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Francis College of Engineering

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D E PA R T M E N T O F

Mechanical Engineering

2018 UPDATE

A Message FROM THE DEPARTMENT CHAIR

Dear Colleagues:

My first three years as ME Department Chair have flown by and I’m honored that the Department has the confidence in me to continue to serve in this prestigious role. In the last three years, we have focused on strengthening the research portfolio and increasing the quality of our teaching delivery. In Fall 2018 we hired an additional three new tenure-track faculty who will bolster our research programs. Our work focuses on critical national needs including: energy and sustainability, defense and security, manufacturing and industry, and engineering education.

An exciting new development for the Department is the newly renovated space in Dandeneau Hall. Our entire Department is now, for the first time, co-located on one floor of the building. The location change is sure to enhance collaboration between faculty as well as neighboring Departments. This Fall we are also excited about the major renovation to Perry Hall that will be completed in October. The building will consist of dedicated research space that supports the biomedical, environmental, and energy programs.

I am pleased to say our students continue to demonstrate their outstanding abilities by winning national design and graduate research competitions. Our Professional Cooperative Education program (Co-op) is thriving with dozens of companies actively participating. Since the program launched in 2010, our students have had nearly 2000 professional Co-op experiences. In this brochure, I have provided numerous examples of faculty members immersed in cutting-edge engineering education and research. Our shared goals are to contribute to the creation of the next-generation of engineers who are equipped to address the world’s most important technical challenges.

Sincerely,

Christopher Niezrecki, Ph.D. Professor and Chair, Department of Mechanical Engineering Roy J. Zuckerberg Endowed Leadership Chair Director, WindSTAR I/UCRC and Center for Wind Energy Co-Director, Structural Dynamics & Acoustic Systems Laboratory

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UML MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | 2018 | 1

T A B L E O F

Contents Mechanical Engineering Research Thrust Areas Department Honors New Faculty Structural Dynamics and Accoustic Systems Laboratory Emergent Dynamics, Controls, and Analytics Laboratory (Exalabs) The Robotics and Locomotion Laboratory (RLL) Multiscale Thermal Science Laboratory Energy Engineering The Advanced Composite Materials and Textile Research Laboratory (ACMTRL) Baseball Research Center NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers Nanomanufacturing Center of Excellence HEROES UMass Lowell Fabric Discovery Center Center for Wind Energy NERVE Center Co-op Program Department News Student Activities and Success Minors and Student Clubs Faculty Expertise

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MECHANICAL ENGINEERING RESEARCH THRUST AREAS TO ADDRESS NATIONAL NEEDS

Energy & Sustainability,

Defense & Security,

Manufacturing & Commercial,

Engineering Education


The 2018 Roy J. Zuckerberg Endowed Leadership Chair Christopher Niezrecki, Ph.D., Professor and Chair

Prof Niezrecki has been selected as the Roy J. Zuckerberg Endowed Leadership Chair for 2018. The designation is awarded to one faculty member in the University of Massachusetts system every two years. The award is designed to reward leaders of courage, conviction, and selflessness of exemplary character with the proven ability to lead others at the university in their field of research, in teaching or in service to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and its students. Awardees have distinguished themselves through their leadership and commitment to the goals and mission of the University of Massachusetts, as well as public education more generally, especially in the impact they have had on the students of the University.

U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Young Investigator Program Award Winner Zhu Mao, Ph.D., Assistant Professor

Professor Mao’s areas of expertise include dynamics and vibration, structural health monitoring, signal processing, statistical modeling, uncertainty quantification and prognosis. His research effort embodies the emerging nexus of multiple disciplines, and concerns the structural safety and operational risk by means of damage diagnosis and prognosis.

The 3-year AFOSR grant will allow Professor Mao to develop an integrated approach to modeling individual airframes. Specifically, according to his abstract, “The integration of existing state-of-the-art measurement technologies to physical systems with gigantic computational models will enable a virtual sensing scenario, which provides a global awareness of the system, as well as prediction of the future performance.” The ultimate goal is to improve predictive capability with regards to functionality and reliability based on future airframe loadings and potential failure modes.

NSF CAREER Award Winner and DOE Early Career Research Award Winner Juan Pablo Trelles, Ph.D., Assistant Professor

Prof. Trelles’ work seeks to advance the use of solar and electrical energy to create sustainable industrial processes and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Trelles’ NSF project aims to convert low-value gases, such as carbon dioxide from power plant exhaust, into fuels using a novel concept known as “plasma-enhanced solar energy”. In the proposed process, concentrated solar energy is assisted by an electrical discharge to produce plasma, thus increasing the efficiency of the conversion process. The DOE award enables simulation-based analyses to study plasmas in contact with liquid electrodes; this work is expected to positively influence a diversity of established and emerging plasma-on-liquid applications, from electric welding and metallurgy, to water treatment, nanoparticle synthesis, and in medicine.

Department Honors New Faculty

Robotic locomotion, Legged robots, Nonlinear controls, Dynamic modeling, Hybrid systems, Multi-agent coordination, Energy optimization, Human walking, Robot-assisted rehabilitation, Underactuation, Mechatronics

Yan Gu, Ph.D., Assistant Professor

Thermal Fluid, Transport Phenomenon, Energy storage and Conversion, Experiment and Model Coupling, Multiphysics/Multiscale Modeling and Simulation, Reduced Order Model

Xinfang Jin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor

Self-organized dynamics in complex systems, Multi-agent systems, Connected and autonomous vehicles, System reliability and prognostics, Robotic ensembles

Kshitij Jerath, Ph.D., Assistant Professor

Multi-phase/reacting flows, Combustion, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Lagrangian-Eulerian methods, Verification, validation, uncertainty quantification (VVUQ), Machine learning, Internal combustion engines, Energy conversion devices

Noah Van Dam, Ph.D., Assistant Professor

The Department of Mechanical Engineering at UMass Lowell is the largest department in

the James B. Francis College of Engineering. Mechanical Engineering has recently added

new faculty members to strengthen and add to our research portfolio. The new faculty,

who joined in the past two years, bring these research interests and expertise:

FULL-TIME FACULTY32

Significant Research Areas Finite element modeling, experimental dynamic testing, test-analysis correlation and model updating are still at the root of many of the different areas of research that have been a corner stone in the past. These techniques are still imbedded in many of the current projects and research underway.

Development of highly reduced order component and system models for both linear and nonlinear systems has been a main area of interest for the past several years. Many papers have been written to address this area and there have been over 10 theses dedicated to various aspects of this effort supported mainly by the Air Force and Army.

Researchers in the lab are spearheading the use of digital image correlation for dynamic analysis which has received much attention in the past few years. The use of optical measurements has enabled a new dimension to structural dynamic modeling and structural health monitoring. In recent years, wind energy has been a prominent area of research in the lab. Emphasis has been placed on improving wind turbines by refining non-destructive inspection techniques for manufacturing, analyzing new modeling and sensing approaches to better understanding their dynamic behavior, and developing new acoustic based methods to monitor their structural health. Research is being conducted in the lab on non-contact excitation of structures by using acoustically coupled ultrasonic transducers. The approach will help to characterize structures such as jet engine turbine blades which are extremely difficult to evaluate at high frequencies.

Quantifying the uncertainty in data for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) will provide a better understanding for damage identification. With the uncertainty quantified probabilistically, other levels of SHM decisions can be made associated with confidence intervals, in regard to the locations, types and severity of damage, and the system remaining useful life in the pursuit of damage prognosis.

Some of the most challenging problems in industry including multibody dynamic modeling of and noise reduction from automotive automatic transmissions have been successfully investigated in our laboratory.

