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1. Siren Test Planned for This Morning |
Michigan Tech has tentatively scheduled a test of its new siren and public address/emergency notification system for the morning of Tuesday, May 6.
Staff expect to test the system at about 9 a.m. and may conduct follow-up tests throughout the morning.
If you are hosting visitors on campus, please let them know about the test.
This is ONLY A TEST to determine the reach and sound of the siren and PA system. In a real emergency, the siren is a signal to seek shelter, and it may be used in cases of immediate danger to the community, for example, to announce tornado warnings. Other than for tests, the system will only be used in emergencies. |
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2. X-tra Amazing: Challenge X Team Preps for Its Final Test |
It's April in Hurontown, where a blizzard has dropped about a foot of snow. Todd Cimermancic steers the big Chevy Equinox into a side street hidden under a graying quagmire of slush. The SUV wallows ever so slightly before regaining hard traction on bare asphalt.
Jake Dunda perches like a clerk in the back seat, hunched over a laptop. He's monitoring the innards of this quarter-million-dollar experimental hybrid vehicle, tracking how well it's charging its 200-pound battery. At this particular moment, thanks to the snow, the battery is giving up more juice than it's getting.
Cimermancic heads downhill, toward downtown Houghton, and Dunda's numbers perk up considerably. "This is a test drive for us," Cimermancic says. "It's the second with our new differential and the first with our new battery pack."
Dunda pipes up from the back seat. "You hit 30," he says, calling out in newton meters how well the vehicle is recharging the battery, which is on way up to the ideal charge of 52 volts. "This is a hundred times better than the last drive."
Cimermancic leads the Challenge X team at Michigan Tech, and team member Dunda, an electrical engineering major, focuses on electrical systems and controls. From radiator to tailpipe, its 14 members have analyzed, designed, built, rebuilt, and re-rebuilt this full-size family vehicle. Their aim has been to make it as economical and environmentally friendly as a compact.
Now in its fourth and final year, the Challenge X competition is sponsored by General Motors (which donated a stock Equinox to each of the 17 teams) and the US Department of Energy. Cimermancic is graduating with a BS in Mechanical Engineering Technology, and leaving the Challenge X vehicle, nicknamed "Huskynox," will probably be harder than leaving Michigan Tech.
"I've touched every part on this car," he says. "You probably never remove your gas tank, but I swear we've done that 30 times because there's something behind it we had to get to."
The Challenge has taken the students unexpected places, including Jay Leno's Southern California mansion, specifically, his garage. "He has the sixth-most-valuable car collection in the world," said the team's advisor, John Beard, an associate professor of mechanical engineering–engineering mechanics who is as much a motor head as any of the Challenge X students. "He has Bugattis, Duesenbergs, little cars, big cars, really expensive cars . . . That was part of the Challenge X Winter Workshop."
The team also took their vehicle on a tour around Lake Michigan, showing it off for local media and high schools in four states.
That's when they visited the University of Wisconsin's Challenge X team in Madison. "They said they didn't drive in rain or snow," Cimermancic chuckles, snowbanks looming on either side of the roadway. "We said, What?"
In mid-April, heedless of the weather, team members headed down to the Society of Automotive Engineers 2008 Congress in Detroit, where they chauffeured auto executives and reporters around the city.
A gasoline engine turns Huskynox's front wheels, and a 55-kilowatt electric motor powers the rear. The battery pack that drives the electric motor is charged by energy captured from the wheels when the driver touches the brake pedal, a process called regenerative braking. "It's kind of weird at first," says Cimermancic, since the car slows down a little more quickly. "But you get used to it."
The hybrid Toyota Prius has a similar through-the-road hybrid design, he says. "Some owners drive 15 miles out of their way to go downhill and improve their mileage."
