research to help predict ecacy and saety.
According to Gulbrandsen, Kims six-year tour of duty in the
pharmaceutical industry lends itsel to the research delivery model
that, at the nanoscale, materials in contact behave more like largerough objects rubbing against each other, rather than as two
perectly smooth suraces, as was previously imagined. When
you look at it closely, the surace is made o atoms, so the contact
is actually rough, says Szluarska.
The teams simulation data correlates very well with recorded
experimental datasomething that previous models have ailed
to accomplish. Szluarska hopes to use the simulations as a tool to
understand what mechanisms contribute to riction on both the
nano and macroscale. Nobody is able to predict riction or design
materials with desired riction propertieswe measure a lot o
riction coecients or dierent materials, but its not really clear
how to relate them to the properties o the material, she explains.
The origin o riction is really an open and growing research eld.
The National Science Foundation and the American Chemical
Society Petroleum Research Fund supported the teams research.
envisaged or Morgridge:
Between the orphan drug and
the billion-dollar drug, there are
all these unmet needs, explains
Gulbrandsen. It could be that
universities, or philanthropies,
or new companies ll that void.
It may also be lled by new
kinds o research institutes, like
the Morgridge Institute, which
are led by polymaths like Kim.
Observers agree that Kim is
smart, energetic and creative,
oozing big ideas. They also note
that by nature he is a riendlyand charming individual,
disarming qualities in the
political cauldron o a research
university. He has a very good
manner, says Gulbrandsen.
He knows how to get where
he wants to go without
stepping all over you.
Izabela Szluarska
Nanoscale friction(Continued rom ront page)
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6
6
Convincing people to wake up in the morning and play
a game on a sandy beach with palm trees seems like a
marketable idea, especially i the game helps people
sleep more eectively and stay alert throughout the day.
Thats exactly what student inventors Justin
Beck and Daniel Gartenberg hope is true,
and the judges at the 2009 Innovation Day
competition think theyre on to something.
In February, the pair won the top prizeand $10,000 at the 15th anniversary o the
Schoos Prize or Creativity, an annual UW- Madison
undergraduate invention competition that rewards
innovative and marketable ideas.
Their winning idea, called Proactive Sleep, is a sotware
application or the iPhone and the iPod touch that serves
as a sophisticated alarm clock, waking users during the light
sleep phase o their cycle. In the morning, users play an easy
gamewhich currently is depicted on a beach scenethat tests
alertness. The sotware automatically recongures as it learns the
users unique sleep cycle, ultimately
eliminating morning grogginess
and helping users stay more alert
all day. Beck and Gartenberg plan
to put Proactive Sleep on the
market in the next ew monthsvia the Apple application store.
Proactive Sleep was selected
rom eight inventions developed
by 10 students participating in
Innovation Day, an annual event
hosted on the engineering
campus. Innovation Day eatures
two competitions, the Schoos
Prize or Creativity and the Tong
Prototype Prize. Additionally,
participants can win money or the
best design notebook or delivering the best presentation.
Mechanical engineering student Michael Deau won the top
honor and $2,500 in the Tong Prototype Prize, as well as $1,000 or
the Younkle Best Presentation Award or a new type o sot-drink
vending machine. Dubbed EcoStream, the system will integrate
digital technology with environmental values, allowing people to
reuse plastic or steel bottles and pay or their drinks via Web-based
accounts. Since the competition, he has been speaking with patent
lawyers to move orward with his invention.
Richard Schoos (BSChE 53), the ounder and sponsor o the
Schoos Prize, thinks Proactive Sleep is an interesting idea. The price
theyve designed is low and the number o people who dont sleep
well happens to be high, he says. Well have couple o millionaires
assuming its approved by Apple or sale in the application store.
Based on an algorithm designed by Beck and Gartenberg,
Proactive Sleep calculates the number o sleep cycles a user will go
through during the night. The user tells the application what time
they will go to bed and Proactive Sleep uses the algorithm to gure
out when the user will be in a light sleep stage. The application then
oers a list o optimal wake-up times, and the user picks the time
they want.
In the morning, the alarm goes o and the user plays a simple
game o moving a colored dot onto another colored dot. This game,
which is a validated vigilance task, tests the users alertness and then
recalibrates the algorithm or the next night. Its not one o those
things that is immediate gratication, like eating candy, says Beck,
an electrical and computer engineering senior. Its more like eating
vegetablesit will pay o over time.
The idea or a sleep-related mobile application came to psychology
and neuroscience senior Gartenberg ater he took a neuroscienceclass about the mechanisms o sleep and learned that sleep disorders
are chronically under-diagnosed. Sleep is a growing problem in the
United States, he says. Every generation were sleeping less and less,
and its not healthy to get a poor nights sleep.