The team’s extensive expertise with modal analysis and testing, rigid and flexible multibody dynamics, rotating machinery, linear and nonlinear vibrations, acoustics, and big data interrogation makes SDASL one of the world’s leading laboratories in the field.

Professor Peter AvitabileAnalytical structural dynamicsExperimental modal analysisAnalytical and experimental modal analysisCorrelation of structural dynamic modelsStructural dynamic modificationSystem modeling - CMSNon-linear response analysis [email protected]

Professor Christopher NiezreckiStructural health monitoringNon-destructive evaluation Modeling and control of vibrations and noise Smart structures and materialsSustainable energyUnderwater acousticsStereo-photogrammetric [email protected]

Professor Murat InalpolatStructural health monitoringOperational damage detection and identification Diagnostics and prognosticsMachine learning and Bayesian inferenceSignal and Image processingNonlinear dynamics and acousticsRotating machinery dynamics and [email protected]

Professor Zhu MaoStructural health monitoringUncertainty quantification Time series modeling/signal processing Surrogate modeling of systems Machine learning and Bayesian inference regarding SHM decision-makings Cyber-physical systems, haptics and human machine [email protected]

Solving Industry and National Needs The Structural Dynamics and Acoustic Systems Laboratory (SDASL) has an international reputation of conducting innovative research involving sound and vibration. The team uses both analytical and experimental techniques on structures and systems including: wind turbines, space telescopes, ground vehicles, submarines, generators, rotors, helicopters, bio-acoustic systems, jet engine turbine blades, and many more. One primary research thrust area of SDASL is to develop, employ, and improve techniques to solve these problems using analytical approaches that are verified through experiment.

Research is also conducted on structural health monitoring, wave propagation, ultrasonic structural excitation and sensing, smart materials, non-contact optical sensing, digital image correlation, signal processing, acoustic source localization, statistical data processing, and rotor dynamics.

For more than a decade, professors Avitabile and Niezrecki have grown the lab’s capabilities and equipment, which is now unmatched by any other university working in this area. SDASL possesses well

over $1 Million in equipment including: a 3D scanning laser vibrometer, two digital image correlation systems, dual high speed cameras, a 64 channel microphone array, numerous multi-channel data acquisition systems, hundreds of sensors (accelerometers, impedance heads, force, strain, LVDTs), numerous electromagnetic shakers, piezoelectric actuators/transducers, a shake table, and a suite of the latest sound and vibration software that industry routinely uses today.

In 2014, Murat Inalpolat joined the lab and added capabilities related to structural health monitoring, rotating machinery, and nonlinear dynamics. In 2015, Zhu Mao joined the lab and added more expertise related to data mining and decision making for structural health monitoring.

More than $15 Million of research has been conducted in the laboratory funded by grants from NSF, Department of Energy, Mass Clean Energy Center, Army Research Office, ONR, NUWC, AFRL, U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center, NCIIA, U.S. DOT, Florida DOT, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Raytheon, Pratt & Whitney, Robert Bosch LLC, and many other companies.

Structural Dynamics and Acoustic Systems Laboratory

www.uml.edu/sdasl

D Y N A M I C S Y S T E M SD Y N A M I C S Y S T E M S



Emergent Dynamics, Controls, and Analytics Laboratory (Exalabs)

The Robotics and Locomotion Laboratory (RLL)

The research vision of Exalabs is to model, quantify, and influence the collective, emergent behavior of multi-scale complex systems. Collective, emergent behavior and self-organization is witnessed in several natural and engineered systems - the research team at Exalabs focuses on (a) robotic swarms, (b) self-organized patterns in traffic flow consisting of self-driving and connected autonomous vehicles, and (c) emergent dynamics in social systems. To solve issues of influencing and controlling such complex systems, our research team borrows inspiration from a wide range of disciplines, including statistical physics, information theory, thermodynamics, sociology, and network theory.

Ongoing projects at Exalabs include: (a) human-swarm interaction in a virtual reality environment to accelerate the development cycle for controlled swarm deployment in the field, (b) generating a human values-inspired sociological framework for robotic societies (e.g., a self-driving traffic ecosystem), (c) using statistical physics-inspired models of traffic flow to link microscopic models of vehicle dynamics to a macroscopic description of traffic flow, and (d) identification of influential subspaces of connected autonomous vehicles where their actions have maximum impact on self-organized congestion metrics.

Exalabs is excited to add virtual reality testing and industry-standard traffic simulation functionalities to our toolkit for simulating the dynamics and control of complex systems such drone swarms and traffic congestion. This expands our existing capabilities that include ground robot swarms, lidar and vision systems, motion-capture systems, and swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles.

The Robotics and Locomotion Laboratory (RLL) focuses on design, modeling, and control of legged locomotion systems (e.g., bipedal walking robots and robot-assisted human walking). RLL’s primary mission is to enable stable, agile, versatile, robust, and energy- efficient bipedal robotic walking for a wide range of near-future applications such as disaster response, search and rescue, space exploration, and delivery and courier services.

Contouring Control for High Walking Versatility In this project, the team has developed nonlinear control strategies to realize exponential contour tracking of bipedal robotic walking by adapting contouring control from machining tasks to bipedal robotic walking. The results from this project will significantly enhance the versatility of bipedal walking robots for accomplishing complex tasks such as multi-agent coordination and obstacle avoidance.

Bio-Inspired Energy Optimization This research aims to enable highly efficient bipedal robotic walking based on observations of human walking. The team extracts the posture selection strategy of the collected human walking data and then adapts it to robotic walking for energy optimization.

Multiscale Thermal Science Laboratory

The research of the Multiscale Thermal Science Laboratory (MTSL) focuses on the fundamental understanding of thermal transport phenomena at the interfaces between material phases and from macro to nanoscales which has applications to thermal management, energy storage and material processing. The laboratory is led by Professors Hongwei Sun and Majid Charmchi and some of their research projects include:

A Microfluidics-based on-chip Impinger for Airborne Particle Collection Capturing airborne particles from air into a liquid is a critical process for the development of many sensors and analytical systems. A miniaturized airborne particle sampling device (microimpinger) has been developed in this research which relies on a controlled bubble generation process produced by driving air through microchannel arrays.

Magnetically Aligned PDMS/Ni Particle Composites In this research, Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/nickel (Ni) composites with embedded Ni spherical particle columns were studied for thermal conductivity enhancement. The measured thermal conductivity was compared with the prediction from a finite element model built on the observed microscopic structures. The magnetically aligned particle columns significantly enhanced the thermal conductivity of PDMS compared to the randomly distributed particles by about two fold.

An Ultrasensitive Micropillar Based Sensor A unique sensing device, which couples microscale pillars with a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) substrate to form a resonant system, was developed to achieve several orders of magnitude enhancement in sensitivity compared to conventional QCM sensors. This research points to a novel way of improving sensitivity of acoustic wave sensors without the need for fabricating surface nanostructures.

Experimental Study and Analysis of Dropwise CondensationUsing Quartz Crystal Microbalance This work reports on a novel Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) based method to analyze the droplet-micropillar surface interaction quantitatively during dropwise condensation (DWC). The developed QCM system provides a valuable tool for the dynamic characterization of different condensation processes and an understanding of different hydrophobic surfaces.

Phase Change in Presence of a Magnetic Field In this research, an experimental study was conducted on the melting behavior of a pure metal in the presence of a static magnetic field. Gallium is used as a phase-change material to study the magnetic field effects on the phase change rate and the solid/liquid interface shape in a rectangular chamber. The comparison shows that the numerical simulations fit very well with the experimental data, especially at large Hartman numbers.

