Sooner Racing Team Begins Thousands Strong Campaign!

Sooner Racing Team has kicked off their Thousands Strong Campaign to raise money for the competition this year in Las Vegas! Help them reach their goal of $7,500 before their campaign ends on June 18.

The Sooner Racing Team is an OU student organization that designs, builds, tests, and races an open-wheel, formula-style race car. Each year, they compete against teams from around the world. SRT wants to take their 2021 car to the Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) competition in Las Vegas, Nevada, but we need your help getting there!

Formula SAE competitions provide an invaluable professional experience for our team members. We learn hands-on skills and have the opportunity to network with businesses in the automotive field as well as with students from over 600 other universities around the world. During this past school year, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, our team has been hard at work designing and manufacturing our 2021 car, but we need your financial support to get it to the competition. Your donations will help cover travel costs to get us on the road, and if we exceed our goal of $7,500, extra funds will be put towards purchasing new sets of racing tires and carbon fiber.

“Please help spread the word about our campaign by sharing the link with your friends and family via social media! We cannot compete to the highest of our ability without the support of our amazing OU friends and family!”

Donate Here: https://thousandsstrong.ou.edu/project/26136

Aerospace Seniors Achieve Perfect 4.0

Join us in honoring David Dowdell and Thomas Nilles, two Aerospace Engineering students who are graduating with an overall 4.0 grade-point average. These outstanding students have never received less than an “A” in any of their courses. On May 4th, they were honored by President Harroz at a ceremony for their accomplishments.

David Dowdell’s favorite part of AME at OU is the small class sizes; being able to get to know his classmates. Dowdell majored in Aerospace engineering because he wanted to study engineering and believed aerospace to be the most exciting option.

“As far as strategies for success go,” Dowdell said, “I think what helped me the most was trying to get every assignment done early if possible. Even it wasn’t possible, the extra time I’d spend thinking about it usually helped me understand it.”

His plans after graduation are to start working for Northrop Grumman in Palmdale, CA in August.

The first piece of advice he’d give to any student is, “to avoid procrastinating.” Dowdell says, “The second is to be willing to learn more than just what the classes teach. Engineering requires it.”

Thomas Nilles says, “the engineering projects are [his] favorite part of AME here at OU. Almost every engineering course [he’s] taken has had a project associated with it. They are stressful, but they are also fun and rewarding.”

As a kid, Nilles loved to play with Legos. He thinks that is what fostered his development as both a creative person and a builder. Flight was always mysterious and magical to Nilles. His desire to understand what makes aircraft fly really cemented his desire to be an aerospace engineer.

Nilles said, his, “calculator and 5-hour energy helped [him].” Far more important than those things, he says, are the people who helped him. He has had, “so many great professors here at OU that have been as invested in [his] success as [he’s] been.” Nilles appreciates that they go above and beyond for their students. He says his “dad has also been a huge part of [his] success.” He is not only his dad but also his friend and mentor. He has been there for Nilles in the toughest times. Nilles says he, “could not have succeeded here at OU without him.” Finally, he says he owes a great deal to his daughter who has been a constant source of joy in his life. She keeps him grounded and he loves her so much.

Nilles says for him, “it’s time to start building.” He’s had a lot of fun here at OU, but he looks forward to getting back to work. He said he’s, “keeping [his] fingers crossed for the right job to come along soon.”

“[His] advice for other students is to get into the right mindset. You are not here to get A’s. You are not here to get a degree. You are not here to get paid the big bucks someday. You are here to get an education. Education is a team sport so be a team player. Work with your professors, not against them. Help your classmates when you can. Get involved in the competition teams and take some friends with you to the meetings.”

Dr. Gan Receives George Lynn Cross Research Professorship

Rong Zhu Gan

Dr. Rong Gan has received the George Lynn Cross Research Professorship, the highest research and creative activity honor given by the University to a faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding leadership over a period of years in his or her field of learning or creative activity. Join us in honoring Dr. Gan for this remarkable achievement!

Dr. Gan came to OU in 1999 after serving as the Director of Biomedical Engineering at Hough Ear Institute in Oklahoma City and has been a part of AME since. She says this is because of her strong foundation here at AME. She has a “good connection with the Health Science Center and the Norman Campus.” Dr. Gan said she also has a lot of support here from her mentors, the University, and the “excellent students.”

“No matter what kind of student, no matter their background,” Dr. Gan says, “you have to pay attention to them and guide them.” You have to, “know how to mentor them because they are so important to research.” Dr. Gan wants students to be motivated for their future because the future is, “totally in their hands.”

