Sooner Racing Team’s Thousands Strong Campaign Officially Launched

For the past seven months, Sooner Racing Team has been designing and manufacturing their car for this year’s Formula SAE competition. The team has a goal to raise $7,500 to get them on the road. The money will go towards transportation costs and supplies. The competition will provide professional experience for the team members, as they learn hands-on skills and have the opportunity to network with businesses in the automotive field, as well as, with students from 550 other universities around the world.

The Sooner Racing Team is an OU student organization that designs, builds, tests, and races an open-wheel, formula-style race car. The team wants to take their 2019 car to the Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) competition in Lincoln, Nebraska, but they need your help getting there!

To learn more about the team and to contribute to their campaign, visit the Sooner Racing Team’s Thousands Strong page: https://thousandsstrong.ou.edu/project/13784

Sooner Rover Team’s Thousands Strong campaign results!

Sooner Rover Team’s Thousands Strong campaign has come to an end with amazing results. They raised $9,410 and are currently assembling their rover for competition. It will take place from May 30th to June 1st at the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) near Hanksville, Utah.

Thank you to all who supported the team by donating!

Thousands Strong campaign results are in!

Design Build Fly (DBF) and Boomer Rocket Team (BRT) successfully completed their Thousands Strong campaign! While it was a very close competition between the two teams, Boomer Rocket Team pulled ahead of Design Build Fly by a mere $185. Both teams did however surpass their goal of $4,000. Boomer Rocket Team raised a total of $7,300 and Design Build Fly raised $7,115. This money went towards supplies needed to build their rocket and plane. 

Thank you to everyone who supported out teams by donating!


 

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.

 

Sooner Racing Team Thousands Strong Campaign 2018

The Sooner Racing Team is utilizing the Thousands Strong crowdfunding platform to raise money for their upcoming competition. The campaign started February 19, 2018 and ends March 23, 2018 at 11:59 PM. As of today the team had reached 79% of their total goal. Help them reach 100% by donating on the Thousands Strong website.

Who We Are

The Sooner Racing Team is an OU student organization that designs, builds, tests, and races an open-wheel, formula-style race car. Each year, we compete against teams from around the world. Our team wants to take our 2018 car to the Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) competition in Lincoln, Nebraska, but we need your help getting there!

How You Can Help

Formula SAE competitions provide 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 550 other universities around the world. For the past seven months, our team has been hard at work designing and manufacturing our 2018 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 $5,000, extra funds will be put towards purchasing new sets of racing tires.

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!

Thank You!

Thank you for your support of our team. We are certain that with your help, we can cross the finish line Sooner!

Donate here: https://thousandsstrong.ou.edu/project/9037/wall

OU Researcher Uses Geometry for Affairs of the Heart

Newswise — NORMAN – Geometry is often referenced for matters of the heart. Marriage has been described as “two parallel lines,” and others have compared love to an “irrational equation” or as unending as “pi.” But when it comes to the medical matters of the heart, geometry can be a lonely and dangerous affair.

“The shape and size of a heart is not the same for every person, and a diseased heart, such as ischemia heart failure, is different than a healthy heart,” explains Dr. Chung-Hao Lee, an assistant professor in the Biomechanics and Biomaterials Design Laboratory in the University of Oklahoma’s School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. “So, when it is necessary to do surgery on the heart, it important to map out the individual’s particular geometry to know how it will respond to different surgical treatment options.”

Lee’s recent research is focused on a predictive surgery for a serious heart condition called Functional Tricuspid Regurgitation, which affects approximately 1.6 million Americans. FTR is typically caused when the left side of the heart fails, causing the right side to expand and a geometric distortion of the heart. The distortion can lead to reverse blood flow, poor functioning of the heart valves, or worse, heart failure on the right side.

Long-term surgical outcomes to repair FTR have a 20 percent moderate to severe recurrence rate by 10 years after initial surgery. Also, up to 40 percent of patients who have cardiac surgery require additional surgery within five years due to the individual’s heart characteristics. This results in more open-heart repeat surgeries and significant increases in risk and mortality.

Lee and his team are developing a predictive modeling tool for individual-optimized heart valve surgical repair. The customized analysis will be a surgical planning tool for the treatment of that patient. Lee’s team uses a combination of clinical image data, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging and clinical computed tomography, to reconstruct a 3D computational model of the heart. Lee’s model would guide surgeons on the best approach to repair FTR in a particular patient, reducing the risk of reoccurrence.

“Often, surgeons may have several options on how to repair a heart,” Lee said. “They may try to manipulate the geometry of the heart or valves or change the size of each individual apparatus. We can simulate those surgical scenarios, one by one, to know the individual-optimized therapeutic option.” The right approach can improve the durability of the repair.

“We are now entering a level of knowledge and technical capability where computational modeling can deliver precision medicine,” Lee said. “If we can predict how a distinct heart will function under different surgical scenarios, we can help surgeon select the best approach to the surgery.”

 

The intersection of science, computational science, clinical research and the heart make a healthy affair.

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The Gallogly College of Engineering at the University of Oklahoma challenges students to solve the world’s toughest problems through a powerful combination of education, entrepreneurship, research, community service and student competitions. Research is focused on both basic and applied topics of societal significance, including biomedical engineering, energy, engineering education, civil infrastructure, nanotechnology and weather technology.

The programs within the college’s eight areas of study are consistently ranked in the top third of engineering programs in the United States. The college faculty has achieved research expenditures of more than $22 million and created 12 start-up companies.


