EGR Seniors Present “Power Copies” Project at COE Workshop

Three IME students – all engineering graphics and design technology program (EGR) seniors who graduate in December – accepted an invitation to make a presentation at the CATIA Operators Exchange (COE) Automotive Industry Workshop Technical Conference held last month in Dearborn.

IME students (L–R) Greg Giudici, Josh Brien, and Eric Korbecki
were the only students invited to present at COE conference

In “Putting the Power in Power Copies,” Eric Korbecki, Greg Giudici, and Josh Brien provided an overview of work they did last summer while interning at Johnson Controls, Inc. (JCI). “Our presentation dealt with Knowledge-based Engineering and a form of engineering design in CATIA V5 called power copies,” Korbecki said.

Brien, who interned at the JCI Holland location, explained that “a power copy is a copy of a feature that can be used on a model.”

According to Giudici, who interned at the JCI Plymouth location, the students created power copies as part of the Knowledge-based Engineering (KBE) team at JCI. “Creating power copies saves designers time when they need to use one of the common features,” he said. “Instead of modelling the feature in their part, they simply use the power copy feature.”

For the COE presentation, the students described the processes of creating a power copy, imbedding knowledge into it, and implementing it. Combined with Knowledgeware and engineering rules, a model can be morphed and adapted to its environment. “It’s taking CATIA to the next level,” Giudici said.

According to Korbecki, the students’ design of the workbenches and the applications used were relatively new and advanced. “We considered this an opportunity to show the capabilities of the Knowledgeware workbench in CATIA for rapid and identical creation of common, complex features in a 3D solid model,” he said.

Many concurrent presentations of technical material based on Dassault Systems’ software programs were offered at the workshop. The students’ presentation was part of the Product Design Category at the Beginner, Intermediate level.

“We were the only students to present at this conference,” Korbecki said. “It was a great way to showcase the skills and knowledge we’ve received from Western and from JCI.”

The group credited JCI mentor and KBE team leader Jeff Roark for encouraging the students to speak at the conference. They also expressed their appreciation to JCI co-workers and WMU alumni Dave Burke and Anthony Pulcini for their technical support during the internship.

Attending COE (L-R): JCI’s Jeff Roark, Eric Korbecki,
JCI’s Dave Burke, Greg Giudici, and Josh Brien

In addition to making the presentation, the students also attended presentations on knowledge assets, which is similar to power copies, and product data management (PDM), a virtual data base system. They also participated in a hands-on course for developing 3D solid models at a substantially faster and more efficient rate.

“It was good to get out and see what’s going on in industry,” Brien said.

IME Group Enjoys ANTEC’s Futuristic Perspective of Plastics

Last May, 11 IME professors, graduate assistants, and students joined up to 5,000 plastics enthusiasts from all over the world at the Annual Technical Conference (ANTEC) sponsored by the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) and held in Charlotte, NC.

Described on the SPE Web site as “the leading technical forum for providing cutting-edge technological issues and information pertinent to the needs of the plastics industry,” ANTEC annually offers peer-reviewed technical papers providing plastics professionals “unique inside access to proprietary research and findings.”

IME Chair Dr. Paul Engelmann called ANTEC “the major technical event for plastics.” He said that more than 600 papers were presented in 25 concurrent sessions that ran from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for three days and for most of a fourth. “The Society’s best international papers for the year are presented at this set of meetings,” he said.

Accompanying Engelmann were IE Ph.D. graduate assistants Kurt Hayden and Jason Trahan; Jay Shoemaker, adjunct assistant professor from Moldflow; and Brian Sather, a master’s candidate graduate assistant in the plastics manufacturing program.

The six undergraduate students who attended – Brian Cervin (MFT), Andrew Dowdy (EGR), Greg Giudici (EGR), John Graver (MFT), Eric Korbecki (EGR), and Ryan Miller (MFT) – served as ushers at technical sessions in lieu of registration fees. The undergraduate students’ travel arrangements were made by Hayden, who also mentored the students throughout the conference.

Funds to send the students to the conference were provided by a grant from the Alcoa Foundation, through EPC/Alcoa in Mattawan. The grant supports the professional development and global awareness of students in engineering technology programs. The students wrote formal proposals for travel support to the conference as well as trip reports on their ANTEC activities and professional development upon their return.

IME Assistant Professor Dr. Betsy Aller is principal investigator of the grant and Professor Dr. Larry Mallak is co-PI. Aller has applied for another EPC/Alcoa grant for the same purpose; it is currently in the process of being approved at the national level.

Trahan presented a paper titled "Why troubleshoot when you can prevent? A Bayesian network approach," which he described as his ”biggest event” of the conference. “I had good turnout for the presentation and good conversations afterwards on the topic,” he said.