Novel Thermoresponsive fibers for lightweight smart thermal insulationThe weight of needed protective layers against thermal changes and thermal threats could be dramatically reduce with the use of smart thermal insulation, i.e. layers that would adapt to the temperature changes. The researchers at University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) are collaborating with the scientists at Army to investigate the fibers processing conditions and their behavior for smart materials applications.

Faculty Members:Professor Hongwei Sun MEMS, Microfluidics, Acoustic microsensors, Nano-imprinting process, Interfacial phenomena, Heat [email protected]

Professor Majid Charmchi Heat and mass transfer, Computational fluid dynamics, Thermal analysis of electronic devices, Systems and transport phenomena in material [email protected]

Walking simulation and experiment of NAO humanoid robot

Adaptive fibers (left) and traditional fibers (right). (DeCristofano, Fossey et al. 2011)

T H E R M O F L U I D T R A N S P O R TD Y N A M I C S Y S T E M S

Human subject testing on a split-belt treadmill.

Swarming drones in a virtual reality environment

Virtual reality setup for training ethical self-driving behavior

Energy EngineeringThe Energy Engineering Program is a globally recognized program (M.S. and Ph.D.) that has students from all over the world (e.g. Peru, Argentina, Honduras, Haiti, Nigeria, Chad, Germany, Saudi Arabia, India, Pakistan, and Thailand). It is a multi-disciplinary inter-departmental program offered by the departments of Mechanical Engineering (Solar, Wind) and Chemical Engineering (Nuclear) attracting students with diverse disciplinary backgrounds, such as civil, electrical, mechanical, environmental, and agricultural engineering. The program was established in 1981 and was one of the first three in the U.S. to offer advanced studies in renewable energies. The program attracts a steady stream of awardees of the prestigious Fulbright scholarships, a competitive, merit-based grant for international educational exchange (an average of 2 to 4 students each year).

Many graduates from the program achieved distinguished careers in renewable energy fields. For example, Dr. Harish Hande, co-founder of Selco India, has received several international awards, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award (the “Asian Nobel Prize”) for his efforts to bring solar electricity to the poor, and Dr. Manuel Blanco is the Chairperson of SolarPACES, the International Energy Agency branch in charge of developing solar thermal technologies.

Educational and Research Laboratories include:

Electrochemical Energy Systems and Transport Laboratory (E2STL) PI: Ertan Agar, Ph.D. E2STL has an overarching goal to advance the science and engineering of flow assisted electrochemical systems, including redox flow batteries for large-scale energy storage and capacitive deionization for water treatment and desalination applications. The flow-assisted nature of these systems presents major challenges that hinder their widespread implementation.

The E2STL seeks to address these critical challenges using the following research thrusts:

• Developing experimental diagnostic tools to characterize system performance.

• Guiding component designs by developing a fundamental understanding of the mass, charge, and heat transport that occur in each component

• Exploring physical and chemical phenomena using computational studies

Multiphase and Reacting Flows Laboratory PI: Noah Van Dam, Ph.D. The Multiphase and Reacting Flows Laboratory develops and uses state-of-the-art computational models and methods to better understand complex flows. These flows occur in a wide variety of applications, from agriculture, to manufacturing and industrial processes, power generation and transportation. The lab works on both improving the Computational Fluid Dynamics tools available to model multiphase and reacting flow, as well as using CFD tools to better understand the systems that rely on these complex flows. Application areas of particular interest include the fuel sprays and combustion inside internal combustion engines and gas turbines. Other areas of interest include spray drying for pharmaceutical manufacturing and fluidized beds for chemical processing.

Electrochemical Energy Laboratory PI: Fuqiang Liu, Ph.D. The primary research interests of the Electrochemical Energy Laboratory are centered on fundamental materials development and new processes in solving one of the most critical issues of our time, affordable and sustainable energy. In particular, we focus on electrochemical and photoelectrochemical energy generation and storage, solar energy conversion through photoelectrochemical reactions, ion-conductive membranes for electrochemical systems, nanostructured materials, CFD simulation of energy conversion devices, and in situ characterization of advanced batteries.

Current research activities include synthesis and studies of hollow core-shell Au-based nanoparticles for improved electrochemical activity toward formic acid oxidation, and tuning the long-distance electronic coupling between the core and shell metals; in situ and operando study of phase transformation in lithium-ion battery materials during charge and discharge using micro-Raman and XRD; guanidinium-based anion exchange membranes for e lectrochemical devices and separation; and all-vanadium redox photoelectrochemical cells for efficient solar energy storage.

The developed all-Vanadium photoelectrochemical cell that could deliver solar energy even under darkness.


T H E R M O F L U I D T R A N S P O R T T H E R M O F L U I D T R A N S P O R T

Re-Engineered Energy Laboratory (REng|Lab) PI: Juan Pablo Trelles, Ph.D. The REng|Lab focuses on renewable, responsible, real solutions to our most pressing global energy challenges through fundamental and applied understanding. Such solutions require re-engineered approaches that often involve unconventional perspectives and innovative methods.

The primary global challenge being addressed by the REng|Lab is the devising of viable approaches for the sustainable synthesis of high-value chemicals and products from low-value or detrimental feedstock through the direct use of renewable energy. These approaches involve, for example, the synthesis of hydrocarbon fuels from carbon dioxide, the major driver of global climate change, and water; or hydrogen as a clean fuel from water or methane; or high-value products such as carbon-black, a broadly-used pigment and filler, from carbon dioxide or methane. The effectiveness of such processes requires novel methods to use renewable energy.

The REng|Lab is investigating processes based on the use of concentrated solar energy, our most abundant renewable energy source; as well as the direct use of electricity, obtainable from renewable or conventional energy sources, in the form of plasmas - gases that conduct electricity, as found inside fluorescent lamps, in lightning, or in the sun. Whereas the direct use of solar energy potentially has the greatest sustainability advantage, the use of plasmas mitigates the problems associated with the intermittency of solar irradiation and leads to processes that can run all day and night, reducing complexity, operating costs, and hence increasing economic feasibility.

Multiscale, Multiphysics Modeling of Electrochemical Systems Lab PI: Xinfang Jin, Ph.D. The primary focus of the Multiscale, Multiphysics Modeling of Electrochemical Systems Lab is establishing the underpinnings of computational tools that reconcile the gap between lower length scale, such as atomistic and microstructural level, and continuum level theory in application of energy storage and conversion, and assist material design, device fabrication and system optimization of electrochemical techniques for efficient use of renewable energy and natural resources in an environmentally sound manner. Specifically, we are interested in developing Reduced Order Model and Degradation Model of Lithium-Ion Battery for online control of Electric Vehicles, understanding fundamental issues of redox batteries, fuel cells and solar cells by both Density Functional Theory and Continuum Multiphysics Method.

Energy & Combustion Research Laboratory PI: Hunter Mack, Ph.D. The Energy & Combustion Research Laboratory is focused on developing solutions to the energy problems facing our world. Under the direction of Prof. John Hunter Mack, they are exploring a variety of topics ranging from alternative fuels, novel thermodynamic cycles, and combustion-assisted material synthesis.

Their research involves both experimental and computational approaches including machine learning, computational fluid dynamics, and chemical kinetics. The laboratory currently utilizes two constant volume combustion chambers to study how fuels behave at engine-relevant conditions. One chamber is optically accessible, which enables visualization of the combustion event through Schlieren imaging and other diagnostic techniques.

The ECRL has also developed and distributed an open-source platform called ECNet that is able to predict fuel properties for a wide range of molecules using artificial neural networks. This tool is widely used in the fuel-development community to screen potential alternative fuels. Robust predictive models are able to dramatically reduce the time and investment associated with developing the novel chemical and biological pathways associated with next-generation biofuels.

