College of Engineering Projects

College of Engineering Project Descriptions - June 5, 1997

Chemical Engineering

Process Engineering Laboratories - $2.8M

Project will expand the existing Process Simulation and Control Center (PSCC), establish the Environmental Process and Simulation Center (EPSC), and build on current collaborations between the departments of Chemical and Environmental Engineering and between Chemical Engineering and the School of Business.

Process Analysis and Diagnostic Center - $153K

The center would capitalize upon several areas of exiting strengths at MTU. A substantial number of process analysis software tools have already been created under the sponsorship of CenCITT. MTU is a recognized leader in the area of Chemical Process Safety and the first university in the USA with a chaired professorship in this area. MTU has also achieved a level of prominence in the area of physical property research and compilation under the sponsorship of the Design Institute for Physical Property Research (DIPPR). MTU’s physical property data in the areas of safety, environment and dilute solutions are becoming particularly important as the area takes on increasing importance to society. The department has a strong capability in process design which is nationally recognized as a result of continuing student success in the annual design competition of the AIChE. The department is a recognized leader for its capabilities in process modeling, treatment technologies and pollution prevention. The center would combine these capabilities into an organization with unique, interdisciplinary capabilities which could be used to support industry in the design of efficient, clean and profitable processes and products as we enter the 21st century.

Innovation Laboratory and Resource Center for Chemical

Engineering Plant Design and Communication - $250K

Project is aimed at a major upgrade of our classroom and computing lab environments to improve key student skills in demand by U.S. industry. Our current teaching classroom and facilities are technologically unsophisticated, most having been designed in the 1960s or before. Our classrooms and computer labs are not equipped to handle multimedia presentations, display of computer software, or even simple oral progress reports with audiovisual exhibits.

Center for Polymer and Composite Technology - $400K

Center will enhance MTU’s current polymer laboratories in order to allow polymers/composites industry trends to be pursued. This center will be a focal point which would greatly enhance MTU’s ability to work with state and national industry and foundations. In particular, this proposal will provide equipment that is needed to fabricate continuous fiber composites, short fiber and particulate filled polymer systems, and reactive polymer and elastomer systems.

Laboratory for Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering - $450K

Project will establish a state-of-the-art microscopy, imaging, and micro fabrication facility for interdisciplinary education and research in the emerging area of cellular and molecular bioengineering. This facility will provide students with the opportunity to work in multidisciplinary design/laboratory teams on industrially-sponsored projects. This facility will house three computer-controlled optical videomicroscopy workstations each equipped with a mechanical micromanipulator and laser-based optical trap. These workstations will provide students with the ability to observe and manipulate chemical, mechanical, and electrical phenomena at the cellular and molecular level.

Subsurface Remediation Technology Development Center - $600K

This center will coordinate research and educational activities focused on evaluating the performance of treatment techniques used to remediate subsurface environments. Funds will be used as seed money to expand the research activities and to prepare professional development courses both of which will be centered within the Subsurface Remediation Laboratory.

Hazards Laboratory - $200K

The Hazards Laboratory has a $475,000 matching fund commitment from the Dow Foundation. Currently about $200,000 of the matching fund money remains. The project would obtain the remaining $200,000 matching funds, purchase needed equipment for the laboratory, and provide support for graduate students.

Chemical Engineering Learning Laboratory (ChELL) - $165K

The laboratory would provide an alternative learning environment, a facility that would allow students to access and use instructional videotapes, Cds, computer modules, and other individually oriented multimedia learning tools. The facility could be equipped for students to videoconference either individually or in small groups, and would be well equipped with career exploration information.

Endowed Chairs, Fellowships, and Scholarships - $3.5M

Endowed chairs are an important mechanism in attracting and retaining the very best faculty. Endowed fellowships and scholarships would provide resources to attract and retain the strongest undergraduate and graduate students at Michigan Tech.