In addition to the design, the team's strategy includes shaving off every extra pound, including a few that might not be realistic for the average driver. Their aluminum brake rotors were custom-cast at Michigan Tech. Glass windows were replaced with polycarbonate, which carries a $10,000 price tag. The effort pays off in pounds: At the Challenge X Winter Meeting in Los Angeles, Huskynox was the lightest vehicle in competition and a full 200 pounds lighter than any other hybrid there. Since then, the team has shaved off yet another 20 pounds.
At top speeds and while climbing hills, the Huskynox draws on its gasoline engine. Downhill and on the flat up to about 45 mph, the electric motor gives it most of its power. The passenger doesn't notice much change, not even in the engine noise.
"If you didn't know the difference, it might slip your mind that this is some college-built hybrid," says Cimermancic.
Nevertheless, this is not your father's SUV. Huskynox has 30 percent better mileage than the stock Equinox. Depending on who is driving and where, it can wring up 38 miles out of a gallon of gas without an appreciable loss in performance. With a new catalyst, the team hopes to see Huskynox's emissions plummet.
What does it take to complete this labor of love? On average, team members spent 15 to 25 hours a week on the car, and lots more as Challenge X events approach. The night before this test drive, team members were up till three in the morning. Sometimes, they nap in cabinets near their work bay. "The team is just incredible," says Cimermancic. "We made a seven-hour ride to Escanaba and back for parts yesterday—we blew up another gear box and our battery pack screwed up."
They will head out May 12 to the East Coast for the final leg of the competition: a drive from Newark, N.J., to New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston and finally to the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, where the judging will be held. The awards will be announced May 21.
Beard thinks they'll be ready. "No other team has put as many miles on their vehicle," he says. "We know it runs in snow, in the rain, on crummy roads . . . these guys have really put it through its paces."
And they've done it on the cheap, relatively speaking. "The University of Waterloo spent as much on composite fenders and doors as we had in our entire annual budget," says Beard.
It will be hard for Cimerancic to let go, even though post-Challenge he's heading out to his dream job at Oshkosh Truck, in Wisconsin. The team definitely needs more funding, he says. The Challenge X sequel, Eco-Car, is coming up next year, and Tech's team will need more support.
His devotion is palpable. Nothing has taught him more than building Huskynox. "I've been on the project for four years. We designed and built pretty much every nut and bolt on it. It's incredible to have that kind of experience."
Plus, he says, even with the late nights and the long trips, "it's by far the most fun I've had at Tech." |
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3. Triangle National Fraternity Returning to Tech in Fall 2008 |
submitted by Jason Bergeron, assistant director, student activities for Greek life and leadership
The Michigan Tech chapter of Triangle National Fraternity will be returning to campus in fall 2008.
Triangle Fraternity, founded at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1907, has become the nation's foremost social fraternity for men pursuing architecture, engineering and the sciences. The purpose of Triangle is to develop balanced men in the fields of engineering, architecture and science by providing an environment that fosters personal growth and professional success. Representatives from the national organization will be arriving on campus early in the fall to recruit bright, motivated and adventurous men to revitalize the chapter. Michigan Tech is excited to welcome Triangle Fraternity back into our Greek Life community.
Alumni and/or friends of Triangle Fraternity wishing to assist the national organization with its re-establishment efforts may contact either Bergeron, jtberger@mtu.edu , or Brian Tenclinger, executive director and CEO of Triangle Fraternity, brian@triangle.org . |
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4. Summer Youth to Relocate for Awhile |
by John Gagnon, promotional writer
Summer Youth Programs is temporarily moving to new digs—Douglass Houghton Hall.
The move is scheduled to begin Friday, May 9, and it is expected to be business as usual by Wednesday, May 14.
Initial phone service (487-2219) will be in place on Monday, May 12.
Email access for all staff should be in place by Wednesday.
During the move, the cell phones of Kristi Isaacson (281-0949) or Karla Korpela (281-0606) will be available.
The move affects the following: Rose Martell, Deb Maki, Karla Korpela, Kristi Isaacson, Heather Simpson, Cody Kangas, and four student coordinators.
"We are hoping that having us all under one roof will make for a smoother operation this summer," Martell says. "We're excited to try the new idea. Come check us out in DHH this summer!"
