Message From the Chair
Welcome to the March issue of the Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Newsletter. This edition presents two new grants for solar-related research, interesting findings on respiratory particle emissions, and other recent activities of our students, faculty and alumni. I hope you enjoy reading about our achievements as we continue to develop and implement innovative solutions in mechanical and aerospace engineering.
— Brian Helenbrook, Professor/Chair of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering/Paynter-Krigman Endowed Professor in Engineering Science Simulation
Children’s Respiratory Particle Emissions
An article published by a research team, which includes Prof. Byron Erath, in the journal Aerosol Science and Technology explains its findings that age influences the size and quantity of respiratory particle emissions in humans during activities, with children releasing fewer and smaller particles than adults. Thus, incorporating age demographics into disease transmission models may improve their accuracy. Read More.
Solar Dynamo
Prof. Chunlei Liang has been awarded an Air Force Office of Scientific Research grant of $240K to model the global solar dynamo and simulate the magnetic field of the sun. All space weather has its roots in the solar magnetic field, but the global dynamo producing this magnetism remains difficult to predict numerically. Read More.
Solar Cell Advancement
Prof. Brian Helenbrook’s work to develop new models of solidification kinetics has been awarded a nearly $555K grant from the NSF. He’ll use the models to optimize the horizontal ribbon growth process – a technique for producing thin wafers of single-crystal silicon for use in solar cells, which could lower production costs by 75 percent. Read More.
Aerospace Award
At the American Society for Engineering Education conference, aerospace engineering major and honors student Michael Buchwald ’23 received the Aerospace Division’s Distinguished Student Paper Award for his research on “Advancing Engineering Education through University Ground Stations.” Buchwald investigated the integration of ground stations into university curricula. Read More.