Dr. Gan says the George Lynn Cross Research Professorship is a huge recognition of accomplishment for her research and education, two things, Dr. Gan says, “are connected and can’t be separated.” She says researchers must-have, “100% confidence in their original area, but have to look for a new direction because there must be innovation to solve the problem.” Dr. Gan’s advice for researchers is to seek innovation, collaboration, and for them to publish their work. She says for people to, “always keep good motivation and to work hard,” for the benefit of future generations.

See the article below for more information about Dr. Gan’s research and awards:

With her strong background in biomechanics and implantable devices, Dr. Gan has developed a truly transformational, well-funded research program at OU in Biomechanics for Protection and Restoration of Hearing, including implantable hearing devices, dynamic properties of ear tissues, auditory function tests, and computational modeling of sound and blast wave transmission through the ear.

As PI for all of her funded research projects, Dr. Gan has built an exceptionally strong research group that simultaneously conducts physical experiments in animals and human cadavers as well as foundational 3D computational modeling of human and animal ears.

The ability to carry out all these research activities covering both basic and applied research, instrumentation, data acquisition, theoretical modeling, and device design and testing in one lab is Dr. Gan’s research strength. She uses biomechanics systems approaches as fundamental methods with the goal to develop innovative technologies for measuring sound or blast wave transmission through the ear and the 3D physics-based computational model of the human ear for an understanding of hearing and protection mechanisms, improving diagnosis of middle ear diseases, and serving as a tool for the design and evaluation of implantable hearing devices and hearing protection devices.

Dr. Gan’s research work has been mainly funded by highly competitive grants from Federal and State government agencies such as the DOD, NIH, NSF, OCAST, and the Whitaker Foundation. Particularly in recent years, Dr. Gan’s research activities have been extended into new areas of biomechanical modeling and measurement of blast injury and hearing protection mechanisms for U.S. military priority research. This innovative development is based on original concepts of normal sound transmission through the ear and stimulated by Dr. Gan’s scholarship in the areas of measurements in human cadaver and animal ears and the finite element modeling of sound transmission through the ear.

Dr. Gan’s research has resulted in numerous publications and led to breakthroughs in implantable devices, computational modeling, and therapeutics for hearing restoration with 4 patents (two pending approval). She is a world-class researcher, a truly exceptional scholar, and among the very best educators we have at the University of Oklahoma. Her research has a direct impact on human health in terms of restoring hearing and improving the quality of life for the 38 million Americans with hearing impairment and providing hearing protection for military personnel. The George Lynn Cross Research Professorship award is a recognition of her superb research productivity and remarkable contributions to biomedical engineering research and education at the University of Oklahoma.

Click here to find the Norman Campus Faculty Tribute Award article written about Dr. Gan.

Parisa Marashizadeh Receives Nancy Mergler and Bullard Dissertation Completion Fellowship

AME is proud to share that Parisa Marashizadeh, a Ph.D. candidate in Mechanical Engineering, has received the Nancy Mergler and Bullard Dissertation Completion Fellowship! This fellowship is awarded to doctoral candidates who are in the final phases of dissertation writing.

Marashizadeh is originally from Iran, where she received her master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Polytechnic University in Tehran in 2015. She started her Ph.D. program here at OU in 2017 where she began work with Dr. Yingtao Liu in multi-scale modeling of hybrid fiber composites.

Her work as a graduate teaching assistant at AME, “helped [her] to gain teaching skills essential to [her] academic career.” Marashizadeh also enjoys, “working with the kind and supportive staff, faculty members, and students.”

During her research, she has evaluated the interfacial properties of ZnO nanowires hybrid fiber-reinforced composite structures numerically at multiple length scales. The applications of fiber-reinforced composites have increased significantly in different engineering fields due to their outstanding properties, such as lightweight and high strength. For example, 50% of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is made of fiber composites. The strength and toughness of composites greatly depend on the fiber-matrix adhesion (interface) properties through multiple length scales.

“With the [Nancy Mergler and Bullard Dissertation Completion Fellowship],” Marashizadeh says, “she has time in the last semester to, dedicate to completing [her] dissertation.” She says, “every Ph.D. student struggles with the last semester, it’s difficult to complete your dissertation, prepare your defense plan, and look for a PostDoc position.” She’s very grateful for the award and would like to thank Dr. Liu for supporting her. Marashizadeh plans to receive her Ph.D. in the Spring of 2022,  and afterward, she hopes to find a PostDoc position.

Marashizadeh’s advice to students is to, “fall in love with what you are doing and try your best because each of us can do a lot we just need to be focused and try.”