In addition to the papers, the event also included a series of special international panels and vendor displays.

The attendees were particularly impressed by the panel discussions, especially one titled “The Plastics Industry in India: The Next Frontier.” Engelmann said, “It furthered my understanding of the maturity of that industry in India as compared to in the US.” Engelmann was also impressed by presentations on nanotechnology, which could revolutionize the way that reinforcing elements are used in plastics.

Attending ANTEC: (FRONT L-R) Brian Cervin, Andrew Dowdy, Jay Shoemaker, Brian Sather, Kurt Hayden, and Dr. Paul Engelmann. (BACK L-R) Greg Giudici, Eric Korbecki, Jason Trahan, John Graver, and Ryan Miller.

The IME students attending ANTEC cited presentations on globalization in the plastics industry and an interactive session on injection molding as among the most interesting and useful sessions. They also noted that many sessions helped them see the relevance of and connections between materials they’d learned in classes.

Several attendees mentioned “Student Recognition Night,” sponsored by several companies including Moldflow, as a fun social activity. Students played arcade games, networked with professionals and attendees from other universities, and received free SolidWorks software.

In their trip reports, students said that the opportunity to travel and interact with IME professors and graduate students was excellent, as was networking with other students and professionals at ANTEC. “After participating in the ANTEC conference, I see that there are so many different directions that the plastics industry has to offer,” Cervin said. “Only at a convention of this magnitude can you appreciate [all these aspects].”

Several students stated they were inspired to present a professional paper at a future ANTEC conference. And all echoed Dowdy’s “Thank you for the continued support and development of engineering students!”

With support from the new EPC/Alcoa grant, IME plans to send several undergraduate students to ANTEC 2007, with the goal of presenting at least one technical paper.

Metal Casting Workshop Sparks Interest of Area High School Students

Dr. Sam Ramrattan explains the metal casting process to high school students enrolled in the 2006 summer metal casting workshop

Last month, IME professor Dr. Sam Ramrattan hosted a weeklong metal-casting workshop for 10 high school students from Kalamazoo, Coldwater, Saginaw, Grand Rapids, Detroit, and Toledo, Ohio. He has been offering similar hands-on workshops for up to 15 area tenth-through-twelfth-grade high school students during each of the last seven summers.

During the students’ five-day campus visit, Ramrattan, a technical advisor to the American Foundrymen's Society and a Key Professor for the Foundry Educational Foundation, directs activities in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Parkview Campus Metal Casting Laboratory.

Workshop topics include metal casting history, trends, and the relationship of manufacturing (molding, melting, filling, and finishing), engineering, quality, purchasing, marketing, and sales of castings. The students explore the use of computers, math, and science in metal casting.

In addition to their lab and course work, the students meet with WMU administrators to discuss university entrance requirements and expectations and with professionals from the foundry industry to review career opportunities in metal casting.

Field trips to metal casting industries provide students with opportunities to see real-world technology and to meet with professionals. This year’s attendees toured A.C. Foundry in Battle Creek, MI, Metal Technologies’ Three Rivers Gray Iron Plant, and SPX Contech’s die casting facilities in Dowagiac, MI. They also enjoyed activities in the Kalamazoo / Portage metro area.

Students who attend the program are sponsored by various chapters of the American Foundry Society (AFS) and the North American Die Casting Association (NADCA). Students are selected on the basis of an aptitude for math and science. There is no cost to the students who stay in WMU dorms and enjoy campus life.

Dr. Sam Ramrattan and Adil Abdelwahab, an IME graduate student, demonstrate how to pour molten aluminum into sand castings. After the demo, the high school students, who are seated behind the protective barrier, donned safety apparel and made their own sand castings.

WMU has had a casting metal program in various engineering curricula since the college opened over 100 years ago. Its most recent accreditation began in 1992 when Ramrattan joined the faculty. “Our goal is to produce hands-on engineers as an integral part of what we do in manufacturing engineering programs,” he said.

Metal casting is currently a program option in the industrial, manufacturing, graphics, and engineering management programs.

Dr. Sam Ramrattan demonstrates the mold making process

IME Advisory Boards Meet; Local SME Adds $20,000 to Roscoe Douglas Fund

This spring, the IME’s four advisory boards met to discuss the future education of engineers. The boards, which include representatives from several corporations and organizations and IME faculty, discussed future trends in the workplace and assessed how to meet the changing educational and experiential needs of IME.

Groups re-presenting IME’s four under-grad-uate programs – manufacturing (MFT), engineer-ing graphics (EGR), engineering management (UEM), and industrial engineering (IE) – held meetings following the 38^th Conference on Senior Engineering Design Projects (SEDP).