About The Advanced Composite Materials and Textile Research Laboratory (ACMTRL) aims to develop a better understanding of the design, analysis, and manufacture of high performance composite materials and textile structures. The research cluster has nine full-time faculty and staff members – Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation and Professor Julie Chen, Associate Dean of the College of Engineering and Professor Jim Sherwood, Assoc. Professor Emmanuelle Reynaud, Assoc. Professor Christopher Hansen, Asst. Prof. Ali Amirkhizi, Asst. Prof. Scott Stapleton, and Asst. Professor Marianna Maiaru – and one staff member, Patrick Drane. These faculty possess a broad array of expertise and conduct research that covers:

• computational modeling of fiber-reinforced materials and adhesive bonds during manufacturing

• virtual manufacturing of fiber-reinforced composites

• prediction of the final stiffness and strength properties of composites

• experimental manufacture of materials with novel repair and re-use capabilities

• experimental characterization of textiles, composites, and other engineering materials under static, dynamic, and high strain rates

Collaborative Research The ACMTRL faculty and staff are involved in multiple collaborative efforts. UMass Lowell is a member of IACMI (Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation), a partnership of industry, academic institutions, as well as federal, state, and local governments that are working together to benefit the nation’s energy and economic security through improved composites manufacturing. Assoc. Dean Jim Sherwood heads the collaborative effort at UMass Lowell, and has spearheaded bringing UMass Lowell’s wind energy manufacturing knowledge to the IACMI center.

Current Project Highlights Prof. Hansen is collaborating with an industry partner to investigate the fabrication of multi-functional composites via automated manufacturing techniques. The team is translating sacrificial materials and carbon nanotubes into standard aerospace manufacturing methods to create spacecraft structures that can sense damage events and respond to repair the damage.

Prof. Amirkhizi works on characterization of polymers, meta-materials, and composites in dynamic and extreme conditions. His research group has designed and fabricated very low-frequency 3D printed structures for stress and acoustic wave control.

With expertise in computational solid mechanics, Prof. Stapleton’s research involves predicting the behavior of composite structures by considering the manufacturing and form of the underlying fiber and textile reinforcement. Applications range from advanced aerospace structures and affordable automotive parts to durable biological implants.

One of Prof. Reynaud’s projects is developing new forms of bio-derived materials for next generation wind turbine blades. This project is trying to understand how to replace existing petroleum-based epoxy resins with bio-based materials to impart reworkability, allowing repair and/or res-use at end-of-life.

Prof. Maiaru’s research focuses on Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) approaches of composite structures throughout their multiple length scales. Some of her projects include the analysis of composite manufacturing for wind turbine blades, the effect of defects on composites mechanical performance and uncertainty quantification in aerospace structures.

The Advanced Composite Materials and Textile Research Laboratory (ACMTRL)

Changing the orientation of the textile reinforcement of a tissue-engineered heart valve can have a strong effect on both the performance of the valve and the emergence of “hot spots” where potential tears are more likely to occur.

Initial Configuration Open Closed


M E C H A N I C S & M AT E R I A L S

Life-changing Research Heart valve defects or diseases can be very serious, often requiring valve replacement. Artificial valve replacements have been around for a long time, but traditional synthetic heart valves can calcify or wear over time and must be replaced in growing children. Additionally, the surgeries required can carry high risk and be extremely invasive.

To address these drawbacks, tissue-engineered heart valves are being developed using a tubular construction. Cells are taken from the patient to make a living and growing organ and the tubular construction can be rolled up into the body and inserted arthroscopically. These tissue-engineered heart valves have the potential to make extremely compatible and effective replacements, but they are currently not strong enough to survive the high pressures found on the aortic side of the heart.

Researchers at UMass Lowell in the Advanced Composite Materials and Textiles Research Lab in collaboration with RWTH Aachen University are trying to address this problem. In order to strengthen the tissue-engineered valves, the valves are being grown around a textile reinforcement.

One must make sure that there is enough reinforcement to improve the strength, but not so much that the valve becomes too stiff and cannot open and close fast enough. Therefore, the textile reinforced valves must be carefully engineered.

To aid in the design of the textile reinforcement, UML’s experience in computational structural mechanics and textile-reinforced materials is being harnessed to create hierarchical multi-scale computer models to design the textile at different scales. The effects of the fiber/textile reinforcement are being captured at different scales, and this information is passed on to the structural valve model to simulate the opening and closing of the valve. In this way, the textile can be easily modified, and the effects can be scaled up to compare valve performance. These new models will be pivotal in enabling the design and optimization of complex, textile-reinforced biological structures to improve the quality of life of patients.

ADVANCEDMATERIALSRESEARCH

COMPOSITE&TEXT ILESLABORATORY


www.uml.edu/Research/ACMTRL

Baseball Research CenterThe Baseball Research Center is focused on sports engineering research to understand the dynamics, materials, and simulation tools applied to baseball and sports equipment. Founded in 1999, the Center has worked to conduct research and educate both graduate and undergraduate students in Sports Engineering, while engaging with sports leagues, associations, and sporting goods manufacturers to advance the scientific understanding and state of the art of sports equipment.

Graduates of the center have gone on to work at numerous sporting goods manufacturers in North America. The Center is concentrating on dynamic performance and durability of bats and baseballs using high-speed air cannons, modal techniques, finite element modeling, and a wide variety of other tools. The Center has also served as an independent research center since its inception and performs research and other services to many of the baseball leagues including Major League Baseball, the NCAA, USA Baseball, Little League Baseball and the NFHS, and sporting goods manufacturers.

Baseball Bat Research and Testing: To help protect the players and spectators at professional baseball games, the Baseball Research Center has been conducting research on the durability of wood baseball bats. The use of an automated air cannon with the capability of firing baseballs between 50 and 200 miles per hour every 5 seconds is used to test durability. Significant studies originated in 2008 due to a perceived increase in broken bats, however no data was being tracked. Starting in 2008, MLB began to track the data on broken bats and contracted the Center to conduct research in partnership with the US Forest Products Laboratory and several other organizations. Recent studies on wood baseball bat durability have focused on the investigation of new wood species under consideration and have utilized robust failure modeling using finite elements to investigate the influence of the bat profile. The Baseball Research Center investigation into the breakage of wood bats was the focus of a segment during the first season of “Time Warp” and an additional segment of “Daily Planet” both airing on The Discovery Channel in recent years.

For more than a decade, the Baseball Research Center was the official certification center for the NCAA for non-wood bats. The Baseball Research Center has continued to be at the forefront of research into the performance testing of baseball bats. Other tests performed on bats include bat compression, moment of inertia and vibration testing of the bats. Vibration testing can be used to find the bending frequency, hoop frequency, and the bending nodes of the bat. The nodes have a major contribution into the location and properties of the “sweet spots”. impacts near these nodes prevent significant vibrations from travelling through the bat. Bat testing expertise in the Center is not limited to the sport of baseball. The Center has also performed research with softball bats. One student, whose thesis focused on the characterization of softballs and softball bats, is an Olympian and professional softball player.

Baseball Research and Testing: For over a decade, the Baseball Research Center has performed rigorous testing to ensure that all baseballs used in the Major League Baseball games (including Regular Season, All-Star Game and World Series) are produced within an exacting range of specifications. In 2000, reports of “juiced balls” surfaced within MLB. There was an outcry that the ball was being illegally altered due to a sudden spike of homerun totals. The Center performed ASTM standard tests and determined that the ball was not being altered and the amount of homeruns had to be the result of other factors.