Gartenbergs next step was to nd a partner. He met Beck at the
2008 UW-Madison G. Steven Burrill Business Plan Competition, which
rewards student business plans. Both Gartenberg and Beck were
presenting separate proposals, and ater Gartenberg learned about
Becks background in developing mobile applications, he proposed
his idea about sleep and the multidisciplinary team was born.
No one knows how to sleep.
There is no class in college that
teaches you how to sleep, Beck
says. This was an opportunity to
educate people about sleep and
sleep disorders.Gartenberg says the pair, who
are both Innovation Day veterans
(this was Gartenbergs second
entry, while Beck has participated
three years), always kept the
competition in the back o their
minds as they developed Proactive
Sleep. They credit their past
experiences in the competition
or their condence this year.
The competition was an
incentive to put in hours upon hours o work, Gartenberg says. Its a
great experience that builds on itsel. You learn how to develop your
idea and meet people who can help you and have similar interests.
In addition to learning how to develop an idea or Innovation Day,
students also learn the process o building work able prototypes. Tong
Prize winner Deau spent more than 100 hours building his EcoStream
prototype, and he says the experience was very worthwhile.
Learning to prototype rom the ground up is extending what you
learn in school to real-world challenges, says Deau, who also took
ourth place in the Schoos Prize. Prototyping combines problem
solving with an element o creativity and extends your knowledge
base to areas that you never knew existed.
The three winners commitment to innovation and entrepreneurship
is exactly the kind o spirit Schoos hopes Innovation Day attracts.
Creative people in any eld in my opinion live an incredibly good
lie, he says. I youre creative and enjoy what youre doing, you
dont have to worry about nances because they seem to roll in.
His advice to students hoping to ollow in Becks, Gartenbergs and
Deaus ootsteps is to learn, like they did, to recognize opportunities
in solving everyday problems. Learn to be a ree spirit and to at least
partially abandon the ollow-the-herd instinct, he adds.
iPhone sleep improvement application
wins at 2009 innovation competition
6
forCreativity
The frst place winners o $10,000 inthe 2009 Schoos Prize or Creativityare (rom let) Justin Beck and Daniel
Gartenberg. Their winning invention,Proactive Sleepa software applicationor the iPhone and the iPod touchwill help people sleep and wake upmore eectively.
Benjamin ConradSplit Key(Third place/$700, Tong PrototypePrize; and the $1,000 Sorenson Design Notebook Award)
INNOVATION
IN
SPIR
ATION
TO INVENTION
THEUNIVERSITYOF WISCO
NSIN
-MADIS
ONINNOVATION
8/8/2019 Perspective Spring 2009
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7
2009 ScHoofS Prize for creativity winnerS:
fs pl d $10,000Proactive Sleep: For users interested in
improving their sleep, a noninvasive method and device that can
assess and predict the stages o sleep cycles without the nuisance and
cost o directly measuring sleep characteristics when the subject is
asleep. Invented by electrical and computer engineering senior Justin
Beck and psychology and neurobiology senior Daniel Gartenberg.
Sd pl d $7,000Portable Reugee Shelter: A portable,weather-resistant, easily assembled modular emergency shelter that
is large enough to house an entire amily. Invented by electrical and
computer engineering junior Jason Lohr.
thd pl d $4,000EcoStream: A carbonated sot-drink
dispensing system or a vending machine that oers users multiple
payment options and enables them to ll their own reusable containers.
Invented by mechanical engineering senior Michael Deau.
fuh pl d $1,000One-Handed Canoe System: A set o
devices that enables people with disabilities or physical limitations to
paddle a canoe with one arm and carry the canoe more comortably
and easily during a portage. Invented by chemical and biological
engineering senior Andrew Burton.
2009tong PrototyPe Prize winnerS:
fs pl d $2,500EcoStream by Michael Deau.
Scd plc d $1,250Portable Reugee Shelter by Jason Lohr.
thd plc d $700Split Key, a two-piece removable laptop
keyboard that enables users to position right- and let-hand sections
individually or maximum typing comort. Invented by engineering
mechanics and astronautics junior Benjamin Conrad.
yoUnKLe BeSt PreSentation awarD winner:
$1,000Michael Deau (EcoStream).
SorenSon BeSt DeSign noteBooK awarDwinner:
$1,000Benjamin Conrad (Split Key).
7
PRIZE
TONGPROTOTYPE
Michael Deau won frst place and$2,500 in the 2009 Tong PrototypePrize or the prototype o his
invention, EcoStream. His inventionalso won third place and $4,000in the Schoos Prize or Creativityand the $1,000 Younkle BestPresentation Award.
