Tuesday, May 24, 2005

WMU welcomes American Foundry Society, Detroit-Windsor Chapter

The Detroit-Windsor Chapter of the American Foundry Society (AFS) took a Western Michigan University field trip last week to explore the Parkview Campus, to present a scholarship, and to meet college administrators, faculty, alumni, and students.

Dr. Sam Ramrattan hosted “Opportunities in Metal Casting at WMU” for 27 AFS members from Eastern Michigan University, Saline High School, Ford Motor Co., Daimler Chrysler, AC Tech, Nemak Corporation, TRW, Ashland Foundry Solutions, and Hayes-Lemmerz Corporation.

Coordinating the trip was James McPherson, director AFS, Detroit-Windsor Chapter and supervisor of technical specialists - casting and forging at FORD Powertrain Manufacturing Engineering.

Ramrattan explained the objectives and courses, the work of the casting advisory board, the role of organizations in the program, and the skill and knowledge expectations of the students. “Metal casting remains strong as an engineering technology curriculum at Western,” he said.

CEAS Dean Tim Greene reviewed facts and statistics about WMU with emphasis on the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences

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James McPherson

and the new Parkview Campus. He also identified WMU’s standing in a number of national studies. “We’re one of top universities in the US,” he said.

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CEAS dean Dr. Tim Greene and IME’s Dr. Sam Ramrattan (l-r, front row) with guests from AFS, Detroit-Windsor Chapter

IME Chair Paul Engelmann examined technological change and the increased cooperation between industry and education to improve curricula and to enhance it with internships, co-ops, and project assistance. “Our university has a long history of shaping metal and of working with industry,” he said.

Reviewing recent IME research projects related to metal casting were Dr. Mitchel Keil, “Optical Metrology,” Dr. Pavel Ikonomov, “Large-Scale Prototypes,” and Dr. Tycho Fredericks, “Foundry Ergonomics.”

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Charles Grech (left) presents Past Chair Scholarship to Scott Seckel. On the right is Dr. Sam Ramrattan

Scott Seckel, a senior in the manufacturing engineering technology program, was presented with the AFS, Detroit-Windsor Chapter’s “Past Chair Scholarship.” Charles Grech, Chief Engineer, Nemak Corporation, presented Seckel with a $1,500 check.

IME graduates Ryan Schwark, Kevin King, and Phil Skrzypek presented their senior design project, “Distortion, Degradation Losses, and Collapsibility of Sand Binder Systems.”

Recent IME graduates Ryan Schwark, Kevin King, and Phil Skrzypek (l to r) present their senior design project, “Distortion, Degradation Losses, and Collapsibility of Sand Binder Systems.”

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Tuesday, May 17, 2005

IME-sponsored team of high school students earns a first at FIRST

Winning first place in the rookie division of the West Michigan Regional FIRST Robotics competition was a first for IME’s Dr. Tarun Gupta, who mentored a team of 14 Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center (KAMSC) high school students.

“We were competing against teams that have 10 years’ experience,” Gupta said. “This was our first time, so our accomplishment was very good.”

In addition to winning the “highest rookie seed” from a field of seven rookie teams, Gupta said the KAMSC team, dubbed Quantum Ninja, also earned a tenth place overall in the field of 45 competitors.

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Dr. Tarun Gupta (right), KAMSC high school students, and members of his IME class pose with Robot 1677 at WMU. The team earned a first in the rookie division of the regional FIRST Robotics Competition

The FIRST robotics competition challenges teams of young people and their mentors to solve a common problem in a six-week timeframe using a standard "kit of parts" and a common set of rules.

This year’s challenge required the robot to lift tetrahedrons, which are pyramid-shaped objects, and to place them on larger tetrahedrons.

KAMSC is a magnet school for academically talented students; all its students attend other area high schools. The FIRST project was extracurricular. Students worked on the robot at WMU after school and on weekends. They communicated via an Internet website: quantumninja.com/first.

Most of the work was done at WMU’s Parkview Campus. The KAMSC team was also assisted by WMU engineering students in Gupta’s computer-controlled manufacturing design class and by Randy Blalock, a retired Upjohn technician, who served as an industrial adviser.

Robots stack tetrahedrons in a match at the West Michigan Regional FIRST robotics competition last month in Allendale.

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The KAMSC team members learned AutoDesk Inventor, a CAD program used to design most of the robot. They used sub-teams to complete tasks such as designing the robot, programming the sensors, determining the power pneumatics, wiring the circuitry, and testing. The team also had to learn about the complex competition scoring. Many of the students were members of several sub-teams.

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KAMSC’s Tom McCurdy works on the robot at WMU

“We’re happy about how well our robot performed,” said KAMSC student Tom McCurdy, 18. “Winning the award was a great honor.”

Gupta is already planning for next year’s competition when he may mentor one or even two teams. “This year’s competition was an overwhelm-ingly positive experience for the team,” he said.

FIRST, which stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology,” is a multinational non-profit organization that sponsors robotics competitions for high-school-aged teams.