Civil and Environmental Engineering

ELVIS CENTER - Engineering Learning, Visualization, and Information Sys. Center - $1M

Center will transform MTU from a net importer of technology information products to a new exporter. The Center will enable MTU to play a leading role in the creation of research opportunities, educational research, and dissemination of knowledge into the next millennium. The Center would fill a critical void in the development of the Initiative for Manufacturing, Initiative for the Environment, distance education programs, virtual collaboration teams involving industry and faculty, and dissemination of MTU-produced knowledge worldwide.

Upper Midwest Center for Air Quality Science - $2M

Center would include development of a Mobile Air Quality Station (MAQS) with capability to measure a variety of atmospheric constituents and metorological variables.

Center for Development and Testing of Large-Scale Mfg. Structural Composites - $5M

There is a need for creative development of large scale manufactured structural composites. Little effort by universities is given to creative design of and cost-effective manufacturing processes for large composites. It is proposed that MTU establish a multi-disciplinary center to promote innovation and creativity in the design, manufacturing and testing of large scale structural composites.

Center for Engineering Geophysics - $275K

Mission: To promote and develop engineering geophysics for maintaining the country’s infrastructure (roadways and associated structures), and for other civil and environmental engineering applications. The center would establish ties with industrial, military, and public sectors, and build significant external research funding.

Environmental Infrastructure Center - $1M

In terms of wastewater treatment, the EPA has stated that more than $135 billion will be invested in municipal wastewater treatment alone in the next seven years. We will need to achieve greater removals of conventional pollutants and specific micropollutants and toxic metals. One motivation behind these requirements is to reuse and repurify water as inexpensively as possible.

Center for Environmentally Conscious Decision Making - $500K

The concept is that the greatest pollution prevention dividends are achieved early in the design process. The Center could provide designers information on the capability of environmental technologies which work in concert with process technologies to remove pollutants from waste streams. The center will provide information via web links to state assistance providers and industry.

Center for Environmental Catalysis - $500K-$2M

The motivation is that many existing treatment processes involve several steps or unit operations and many do not actually eliminate further risk of pollutants to the environment. We have many unique capabilities at MTU: We have the ability to characterize catalysts using sophisticated devices, we can make quantum mechanical chemistry calculations for electronic features of catalyst solids and for chemical reactions, we have the ability to formulate unique catalysts, we have a great deal of knowledge regarding adsorption and surface chemistry that allow us to design catalysts and supports, and we have excellent mathematical models that we can use to interpret and design experiments.

Transportation Materials Center of Excellence - $1M

The CEE Department has built an excellent foundation for transportation materials research with MDOT which views MTU as the materials component of the Pavement Research Center of Excellence recently established with MSU as the lead institution. It is important for us to invest in building our capability in this area as when money is available, MDOT will look to MTU to establish a Center of Excellence in Transportation Materials.

Transportation Center - $1.5M

Transportation is very important to Michigan Tech because of its location. The Transportation Center, established at MTU in 1996, includes the Technology Transfer Local Technical Assistance Program, the Materials Research Group, the Tribal Technology Transfer Group, and the Technology Development Group. It is important that adequate space and support staff be provided for this productive unit to reach its full potential.

Computing and Information Systems Commercialization Program - $1.3M

This program will support academic research projects built around the development of engineering and scientific software applications. The program will develop an MTU-based capability to make MTU developed software applications market ready and to manage their marketing and distribution. The goal is the establishment of a world-class MTU capability in software based technology transfer.

Environmental Scholar Program - $300K

The proposed project provides opportunities, stipends, and support for ten undergraduate students to be involved in ongoing research projects each summer in the Environmental Programs at MTU. Research will be in all areas of environmental engineering and sciences.

Student Center for Learning, Design, and Group Study - $100K

The proposed Center would serve to meet the needs of team work and collaborative design projects in courses of all levels increases by providing the space and equipment needed for team meetings, design projects and presentation preparation, and discipline specific research and literature reviews.