Andrew BurtonOne-handedCanoe System(Fourth place/$1,000,Schoofs Prize for Creativity)
Jason LohrPortable Refugee Shelter(Second place/$2,500, Schoofs Prizefor Creativity; and second place/$1,250, Tong Prototype Prize)
The college would like to thank our distinguished panel o judges:
John Bollinger,proessor emeritus and retired dean; Harry Engstrom,retired partner in the Foley & Lardner LLP Madison ofce ;Jim Frater,
president and partner in Bjorksten/Bit7; andChad Sorenson, president
and co-ounder o Sologear. To read more about our judges, visit
studentservices.engr.wisc.edu/innovation/2009judges.html
Chemical engineering alumnus Richard Schoofs sponsors the Schoos Prize
or Creativity and electrical and computer engineering alumnus Peter P. Tong
sponsors the Tong Prototype Prize through the Tong Family Foundation.
Competition alumnus Matthew Younkle, president o Y Innovation LLC
and president and CTO o Laminar Technologies LLC, sponsors the Younkle
Best Presentation award.
Competition alumnus Chad Sorenson, ounding principal o Sologear
Corp. and ounder o Fluent Systems LLC, sponsors the Sorenson Best Design
Notebook Award.
8/8/2019 Perspective Spring 2009
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8
There is nothing like a b olt o lightning to introduce the world o
engineering to elementary, middle and high school students
especially when the 6-kilowatt generator and Tesla coil that
produced it are controlled and explained by a charismatic electrical
and computer engineering graduate student.
The student, Dan Ludois, was
one o more than 300 university
volunteers or Engineering
EXPO 2009, a biennial eventthat draws thousands o local
students to the College o
Engineering campus. From
April 16-18, more than 5,000
students and community mem-
bers descended on the campus
to explore almost 90 exhibits,
presentations and competitions
by engineering students,
aculty and industry sponsors.
For Mitch Springer, a
mechanical engineering
undergraduate student who
co-organized EXPO along with
engineering mechanics student
Doug Knox, the experience was overwhelmingly exciting. The kidswere so interested, and it was inspiring to see their eyes light up
when you tell and show them about engineering, he says. You
can almost see the moment when they start thinking, Hey, this
engineering thingI think I want to do this!
EXPO organizers strategy or providing that spark o inspiration
was ensuring a broad diversity o exhibits. Every engineering
department was represented, and undergrad and graduate students
displayed research and inventions alongside exhibits rom many
engineering student organizations. Exhibits ranged rom a fight
simulator created by engineering mechanics students to an
autonomous robot that roamed Engineering
Mall as part o the IEEE Robot Team.
EXPO advisor Kathy Prem, senior student
services coordinator or Engineering Career
Services, also credits the volunteers who
ran the individual exhibits or the success o
EXPO. These student exhibitors dedicate anincredible amount o time and eort to EXPO,
during months o preparation, or the duration
o the three-day event, she says.
Civil and environmental engineering student
Samantha Reuter was one o the exhibitors or
the UW-Madison chapter o Engineers Without
Borders. Early in the morning o the rst day o
EXPO, she sat on the grass o Engineering Mall
and hammered holes into a metal grater to make
a potato chipper. She said she was looking
orward to teaching EXPO visitors about the
work her organization does or communities in
developing nations around the world. By the
end o EXPO, Reuters potato chipper created
an orange mound o grated yams, and a panel
8
o aculty and industry judges selected EWB as one o the top student
organization exhibits or their booth on wastewater treatment inEl Salvador. (The Biomedical Engineering Society took the top
organization prize and $800.)
Electrical and computer engineering student Adam Hughes
also won $800 as the best individual undergraduate exhibitor.
He presented his independent study project on vertical axis wind
turbines, which he says may be a low-cost source o energy or poor,
rural communities. He demonstrated a vertical axis turbine and
showed a video o the turbine undergoing tests in a giant wind
tunnel in Engineering Hall.
EXPO is a great event or engineering students not only
because it is a great chance to showcase their ongoing work, but
also because it is an incredible opportunity to interact with the
surrounding community coming rom outside o the walls o the
university, Hughes says, adding that he had the chance to interact
with representatives rom Vestas, the worlds largest wind turbine
manuacturer, as well as armers who host turbines on their land.Hughes was ortunate to have his booth located near one o the
most eye-catching displays. Engineering honor society Tau Beta Pi
constructed a model o the engineering campus entirely out o LEGOs,
and passersby especially enjoyed the LEGO Star Wars charac ters
dueling on top o the model Engineering Research Building.
Biomedical engineering student Emily Malinowski was responsible
or coordinating the student exhibits. She, along with Springer,
Knox and 13 other students on the planning team, spent two years
preparing or this years EXPO. In the end, The whole event held
me in awe, says Springer. All o the work was worth it.
EngineeringEXPO 2009sparks students interestin science
Pencils and paper comprise a student-built timer system that moves a marblerom top to bottom in one minute.