Below is a full summary of Marashizadeh’s research importance and accomplishments. Congratulations Parisa!

The applications of fiber-reinforced composites have increased significantly in different engineering fields due to their outstanding properties, such as lightweight and high strength. For example, 50% of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is made of fiber composites. The strength and toughness of composites greatly depend on the fiber-matrix adhesion (interface) properties through multiple length scales. One novel approach to enhance the fiber/polymer adhesion properties is growing Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanowires on the fiber surface. It is very critical for industrial companies to evaluate the impact of hybrid composites on the performance of the structures before considering them for production. However, due to the complexity of the theoretical and experimental analysis of such a hybrid structure, especially the nanomaterials, numerical analysis is required to understand this system’s efficiency on the performance of the composite.

In this research work, a numerical approach is developed to evaluate the enhanced properties of the hybrid composite structures by breaking the complicated system into multiple levels and investigate the properties of each level separately. There are four different length scales in the hybrid composites, which can be summarized as (a) ZnO nanowires with various diameters and lengths at the nano-scale, (b) the intermediate composition in which ZnO nanowires are grown on the fiber and embedded in the matrix (micro-scale), (c) the adhesion bonding between the fiber and the matrix (meso-scale), (d) the overall properties of the hybrid composite, the related failure analysis and performance of the structure at different loading conditions (macro-scale). Each of the mentioned length scales has its specific theories and properties that should be explored to evaluate the hybrid structure’s performance. Multi-scale modeling is developed in my research to make a bridge between the analysis at different scales to estimate the general behavior of structures containing materials at different length scales. The overall goal of multi-scale modeling techniques for hybrid composites is to combine the mechanical theories at different length scales and understand their static and dynamic behaviors under various loads and environmental conditions.

The dissertation elements and the completion plan is based on the steps in the multi-scale approach. According to the research plan, the dissertation is categorized into two main parts. The first part, which covers around 60% of the total dissertation, consists of the micro-scale, meso-scale, and macro-scale analysis. These three parts are completed, and the results are published in three journal articles and two conference papers.

The second part weighing around 40% of the dissertation, is based on the atomistic modeling and analysis of the hybrid composite materials. According to Marashizadeh’s research plan, the nano-scale analysis itself is divided into two sections. In the first part, the atomic structure of a single ZnO nanowire, polymer matrix chain, and Carbon fiber is simulated. The materials are assembled, and Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation is employed to evaluate the adhesion strength between graphene and the matrix. This analysis part is completed, and a journal article has been prepared based on the obtained results. The article has been submitted and is under review. In the second part of the nano-scale section, the effect of multiple ZnO nanowires’ diameters and lengths on improving the interfacial adhesion between fiber and enhancement layer are being explored. She plans to complete this section by July 2021 and prepare another journal paper based on the outcome. Then, Marashizadeh will combine all the numerical analyses performed at different levels and develop a multi-scale framework to report the impact of grown ZnO nanowires on the properties of the hybrid composites.

 

Highlighting Devin Laurence

Devin Laurence received his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering in May of 2018, he then obtained his master’s degree the following year. Since then, Laurence has continued his journey at OU by pursuing a Ph.D. with a research focus on cardiovascular biomechanics. He has earned many awards for his work including The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and The American Heart Association/Children’s Heart Foundation (AHA/CHF) Pre-Doctoral Fellowship.

Devin with his current device in the Biomechanics and Biomaterials Design Lab (BBDL)

Laurence said Dr. Lee helped him to discover his interests in research during his junior year of undergrad. Laurence said he, “started to work with Dr. Lee and realized he did some exciting research.” He was interested in applying things they learned in class to aspects of the biomedical field. Eventually, he was hooked.

With the completion of his undergraduate mechanical engineering degree and his involvement in the accelerated master’s program, he was able to transition easily into graduate school, which allowed him to focus more on the biomedical side of mechanical engineering. As he began work in the Biomechanics and Biomaterials Design Lab (BBDL), he found his passion. He really liked how “you could pursue whatever you wanted because there was so much intellectual freedom.” He said, “you’re always motivated to search new avenues and get into stuff you probably never would’ve expected.”

Presently, Laurence is taking everything he learned in his mechanical engineering undergrad and applying it to biomedical systems. He, “mechanically characterizes the heart valve leaflets and then can do things like simulate the heart function or look at the different aspects of the leaflets.” Part of his dissertation work involves studying how the heart adapts to diseases. So “if you have increased pressure in your heart, how do these structures thicken or become stiffer in response?”