Sports Engineering Besides Baseball Even though the Center’s main focus is on baseball, the lab has and continues to invest a significant amount of research into other sports. For golf, testing was performed to study the behavior of the ball, and the mechanics of the impact during a putt. The static and dynamic friction between the golf ball and artificial turf were investigated. The Center has also engaged research to improve hockey training equipment and examine soccer balls.

The Baseball Research Center participates in and hosts a variety of sports engineering conferences and workshops, including a series of cross-disciplinary workshops to advance the understating of concussions and the role of technology is reducing the occurrence of concussions and other head injuries. The Baseball Research Center supports many outreach events to support STEM including the USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington DC. Additionally, the Baseball Research Center has been the focus of numerous “Baseball Lab” segments on award-winning “NESN Clubhouse”, which is designed to stimulate youth interest in baseball and science.

www.uml.edu/baseball-lab

The Baseball Research Center is outfitted with specialized equipment developed for the testing of

baseballs, baseball bats and other sports equipment. Multiple air cannon systems allow researchers to generate controlled collisions between the bats and baseballs to replicate any condition possible in

the field of play. These capabilities have enabled the researchers to carry out impactful research that has had numerous effects on field. Recent

baseball studies have been conducting research on wood baseball bats, baseballs, headgear and sensors. In Major League Baseball, broken bats are a safety concern for not only players, but also fans. Studies

conducted in the Center and sponsored by Major League Baseball (MLB) have helped not only increased safety

in professional baseball, but also help amateur and youth baseball.

Center Capabilities




WindSTAR is the NSF-funded Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Wind Energy, Science, Technology and Research (WindSTAR) established in 2014. Led by UMass Lowell and in collaboration with the University of Texas at Dallas and its members, the Center aims to solve the pressing needs of the wind industry. WindSTAR focuses on projects that advance the materials, manufacturing, reliability, testing, monitoring of the blades and turbines, high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics modeling spanning from individual turbines to full wind farms and integrating the effects of weather and terrain, advanced control optimization for increased power production at both the individual turbine and integrated wind farm levels, and field studies of wind fields in and around wind farms.

The Science of Heterogeneous Additive Printing of 3D Materials (SHAP3D) Center became the third NSF I/UCRC (Industry/University Cooperative Research Center) at UMass Lowell in the summer 2018. The SHAP3D Center (pronounced “Shaped 3D”) will have a topical focus of additive manufacturing (i.e., 3D printing). The core mission of the Center is to perform pre-competitive, industry-oriented research to additively print heterogeneous products with diverse functionality via integration of novel materials, complex structures, and cutting-edge processes. The SHAP3D Center will create fundamental knowledge and economic value for industry by:

• enabling the rational design, creation, and use of new material feedstocks, geometries, processes, and performance associated with additively manufactured products

• generating this knowledge through a tight collaboration of university and industry partners

• establishing a synergistic network of excellence in additive manufacturing knowledge, experience, and facilities that adds value to each partner, and

• training students as the next generation of leaders in additive manufacturing for industry.

The founding academic sites are the University of Massachusetts Lowell (the lead institution), Georgia Institute of Technology, and the University of Connecticut. The Universities have partnered for two years to prepare the center, including engaging over 90 companies and government entities. At UMass Lowell, Prof. Joey Mead (Plastics Engineering) leads the Center and Prof. Chris Hansen (Mechanical Engineering) is the UML Site Director. Greater than 20 faculty representing every department in the College of Engineering, as well as faculty from the College of Sciences, are involved in presenting their cutting edge research and proposal of innovative solution to address the needs of industrial members.

The SHAP3D Center has 14 inaugural members, which will support approximately half-a-million dollars in annual research on targeted pre-competitive projects. These partners represent all sectors of the additive manufacturing supply chain, including materials, machines and processes, designers, and end users in broad commercial sectors such as aerospace, defense, and consumer products.

To learn how to be involved in the SHAP3D Center, please contact [email protected].

Research Thrust Areas: Research projects are determined at the semi-annual meeting of the IAB, and focus on one or more of the following:

• Composites and Blade Manufacturing: next-generation materials, designs, and methods for turbine systems

• Foundations and Towers: higher towers, modeling and cost optimization, improved ground/soil assessment

• Structural Health Monitoring, Non-Destructive Inspection, and Testing: testing, monitoring, damage detection and prognosis, and maintenance throughout the lifecycle

• Wind Farm Modeling and Measurement Campaign: simulation capability for power production, power fluctuations, and loads; LiDAR experimental campaigns for wind farm performance diagnostic and model validation; wind resource characterization

• Control Systems for Turbines and Farms: optimization of energy capture and load mitigation in wind turbines and farms; wind farm controls for wake management

• Energy Storage and Grid Integration: storage systems towards more reliable, efficient, dispatchable and grid-friendly wind energy systems

www.uml.edu/research/shap3d/www.uml.edu/WindSTAR

WindSTAR 3D Printed Materials (SHAP3D)

N S F I N D U S T R Y / U N I V E R S I T Y C O O P E R AT I V E R E S E A R C H C E N T E R S N S F I N D U S T R Y / U N I V E R S I T Y C O O P E R AT I V E R E S E A R C H C E N T E R S


Mission The Nanomanufacturing Center at UMass Lowell focuses on basic nanomanufacturing research, collaborative research with industry and education of the future workforce that enables advanced manufacturing and commercialization of nanotechnology products.

About Building on our existing expertise in polymer manufacturing and worker health and safety, we have expanded our research with the award of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing (CHN). This NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC), one of only four in nanomanufacturing nationally, is a collaboration of the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Northeastern University, and the University of New Hampshire. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has designated UMass Lowell as a Nanomanufacturing Center of Excellence (NCOE), with funding through the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (John Adams Innovation Institute).

Research Areas Mechanical and electrical test methods for characterization of flexible hybrid electronics

The complex nature of flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) has prompted the researchers around the country to develop new test methods, techniques, and equipment for careful characterization of substrates, inks, connectors, and interfaces, in a wide range of conditions, from low to high temperatures and under slow and high speed testing. Multi-axial fracture and testing under electrical bias are only some of the problems we are equipped to address through a grant from NEXTFLEX (America’s FHE NMI) to the Mechanical Engineering Department and CHN, as well as Commonwealth of Massachusetts M2I2 support.

There are many applications for flexible electronics such as sensors, electronics, displays, RFID and wearables.

New Filaments for 3D Printing 3D Printing Engineering Thermoplastics (3D PET) is a new UMass Lowell initiative that seeks to drive development of high performance engineering thermoplastics and composites in 3D printing.

Advanced Polymer Processing • Nanocomposites • Coextrusion of nanolayered films • Electrospinning • Molding and imprinting of micro and

nanostructured surfaces • Directed assembly and transfer of nanoelements

and polymer blends

Environmental Impact of NanomanufacturingAt this time, little is known about the potential toxicity of nanoparticles, especially engineered nanoparticles. We must take a precautionary approach to working with nanoparticles. The importance of this research is that the engineered nanoparticles studied here are materials in a new category where exposure data are not available and the toxicological information is limited.Our research is focused on: • Monitoring of airborne nanoparticle exposures • Rapid toxicity screening of nanomaterials • Recycling of nanomaterials

Applications of Nanomanufacturing • Flexible electronics, EMI shielding • Metamaterials • Sensors • Superhydrophobic and icephobic surfaces • Biological and Medical Applications • Energy