Engineering Mall served as a hub for EXPO activities.
Students play in a cornstarch mix called ooblekto learn about the dierent states o matter.
Students hop across Engineering Mallwith a variety o objects as part o theCross-the-Divide competition.
8/8/2019 Perspective Spring 2009
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9
Clean sweepor UW-Madison snowmobile team
Two UW-Madison student-built snowmobiles swept the 2009
SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge, winning both comp etition
divisions: the National Science Foundation Award or the
best sled in the zero-emissions division and the International
Snowmobile Manuacturers Association Award or rst place in
the internal-combustion division.
The annual event, hosted each
year by the Keweenaw Research
Center on the Michigan Tech
campus in Houghton, Michigan,
tests teams abilities to operate
a conventional snowmobile on
fex-uel, with varying ratios o
ethanol and gasoline. The sleds
compete or design, noise, emis-
sions, acceleration, handling,
weight, cost and uel e conomy.Although the weather turned
unseasonably warm during the
competition March 16-21, the
UW-Madison snowmobiles
excelled in the less-than-ideal
conditions. The teams plowed
through slush and splashed
through standing water during
the 70-mile endurance event.
With its fex-uel entry, the
Bucky 750 Clean Fuel Sled, the
team fexed its alternative-uels knowledge while posting a new
record or exhaust cleanlinessmore than 15 times cleaner than the
next competitor. The home-grown uel ormula included ethanol
rom United Wisconsin Grain Producers LLC (Friesland) and an exhaust
catalyst system rom W.C. Heraeus GmbH (Milwaukee). Using acontroller and sotware rom Woodwards Mototron Control Solutions
(Oshkosh), the students rened their sled to automatically adjust to
any blend o ethanol while producing virtually no exhaust emissions.
The Wisconsin team also repeated its 2008 victory with
its electric snowmobile, Bucky EV. Ater winning last years
competition, Bucky EV spent the summer at the National Science
Foundation Greenland Research Facility, Summit Station, pulling
equipment in environmentally sensitive areas. Bucky EV cut days
rom most experiments by
eliminating the need to
manually pull equipment
to distant locations.
In all 2008, Bucky EV
traveled to the Alaskan
Federation o Natives Annual
Convention, where it received
a very hospitable welcome.
The remote villages o Alaska
have no roads and use snow
machines as their major ormo transportationalthough
uel costs upwards o $12 a
gallon. On average, a Bucky
EV would save a villager
$50 per week in uel costs.
Weve got lots more miles
on the sled than last year, says
team captain Nick Rakovec.
Real-world testing is a major
part o engineering. You can
have the best design in the
world on a computer, but its a w hole dierent world on the trails.
For the 2009 competition, the team equipped Bucky EV with
a new battery pack and added traction enhancements. The sled
provides a whopping 100 horsepower during acceleration aster
than most o the combustion sleds. For the second year, Bucky EVwon the judges award or best subjective handling.
In addition to winning the overall compe titions, both sleds
earned numerous awards. Among the honors, the Bucky 750 won
The Bucky EV electric snowmobile.(Photos courtesy of Michigan Technological University)
the Land and Sea Award or Best
Perormance and the AVL Award
or Best Emissions, while Bucky
EV took both the Polaris Indus-
tries Award or Best Handling
and the DENSO Corporation
Award or Best Ride, unusual
accomplishments or a battery-
powered sled. In addition, UW-
Madison won the Society o
Automotive Engineers Award or
Best Design in both the internal-
combustion and zero-emissions
categories.
I almost had a heart attack
at the end, says Rakovec. Its
almost too good to be true.The team acknowledges its
major sponsorsPolaris Indus-
tries, United Wisconsin Grain
Producers, Weber Motor AG, and
Woodward-Mototron Control
Solutionswhich allow the
students to apply their engineer-
ing undamentals in a real-world
application.
30-plus medical inventions debut at BME undergrad design competition
O M 1, l 150
bmdl
suds shsd
34 l ds h ddss
md l-ld mdl
hlls. th suds
dlpd h dshuh BMe 201, 301 d
402 d d hm h
t Bmdl e
Ds cmp.
Sponsored by electrical and
computer engineering alumnus
Peter Tong and the Tong Family
Foundation, the competition
recognizes the students' eorts
to design and create prototopes
and pursue business opportunities
in biomedical industries.