According to Dr. Mitchel Keil, the IME professor who chairs the EGR board, many members of the boards are WMU alums of the programs for which they now serve as advisors.

The boards considered current changes being suggested to the core curriculum to provide a common first-year program for all incoming freshmen engineering students and to organize them into cohorts. Under consideration also were the need for co-op experiences and international internships and potential changes in foreign language and calculus requirements.

Members also weighed the pros and cons of minors and options, the call to limit programs to 124 credit hours, and the inclusion of a 4 +1 program to allow a student to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in five years. They also reviewed enhancing the curriculum with topics such as product data management (PDM) and failure mode effects and analysis (FMEA).

IME professor Fred Sitkins said the MFT board agreed that the goal of education is changing from those proficient in manufacturing engineering to those proficient in manufacturing processes. “They want to hire those who understand the broad processes,” he said

Referencing the SEDP Conference that preceded the advisory meetings, IME professor Dr. Bob White said the IE Board agreed that “the IE projects were the best group of IE projects they’d seen at SEDP.”

SME Scholarship Funds Presented to Foundation

SME members pose with a $20,000 check donated to SME Foundation for scholarships. Left to right are Ron Jones, Dave Steffans, Bruce Burrows, Mitchel Keil, Erik Korbecki, Brian Cervin, Ryan Miller, SME Foundation Representative Bart Aslon, and IME Chair Paul Engelmann

Kalamazoo Chapter 116 of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) presented a check for $20,000 to the SME Foundation for Roscoe Douglas Scholarships (RDS). Ron Aslon, representing the SME Foundation, accepted the check and thanked the local organization.

In the past, Chapter 116 has supported RDS, which have been awarded by SME to full-time students who maintained a 3.0 GPA in either a manufacturing engineering or a technology program and who attended one of six approved Michigan institutions.

WMU’s most recent RDS recipients are Brian Cervin, Eric Korbecki, and Joshua Weise.

Next year, the IME department’s scholarship and publicity committee will determine how the RDS funds are distributed. Also all future RDS recipients must be WMU students.

The next official advisory board meetings are set for April 2007.

IE senior earns IME’s Presidential and Dean’s scholar awards

Pamela S. Apotheker earned top senior awards as IME faculty’s choice as both the 2006 WMU Presidential Scholar and the 2006 CEAS Scholar. Her nomination was based on a combination of academic excellence and extracurricular involvement.

The Presidential award was presented at the 26^th Annual Presidential Scholars Convocation, which was hosted by WMU President Judith Bailey, and the Dean’s award was given at a special luncheon given by CEAS Dean Tim Greene. A faculty member of her choice celebrated with Apotheker at each celebration. Dr. Bob White was selected for the Presidential event, and Dr. Azim Houshyar, for the Dean’s event.

“Dr. White and Dr. Houshyar are the dynamic duo of the IME department,” Apotheker said. “They teach well and maintain high standards, and they have the respect of their students.”

Apotheker, who maintained a 3.88 GPA, graduated with a BS in Engineering – Industrial with a minor in mathematics, was one of 47 WMU students from the university’s 48 departments honored as a Presidential Scholar, an award that has been given since 1981.

Before graduating, Apotheker passed the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam, the first of two tests that lead to her becoming a credentialed professional engineer. After working four years in the field, she will be eligible to take the final exam for her PE credential.

For her senior design project, Apotheker and two other seniors completed an analysis of the security checkpoint at the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport. This project helped the airport determine the additional resources needed to decrease the wait time experienced by passengers.

Apotheker’s memberships include two engineering honor societies: Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society, and Alpha Pi Mu, the IE honor society. As a new member to Tau Beta Pi, she won an award and $50 for the “shiniest bent,” which is a small replica of the Tau Beta Pi symbol.

She also chaired WMU’s chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), served as vice-president of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), and mentored the Kalamazoo area’s first FIRST competitive robotics team, which won a rookie award.

Left to right: CEAS Dean Dr. Tim Greene, 2006 Presidential and Dean Scholar Pam Apotheker, IME Professor Dr. Bob White, and IME Chair Dr. Paul Engelmann

The Kalamazoo native and a graduate of Kalamazoo Christian High School came to WMU as an undecided engineering major. She selected IE because “it’s people related” and because an IE career would enable her to use her math skills without requiring her to teach. “I knew I wanted to be an engineer, and industrial engineering offered the most,” she said.

As an undergraduate, Apotheker had a summer internship at Cook Nuclear Power Co that she described as “fun.”