HEROES (Harnessing Emerging Research Opportunities to Empower Soldiers) is more than just a “regular research facility” – it is a vibrant interdisciplinary effort between UMass Lowell researchers and members of the Natick Soldier Research Development and Engineering Center (http://nsrdec.natick.army.mil/about/), NSRDEC. This unique joint initiative was founded in 2013 and engages researchers from both UML and NSRDEC in face-to-face collaborations to address the challenges facing today’s warfighter and to ultimately improve the protection and survivability of U.S. Army personnel. The goal of HEROES is to leverage the strengths of both UML and NSRDEC researchers to accelerate the pace of discovery and research to solve real challenges facing the U.S. Army. As part of HEROES, NSRDEC’s primary research foci are:

• Airdrop and aerial delivery • Technologies for soldier protection • Combat feeding • Expeditionary basing • Human systems integration

Several researchers from UML’s Mechanical Engineering Department are actively involved with the HEROES initiative. Each of the faculty works directly with students from UML as well as one or more of the NSRDEC researchers to advance their research. Students range in experience, from freshman coop scholars, who are engaging in research for the first time to doctoral candidates, who are engaged in complex multi-year research efforts. In HEROES projects, the UML faculty often collaborates across departmental boundaries creating a dynamic and exciting research environment. For

example, student and faculty researchers from UML Mechanical Engineering and UML Plastics Engineering worked with NSRDEC research scientists to further understand how parachute permeability is affected by environmental conditions. Some of the HEROES projects that involve Mechanical Engineering faculty include:

• Parachute dynamic permeability studies • Parachute suspension line studies • Parachute shelf life studies

At UML, HEROES encompasses an approximately 5,000 ft2 dedicated footprint in Olney Hall housing laboratory space, research and administrative offices, a unique “think tank space” as well as meeting/conference rooms. The HEROES space is a “base camp” for the collaborative research, providing physical space for research interactions and collaborations between NSRDEC and UML. This facility contains state-of-the-art laboratory equipment (see the HEROES website for details). HEROES also leverages the greater collection of UML research facilities, including the Mark and Elisa Saab Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center. Student and faculty researchers can also gain access to the wealth of resources afforded by the NSRDEC facility in Natick, MA.

The HEROES initiative is led by Senior Scientific Advisor U.S. Army NSRDEC, Lynne Samuelson and UML Plastics Engineering Professor Ramaswamy Nagarajan.

HEROESNanomanufacturing Center of Excellence

www.uml.edu/research/HEROES/

U N I V E R S I T Y R E S E A R C H C E N T E R SU N I V E R S I T Y R E S E A R C H C E N T E R S

Center for Wind Energy The nationally recognized Center for Wind Energy at UMass Lowell has unique expertise and capabilities to conduct research in the advancement of wind turbine science and systems. The Center has obtained numerous externally funded research grants totaling ~$6 Million dollars over the last few years. The grant sponsors include the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, the Department of Energy, National Grid, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, UMass President’s Office, and many companies throughout the country. These projects have been led by a multidisciplinary team of more than faculty members whose research focuses on wind turbine manufacturing, reliability, energy storage, work force development, design, structural health monitoring, sensing, and blade testing. The faculty in the Center have well established collaborations and partnerships with numerous industrial partners, national laboratories and other university researchers working in the field of wind energy. The mission of the Center for Wind Energy is to conduct scientific research and perform education that will help to advance wind energy harvesting, reduce the levelized cost of energy, and make its use globally widespread.

The Center for Wind Energy is conducting research on a wide variety of topicsthat support the wind energy industry including:

Among the activities of the Center for Wind Energy, a grant from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center helped to form the Massachusetts Research Partnership (MRP) and eventually the Partnership for Offshore Wind Energy Research in the United States (POWER-US). Teaming up with other leading universities from around Massachusetts and the Country, the MRP and POWER-US prepared a national research agenda to develop our nation’s research and infrastructure for the growth of offshore wind energy. The State of Massachusetts has recently passed legislation to spur large-scale development of wind energy in the waters off its coast. UMass Lowell Center for Wind Energy researchers are contributing their expertise to these developments, especially in the areas of composites, blademanufacturing, and structural health monitoring, which will help to develop the larger blades and more reliable turbines for offshore wind.

About The UMass Lowell Fabric Discovery Center (FDC) is home to the first and only site in the nation that integrates discoveries from three Manufacturing USA Innovation Institutes, Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA), Flexible Hybrid Electronics (NextFlex), and Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM). UMass Lowell opened the FDC in July 2018. Several research groups from UMass Lowell’s Mechanical Engineering Department have been actively involved with establishing the FDC.

To advance manufacturing, spark innovation and train workers for higher paying jobs, Massachusetts made a substantial commitment to develop the Manufacturing USA (www.manufacturingusa.com) infrastructure within the state’s academic, research and manufacturing industry. Thus, the goals of the FDC are to drive innovation in functional fabrics, boost economic competitiveness and create more high paying jobs in the region.

The equipment at the FDC can be used to design, develop, test and pilot manufacture flexible electronics related product, from concept to commercialization. Capabilities at the FDC include:

• Fiber extrusion lines, textile assembly (knitting, weaving, braiding), and textile finishing equipment (coating, printing, sewing, bonding)

• Designer substrates, and new inks for 3D printing and roll-to-roll processing (flexible electronics, conformal sensors, energy harvesting devices, wearables)

• Wide range of testing capabilities (mechanical, thermal, flammability, durability testing, instrumented treadmill)

• Robotic evaluation methods and testbeds

• Assistive and sensing technology

• Expertise in sustainable materials and processes

• Fashion designers interacting with scientists and engineers

• Technical workforce training (in collaboration with community colleges, MassMEP, and K-12)

These advanced research capabilities will enable the development of products such as:

• Fabrics that respond to temperature changes

• Fire resistant fabrics made from materials found in nature

• Fabrics that prevent water, oil or chemical penetration

• Fibers with self-healing nanocapsules

• Medical textiles that heal wounds, devices that prevent stroke

• Wearable electronics embedded in shirts and shoes that measure vital signs

• Power generating clothes, briefcase or shelter via weaveable organic photovoltaics

Available to startups, small businesses and large companies, the 28,000 square foot, two and a half floor research center located in a renovated mill building at 110 Canal Street in Lowell inspires creativity and innovation. With easy access for industry partners, faculty and students, 110 Canal also houses the Innovation Hub (iHub) (www.uml.edu/Innovation-Hub), a co-working/incubator space, and the Massachusetts Medical Device Development (M2D2) (www.uml.edu/Research/M2D2) incubator. The New England Robotics Validation and Experimentation (NERVE) Center is also part of the FDC.

UMass Lowell Fabric Discovery Center Designing and Developing Integrated Technologies

www.uml.edu/windenergy

www.uml.edu/Research/fdc/

• Aerodynamics • Atmospheric Analysis • Blade Testing • Composites Manufacturing • Computation Fluid Dynamics • Rotor Design • Energy Storage and Conversion • Structural Load Prediction

• Structural Dynamics • Structural Health Monitoring • Material Characterization • Radiological Non-Destructive Evaluation • Resins and Nanocomposite Materials and Analysis • Reliability • Workforce Modeling and Training

U N I V E R S I T Y R E S E A R C H C E N T E R SU N I V E R S I T Y R E S E A R C H C E N T E R S


Robotic Manipulation The NERVE Center houses a robotic manipulation testbed, named the Robot ARMada, which is comprised of a variety of robotic arms, end effectors, and sensor systems. The Robot ARMada is used for developing test methods that evaluate grasping, collaboration, and assembly capabilities used for industrial automation tasks. The NERVE Center collaborates with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to replicate their test methods for elemental grasping and functional assembly and iterate on their designs. Standard test methods are also being investigated for conducting comparable human-robot collaboration experiments.