Award recipients include:
Tong BME R&D Award(ollow-on unding or continued research
and development)Development o a low-cost spirometer
(Jeremy Glynn, Andrew Diaz)
Sphm A phonetics-based augmentative communication
device or children with signicant communication disorders
(Brian Mogen, Erin Devine, Steve Wyche, Prachi Agarwal)
Sophomore honorable mentionA device to reliably collect
broncholaveolar lavage efuent during fexible bronchoscopy
(Laura Zeitler, Elise Larson, Kim Kramer, Ali Johnson)
Junior winnerMRI-compatible olactometer
(Steve Welch, Ryan Kimmel, Kaitlin Brendel, Joe Decker)
Junior honorable mentionHeated diagnostic radiology exam table
(Tyler Vovos, Joel Gaston, Joseph Labuz, Paul Schildgen)
Senior winnerFlow controlled endoscope irrigation pump
(Holly Liske, Claire Flanagan, Laura Piechura, Kellen Sheedy)
Senior honorable mentionDevelopment o an anatomical
model to demonstrate the correct use o emale barriers
(Karen Chen, Rexxi Prasasya, Chou Mai)
Electric Snowmobile Awards
KeweenawResearchCenterDrawBarPullAward
SAEAwardforBestDesign
DensoAwardforBestRide
BestElectricDesignPaper BestElectricOralPresentation
BestElectricAcceleration
BestHandling
NGKSparkPlugs/NTKSensorsColdStartAward
Flex-Fuel Snowmobile Awards
MichiganSnowmobileAssoc.EnduranceAward
PolarisIndustriesAwardforBestHandling
SAEAwardforBestDesign
AVLAwardforBestEmissions
LandandSeaAwardforBestPerformance
BestFlexFuelDesignPaper
BestFlexFuelOralPresentation
NGKSparkPlugs/NTKSensorsColdStartAward
8/8/2019 Perspective Spring 2009
10/15
10
Anderson, adding the project
oered exposure to mechanical,environmental, electrochemical,
construction, and materials
science engineering.
The students experimented
on a yellow 50-cc steel-body
Vespa moped provided at a sub-
stantial discount by Je Dunn,
the owner o Vespa Madison
at Dunns Import in Middleton.
While the bike already averages
90 miles to a gallon o gasoline,
Dunn says even Vespa needs
to do better environmentally,
and he was more than willing
to help the students.
I think what theyre doing is very exciting. I believe wholeheartedly
that its good or Vespa, he says.
The students divided their work into three components: the
electrolysis device, the battery and the engine. For the electrolysis
device, they designed rectangular electrodes to split the water
using carbon plates coated with a nanoparticle thin lm Anderson
developed. They set the plates inside a container called an
electrolyzer, which they positioned near the moped engine beneath
the drivers seat. The electrodes are powered by a charge rom the
mopeds alternator and separate the water into oxygen and hydrogen,
unneling the hydrogen directly to the engines cylinder via a stainless
steel tube.
Once in the engine, the hydrogen produces a more complete
combustion, according to Anderson, which means the engine more
eciently uses the uel.
The electrolyzer system could, in addition to reducing the amount
o gasoline necessary, also reduce mope d emissions. While the
students did not have time to test emissions levels their systemproduced, Anderson anticipates the more complete combustion
caused by hydrogen in the engine would make the moped run
cleaner. From here, the electrolyzer system may benet the
UW-Madison vehicle teams, which requently experiment with
hybrid vehicle technologies. In act, Mechanical Engineering
Faculty Associate Glenn Bower, who oversees the vehicle teams,
oered additional advice and support to the moped project.
Not all college reshmen delve into their majors via practical,
hands-on projects in their rst semester on campus, and the
experience has been valuable or mechanical engineering reshman
Steven Burbach. The project was very cutting-edgewe werent
building things that had already been done, and I really appreciate
Proessor Andersons willingness to trust us with this, he says.
Engineering isnt just sitting at a desk. Its getting out there, tackling
real-world problems.
*
Going green,one mopedat a time
Owning a home was my dream, Tina Bias tells the crowd
assembled in her new living room as she wipes away tears.
As she thanks the dozens o volunteers who made her dream a
reality, her youngest daughter waves enthusiastically at Bucky Badger.
The dedication ceremony on April 19, 2009, was an emotional day
or Bias and volunteers rom the UW-Madison chapter o Habitat
or Humanity, which partnered with Habitat or Humanity o Dane
County and UW Credit Union to build a home or Bias and her ve
children in a Madison suburb.
The rainy weather didnt prevent students and community members
rom gathering to celebrate the conclusion o 1,800 hours o labor
over the past year. The Bias home is a special milestone or Habitat
or Humanity; it is the 150th home built by the organization.
Its amazing to see that all the hard work came together or you
and your wonderul amily, campus chapter president Justin Gerstner,a medical student at UW-Madison, tells Bias. The house is the eighth
one completed by the UW-Madison campus chapter, which coordi-
nates individual volunteers as well as student organizations look ing
to get involved in projects both locally and around the country.
Among the campus chapter members are multiple engineering
students, including Patrick Kieliszewski, a UW-Madison civil and
environmental engineering student, who joined Habitat or Humanity
three years ago.