Apotheker officially changed her name to Pamela Tkachuk on May 6, when she married Dan Tkachuk, a WMU aviation administration alumnus who works as an operations technician at the Kalamazoo / Battle Creek Airport.

Pam Tkachuk recently began working as a production engineer at Perrigo Company in Allegan. “I deal with and support the day-to-day operations,” she said.

IME students honored at annual Clausing luncheon

At its annual Clausing Student Recognition Luncheon, the IME Department honored 31 students as winners of several awards and scholarships. The Outstanding Undergraduate Student awards in IME’s four programs went to Scott Seckel (MFT), Erin Brown (IEN), Paul Marsman (EGR), and Quentin Witkowski (UEM).

Pam Apotheker (IEN) was honored as this year’s Presidential Scholar and the Dean’s Outstanding IEN Student. The other winners of Dean’s Outstanding Student Awards were Josh Brien (EGR), Josh Schilling (UEM), and Scott Seckel (MFT).

Six Outstanding Graduate Student awards were given to students in IME’s postgraduate programs: Geoffry Twietmeyer (GEM), Janna Muller (GEM), Gordon Peters (IEG), Olubusola Soyode (OR), Hardik Shah (IE PhD), and Jason Trahan (IE PhD).

Earning an IME Outstanding Service Award were Kayla Goostrey (IEN) and Renae Hoglen (IEN). Goostrey won for her extensive outreach involvement with the Society of Women Engineers, Habitat for Humanity, Alpha Pi Mu, Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), and Tau Beta Pi (Engineering Honor Society). Hoglen won for her extensive leadership involvement in IIE.

Erin Brown (IEN) was also acknowledged as one of four Kenneth W. Knight Scholarship winners. The other winners were Supreeta G. Amin (IE PhD), Nikki Crocker (IEG), and Elizabeth Evans (IEN).

Doctoral students Anil Kumar (IE PhD) and Jai Thomas (IE PhD) were honored for winning All-University Scholar awards. Kumar won for his outstanding research and Thomas won for his outstanding teaching.

Luis Hernandez was honored as the winner of the 2005 Clausing Industrial Scholarship, and Melissa Saltzman won not only the Ellinger Scholarship but also the IEEE Paper Contest.

Recognition was also given to Brad Armstrong and Dana Gronau for winning the North Central Regional American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Conference Best Paper competition. The paper was based on their Senior Design robotics project.

Scott Seckel was the recipient of three scholarships: Foundry Educational Foundation (FEF) Outstanding Student Scholarship, Ford Scholarship, and the AFS Wisconsin Chapter Scholarship.

Other FEF scholarship winners were Ryan Miller, Matthew Rutledge, and Michael Tolonen. Rutledge also won the Detroit-Windsor Chapter of the American Foundry Society (AFS) Scholarship.

Winners of the IME 1420 TA awards were Laura Wegner (Spring 2005) and Anthony Marciniak (Fall 2005). Justin Hobart won the CADKey competition.

Three students received Society of Manufacturing Engineering (SME) Chapter 116 Roscoe Douglas Scholarships: Brian Cervin, Eric Korbecki, and Joshua Weise.

Clausing Industrial, Inc., is a Kalamazoo-based company that has been providing support to the IME department and offering scholarships to its students for 54 years. Clausing CEO Joe Felicijan celebrated with the award winners.

IME Professor Tom Swartz emceed the recognition ceremony, and CEAS Dean Tim Greene and IME Chair Paul Engelmann assisted in the award presentations.

New engineering management honor society initiates 44

Last month the Alpha Gamma Chapter of Epsilon Mu Eta (EMH) made its debut at WMU by initiating 44 members, including professors, alumni, and students. Among the new members were alumni Herb Everss (’65), former automotive supplier executive and now CEO of Global EMERGENT, INC., and Peter Karadjoff (’86), CEO of Mercy Hospital in Port Huron, who addressed the group and shared secrets of their successful careers.

From left: David Lyth, Larry Mallak, and Herb Everss

EMH is the engineering management society. It was established at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., in 2003. At WMU the Engineering Management Research Laboratory is one of the founding members. IME’s Dr. David Lyth and Dr. Larry Mallak are charter members.

According to a letter written by William R. Peterson, EMH president and founder, the society’s goal is “to recognize academic achievements of students in engineering management programs” and its distinguished academic leaders and practitioners.

Peter Karadjoff

Among the initiates were three generations of engineering management. “Before it became engineering management, it was manufacturing administration, and before that it was industrial supervision,” Lyth said.

Lyth noted that Everss was a gradu-ate of industrial supervision; Karadjoff, of manufacturing administration.