Human Performance & Wearable Robots The NERVE Center features movement assessment and performance labs for evaluating human and robot capabilities. The labs feature instruments to measure 3D ground reaction forces, 3D body kinematics, muscle activities, brain activities, metabolic cost, and joint torque and power. Lab equipment includes an instrumented split-belt treadmill, motorized stationary bicycle, Vasper aerobic exercise machine, and IntelliStretch single-axis robotic device. Biometric sensors include motion capture systems, EEG, EMG, wearable IMUs, and wearable metabolic measurement system.

Autonomous Industrial Vehicles Automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous mobile robots are becoming prevalent in industrial environments like warehouses and manufacturing plants. The NERVE Center is developing standard test methods for these types of vehicles, supporting the ASTM F45 Committee on Driverless Automatically Guided Industrial Vehicles. Test methods in development include those that can be used to evaluate a vehicle’s navigation and obstacle avoidance capabilities. Apparatuses and artifacts are being developed to represent a wide variety of environments and obstacle types, such as overhangs, tight corridors, doorways, negative ground voids, external sensor emission, and directed light interference.

Response Robots Standard test methods for evaluating the capabilities of response robots, such as those used for urban search and rescue (USAR) and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), and training their operators, are specified through the ASTM E54.09 Committee on Homeland Security Applications; Response Robots. These test methods apply to ground, aerial, and aquatic robots, organized into suites including mobility, dexterity, maneuvering, situation awareness, sensors, and safety. The NERVE Center’s focus is on test methods for human-robot interaction evaluation, such as those that highlight an operator’s decision-making capabilities that could be assisted by effective robot autonomy techniques.

NERVE CenterThe New England Robotics Validation and Experimentation (NERVE) Center is a dedicated research, training, and testing facility. Our mission is to improve the development of robotic systems by academia, corporations, and government agencies by facilitating evaluation throughout the design cycle. The NERVE Center’s research includes the development of metrics and standards for robot evaluation. We also aim to foster a community interested in the improved development of the next generation of robot systems. Directed by Professor Holly Yanco, the NERVE Center is the only comprehensive indoor site for robot experimentation and validation in New England. The NERVE Center’s 10,000 square foot testing space has apparatuses to test the robot’s mobility across different terrain (ramps, sand, gravel, and water courses) and obstacles as well as manipulation (grasping, lifting) and visual acuity of the optical sensors. Designed in collaboration with the Army, the test methods in the NERVE Center push the limits of mobility, manipulation, and autonomy across a host of application domains, including home, disaster response, industrial environments, wearable robotics, and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Co-op ProgramUMass Lowell’s Professional Cooperative Education program (Co-op) allows students in Plastics, Chemical, Mechanical, Civil and Environmental, and Electrical and Computer Engineering to participate in multiple Co-op work experiences by tapping into our employer partnerships with regional and national companies. Students are

encouraged to participate in paid Co-ops, which can be three or six months in duration. Thus, students can systematically integrate their classroom studies with professional work experiences. The Co-op program is a selective, voluntary program for sophomore, junior and senior students in good academic standing.

2013-2018 Co-op Program Employers

specific Mechanical Engineering experiences

Professional Co-op experiences since the program began in 2010

382 2,200


U N I V E R S I T Y R E S E A R C H C E N T E R S

Energy Innovation Forum The Energy Innovation Forum, held on October 18, 2017, brought together experts in the emerging energy markets, with an interest in the real-world application of innovative technologies. The forum hosted over 130 startups, innova-tors, university researchers, investors, and industry leaders. The event, held at the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center included rapid fire presentations, a keynote address, expert panels and plenty of time for networking.

National Science Foundation Graduate Student Research Fellowship Winner

Congratulations to Deborah Fowler of Mechanical Engineering who won the prestigious 2018 National Science Foundation Graduate Student Research Fellowship! Fowler plans to pursue her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, working in the area of structural dynamics under the tutelage of Dr. Peter Avitabile in the SDASL Lab. She already started her research during a recent internship at Sandia National Labs. Her goal is to become a faculty member at a public university and she also wants to stay active in outreach, as she has been active with SWE.

Students take home first place in Robotics Competition

A student team made up of Mechanical Engineering (ME) and Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) students from UMass Lowell took home first place in the Symbotic Utility Bot Competition and won $50K!

This robotics competition team led by Prof. Yan Luo (ECE) and Prof. Yan Gu (ME) beat out 5 other teams to take home the prize. Congrats to Ciro OrigiRohr (ECE), Travis Kessler (ECE), Chunlong Huang (ME), John Wheeler (ME), and Stephen Halas (ECE).

Climate Race™

The first annual Climate Race™ event was held at the Sampas Pavilion in Lowell, MA on April 7, 2018. Over 70 runners braved the chilly Spring weather to help kick of this inaugural 5k race. Funds raised support the Center for Wind Energy, Energy Engineering Program, and the Climate Change Initiative at University of Massachusetts Lowell. These groups are leading research and education efforts on renewable energy and climate change. The efforts will help to make renewable energy cheaper and more widespread helping to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Energy Engineering Students Make an Impact

In the Fall of 2017, Albina Ashurova and Alona Pavlenko, students in UMass Lowell’s Energy Engineering Program designed and built a PV electrical system and a support structure for the Tohono O’odham Native American Reservation in Arizona.

This project, which was part of their Energy Engineering Workshop course, allowed the students to build a system that will not only lower electricity expenses for the residents of the Nation, but also reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and reduce CO2 emissions.

DEPARTMENTNEWSM E C H A N I C A L E N G I N E E R I N G

Student Activities and SuccessOur Mechanical Engineering B.S. degree is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET; www.abet.org). The program is based on a design-build-test methodology, where students spend time in the laboratory and workshop actually building and testing their theoretical designs. Examples of Some Student Competitions Participated in and National Success • 2018 Dassault Systemes Hackathon: 3rd place, $1K

(Students: Wadman Brett and Patrick Drummey) • 2018 ASME E-Fest Robotic Soccer Competition • 2018 Symbotic Utility Bot Competition:

1st place, $50k • 2017 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

(Deborah Fowler) • 2017 10th International Symposium on Advanced

Plasma Science and its Applications for Nitrides and Nanomaterials / 11th International Conference on Plasma-Nano Technology & Science: Best paper award (Student: Vyasaraj Bhigamudre)

• 2017 “HacktheMachine” competition organized by the Naval Postgraduate School: 1st Place (Student: Omkar Bhandakkar)

• 2017 ASME International Conference on Nanochannels, Minichannels and Microchannels (ICNMM): Best Poster Award (Student: Junwei Su)

• 2017 ASME Fluid Engineering Division Graduate Scholar of the Year Award (Student: Junwei Su)

• 2017 Service Learning projects: 199 Mechanical Engineering students participated

• 2017 Undergraduate students raised over $3000 for the New England Wind Fund to support further development of wind power in Massachusetts

• 2017 Thomas Huff ‘49 Mechanical Engineering Endowed Scholarship Fund Award (Student: Deborah Fowler)

• 2017 Nonlinear Mechanics and Dynamics Summer Research Institute run by Sandia National Laboratories

• 2016 DOE Collegiate Wind Competition: 2nd place • 2016 AIAA - Design, Build, Fly contest • 2016 ASME - Student Design Competition

Manufacturing the Future 2016 Challenge • 2016 SPIE/ASME Best Student Paper Competition

(Daniel Reagan, Honorable Mention) • 2016 Formula SAE Race Car • 2016 NASA Student Launch Competition • 2016 SME Direct Digital Manufacturing Design

Competition: 1st Place • 2016 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

(Tina Dardeno) • 2016 Advanced Textiles Student Design Challenge:

1st Place

DifferenceMaker (www.uml.edu/differencemaker) is a campus-wide program that supports and engages UMass Lowell students from all years, majors and disciplines in creating sustainable solutions to problems that matter. DifferenceMaker assists students in learning skills in entrepreneurship and new venture development, and provides knowledge, as well as financial and physical resources to teams. Resources include working space, mentors, pitch coaching, workshops, teambuilding, Idea Challenge, college-based competitions, over $50,000 in funding and much more. These resources assist UMass Lowell students in developing new product concepts, services and sustainable businesses or non-profits that address real world problems.