I think Habitat is a good opportunity to get involved with
something that has personal meaning, he says. Every amily is
really special and every house is a unique experience.
For Kieliszewski, Habitat for Humanity is also a way to use his
engineering education to make a dierence.
As engineers we talk about our responsibility to the community
around us, and this is a great way, a tangible way, or students to
work on something and see it have a direct eect on a real amily,
he says. The personal ace that goes with our work brings home
a lot o what were taught in class.
Thats exactly the kind o sentiment Civil and EnvironmentalEngineering Proessor Jerey Russell hopes students take away
rom their work with Habitat. Russell, who is the aculty adviser
or the campus chapter, says its important or students to learn
rom serving those who are less ortunate.
They get a chance to see rsthand how they can help others
while helping themselves grow and change, Russell says. Their
eorts build a better and more diverse community and society.
Students build 150thHabitat for Humanityhome in Dane County
Members of the UW-Madison Habitat for Humanity chapterpose with the Bias family (and Bucky Badger) in front of the 150th home built by Habitat for Humanity in Dane County.
**Source:vespawa
llpapers.com
AVespa scooter is a scooter with a historyits credited as the
aordable orm o mass transportation that reignited Italyspost-World War II economy. The scooters unique, timeless
design makes it the Rolls Royce o scooters, an heirloom that can
last 20 years in the care o a aithul owner.
Yet, even or a Vespa, theres room or improvement, and 16
UW-Madison engineering students spent all 2008 guring out how to
make the already environmentally riendly Vespa even more green.
While enrolled in Civil and Environmental Enginee ring Proessor
Marc Andersons section o Inter-Engineering 160, Introduction to
Engineering, the students designed, built and tested a hydrogen-
based system that ultimately reduced the amount o gasoline
necessary to run a Vespa moped by 10 percent. The system is
based on electrolysis, the process o splitting water into oxygen
and hydrogen via an electrical charge.
As reshmen, theyre just starting to get used to things, and I
usually pick out projects that are dicult so theyll learn a lot, says
8/8/2019 Perspective Spring 2009
11/15
11
ALUMNI NEWSMaterials Science and Engineering
In February, ty ghd (BS 72, MSEM 74, PhDEM 79) became
sta vice president o industrial technology and intellectual
property or Sonoco Products Co. Gerhardt, who has conducted
scientic research and technology development or 23 years with
Sonoco, will continue to lead the Sonoco industrial products
technology eorts. Additionally, he now manages the company
global intellectual property subsidiary.
Industrial and Systems Engineering
In April, the Sheboygan Press reported thatJulia Spankowski
(BS 05, MS 06) joined Johnsonville Sausage, Sheboygan Falls,
Wisconsin, as a continuous improvement specialist. She and her
husband live in Port Washington, Wisconsin.
focus
ona
lumni
Civil and Environmental Engineering
r Shh (BS 99) has joined KL Engineering, Green Bay,
Wisconsin, as construction manager. Schanhoer has more than
10 years o engineering experience in construction management
and transportation engineering. The Green Bay Press-Gazette
published an announcement o his new position.
Kyv ijd (BS 79), a senior engineer for Milpitas,
Caliornia, or 14 years, became Milpitas chie building ocial
in 2004. Irannejad lives in Danville, Caliornia.
Electrical and Computer Engineering
The Boldt Company, Appleton, Wisconsin, recently promoted
Dd K. Shs (BS 85) to vice president o design services.
Sachs earned a masters degree in mechanical engineering rom
the University o Minnesota in 1989. He has he ld a number o
positions within the Boldt organization since j oining the company
in 1994.