Both speakers reviewed their careers, connected their successes to their educations, and offered advice to students and recent grads.

Everss told them to find and enhance “the gifts [they] bring to business and industry,” to “do more than what is expected,” and not to underestimate the value of communication. “Focus as much on communication as you do on the technical side because one without the other doesn’t go,” he said. “If you can’t sell your technical strength, how do you make the point that you have the answer to the problem?”

Karadjoff told them to develop techniques to work with people who are not in their fields, to network by asking for advice on “how to approach” the search, and to be detail oriented. “You’ll get more opportunity if you prove your ability to do a good job at the small ones,” he said.

Lyth led the swearing in ceremony, and the new members signed an official directory. In addition to Everss and Karadjoff, initiates included three IME faculty: Dr. Kailash Bafna, Dr. Betsy Aller, and Mr. Joe Petro, Jr.

Alumni initiates from the Engineering Management MS program include Peter Battey, Mike Bosscher, Vincent Dutter, Juhani Engelberg, Terri Estkowski, Tod Grams, William Koepf, Brent Ladd, Kenneth Lee, Michelle Leiterman, Sundaresan Narayanan, Rahul Shah, and Greg Williams.

Alumni initiates from the Engineering Management Technology BS program were Nolen Akerman, Aric Carlisle, Michael Gaddes, Bradley Glessner, Joshua Maes, James McEachen, David Smith, and Nick Yambura.

Current initiates from the MS program are Dzinyo Asamoa-Tutu, Chad Beebe, Stewart Gulliver, Aaron Keller, Carlos Tejada Medina, Janna Muller, Peter Oosting, Geoffry Twietmeyer, and Max Wettlaufer.

Current initiates from the BS program include Zachary Armstrong, Ryan Linenfelser, Andrew Nowak, Kevin Ortbals, Melissa Saltzman, Thomas Saville, Joshua Schilling, Kyle Swanson, and Quentin Witkowski.

CEAS Dean Dr. Tim Greene and IME Chair Dr. Paul Engelmann, and IME emeritus professor Dr. Frank Scott, whom Everss’ said had been his “favorite professor,” welcomed and celebrated the new society.

IME grad students win all-university research and teaching awards

IME graduate students Anil Kumar and Jai Thomas have earned All-University Graduate awards. They are part of a select group of 20 who were recently honored by the Graduate College in a Bernhard Center ceremony.

Anil Kumar, a doctoral student and a research scientist in IME’s Human Performance Institute, was honored with one of eight Graduate Research and Creative Scholar Awards for his chair research. In a 10-minute presentation at the awards ceremony, Kumar presented “snippets from the chair study” that he’s been working on for about two and a half years.

Specializing in biomechanics and ergonomics, Kumar has participated on biomechanical projects involving the Anil Kumar (right) runs tests on a seat with grad student Supreeta Amin evaluation of EMS personnel, labor and delivery nurses, lifting during manual material handling, and the ergonomics of hand tools. Kumar has also managed research projects that have considered human factors and cognitive usability issues related to task chair seating. He has numerous publications and presentations.

Kumar’s dissertation and chair research involved Haworth Company, which has provided support for him. He has already influenced product design and been invited to establish protocols in this area. His other research endeavors were for Stryker Medical and Bronson Methodist Hospital.

Kumar earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Pune in India. He came to WMU in 2002 from Wichita State University in Kansas where he had earned a MS in Industrial Engineering with emphasis on ergonomics. Following the completion of his dissertation, Kumar plans to seek a tenure-track academic position and continue his research in seating and ergonomics.

Jai Thomas is an IME doctoral student who has served as a secondary instructor for four years in many courses, including descriptive geometry, introduction to CAD, CAD applications, and CAD programming. He received one of 12 Graduate Student Teaching Effectiveness Award. “My teaching experience at Western has been very rewarding and encouraging,” he said.

The engineering technology courses that he teaches are particularly difficult because they require the use of tools that are constantly being updated and the understanding of underlying concepts.

Thomas said he reinforces theory with practical and real-life examples and motivates students to do well, encourages “independent thinking,” and makes students “work more to learn more.” In evaluations, students describe his presentation of the material as “excellent.”

He said he was impressed by the IME faculty’s “dedication to making students think” in the classroom. “I would like to pass on that dedication to the students,” he said.

After earning a BS in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Pune, Thomas came to WMU in 2001. He plans to earn his Ph.D. with a specialty in brake-hose modeling by December 2007.

Kumar and Thomas were also unanimously selected by the IME faculty as the department’s recipients of their respective awards. Kumar was nominated and supported respectively by Drs. Tycho Fredericks and Steve Butt. Thomas’ nomination and support was provided respectively by Drs. Mitchel Keil and Jorge Rodriguez. Both received letters of recommendation from IME Chair Dr. Paul Engelmann.