Source: https://www.newswise.com/articles/ou-researchers-uses-geometry-for-affairs-of-the-heart

Gollahalli Legacy Fund

 

 

Professor Subramanyam Gollahalli, Lesch Centennial Chair at the University of Oklahoma (OU) School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering (AME), retired and transitioned to emeritus status in May 2017, after 41 years of service at OU (52 years including his tenure at the Indian Institute of Science, India and the University of Waterloo, Canada). His service included eight years of directorship at AME.

His distinguished career was marked by many awards from various professional organizations and many recognitions from OU, including the Regents Superior Teaching Award and Regents Professional Service Award. A few of the awards bestowed upon Professor Gollahalli are the Westinghouse Gold Medal, the Energy Systems Award, the Ralph James Award, the Ralph Teetor Award, the Samuel Collier Award and the Sustained Service Award.

Professor Gollahalli’s research in energy and combustion involved many experimental studies. He founded the internationally-recognized Combustion Laboratory, where he mentored over 100 graduate students (M.S. and Ph.D.) and post-doctoral associates and produced nearly 300 publications. He involved many undergraduate students in his laboratory research as well.

Professor Gollahalli strongly believes that “hands-on experimental experience” is an essential component of engineering education to prepare well-rounded engineers. He was the founding chair of the AME Laboratory Committee (1989), in which capacity he served until retirement (with a break during his directorship). He was the author of the “AME Lab Plan” required by the accreditation agency, which provides guidelines for various laboratories (two required labs and five elective labs). It deals with coordination, safety aspects and general guidelines for funding and conducting laboratory courses. During his tenure as the chair, he raised funds and arranged allocation of funds through the Lab Committee to modernize the lab education to keep pace with technological innovations.

“Dr. Gollahalli is a truly dedicated professor, he inspires his students to solve problems and make a difference,” said Sai Gundavelli, AME alum.

His passion for giving students hands-on experience resulted in the modernization of the AME machine shop with numerically controlled equipment. During his directorship, he gave priority to funding labs and the machine shop in which students were given the opportunity to work by themselves under the supervision of machine shop staff.

The capstone design project program, which involves industrial projects, saw a major growth in size and increase in funding during his directorship. The AME Capstone Project Poster Fair, where students exhibit their hands-on developed creations and win awards at the conclusion of judging by the industry personnel, became an annual popular event during his term as the director.

During his tenure as the director, he encouraged and supported the student competition activities, such as Sooner Racing Team, Human-Powered Vehicle Team, Robotics Team and Design-Build-Fly Team. The teams facilitated direct student involvement in designing, manufacturing and competing in national events. He personally attended some of the competitions to encourage students. He took great pleasure and felt proud when the teams achieved high national rankings.

When Professor Gollahalli stepped down from the directorship after eight years, the AME Board of Advisors started a fund to honor his legacy, which was intended to support the undergraduate laboratories. Now, after his retirement, to mark his passion and belief in providing valuable laboratory hands-on experience to students, Professor Gollahalli’s family decided to make a significant contribution to this fund to make it a permanent endowment, which will serve as a source of funding for this cause.

“I am grateful to the AME Board of Advisors for establishing Gollahalli Legacy Fund to support instructional labs. I thank my wonderful students and friends for their generous donation for this cause, which will facilitate production of well-rounded future AME engineers,” said Professor Gollahalli.

The School of AME requests your contributions to this fund to mark your name and help fulfill Professor Gollahalli’s long-standing desire. To contribute to the Gollahalli Legacy Fund please visit: https://giving.oufoundation.org/OnlineGivingWeb/Giving/OnlineGiving/Gollahalli

Bergey Aerospace “COUGAR” First Flight

bergey-aerospace-cougar-ame On July 14, 2017, the Bergey Aerospace BA-14-001 “COUGAR” conducted its first flight from the local Max Westheimer airport marking the start of its flight test program, and the continuation of a project that has been with the University of Oklahoma’s College of Engineering School of Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering for nearly two decades.

Well-known as one of the original designers of the Piper Cherokee, retired AME professor and president of Bergey Aerospace, Karl H. Bergey, first envisioned the high-cruise-speed, 4-seat, propeller-driven aircraft in the 1990’s as an enhanced Piper Arrow capable of a true 200 mph or greater cruise speed. He solicited the help of OU engineering students over the years to complete the design, construction and now test flights of the aircraft.

bergey-aerospace-cougar-ame

According to Jawanza Bassue, volunteering project engineer and 2017 OU AME M.S. graduate, “The COUGAR has and continues to be a teaching tool for Oklahoma’s students – not just at the OU College of Engineering but, for life-long-learners (including OKC MetroTech Aviation Campus students) who have volunteered their time and efforts to see the aircraft to this point – I thank them all for what we’ve done together.” He recognizes the recent contributions of Jet Black Machine, Quality Aircraft Accessories, the FAA (especially the contributions of OU AME Board Member and  Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center Director Michelle Coppedge), the OU Information Technology Department and the School of Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering. “It’s my hope that the College of Engineering will find more great ways for our students to benefit from having this platform available. I’m interested in hearing what the OU COE community has in mind for continued student involvement in this project – true course credit for flight test engineering-related activities and the opportunity to build another aircraft are all entirely possible. It’s not everyday students and volunteers get to take some credit for getting a 3000 lb, 35 ft wide aircraft airborne and we should be very proud of that.”

bergey-aerospace-cougar-ame

The aircraft was displayed at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) fly-in September 8-9 in Norman at the Max Westheimer Airport – an event that was open to the public and drew thousands of aviation enthusiasts as well as other airshows from across the Nation. For updates and information follow the Bergey Aerospace Facebook page or visit www.bergeyaero.com.


Written by: Jawanza Bassue