11
January 2009
Cecil Royce (BSEE 50)
Margaret Beman (BSChE 35)
Dean Darrow (BSME 47)
David Wilson (BSME 50)
Edgar Schoenike (BSEE 49)
Peter Zirbel (BSME 74)
Ralph Fredrickson (BSEE 33)
Victor Vacquier (BSEE 27)William Folts (BSCEE,
naval science 48)
Gerald Maechler (BSME 47)
Charles Guthrie (BSME 44)
Robert Ritchart Jr. (BSME 70)
Robert Bolz (BSME 44)
Lawrence Meyer (BSME 39)
James Flaherty (BSME 50)
Jerry Erzen (BSChE 64)
Milton Schroeter (BSCEE 49)
February 2009
Reinold Rickert (BSCEE 50)
Arthur Maas (BSME 39)
Arthur Gilmour (BSEE 41)
Clarence Riederer (BSEE 47)
Walter Wollering (BSMetE 44,
MSEM 60)
Joseph Spradling (BSME 47)
Theodore McLeod (BSEE 59)
Delmar Dhein (BSME 48)
Bernard Koetting (BSEE 51)
Jerey Rothmeier (BSEE 62)
John Keillor Jr. (MSCEE 74)William Lloyd (BSChE 56)
March 2009
James K. Wai (BSEM 94, MSME 98)
Bert Minshall (BSME 59, MSME 60)
Ernest Moldenhauer (BSEE 40)
Eugene Buhmann (BSEE 52)
Kenneth Mallon (BSME 50)
Michael Kolowski (BSME 64)
Harlo Scott (BSME 42)
Theodore Stephenson (BSCEE 59)
Michael Tierney (BSCEE 75)
Lloyd Turner (BSCEE 59)
Ralph Jacobsen (BSME 48)
Rahul Shah (PhDChE 00)
Russell Rill (BSME 48)
Alex Skover (BSME 51)
aPril 2009
Forest Clark (BSME 56)
Nile Sweet (BSME 47)
William Bush (BSCEE 35)
Ralph Toyama (BSChE 60)
Richard Kehr (BSCEE 53)William Kraske (BSChE 44,
MSChE 47)
John Crittenden (BSChE 51)
Wayne Mitchell (BSEE 38,
MSEE 46)
John Wilberg (BSChE 49)
Joseph Jacobs (BSME 41)
John Anderson (BSEE 50)
William Skatrud (BSCEE 74)
Robert Wilson (BSME 43)
James Church (BSEE 49)
Jerome Eggert (BSChE 48)
Daniel Peterson (BSEE 50)
IN MEMORIAM
SEND US YOUR NEWS! E-mail us at: [email protected]
Also, let us know i you and your alma mater are mentioned in the newswell highlight it here.
I youre being interviewed, dont orget to mention that youre a graduate o the
UW-Madison College o Engineering!
ALUMNI NEWS
A proessor emeritus o engineering mechanics
and mathematics, Millard W. Johnson Jr. died
February 20, 2009. He graduated rom Racine
Horlick High School as valedictorian o his class
and served in the U.S. Navy rom 1946 to 1948.
Ater an honorable discharge, he began his under-
graduate education at Carlton College, Northeld,
Minnesota, and earned a bachelors degree in 1952
rom UW-Madison in applied mathematics and mechanics.Johnson earned a PhD in mathematics rom the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology in 1957. He returned to UW- Madison as a
aculty member and spent his career at the university. He was an
expert in continuum mechanics, viscoelasticity, lubrication, theory o
thin bodies, and the mechanics of paper. Known for his expectations
o excellence rom his students, Johnson also took great pride in
their achievements and career accomplishments.
Johnson is survived by his wie o 55 years, Ruth Pugh Giord
Johnson, our children, seven grandchildren, and many other
relatives and riends.
Direct memorial gits to the Millard W. Johnson, Jr. Scholarship
Fund through the secure link at www.engr.wisc.edu/ep/giving
or mail a check(note und #12636553) to the University o Wisconsin
Foundation, U.S. Bank Lockbox, P.O. Box 78807, Milwaukee, WI
53278-0807.
On March 1, B
Mmll became
college assistant
dean or alumni and
corporate relations,
ater having served
as UW-Madison
news manager and
assistant director o University
Communications. I am delighted
to have the opportunity to help
build broader public awareness and
support or a great college, he says.
This is an especially exciting time to
be part o the College o Engineering,
which is transorming the under-
graduate curriculum and taking
new multidisciplinary approaches to
research challenges. I look orward
to nding new opportunities to get
our 40,000-plus alumni involved in
the present and uture direction o
the college.
Mattmiller also was UW-Whitewater
communications director, a science
writer at UW-Madison, and a reporter.
He is a 1986 graduate o the UW-
Madison School o Journalism.
New assistant dean to strengthenties with alumni and industry
8/8/2019 Perspective Spring 2009
12/15
12
focus
onalumni12
What do you most miss about campus?Diversity on campus. Drinking cofee at Union Southand Memorial Union. Enjoying the scenes by the lake.
What was your avorite class?ECE 511, Synchronous Machines with ProessorDonald Novotny. My discussions with him bothproessionally and socially were very enjoyable.
Ayman El-Reaie MSEE 02, PhDEE 05Lead Engineer, GE Global Research CenterNiskayuna, New York
i hs ds
What is one thing every UW student must do?Attend a o otball game and the commencement.Also, walk on the hiking trail by Lake Mendota.
What is the greatest beneft o a UW degree?World-class education as well as learning the truemeaning o diversity. Also the automatic respectyou get everywhere as a UW graduate.
What was your frst job?Lead engineer at GE Global Research Center.
Who or what inspires you?My parents. Hard work, high ethics, riendship.
What are you reading now?A book about psychology.
Whats your proudest UW achievement?Getting my PhD.
Whats your avorite quote?Necessity is the mother o all invention.
What occupies your ree time?My two daughters (ages 4 and 2).