A total of 59 grad students competed for the university awards. The grad students received news of the awards via email. In the 21 years that the research and creative scholar award has been offered, 565 grad students have earned the award, and in the eight years that the graduate teaching award has been made, 225 grad students have been recognized.

Seniors polishing projects and presentations for April 18 conference

In the Parkview labs and study areas, 30 graduating IME seniors are busy checking calculations, organizing data, reviewing final recommendations, and putting the finishing touches on 10 presentations for the 38^th Conference on Senior Engineering Design Projects [SEDP]. The projects represent solutions to problems facing business and industry.

Sponsored by the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the Conference is set for Tuesday, April 18, 2006, at the Parkview Campus. It is free and open to the public.

The IME presentations will be presented between 9:30 a.m. and noon. Dr. Bob White will chair five presentations in Room D-201, and Dr. Betsy Aller will chair five in D-208. Each presentation is limited to 30 minutes and begins promptly on either the hour or the half-hour.

Seven area manufacturers or organizations sponsored projects. Humphrey Products Co. sponsored a project by Crystal Hawkins, Mike Muller, and Paul Schmidt to reduce lead time and work-in-process in pneumatic valve manufacturing processes.

Parker Hannifin Corporation’s Brass Products Division is sponsoring the project of Yashowardhan Gokhale, Laith Kobaissi, and Joon Sau Lee to analyze a five-station work cell that produces brass and plastic fittings and improve its hourly production volume.

Seniors Tariq Ali, John Graver, and Tyeisha Smith redesigned a professional manicure electric nail file to improve functionality at a low cost in a project sponsored by JayCam Instruments, L.L.C.

Borgess Medical Center sponsored a project done by Erin Brown, Renae Hoglen, and Sarah Smallcombe to design a model for nurse staffing and scheduling in the neuro-ortho unit.

A project done by Elizabeth Evans, Michael Hoonhorst, and Melissa Sitler to effectively schedule and utilize emergency room environmental service associates was sponsored by Bronson Hospital.

Pamela Apotheker, Kayla Goostrey, and Suman Kovuri analyzed passenger flow through an airport security checkpoint in a project sponsored by Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport in cooperation with the Transportation Security Administration.

IME seniors Mike Muller (left) and Paul Schmidt complete the paperwork on a pneumatic-valve-related senior project sponsored by Humphrey Products Co.

Chip Bailey, Jeff DeLlowe, Jason Ruetz, and Mike Tolonen’s project to improve the efficiency of the production of easels was sponsored by Goodwill Industries & Employment Service and by a Learn and Serve America grant.

Brian Ladouceur, Jacob Wegrzyn, and Steven Yurgalonis applied sensors to a robot to improve its safe interaction with humans. James Hnetynka and Ben Jackson developed parameters to achieve the highest part quality and efficiency in low-pressure die casting of a university commemorative seal.

Eliezer Aponte, Charles Ponscheck, and Ryan Whitney used simulation software to compare shrinkage defects in gravity sand castings.

Several IME professors served as advisors for the projects: Drs. Steven Butt, Tycho Fredericks, Tarun Gupta, Azim Houshyar, Pavel Ikonomov, Leonard Lamberson, Sam Ramrattan, and Bob White. CEAS’ Dr. Edmund Tsang also served as an advisor.

The conference features a total of 82 projects by 217 seniors. More information is available at www.wmich.edu/engineer/senior-design-conf.php

WMU chapter attends regional IIE Conference at Purdue

Last month, 23 members of the student chapter of WMU’s Institute of Industrial Engineers [IIE] traveled to the 2006 IIE Region 4 Conference at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.

The WMU students were joined by IIE students from not only Purdue University, but also Kettering University, Ohio University, Ohio State University, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, University of Michigan – Dearborn, University of Louisville, Youngstown State University, and Wayne State University.

Renae Hoglen, president of the WMU IIE chapter, praised the quality of the conference “We had a great time, and we were impressed with the professionalism,” she said. “We went to everything to learn what others are doing so that we could come away with as much of the experience as possible.”

Conference speakers included Michael Eskew, CEO and Chairman of UPS; Charles Armstrong, president of the Seattle mariners; Andy Poosuthasee from Halliburton; Carrie Ehrlich from United Airlines; and Rick McNamee, CEO of Quadrus Consulting.

Hoglen said all the speakers offered valuable insights. She described Eskew, who provided the keynote address at the awards dinner, as “very personable and in touch with” the audience. “He told us what IEs do for UPS, and how he worked his way up in the company,” she said.