Surface Water Quality Engineering - Watershed Hydrology Lab - $1.1M

An engineering approach to river, lake, and reservoir management provides a quantitative framework for integrating basic scientific theory with field and laboratory investigations in solving practical problems of concern to industry, municipalities, and the public at large. We propose to develop leadership as we week to maintain a healthy and balanced water resource by outfitting a state-of-the-art surface water quality laboratory.

Drinking Water Treatment Lab - $1.5M

The goal is to develop a world-class drinking water treatment laboratory for both undergraduate and graduate education. During the next 20 years, EPA estimates that a minimum of $138 billion will need to be spent in order to supply safe drinking water to the 250 million customers in the U.S. The development of this laboratory is critical in preparing students for meeting these challenges.

Center for the Study of Air Quality Impacts in Rural and Remote Regions - $3.7M

This program builds on current MTU expertise in the areas of air pollutant measurements, impacts of air pollutants on forest products, and remote sensing of environmental variables. The main components of the program include: Program in Air Quality Impacts in Rural and Remote Regions and development of a Mobile Air Quality Station, or MAQS.

Air Quality Laboratory - $612K

The goal is to develop a world-class air quality laboratory for both undergraduate and graduate education. EPA has proposed recent changes in particulate and ozone ambient air standards which will require engineers to understand control and assessment of hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, and particulate emissions. The development of this lab is essential in order to provide MTU’s future engineers and scientists with the capability to effective assess and develop solutions for these types of air quality issues.

Endowed Professorships, Fellowships, and Chairs - $3.5M

Endowed chairs, fellowships, and scholarships will enhance the reputation of our degrees and provide great prestige and will improve our undergraduate and graduate programs, enable MTU to compete on a national scale for the best students, and will enhance and upgrade the quality of our students’ comprehensive design experiences.

Electrical Engineering

Power Engineering Program Enrichment - $2.6M

The EE department at MTU is a leader in the undergraduate education of power engineers. This was demonstrated recently when faculty within the EE department were selected as one of five successful proposals (out of 17) for the prestigious NSF/EPRI "Innovative Power Engineering Education in a Changing Environment Award." This award provides $270,000 to update the undergraduate power engineering curriculum to include recent changes in the industry as well as incorporate multimedia instructional techniques. The continued development of a highly respected undergraduate and graduate power engineering program is dependent on: high quality faculty, high quality facilities, and high quality students.

Micro ElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) Laboratory - $2M

Develop and equip a laboratory focused on simulation and fabrication of micro electromechanical devices and their electrical characterization. This laboratory will provide key support for the university-wide Manufacturing Initiative, will create a very interdisciplinary team of researches and educators, will provide a new attraction for graduate and undergraduate students, and attract external funding in key areas of research related to MEMS.

Computer Engineering - $15M

Currently MTU does not have an actual degree program in Computer Engineering. EE is developing a degree program in this area, and because the national need is so great, an undergraduate enrollment of about 600 students is expected to eventuate, half of them anticipated to be new to the MTU campus.

Professional Design Laboratories - $2.1M

We propose to renovate portions of the EERC to create seven Professional Design Laboratories to support senior projects. The labs and their operation will parallel the industry work setting of practicing electrical engineers.

Endowed Graduate Fellowships in Electrical Engineering - $2M

The department faculty have decided to use its resources on the development of four graduate research areas. These are: Electrophysics, Intelligent/Control Systems, Power/Energy Systems, and Signal Processing. The availability of these endowed fellowships would help build the new and developing Ph.D. program in EE.

Geological Engineering

Center for Engineering Geophysics - $275K

Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

Manufacturing Annex to ME-EM Building- $4M

The Mfg. Annex will contain telecommunications equipment to support undergraduate and graduate degree programs being offered and proposed via distance learning. This capability will provide real-time laboratory demonstrations and, by way of data transmission, will provide real-time data acquisition and analysis between the participating sites.

Laboratory & Facilities Renovation - $3.5M

The renovation includes the updating of strategic laboratories and incorporating the latest in instructional technology. We will be gaining three floors of floor space, approximately 19,000 square feet, when the Biological Sciences Department vacates its current location and moves to the new ESEB in Fall 1998.

