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1. Building a Better Helmet |
by Marcia Goodrich, senior writer
Helmets are helpless against some of the most dangerous injuries in football. They protect players from direct impact, as when linemen slam head-on into each other like battling yaks. But when it comes to rotational impact, a helmet doesn't offer much more protection than a full head of hair.
What is rotational impact? Think of it as shaken baby syndrome all grown up. A slanting blow to the head can set the brain spinning ever so slightly inside the skull and damaging tissue. The resulting concussion has the power to put a player on the bench, in a wheelchair or even in the morgue.
To protect players from rotational impact, you need a different kind of helmet. Professor Gopal Jayaraman (MEEM) leads a multidisciplinary team that is building one.
Materials science and engineering majors Wayne Bell and Nikki Long are investigating materials to use in the helmet. Mechanical engineering PhD student David Labyak will test the design with help from ME undergraduate Rei Tangko. Professor Paul Nelson (SBE) and business administration major Eric Tangko are developing plans to market and promote the new helmet.
And Professor Allan Struthers (Mathematical Sciences) has developed mathematical models that predict how well different designs and materials will work. The designs of all current football helmets are based solely on trial and error.
The team is on the verge of building and testing several prototypes that mirror the protective mechanisms of the human head, earning it the unglamourous name of "biomorphic helmet."
"We mimic the structure of the head: the skull, the scalp and the spinal fluid," said Jayaraman. "They all protect the brain from direct and rotational impact, but in different ways. Our objective is to copy the biological system."
Grad student Labyak has been working on the project six years and has a personal stake that goes beyond earning his doctorate. "Sports have been a big part of my life, and I've had my bell rung playing football in high school," he said. "Also, I have three children, two girls and a boy, and they're all in sports."
Specifically, they all play hockey. While the biomorphic helmet is being built with football in mind, it could easily be adapted to the baseball diamond or the ice rink, a prospect that drives Labyak, whose son has a hearing loss that could be exacerbated by injury. "We're worried about him playing contact sports, because he could lose more of his hearing if he receives a blow to the head. This project hits home for me."
Not all head injuries occur in sports. "My mom and my brother run a motorcycle shop," said MSE undergrad Bell. "Some of their friends have died in motorcycle accidents."
Hoping to use his education to save lives, Bell sought out Jayaraman, only to find out that his dream research project was well under way and that he was welcome to participate. "This is a match made in heaven," he said.
Business student Eric Tangko also sees vast potential in parts of the world where people may not even have heard of the Super Bowl. "We'll be developing other markets," he said.
In particular, the team is looking at India and China, where scooters crowd the roadways. "It could be applicable for powered two-wheelers," said Jayaraman. "There are millions of cyclists in Asia."
The project has recently received a $15,500 grant from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance and has been awarded $4,500 from the Century II Endowed Equipment Fund. Additional support is being sought from the Michigan University Commercialization Initiative and other funding organizations. |
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2. Flags Flown at Half Staff Today |
Flags will be flown at half staff today, Tuesday, July 22, in honor of Army Specialist Byron J. Fouty of Waterford, who was previously listed as missing-captured while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. On July 10, the Armed Forces Medical Examiner identified human remains recovered in Iraq July 9 to be those of Specialist Fouty and another soldier who went missing May 12, 2007.
At the time of his capture, Private First Class Fouty, 19, was part of a patrol that was ambushed by enemy forces south of Baghdad on May 12, 2007. The Army posthumously changed his rank from private first class to specialist. He was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y. |
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3. Marketing and Communications Closed Today Until 3 p.m. |
Marketing and Communications, including the Print Shop, will be closed today, July 22, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. for a retreat.
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4. Dress for Success Shop Sale Now Till Friday |
The Dress for Success Store in the Campus Bookstore has all sport coats on sale this week, with $150 sport coats marked down to $99.
All suits are $50 to $100 off the regular price of $150 to $375.
Take $15 off the price of all shoes and $10 off dress shirts. Ties and belts are $9.99 on the sale rack. |
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5. Start Date for New Email, Calendar Service Changed to September |
The University will not be adopting the new email and calendar services provided by Merit until this fall.
Dan deBeaubien, director of information technology services and security, said the Zimbra suite will probably be adopted in late September to minimize the possibility of a service interruption during the first part of the semester.
The University had hoped to outsource these functions to the Merit this summer. For more information, see the story in the April 25 Tech Today: www.admin.mtu.edu/urel/ttoday/previous.php?issue=20080425 .
Workshops on how to use the Zimbra collaboration suite—which includes email, calendar, file sharing and instant messaging features—will be offered in mid-September and announced in Tech Today.
If you have any questions, contact deBeaubien at dan@mtu.edu . |
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6. Blood Drive Aug. 13 |
submitted by Staff Council
Staff Council and the Benefits Office are co-sponsoring a blood drive on Wednesday, Aug. 13, from 10 a.m. to noon. The Upper Peninsula Regional Blood Center (UPRBC) from Marquette General Hospital will be at the ground floor Ballroom in Douglass Houghton Hall to collect blood from Michigan Tech employees and students.
The UPRBC serves 13 hospitals in the Upper Peninsula, including Portage Hospital and Keweenaw Memorial Medical Center.
Facts about donated blood
* Each unit of blood that is donated can save up to three lives.
* All blood types are needed.
* Only about 5 percent of those who are eligible to donate do so.
* There is no substitute for human blood
* It only takes about 45 minutes from registration to cookies and juice.
* You will be someone’s hero—you may give a newborn, a child, a mother or a father, a brother or a sister a chance at life.
Donor requirements
* AGE: 17 (16 year-olds can donate with written permission of parent or guardian)
* WEIGHT: at least 110 pounds
* DIET: A well-balanced meal is recommended within four hours of donation
* HEALTH: general good health
* IDENTIFICATION: valid identification such as a driver's license, DMV identification card, passport, Social Security card, etc.
* MEDICATIONS: Most medications will not cause you to be ineligible to donate, but they must be evaluated by the technician before the donation.
There are some restrictions based on past travel. If you have questions, please call the MGH Hancock Donor Center at 483-1392.
More information about donating blood can be found at www.mgh.org/blood/blood.html .
Even if you have never donated before, please consider starting now.
To make an appointment, call Nancy Bykkonen at 487-2517. |
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7. Job Posting |
Staff job descriptions are available in the Human Resources Office or at http://www.admin.mtu.edu/hro/postings . For more information regarding staff positions, call 487-2280 or email jobs@mtu.edu .
Faculty job descriptions can be found at www.admin.mtu.edu/hro/facpers/facvac.htm . For more information regarding faculty positions, contact the academic department in which the position is posted.
Staff Job Posting
7/23/08-7/29/08
Office Assistant 4
Graduate School
UAW internal and external posting
Michigan Technological University is an equal opportunity educational institution/equal opportunity employer. |
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8. In the News |
Michigan Tech made the Washington Post with Kari Lyderson's story about the wolves and moose of Isle Royale; click here to read more.
The AP story leading with a mention of the Enterprise work on wearable video was picked up by the Chicago Tribune: read more here. |
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9. Free Bookshelves, Cart in Electrical and Computer Engineering |
The electrical and computer engineering department has two brown metal bookshelves, measuring 3 feet by 6 feet, and two gray metal bookshelves, measuring 3 feet by 7 feet, to give away.
An equipment cart with bicycle wheels is also free to a good home; it needs new inner tubes.
See John Miller in EERC 727 or phone 487-2134 if you are interested in any of the items.
University property may only be transferred between departments. It may not be given or sold to individuals.
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