Laurence is “currently designing and constructing a novel planar biaxial bioreactor system (known in his lab as the BioBiax) to characterize the cell-mediated growth and remodeling of the tricuspid heart valve leaflets. The system includes two key components: (i) the planar biaxial testing component (shown in the picture above) and (ii) a flow loop to continuously supply cell media to the tissue to maintain cell viability (under construction). Throughout 2021, Laurence will use this system to characterize how the tricuspid valve leaflets respond to pathological conditions. The tricuspid valve leaflets will be mounted to the system, cyclically loaded/unloaded for 1-2 weeks to the pathological loading, and then characterized to understand how the leaflets have changed due to the pathological loading. Data from these experiments will enable them to establish a new mechanistic constitutive model that can predict the tricuspid valve leaflet mechanical behavior and consider the cell-mediated growth and remodeling response to the pathological loading. The new model then can be employed  in computer simulations to better understand the role of the cell-mediated growth and remodeling in congenital heart diseases, such as hypoplastic left heart syndrome, or in the recurrence of tricuspid regurgitation following the clinical repair in adult patients.”

Logo created courtesy of Ryan Bodlak

Laurence’s favorite part about OU is the people and opportunities. He said, “he really enjoys everyone in the department.” Collaborating with the BME department and the Health Science Center has been a great experience for him. He said, “it’s a really interesting hub that you wouldn’t expect.”

After he receives his Ph.D., his goal is to become a faculty member. He said, “it can either be doing a postdoc right after [he] graduates or getting a little industry experience first,” but eventually, he knows he wants to be in academia.

Laurence believes that students should not be afraid to try anything. “You never know what you’re going to enjoy or what doors are going to open up.”

Below is a full list of all the awards Laurence has received so far:

  • American Heart Association/Children’s Heart Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowship
  • National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship
  • Second Place Winner at 2020 SB3C Ph.D.-Level Student Paper Competition
  • First Place Winner at 2019 SB3C M.S.-Level Student Paper Competition
  • Thomas Milam, Sr., Endowed Fellowship
  • OU Alumni and Foundation Recruitment Fellowship
  • OU GCoE Ph.D. Recruitment Excellence Fellowship
  • First-Place Poster Award at the 3rd OU-OUHSC Biomedical Engineering Symposium
  • Grand Prize Recipient at Oklahoma Research Day at the Capitol

Highlighting Dr. Miller and Dr. Fagg’s Research Project: Progressive Locomotor Learning in Infants at Risk for Cerebral Palsy

Dr. David Miller and Dr. Andrew Fagg are working with researchers and children all over the country to develop a device called the Self-Initiated Prone Progression Crawler (SIPPC) that they hope will be a new treatment for cerebral palsy. The project is called, “Progressive Locomotor Learning in Infants at Risk for Cerebral Palsy.”

Pictured is a child on the SIPPC 3 developed during a NSF NRI grant in 2015. The PIs were: Andy Fagg, David Miller, Lei Ding, and Thubi Kolobe. The grad students from AME that worked on this were Michael Nash and Mustafa Ghazi, both of whom have since graduated (Ph.D. in 2018). Currently, Mustafa Ghazi, as a PostDoc is working on the current version of the SIPPC for the most recent grant. Photo by Hugh Scott.

The research project was given its first grant in 2013, and the researchers (including undergraduate, graduate, and Postdoc students) were ready to create the SIPPC. According to Dr. Miller, “people are at risk for cerebral palsy, but there isn’t a diagnosis that’s done in the age group [they’re] dealing with.” There are, “children at risk for cerebral palsy because they’ve had some sort of trauma either during the birth process or while in the womb.” It’s usually that they’re not moving normally. So, to test the children’s mobility, they evaluate two different groups on the SIPPC. One group has a set of infants that are developing typically, and the other group has infants at risk for cerebral palsy.

Researchers are working on different aspects of this project from coast to coast. In Philadelphia, they bring in and work with all participating patients. In California, they are developing a set of sensors that are protocol for random leg movements in the first few months of child development. Here at OU, they’re developing and testing the SIPPC, “and the plan is to send that off to Philadelphia.”

Pictured is a child on the SIPPC 3 developed during a NSF NRI grant in 2015. The PIs were: Andy Fagg, David Miller, Lei Ding, and Thubi Kolobe. The grad students from AME that worked on this were Michael Nash and Mustafa Ghazi, both of whom have since graduated (Ph.D. in 2018). Currently, Mustafa Ghazi, as a PostDoc is working on the current version of the SIPPC for the most recent grant. Photo by Hugh Scott.