“ The focus on design-build-test throughout the curriculum, culminating in the capstone course, produces a special program that provides students with a particularly rich integrated sequence of hands-on experiences to enhance and complement their undergraduate knowledge.”

— ABET, 2012

If you want to pursue an idea or solve a problem, contact DifferenceMaker: [email protected].



Ertan Agar, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Electrochemical energy conversion and storage, mass/charge transport phenomena, electrochemical reaction kinetics, flowable slurry electrodes. Alireza V. Amirkhizi, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Applied Mechanics, Mechanics of Materials, Dynamic Behavior of Materials, Composites, and Structures Peter Avitabile, D.Eng. Professor Emeritus, Co-Director - Structural Dynamics & Acoustic Systems Laboratory Modal Analysis, Analytical and Experimental Structural Dynamics Majid Charmchi, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus Heat and Mass Transfer, Computational Fluid Dynamics Julie Chen, Ph.D. Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, Professor, Co-Director Composite Materials, Nanomanufacturing Haile Endeshaw, Ph.D. Visiting Teaching Professor Wind Energy, Prognostics, Probabilistic Design, Reliability, Computational Mechanics Yan Gu, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Robotic locomotion, Legged robots, Nonlinear controls, Dynamic modeling, Hybrid systems, Multi-agent coordination, Energy optimization, Human walking, Robot-assisted rehabilitation, Underactuation, Mechatronics Christopher Hansen, Ph.D. Associate Professor, UMass Lowell SHAP3D Site Director Materials science, self-healing materials, additive manufacturing (i.e. 3D printing) techniques Omar Ibrahim, Ph.D. Visiting Teaching Professor Heat Transfer, Energy Harvesting, Thermal Management, Heat Exchangers, Two-Phase Flow, Dynamic Systems

Murat Inalpolat, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Structural health monitoring, diagnostics and prognostics, damage detection, structural dynamics, acoustics, signal processing, mechanical design and nonlinear dynamics Kshitij Jerath, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Self-organized dynamics in complex systems, Multi-agent systems, Connected and autonomous vehicles, System reliability and prognostics, Robotic ensembles Xinfang Jin, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Thermal Fluid, Transport Phenomenon, Energy storage and Conversion, Experiment and Model Coupling, Multiphysics/Multiscale Modeling and Simulation, Reduced Order Model Fuqiang Liu, Ph.D. Associate Professor Electrochemical energy generation and storage, Solar energy conversion through photo-electrochemical reactions, Ion-conductive membranes for electrochemical systems, Nano-structured materials, CFD simulation of energy conversion devices Hunter Mack, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Combustion, Renewable Energy, Biofuels, Internal Combustion Engines Marianna Maiaru, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Multiscale modeling, ICME, Composite Structures, Damage and failure analysis, Molecular Dynamics, Manufacturing Zhu Mao, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Structural Health Monitoring, Uncertainty Quantification, Time Series Analysis, Surrogate Modeling, Haptic Decision-Making, Intelligent Infrastructure and Sustainability John McKelliget, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus Computational Fluid Dynamics, Thermal Plasma Processing Eugene E. Niemi, Jr. Ph.D. Professor Aerodynamics, Wind Tunnel Testing, Thermofluids

Christopher Niezrecki, Ph.D. Chair, Professor, Director - Center for Wind Energy, Co-director - Structural Dynamics & Acoustic Systems Laboratory Modeling & control of vibrations & acoustics, smart structures & materials, structural health monitoring and sustainable energy Robert E. Parkin, Ph.D., D.I.C. Professor Solar Energy, Assistive Technologies, Robotics, Manufacturing Theory Michele Putko, Ph.D., P.E. Associate Teaching Professor Thermal-Fluid Science, Climate Change and Energy Literacy, Advisor for Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW) Ioannis Raptis, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Nonlinear dynamic systems theory and control design, robotics, fault detection and failure prognosis. Emmanuelle Reynaud, Ph.D. Associate Professor Materials Science and Engineering, Polymers and Composites Alessandro Sabato, Ph.D. Visiting Teaching Professor Acoustics, Non-destructive Testing (NDT), Sensors, Structural Dynamics, and Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). James A. Sherwood, Ph.D., P.E. Associate Dean, Graduate Programs, Professor, Director, Co-Director Solid Mechanics, Composite Materials, Sports Engineering, Finite Element Modeling Sammy Shina, Ph.D. Professor, Director - Engineering Management Program Electronic manufacturing, Green design and manufacturing, Six Sigma applications, design of experiments, collaborative engineering, quality and product design Scott Stapleton, Ph.D Assistant Professor Solid Mechanics, Composite Materials, Textiles, Multi-Scale Modeling, Finite Element Modeling, Adhesively Bonded Joints, Sandwich Structures, Tissue Engineering, Discrete Element Method

Gary Stewart, Ph.D. Visiting Teaching Professor Mechanical Design Daniel J. Sullivan, Ph.D. Associate Teaching Professor Mechanical Design Hongwei Sun, Ph.D. Professor, Co-Director Multiscale Thermal Science Laboratory, Associate Chair for Doctoral Studies Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS), Microfluidics, Acoustic microsensors, Nano-imprinting process, Interfacial phenomena and heat transfer Glenn Sundberg, Ph.D. Director, Associate Professor Additive manufacturing, thermal management for electronics, high temperature wear resistant compos-ites and coatings, and tribology Walter Thomas, Ph.D. Assistant Teaching Professor Solar Energy, Photovoltaics, Net-Zero Buildings, Advisor for Solar Energy Club Lawrence Thompson, Ph.D., P.E. Assistant Teaching Professor Solid Mechanics, Composite Materials, Mechanical Design, Finite Element Modeling Juan Pablo Trelles, Ph.D. Associate Professor Sustainable energy engineering, solar energy processing, plasma science & engineering, semiconductor manufacturing, radiation transport, computational transport phenomena Noah Van Dam, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Multi-phase/reacting flows, Combustion, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Lagrangian-Eulerian methods, Verification, validation, uncertainty quantification (VVUQ), Machine learning, Internal combustion engines, Energy conversion devices David J. Willis, Ph.D. Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies Aerodynamics, Computational Fluid Dynamics

Faculty Expertise

Minors Offered to Engineering Students at UMass Lowell

NEW Aerospace Studies

Biomedical Engineering

Business Administration for Engineers

Energy Engineering

Nuclear Science and Engineering

Robotics

STEM Teaching (UTeach)

Engineering Student Clubs/Organizations at UMass Lowell

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)

American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)

American Nuclear Society (ANS)

American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)

American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)

Chi Epsilon (Civil and Environmental Engineering Honor Society)

Civil Engineers for Change

Concrete Canoe & Steel Bridge

Engineers for a Sustainable World

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE)

National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)

Omega Chi Epsilon (Chemical Engineering Honor Society)

River Hawk Racing

Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE)

Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE)

Society of Women Engineers (SWE)

Solar Energy Club

Pi Tau Sigma (Mechanical Engineering Honor Society)

Tau Beta Pi ((National Engineering Honor Society)

Minors and Student Clubs

www.uml.edu/engineering/mechanical

www.facebook.com/UMLMechanicalEngineering

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