At UW-Madison, I learnedthe true meaning of diversity
That diversity is what he misses most about the UW-Madison campus, along with drinking coee at
the student unions and walking along Lake Mendota.
El-Reaie lives in Niskayuna, New York, but still considers Madison a home. He tries to visit Wisconsin
whenever he can, but his ree time is now lled with the activities o his two daughters, ages 4 and 2.
He taps the university when its time to recruit interns and employees at GE, where Wisconsin graduates
have earned a great reputation. In El-Reaies experience: You get automatic respect everywhere as a
UW-Madison graduate.
What would you be i you hadnt chosenyour current career path?I would have chosen to become a physician.
Whats the best advice youve received?Always stay positive and look at the glass ashal ull.
When robots take over the worldor at least the World Cup
Dennis Hong is likely to be at least partly to blame.
An assistant proessor o mechanical engineering at Virginia
Tech, Hong is in charge o that universitys Robotics & Mechanisms
Lab (RoMeLa). There he advises the team o students who created
DARwIn, the Dynamic Anthropomorphic Robot with Intelligence
that was the United States entry into last years RoboCup, an inter-
national soccer competition or robots. For years, he and his students
have been working to inuse robots with articial intelligence in
ways that are un, challenging and useul. I still cannot orget the
mind-blowing sensation when I rst watched the movie Star Wars,
he says. I was ascinated by R2D2 and C-3PO. Since then, I decided
to become a robot scientist and never changed my mind.
Hongs interests, however, run ar beyond creating me chanical
athletes. Born in California and raised in Seoul, South Korea, Hong
came to UW-Madison to study robotics under Mechanical Engineering
What do you most miss about campus?Babcock ice cream! Orange Custard Chocolate Chip.
What was your avorite class?ME 451, Kinematics and Dynamics o Machine
Systems.I enjoyed it so much, now I teach it(an equivalent course) at Virginia Tech.
What is something every UW student must do?Check out a sailboat rom the Memorial Union ona clear day and sail on beautiul Lake Mendota!I you haven't sailed beore, take a lesson rom theHooer Sailing Club.
Proessor John Uicker. But college lie is about more than research
and academics, and in spite o Hongs American beginnings, he
ound the transition to Wisconsin to be ar rom easy.
When I rst arrived on campus, I had no riends, he says, and
the unexpected cultural dierences were quite a shock to me.
Madison oered a wide variety o activities to bring out previously
hidden acets o Hongs personality. Trips to the Dane County
Farmers Market inspired in him an interest in gourmet cooking,
and the Unions Hooer outdoor adventure group sparked an interest
in sailing, giving him both a physical outlet and a social network.
The Hooer Sailing Club not only helped me realize the joy o
sailing and the opportunity to enjoy the beautiul lakes on campus,
he says, but more than that, it helped me adjust to the new
environment and make a lot o riends.
Under Uickers guidance, Hongs expertise in robotics grew. He
went through graduate studies at Purdue University under one o
Rockem sockem roboticist
Dennis Hong BSME 94Associate Proessor,Virginia TechBlacksburg, Virginia Uickers ormer students, Ray
Cipra (BS 71, MS 72, PhD 78),
beore joining the aculty at
VirginiaTech. There he ounded
RoMeLa, where he guides a team
o 15 graduate students and 30
undergrads through a variety
o robotics research projects.
His lab developed not only thehuman-like DARwIn, but also an
autonomous vehicle called Odin
that took third prize in a Deense
Department competition, and a
three-legged walking robot called
STriDER. RoMeLa is also designing a
whole-skin locomotion mechanism
a robot that would move much
like an amoeba, a useul tool or
search-and-rescue operations as
it would be more capable o
crossing rough and broken
terrain than any current vehicle.
However, Hong says, the chal-
lenges o the lab are secondary
to the pleasures o mentoring
studentsa principle he learned
at UW-Madison. There is nothing
more rewarding than teaching
students to become leaders in
their elds and to become better
engineers to contribute to
society, he says. The Badger
spirit still lives inside me, and I
never orget to be proud as a
UW-Madison graduate.
i hs ds
What is the greatest beneft o a UW degree?The right to proudly put a UW Alumnus / BuckyBadger sticker on the rear window o your car.
What was your frst job?
Managing the network system at the MacintoshComputer Center at Korea University.
What are you reading now?I am reading two books simultaneously:The GodDelusion by Richard Dawkins andThe Languageo God: A Scientist Presents Evidence or Belieby Francis Collins.
Who is your hero? Who or what inspires you?My dad is my hero.
What's on your iPod?Mostly un movie clips o our robots playing
soccer. For music, I use Pandora on my iPhone.
What is your proudest UW achievement?Graduation (with honors).
What's your avorite quote?"The best way to predict the uture is to invent it."And that is wha