The SIPPC has gone through several revisions. Currently, the group is on its fourth version of the motorized skateboard called SIPPC-4. It’s a motorized skateboard the kids can lie down on, but it measures all the forces of the infants. It has a force-torque sensor, wheel encoders, a few computers, and some cameras onboard. The information automatically goes to a person’s phone or iPad. It also gives an interface to a therapist, so they can control it by getting it out of corners or stopping it if the kid is crying.

“The standard mode is where the kid actually touches the ground and tries to crawl as the device amplifies and quantizes the child’s movements.” So even if they’re a little weak, they get the idea of exploring and having self-determination. There is also an automated learning component.  “Even if the child does not touch the ground, but they make the motions as if they are crawling,” the device will work with them. The kids wear a suit that contains several position sensors so the robot can measure the arm and leg positions and movements on the SIPPC.” This way the automated system can coordinate the robot’s movements with the child’s actions.

Dr. Miller said he’s, “hopeful that this research will, probably in the long term, provide some benefit to these subjects or others with a similar condition.”

AME Hosts Annual Graduate Program Meet and Greet

Saturday, February 20th, we hosted our annual AME Graduate Program Meet and Greet. The slides and Zoom video can be found below if you were unable to make it to the event.

Link to the Powerpoint presentation: Workshop for undergraduate recruitment – 1-14-2021

Link to the complete Zoom meeting: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nUjSXw3SP0KgbJhD-aM6b-nWuc3PZi5v/view?usp=sharing

Highlighting Dr. Cai’s Research

This week, we are highlighting Dr. Jie Cai’s research in the Smart Buildings Laboratory.  His research topics include Design and Control of Phase Change Material-Based Energy Storage, Control and Dynamic Modeling of Vapor-Compression System, Building Thermal Equipment for Power Frequency Regulation, Building Thermal Loads for Power Voltage Control, and Controls to Enable Sustainable Communities.

Dr. Cai directs the Smart Buildings Laboratory which houses a fully instrumented psychrometric chamber that can accommodate testing of thermal systems under accurately controlled environmental conditions. The facility is being actively utilized in support of several research projects related to ultra-high efficiency desalination technologies enabled by low-temperature refrigerant cycles, advanced controls of variable-speed heat pump equipment, and grid-interactive efficient buildings. The research efforts are currently supported by DOE, APRA-E, and leading HVAC manufacturers.

Senior Pre-Capstone Teams Build Autonomous Robots

 

This year’s winning robot.

This year’s senior Pre-Capstone teams were tasked with going through an extensive design process to design, build, and test an autonomous robot that could navigate around a predetermined track. This process was designed to mimic a companies design process following the required paperwork, design decisions, CAD, FEA, and ultimately working prototype.

Teams came up with one-off solutions such as 3D printed parts, wireless controlled robots, mechanical steering mechanisms, and an array of custom electrical components. This exercise helped the mechanical engineers broaden their skills and ideas while teaching students how to work through a complicated design process. The winning team as pictured above used a custom cardboard chassis to save on weight and 3D printed guide rails to keep the robot from hanging up on the wall. The team used high torque servo motors as a drive mechanism to maximize the weight they could carry while still remaining relatively fast. The video below shows the second-place team’s mechanical approach that used Legos and motors to quickly move around the track while rubbing against the wall. This team focused on using a simple solution to accomplish the same goal and minimizing design time.

All of the teams did well implementing several different design philosophies to highlight the importance of diverse ideas in engineering.

Below are the robots from other teams.

 

 

Boomer Rocket Team and Sooner Off-Road Begin Their Thousands Strong Campaigns!

This month, Boomer Rocket Team and Sooner Off-Road kicked off their Thousands Strong Campaigns! These student teams want your support to help them get to competition.

Sooner Off-Road is a student team that designs, manufactures, and races an off-road vehicle for the Baja SAE competition. They are hoping to raise $7,000 before their Thousands Strong campaign ends on December 5, 2020, at 11:55 p.m. The money donated to them will go towards the construction of the vehicle, software used for design, and travel expenses. As of today, they have reached 53% of their goal, and they could use your help! Donate to Sooner Off-Road by visiting their Thousands Strong website: https://thousandsstrong.ou.edu/project/22820

Boomer Rocket Team is a group of multidisciplinary engineering students dedicated to the design, construction, and launch of high powered rockets. BRT hopes to raise $3,000 before their Thousands Strong campaign ends on December 11, 2020, at 11:55 p.m. The money they receive will be used to purchase materials and send students to the Argonia Cup in Kansas. So far, they have reached 54% of their goal, and they need your help! Visit BRT’s Thousands Strong website to donate: https://thousandsstrong.ou.edu/project/22934

Thank you for your support!