• The UM-SJTU Joint Institute: Naming of the First Dean
• CoE and General Motors Launch Program to Develop Smart Materials
• Aerospace Engineering Selected for Collaborative Center
• Magazine Lauds U-M and CoE
• CoE Chapter of National Society of Black Engineers Honored
• MSigns Follows Up
• New CSE Building Operational
• WebBee Getting a Lot of Buzz
• Around the World with Flat Charlie
• Engineers of the Future Are Using Crayons
• Jim Duderstadt - 2005 Diversity Service Award Winner
• U-M a Partner in LSAMP Initiative
• ADVANCE Made Permanent

The UM-SJTU Joint Institute: Naming of the First Dean

Jun Ni

The board of the University of Michigan/Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) joint institute has named Jun Ni, Shien-Ming (Sam) Wu Collegiate Professor of Manufacturing, Mechanical Engineering, as its first dean.

CoE and General Motors Launch Program to Develop Smart Materials

Michigan Engineering and General Motors Corporation have launched the Smart Materials and Structures Collaborative Research Laboratory, their third collaborative lab, in which CoE and GM investigators will develop mechamatronics, a new approach to designing and evaluating systems that combine mechanisms, smart materials and electronics. The five-year program will operate as an extension of GM's Global Research and Development network.

Aerospace Engineering Selected for Collaborative Center

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has selected a CoE-led team to establish the Michigan/AFRL Collaborative Center in Aeronautical Sciences (MACCAS), which is expected to be recognized internationally for excellence in computational aeronautical sciences research and education. The CoE team consists of Wei Shyy, Clarence L "Kelly" Johnson Collegiate Professor of Aerospace Engineering (AERO), and department chair ·Professor Iain Boyd, AERO ·Associate Professor Carlos Cesnik, AERO ·Professor Werner Dahm, AERO ·Peretz Friedmann, Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Professor of Aerospace Engineering ·Associate Professor Hong Im, Mechanical Engineering ·Ken Powell, Arthur F Thurnau Professor of Aerospace Engineering ·Professor Phil Roe, AERO ·Professor Bram van Leer, AERO. Three Michigan State University faculty will complete the MACCAS team.

Magazine Lauds U-M and CoE

The May/June 2006 issue of Small Times magazine praised the College of Engineering for its work in wireless integrated microsystems. "Now in its sixth year," Small Times said, "the National Science Foundation's Engineering Research Center for Wireless Integrated MicroSystems has demonstrated success with devices such as cochlear implants for the deaf, and gas sensors for environmental monitoring. The engineering-based center has outreach programs involving eight other schools and is incorporating more and more of the nanoscience advances under way at the university."

CoE Chapter of National Society of Black Engineers Honored

The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) has recognized Michigan Engineering as the "chapter of the year." NSBE officials cited the chapter's improvement in member retention; the implementation of new programs, such as the creation of a junior executive board to expose students to leadership roles; a chapter grade-point average that ranks third among the more than 270 NSBE chapters nationwide; and two mentorship programs, one in which members mentor high school students, and a second that pairs CoE freshmen with seniors by major. This is the second time the chapter has won the award in six years.

MSigns Follows Up

Jason Gilbert helps a hearing impaired student to try out his motion-capture gear.

"3D Virtual Sign-Language Translation," a story in the spring 2006 issue of Michigan Engineer, related how Jason Gilbert and Judy Yu, graduate students in Michigan Engineering's Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, are developing MSigns, a technology that "listens" to speech and translates it into sign language that a "virtual interpreter" performs - in 3D, in real time - on a handheld computer.

Gilbert teamed up with Women in Engineering to demonstrate the MSigns research for middle-school girls who are deaf or hearing impaired. The girls took turns in the University of Michigan's 3D Lab, trying out Gilbert's motion-capture paraphernalia and, at the same time, getting a good glimpse of engineering at its finest and having a little fun in the bargain.

New CSE Building Operational

The new Computer Science and Engineering building is up and running. The 100,000-square-foot facility - with 12 laboratories and a capacity for 56 faculty - provides a single location for Computer Science and Engineering research and teaching, which had been spread throughout three buildings on North Campus.

WebBee Getting a Lot of Buzz

WebBee, a technology developed by Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Associate Professor Sugih Jamin, accelerates web access to unprecedented speeds on hand-held devices, such as cell phones. With the potential to revolutionize the way people on-the-move use the Internet, WebBee has been getting a lot of well deserved buzz.

Around the World with Flat Charlie

The Department of Chemical Engineering (ChE) has brought in a real mover and shaker to help students realize the vast number of global opportunities available to chemical engineers. He's none other than Flat Charlie, an illustrated "buddy" who travels with ChE faculty, alumni, students and friends - wherever they might go throughout the world. People send photos of themselves with Flat Charlie - at work, at play or just hanging out - to the ChE department, which posts them on a website to demonstrate just how enterprising, fun-loving and exciting chemical engineers can be. Check out Charlie and his friends at http://tinyurl.com/gaeof.

Engineers of the Future Are Using Crayons

The engineers of tomorrow - the distant tomorrow - are using crayons, today, working their way through Wee Wizards Explore Making Things - How Manufacturing Works and Why It Is Important, a coloring book that introduces kids to engineering and manufacturing. Created by Lenea Howe, a program coordinator, and Rod Hill, a graphic artist, both from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, "Wee Wizards" was such a hit with the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) that the membership funded the initial printing of 10,000 copies and its distribution to Michigan middle-school technology teachers. SME plans to distribute the book nationally.

Jim Duderstadt - 2005 Diversity Service Award Winner

Jim Duderstadt

The National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering presented Jim Duderstadt, Emeritus President and Dean and University Professor of Science and Engineering, with its 2005 Reginald Jones Award for distinguished service. Duderstadt directed the accompanying $10,000 honorarium to the Minority Engineering Program Office to fund scholarships for students who participate in the Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program and Michigan Engineering's Summer Engineering Academy.

U-M a Partner in LSAMP Initiative

The University of Michigan has partnered with three other state universities to create the Michigan-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (M-LSAMP) program, a federal initiative to increase the number of under-represented minorities earning baccalaureate degrees in science, technology, engineering and math by 50 percent in five years, and by 100 percent in 10 years. The five-year, $5-million program, is funded by the National Science Foundation with a 100-percent total match from the four partners - U-M, Michigan State University, Wayne State University and Western Michigan University.

ADVANCE Made Permanent

ADVANCE, an NSF grant-funded project that works to bridge the gender gap in science and engineering at U-M, is an impressive strategy for making improvements in the recruitment and retention of women faculty in science and engineering, as well as the betterment of the entire institutional climate. ADVANCE has proved to be so successful that the University made a commitment to extend the program of "institutional transformation," guaranteeing that the effort will be at least a 10-year mission.