Product Design and Manufacturing Laboratory - $1M

It is proposed to create a laboratory that will allow users to quickly design products and their manufacturing processes. Students using the laboratory will be able to design products on computer workstations, create a model of the product using rapid prototyping equipment, and physically create the product using desktop machine tools.

Interactive Classroom for Enhanced Technical Studies - $168.4K

Develop a networked classroom of 30 seats with a PC workstation for each, and the capability to interact with the instructor and other students through the network. The ability to work together will facilitate the teaching process for undergraduate and graduate computer enhanced courses.

High Performance Computer for Engineering Research - $1.08M

Develop a high performance computer sub-system for the Mechanical Engineering Department research efforts.

Networked Classroom for Enhanced Technical Studies - $963K

Develop two networked classrooms of 20-25 seats with a workstation for each, and multimedia capability to provide advanced tools for teaching engineering graduate and undergraduate courses.

High Speed Machining Systems - $1.6M

We propose to create a laboratory devoted to high speed machining. It will include a highspeed lathe, milling machine, and grinding machine. These machines require the latest in highly stiff slideway and spindle designs in addition to computer control. We also plan to build a high speed imaging device for visualization. High speed machining is an area of significant industrial interest as companies endeavor to further improve productivity. The facility will enable research on high speed machining processes.

Center for Manufacturing Automation and Mechatronics - $1.5M

The focus of this center is to develop technology to enhance manufacturing automation through basic and applied research. The underlying principal of the center will be to continually understand industry needs for manufacturing automation, respond to those needs through basic and applied research, and transfer that technology to industry.

Computer-Aided Inspection Laboratory - $1.2M

The laboratory is to measure various product quality parameters and metrological dimensions. The users of the lab will have a computer aided inspection environment for the measurement processes and the collection of the data. The lab will provide the inspection capability from the dimensional measurement of large sized products to nano-scale surfaces.

Material Handling Systems to Support Manufacturing Initiatives - $324K

The proposed material handling systems and equipment will support the manufacturing initiative presently in planning by adding the integration capability required in manufacturing and assembly and provide the ability to study the engineering skills and solutions in material handling itself.

Endowed Chairs (1) Mfg. Systems, 2) Mfg. Process and Design, 3) Mechanical System Design, 4) Environmentally Conscious Mfg., 5) Micromanufacturing, 6) Distinguished Practitioner’s, 7) I.C. Engines Combustion, Noise and Vibration Harshness; 8) Noise and Vibration Harshness; 9) Graduate Student Fellowship, - $15.6M

1) Emphasis will be on analysis, synthesis, and control of mfg. systems; 2) computer aided design and conversion of designs into products; 3) design, analysis, simulation, and control of mechanical systems; 4) teach courses and engage in research focused on environmental issues associated with manufacturing; 5) emphasis on application, design, fabrication, and testing of microelectromechanical systems and components; 6) bring a distinguished engineering practitioner to the department to teach courses to students from an industrial perspective; 7) emphasis on analysis, synthesis, and control of I.C. engines or combustion; 8) chair professor will teach courses and engage in research focused on noise and vibration harshness, acoustics, and sound quality; 9) graduate student fellowships for outstanding Ph.D. candidates and M.S. candidates, one-two years of support for Ph.D. candidates and one year for M.S. candidates.

Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

Endowed Chair - $1M

Intended to complete funding for the Metallurgical Endowed Chair. Will be awarded to supplement an established university funded faculty position and will permit the department to attract and retain outstanding faculty in the area of materials and minerals processing.

Mining Engineering

Underground Construction Laboratory - $500K

Develop and equip a laboratory to support the initiative in underground construction, tunneling, and advanced excavation techniques.

Mine Waste Laboratory - $250K

Develop and equip a laboratory to support the area of mine environmental engineering to include mine waste characterization and treatment and disposal.

