Two Undergraduates Win ASME Awards

Two of our AME undergraduate students, Janella Clary and Colton Ross, received ASME awards on April 26th. Janella received the Tom J. Love Outstanding ASME Student Member Award from ASME Central Oklahoma Section while Colton received the ASME Central Oklahoma Section Undergraduate Scholarship of $500.

Janella Clary a senior from League City, Texas, is a mechanical engineer major with minors in business, Spanish, and international studies. She’s involved in the Gallogly College of Engineering as well as an active member of SHPE, SWE, ASME, MEP, and AISES. Last year she was the secretary for OU’s ASME chapter and this year she is serving as president. Additionally, Janella is involved in the OU Triathlon team, OU Sailing Club, Global Engagement Fellows, and OU Cousins. Recently, she has completed two internships with Exxon Mobil in Spring, Texas, as an offsites and utilities engineer and she will intern with them again for this summer. Next year she will be graduating in June 2019 and plans to start with Exxon Mobil fulltime after graduation, unless she is selected for the Fulbright award, then she plans on completing an independent research project at OU starting in September 2019.                                                                                Colton Ross, who is a junior mechanical engineering major, is a new member of the ASME student chapter. Currently, he is an undergraduate researcher working with his mentor and future M.S. thesis advisor, Dr. Chung-Hao Lee, in the Biomechanics and Biomaterials Design Laboratory. Colton has presented at the ASME/AIAA sponsored symposium, hosted by OCU, in April. His future plans include pursuing his accelerated master’s degree as well as furthering his education through a doctoral degree in mechanical engineering. Congratulations go out to both Colton and Janella on their ASME awards and future endeavors.

 

AME Honors Outstanding Students at Annual Ceremony

        On April 20th, AME recognized current graduate and undergraduate students on their outstanding achievements for the 2017-2018 school year at the annual Board of Advisors and Student Recognition Ceremony. Undergraduate mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering students received the Outstanding Student awards. The graduate student awards include scholarships and fellowships received for the upcoming academic year. Graduate students recognized for their respective scholarships include:  

Thomas Milam, Sr. Endowed Fellowship: 

  • Robert Blake Anderson 
  • Timothy Blackford 
  • Julius Marshall 

Frank Chuck Mechanical Engineering Scholarship: 

  • Jingyu Wang 

Chevron Texaco Scholarship: 

  • Alireza Abdi 

John E. Francis Scholarship:  

  • Mohammad Charara 

Jim & Bee Close Engineering Scholarship: 

  • Tausif Jamal 
  • Rajmohan Muthaiah 
  • Mohammad Abshirini 

Marathon Oil Scholarship: 

  • Richard Perry 

In addition to the graduate students recognized at the ceremony, AME also honored our outstanding students who excel both inside and outside the classroom and are leaders among AME students. The students are selected for these awards by AME faculty for their performance in their respective classes. Dr. L’Afflitto and Dr. Siddique presented the outstanding performance awards for aerospace engineering, and the awardees and their respective awards include: 

Outstanding Sophomore in Aerospace Engineering: 

  • Glenn Medina 

Outstanding Junior in Aerospace Engineering: 

  • Alexander Speed 
  • Alexander Bryant 

Outstanding Senior in Aerospace Engineering: 

  • Joseph Sullivan 

Mechanical Engineering awards were presented by Dr. Baldwin, who is the undergraduate mechanical engineering committee chair, and Dr. Siddique. The awardees with their respective awards include: 

Outstanding Sophomore in Mechanical Engineering: 

  • Duncan Merchan-Breuer 

Outstanding Junior in Mechanical Engineering: 

  • Colton Ross 

Outstanding Senior in Mechanical Engineering: 

  • Sarah Libby 

Congratulations to these groups of outstanding students for their achievements at AME and their great accomplishments!

Wind Tunnel Design Team Takes 2nd Place at AIAA Student Conference

AME’s student wind tunnel design team recently accepted an award in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on the weekend of April 13th at the student conference of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Representing the team, Karen Martinez Soto traveled to the conference to accept the 2nd place award on behalf of her team for the AIAA region IV team technical paper category. In addition to Soto, her teammates include Samuel Jett, Orhan Roksa, and Marko Mestrovic, who are all undergraduate students at AME.                                         Their paper highlights the design, fabrication, and uniformity testing of a low-budget, wind tunnel. With a budget of only $5,000, their group examined characteristics of wind tunnels through computer models and they continued their study further by building a tunnel of their own to test other aerodynamic components. The focus of their design and construction for this tunnel, according to their paper, serves to provide “a robust platform for development and testing of many aerodynamics components, including UAV propellers.” Congratulations to Karen, Samuel, Orhan, and Marko for their impressive efforts to design and test a wind tunnel and their 2nd place award from the AIAA student conference.

Link to the team’s paper: design-fabrication-uniformity (1)-1ghgtt2

Dr. Gramoll Awarded and Recognized for U.S. Patent

During OU’s annual Faculty Tribute ceremony on April 10th, hosted by the OU Board of Regents and President David L. Boren, Dr. Kurt Gramoll, was recognized for being awarded a U.S. patent titled “Vibration Reducing Pipe Junction.” Dr. Gramoll worked in conjunction with Blake Eisner to develop a piping system that, under high pressure conditions, would reduce the frequency of problematic vibrations caused by displacement pumps and their flow variations.                    In addition to his research and professing, he is also the director of the Engineering Media Laboratory at AME. He currently serves as a technical/editorial reviewer for Applied Mechanics Reviews, Composites Engineering Journal, Journal of Applied Mechanics, and for the American Society for Testing and Materials. Congratulations go to AME’s Dr. Gramoll for being awarded a U.S. patent and his award recognition at OU’s annual Faculty Tribute ceremony.

Dr. Lee Named Awardee of Nancy Mergler Faculty Mentor Award

Dr. Chung-Hao Lee, one of AME’s assistant professors was recently named an awardee for the Nancy Mergler Faculty Mentor Award for Undergraduate Research for 2017-18 during the Annual Faculty Tribute. The award nomination comes from undergraduate researchers submitting either a survey or a letter that presents examples of the mentor’s leadership skills. Through his mentoring of undergraduate research students, he has provided them with outstanding research experiences where he supports individual and professional development of the mentee. Dr. Lee’s award of $500 is based on his qualities such as: investing in the work of his students through guidance, instruction, and encouragement, as well as fostering an environment with mutual respect and providing timely, explicit, and constructive feedback for intellectual growth. Congratulations go to Dr. Lee on his profound mentorship skills and his recognition for the Nancy Mergler Faculty Mentor Award.

AME Shop Supervisor, Billy Mays, Wins Distinguished Performance Award

Our AME shop supervisor, Billy Mays, was one of nine employees at the University of Oklahoma to receive the Distinguished Performance Award. This award recognizes employees for their outstanding attitude and skillset related to their positions on campus and it includes a $1,000 prize. Billy has been working for OU and AME for 18 years, where he especially enjoys the people and creativity this department offers. Outside of being AME’s shop supervisor, he enjoys working outdoors, wood working, metal working, and fabrication. This makes him an ideal fit for AME’s shop supervisor in addition to his background in engineering, machine shop, and welding. Additionally, an Awards Ceremony will be held in the Student Union on Tuesday, April 24th at 11:00 a.m. for the recipients of the Distinguished Performance Award. Congratulations go out to Billy for his dedication and merit to his job at AME.