Rooms will be used in DHH's central hallway (146-152) and west wing (103 and 123).
The relocation will end on Saturday, Aug. 2, at the end of the fourth week of the Summer Youth Programs. Martell concludes, "Then we will be back in our old haunts on the third floor of the Alumni House." |
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5. OAP Summer Hours, Adventures |
submitted by the Outdoor Adventure Program
The Outdoor Adventure Program has put together some great opportunities for folks to get outside this summer. Keep in mind that OAP's services are open not only to students, but also to faculty, staff and their families. We have changed our hours for the summer to the following:
Rental Center Summer Hours
Sunday: noon-4 p.m.
Monday: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Tuesday: by appointment
Wednesday: by appointment
Thursday: by appointment
Friday: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturday 8 a.m.-noon
Visit our website, www.oap.mtu.edu , call 487-1963 and ask for Jared, or stop by the Rental Center located on the lower level of the Memorial Union and check out the trips that we have in store for the summer. You will find something for everyone, from backpacking to paddling and camping to day hikes. Take advantage of the great summers in the Keweenaw and get outside!
Already have a group of people together and want to go on a trip? Contact us to find out more about our Custom Experiences program and what we can do for you. |
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6. Reminder: Retirement Reception for Sharron Paris Thursday |
submitted by the Registrar's Office
The Office of Student Records and Registration invites you to a retirement reception for Sharron Paris on Thursday, May 8, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Memorial Union Alumni Lounge. Please stop by and join us as we wish her the best in her retirement. Light refreshments and a cash bar will be available. |
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7. Reminder: Weight Watchers Meetings to Start Tomorrow |
Weekly meetings for the on-campus Weight Watchers group will begin tomorrow, Wednesday, May 7. The meetings will be held Wednesdays from noon to 12:30 p.m., with weigh in taking place prior to the meeting and starting at 11:30 a.m.
If you did not submit a pre-registration form to Renee Hiller in the Benefits Office, please bring the form with you to the first meeting.
As an added incentive, a grand-prize drawing, for $300 toward the purchase of a bike from The Bike Shop in Houghton, will be held at the end of the 12-week program. Members will have multiple chances to enter their names in the drawing.
If you have any questions, please email Renee Hiller at rlhiller@mtu.edu . |
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8. Webinar May 15 on Using TurnItIn.com |
The next regularly scheduled TurnItIn.com webinar training session for faculty and staff will be held Thursday, May 15, at 11:30 a.m.
TurnItIn.com is a web-based plagiarism detection service the University has licensed for use. This training will be focused on using stand-alone Turnitin, accessed through www.Turnitin.com . Faculty that use Turnitin via Blackboard/WebCT may find these sessions helpful in addressing questions regarding Turnitin assignment options and features.
The session is interactive, allowing you to access training from a computer and call in from your telephone to listen to the presenter and ask questions.
To join the online meeting, login with your name and email address at https://turnitin.webex.com/turnitin/j.php?ED=96023797&UID=492079427 , enter the meeting password (Tii1234) and click Join. The meeting number is 756 703 243.
To join the teleconference portion of the meeting, call 1-866-469-3239.
For assistance, go to https://turnitin.webex.com/turnitin/mc , click Assistance, and then click Support.
The host requests that you check for compatibility of rich media players for Universal Communications Format (UCF) before you join the session. UCF allows you to view multimedia during the session. To check now, click the following link: https://turnitin.webex.com/turnitin/systemdiagnosis.php .
If you have any questions, contact the Turnitin product specialist, Greg, at ganderson@turnitin.com or Tom Freeman at tfreeman@mtu.edu . |
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9. In Print |
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Professor emeritus Konrad Heuvers (Mathematical Sciences) published a paper, "Eigenfunctions of the Curl Operator, Analytic Functions and the Helmholtz Equation," in Nonlinear Functional Analysis and Applications, Volume 12, Issue 3, 2007. |
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