Hoglen also enjoyed a presentation on Purdue that was given by Dr. James Barany, a Purdue faculty advisor, who documented the 50^th anniversary of Purdue’s IE department. “He was hilarious,” she said.

The conference included breakout sessions covering career experiences, a technical paper contest, a leadership forum, and a job fair for those in the Purdue area. Also offered were tours of Purdue’s IE facilities, including the machine shop and two human factors facilities.

The WMU group won an award for having more students in attendance than any other chapter. On behalf of the national IIE, IME professor Dr. Steven Butt, one of WMU’s IIE advisors and current IIE Region IV vice president, presented an appreciation award to Purdue for hosting the event.

IME professors Dr. Tycho Fredericks, a co-advisor of WMU’s IIE chapter, and Dr. Kailash Bafna also attended the conference.

WMU hosted last year’s IIE conference at the Parkview Campus. Ohio State University will host next year’s 2007 IIE Region 4 Conference.

2005 graduate is number three Ph.D. in IE

In December 2005 Yaser Al-Alawi earned the IME Department’s third Ph.D. in industrial engineering (IE) in as many years. Earlier in the year, he also earned a MS in industrial engineering. “I would like to say ‘thank you’ to the IME department for everything,” he said

The native of Bahrain has now begun teaching at the University of Bahrain (UOB), which sponsored his education at WMU. It is also the same university where he earned BS and Associate degrees in mechanical engineering and a MS degree in engineering manage-ment. “I’ve spent all my life studying,” he said.

As an assistant professor in the UOB mechanical engineering department, Al-Alawi is presently teaching two courses. His department currently offers Associate, BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering, and a MS degree in engineering management. It will soon offer a BS degree in industrial engineering.

Al-Alawi is also putting his education to work as a member of many committees aiming to develop new programs and engage UOB with industry. “I am using the tools and knowledge I gained at WMU to improve the industrial and business sectors in Bahrain and the surrounding areas,” he said.

According to coordinator Dr. Bob White, IME’s IE Ph.D. program is designed to combine the traditional research experience associated with a Ph.D. program with course work and laboratory experiences needed to prepare graduates to pursue careers in both academic and industrial settings. “This is the only Ph.D. in IE in Michigan with a core area of engineering management,” he said.

White said the program, which requires about four to five years to complete, emphasizes breadth of knowledge and requires students to conduct a significant, focused field study and to complete a dissertation research project.

The program also includes an industrial internship and a teaching internship. “If someone comes without industrial experience, they have to do one [industrial internship], and every student has to do a teaching internship as well,” White said. “They have to take courses in how to be a college teacher.”

Sang Dae Choi earned IE’s first Ph.D. in 2003. “It was such an honor earning the first Ph.D. in the IME department,” he said. “It was absolutely my good fortune to know and work with the IME faculty.”

According to Choi, the program showed him “how to effectively teach and research” and “how to work well with other people.” He has fond memories of Kalamazoo. “I am so proud to be a WMU-IME alumni,” he said.

Now an assistant professor in the Occupational & Environmental Safety & Health Department at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Choi teaches courses in ergonomics; construction, systems, and product safety; and analysis and design for safety in industrial operations.

Choi also coordinates the Occupational Ergonomics Emphasis and Certificate programs and serves as an approved OSHA Outreach Instructor for construction and industrial safety and as the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) faculty advisor.
Choi, his wife, and two small daughters enjoy the Wisconsin dairy country life.

The department’s second Ph.D. was earned in 2004 by David J. Meade, who came to WMU from industry and who remains at WMU serving as an assistant professor at CEAS’ Muskegon Center for Higher Education. “Between writing, generating data, and defending during the final months of my formal studies, I had the good fortune to land a position as a full-time, tenure-track faculty in the Manufacturing Engineering Department,” he said.

Meade “thoroughly enjoys” being a CEAS faculty member and working at a “terrific” campus. “I have grown very fond of the students and my co-workers here in Muskegon,” he said.

In his first year, Meade wrote several grant proposals, conducted applied research, wrote several journal publications and a book, developed courses, and interacted with students. “This past year has given me assurance that the switch from industry to academe was the right move,” he said.

The Meade family has settled in Grand Haven and is enjoying the lakeshore area.

About 11 or 12 students are currently enrolled in the Ph.D. IE program. White described the current students as a mix of full-time and part-time students. Some are employees at Haworth and Ford.

A tribute to Henry Beukema, WMU emeritus, alumnus, and fan

Henry Beukema, a WMU alumnus and an engineering graphics professor emeritus, taught in the Dept. of Industrial and Engineering Technology for 35 years before retiring in 1977. A dedicated WMU fan, he kept a WMU flag in his window until he passed away on Nov. 23, 2005.