Blast Vibration Laboratory - $300K

The lab will support instruction and research in rock mass response to dynamic loading conditions. The lab will facilitate research on explosives-rock phenomena, vibrations of rock drilling and rock cutting equipment.

Rock Mechanics Lab Equipment - $401.2K

Upgrading the rock mechanics lab facilities that are required to enhance undergraduate and graduate education in mining engineering.

1) Endowed Scholarship, Chairs 2) Underground Construction, 3) Mine Environmental Engineering - $6.5M

1) endow undergraduate and graduate scholarship fund which will permit the department to attract top-quality students, ensure a stable base of support, stabilize the enrollment in the program; 2) endow a chair in the area of underground construction which includes advanced excavation techniques and automation, rock engr. And remediation of existing infrastructure; 3) endow a chair in mine environmental engineering which will provide the resource base and prestige to attract students into the program; enhance research in the area of mine waste disposal, mined land reclamation, mine site remediation mine pollution control, and will benefit the mining industry worldwide.

Seaman Mineral Museum

New Building for A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum - $10M

The new museum would: 1) dramatically upgrade MTU’s academic infrastructure; 2) strongly reinforce MTU’s competitive edge to attract, support and retain high-quality students and faculty as a unique, powerful didactic resource that many institutions lack; 3) constitute a campus development milestone, uplifting MTU’s level of excellence and image, achieving greater national and international prestige; 4) being an accessible location will maximize visitation and revenue through increased admissions, fee-based public programs, rental opportunities, and retail operations. The Museum will become, and will look like, the "official Mineralogical Museum of Michigan."

University-Wide Projects

Engineering Learning, Visualization, and Information Systems Center - $1M

New technological tools provide an unparalleled opportunity to enhance research and education. The ELVIS Center will transform MTU from a net importer of such information products to a net exporter.

International Multidisciplinary Center for Field Studies at MTU in the Summer - $1.275K

There is a state, national, and international need for multidisciplinary field-based skills and programs in science and engineering fields. We propose to develop a summer field-based multidisciplinary program working on problems of ecosystems, environmental science and engineering, earth system science, forestry, and remote sensing.

MTU Focus on Unsurpassed Excellence in Education in the 21st Century - $45M

The proposed project will provide a building for multidisciplinary education and research activities and/or programs. The facility would allow for integration of education and research across departmental and college boundaries and would advance world-class education and research within the context of the manufacturing initiative. This project will consolidate several other projects being considered for the campaign.

Applied Geofluids Laboratories - $1.25K

This project is a collection of related facilities intended to improve our understanding of the earth’s subsurface and the fluids it contains. It is envisioned as an interdisciplinary industry/university/government effort with a primary source of industry interaction being oil and gas companies and related service industries.

Remote Sensing Initiative (RSI)

To serve as a strong focus for MTU’s numerous nationally acclaimed activities in environmental monitoring, ecosystem and ecological science, remote sensing ;physics, and space and planetary sciences. We envision RSI to be large, and to serve as the home institute for a number of interdisciplinary efforts, to be developed as the result of a grass-roots collegial interaction among faculty and researchers interested in particular program areas.

Center for Materials Characterization (CMC) - $1M

This project is intended to establish a university-wide center for analysis of materials. The center will significantly enhance the education of undergraduate and graduate students, allow MTU to attract and retain outstanding faculty, and enable the University to better serve small and mid-size businesses in Michigan.

Undergraduate and Secondary School Interdisciplinary Education and Research (USSIER) -$1.2M

This program will provide opportunities for undergraduate and high school students to participate in interdisciplinary research and education at MTU. The program has two components: Interdisciplinary Capstone Senior Projects; and a Summer Interdisciplinary Research Opportunity Program for pre-baccalaureate students.

Development of Miniaturization Technologies Laboratories for Education and Research -$3.6M

The intent of this project is to establish a capability and infrastructure (laboratories, equipment, and core operating staff) in the miniaturization technologies (micromanufactur-ing among other known names) for multidisciplinary education and research involving undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty. These are enabling technologies which can be applied to very diverse and interdisciplinary problems in engineering and science and are an outgrowth of the microelectronics industry.

Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing - Air Quality Laboratory - $400K

It is proposed to develop and to establish an Air Quality Lab to support the ongoing Environmentally Conscious Mfg. Activity at MTU; this lab will be the most advanced of its type in the State of Michigan and will serve as a valuable resource to the automotive industry and its supplier base.

Center of Experimental Biomechanics for Injury Reduction in Industry, Sports, and Medicine - $950K

One of the largest expenditures corporate America makes on an annual basis is the costs associated with injuries. As costs continue to rise, corporate America has begun to recognize the value of prevention of injury, improved technology and treatment techniques, and better accommodations for the disabled. The center will enable the university to become a leader in the prevention of injury to the worker through ergonomics, injury prevention to children and participants of sporting activities through development of protective equipment, and continue to play an integral role in the advancement of medicine through materials testing and device design.

Center for Biomedical Engineering Education and Research - $4M

A primary responsibility of the Biomedical Engineering Center will be the offering of a curriculum leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering. The university needs a focal point for the extensive biomedical engineering research and educational activities developing throughout the campus. Surging student interest in biomedical engineering as a discipline and as a career field demands a structured curriculum with course offering appropriate to students need. The center will help position MTU as a leader in education and research in the important emerging field of biomedical engineering.

College Level Projects

Undergraduate Engineering Design Center (UEDC) - $10M

Will provide the facilities for the design, analysis, manufacture, and testing of the senior design capstone experiences and the national design competitions for all of the engineering departments. It will house all of these activities in one modern building, thus truly encouraging interdisciplinary activities while freeing us space in other buildings. The primary focus is to facilitate communication among faculty, students.

Excellence in Engineering Education Fund - $2M

The purpose of this projects is to establish an endowment that will promote innovation and excellence in engineering education. Income from the fund would be used for a number of initiatives, including making awards for engineering excellence, funding endowed professorships promoting excellence in engineering education, and providing seed money for educational research. In addition, faculty needing money to develop modern teaching techniques would be able to apply t the fund for seed money.

Matching Opportunity Fund - $4M

The proposed project would give the college more flexibility in equipping itself to improve undergraduate education. It is common to provide new faculty bringing with them new ideas to improve the educational programs at MTU money to get started on the right foot. In fact, it is often necessary to be able to offer these start up packages to attract the best faculty from across the nation.

Student Projects Fund - $1M

A number of student groups and organizations continually ask for funds or permission to raise funds for special projects such as trips to national meetings or competitions, money to build prototypes, student organizations, as well as a number of other worthwhile activities. If an endowed fund were established, the students could focus their efforts on educational activities.

Dillman Hall Renovations: Civil and Environmental Engineering; Geological Sciences and Engineering - $500 - $2M

The proposed project would provide for renovation and upgrade of space in Dillman Hall, concentrating on removal of the old hydraulics standpipe and on better adaptation of space to current teaching and research needs.

Distance Education Support Facilities to Provide Lifelong Learning Program Capacity -$934K

The goal of this project is to provide improved support for MTU’s Distance EducationProgram by creating first-class distance education facilities and by making funds available for faculty and students. This plan would create a studio classroom, two compressed video classrooms, and a Distance Learning Resource Center, and would establish a course development fund for faculty developing distance courses and scholarships for students enrolled in the distance education program.

Endowments: 1) Dean of Engineering; 2) Named Endowed Interdisciplinary Chairs, Professorships - $8M

1) Money is to be raised to endow the deanship which will increase the prestige of the position and make it easier to attract top candidates; 2) This project proposes to endow one or more chairs or professorships that transcend departmental boundaries. The holders of these prestigious positions would be expected to lead the college in developing multidisciplinary programs. It would increase the stature of the faculty and would provide leadership to students and faculty, and it would provide strong linkages with corporations.