Henry Beukema 1938 He was born Feb. 21, 1915, to Johanna (Fisher) and Hilbert Beukema in Grand Haven, MI, where he grew up.

After graduating from Muskegon College of Business and Technology, he came to WMU in 1938, where he earned his bachelor’s degree. He then taught high school courses in industrial education in Algonac and earned a master’s at U of M.

In 1943, Beukema returned to WMU to teach drafting and engineering graphics to 800 US Navy sailors for two years. Over the years, he came to be identified with his drafting classes.

According to emeritus industrial engineering professor Robert Boughner, taking a drafting course from Beukema was standard fare in the program: “Henry was the senior professor in the drafting area for 100,000 years; everyone took a drafting course from Henry.”

Beukema became a full professor at WMU in 1964. In addition to his coursework, he was involved with many societies and organizations, actively recruited for the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, consulted with the U. S. Department of Defense, and co-authored 23 volumes of high school and college textbooks, primarily in the areas of engineering graphics and welding technology. During his summers and school breaks, he worked with many local companies.

Henry Beukema (front, 3rd from right) with

Bronco Marching Band for Centennial Celebration 2003

Several emeriti professors remember Beukema as a very hardworking professor – a ‘crusty Dutchman’ who always had time to mentor and support students and colleagues. Engineering technology emeritus professor Dr. John Lindbeck, who came to WMU in 1957, described Beukema as “very helpful” as a mentor in both teaching and writing.

“I was fresh out of college, kind of green, and teaching descriptive geometry, and he was always willing to sit down and offer some ideas,” Lindbeck said. “Then when I started writing textbooks and was having some problems with a book on product design, he - as a seasoned writer – told me how to set up a schedule and how to begin.”

Music was one of Beukema’s favorite pastimes. As an undergraduate, he joined the WMU marching band, where he organized a recruitment campaign that increased the size of the band and added WMU’s first female majorette and flag carriers. He continued to support it as an alumnus. For WMU’s 2003 Centennial Celebration, he played his trumpet with the marching band during the halftime ceremonies. His wheelchair prevented the band’s oldest member from marching.

Those who knew him remember that Henry Beukema always enjoyed a good martini. Next summer, his family and friends will celebrate Henry’s life and raise a toast “To the North” in a gathering at his Wall Lake summer home in Delton. According to Henry’s daughter, Susan Trudeau, who also provided the photos in this IMe-News, the inspiration for the “To the North” toast may have been Henry’s annual deer hunting trip to the UP, but it became his standard toast for all occasions.

Sheet extrusion line closes loop to allow plastics recycling

Thanks to the efforts of a senior design team and the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE), the IME department has a closed loop plastics recycling project in the plastics processing laboratory at the Parkview Campus.

Last Spring the senior design team of Brian Sather, Lucas Graham, and Ken Lothschutz assembled a sheet extrusion line in the lab. At the time, the line’s three major components – extruder, sheet die, and calendar rolls – were non-functional and required repair or modification.

During the project, the performance of the extruder was evaluated, a die adaptor was constructed to attach the die, and the three-roll calendar was refurbished and modified to modern safety standards. The refurbishment efforts were funded by a $2,000 grant from the West Michigan Section of SPE. A system was also developed to wind the sheet.

The lab now has a complete system for recycling polystyrene thermoforming material.

Brian Sather makes a thermoform license plate from a plastic sheet made on the extrusion machine.

“It allows us to have a closed loop recycling project within our lab,” said Kurt Hayden, an IME doctoral associate who served as a technical advisor to the senior design project. “We make parts, we grind parts, we remake the sheet stock, and we make parts again.”

Two courses are involved with the new system. In IME 2500 Plastic Properties and Process, plates are made, and in IME 3500 Production Plastic Process, the recycling process is used.

Sather, who has earned $4,500 through two SPE scholarships as an undergraduate, is now involved with the new extrusion line as a graduate student in the manufacturing engineering program.

Senior project design teammates Brian Sather (foreground) and Lucas Graham recycle waste thermoforming scrap using the sheet extrusion line in WMU’s Parkview Campus Plastics Processing Laboratory.

Brian Sather (left) and Kurt Hayden show two aspects of the plastics loop. In the photo on the left, Sather holds a thermoform license plate and Hayden’s arm rests on the plastic sheet roll from which license plates are made. The scrap on the table was cut from the license plate. In the photo on the right, Hayden handles plastic that was ground from license plate scrap and that will be recycled into a new plastic sheet roll.