PERSPECTIVE 2021 COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN–MADISON 2021 COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING PERSPECTIVE Through an ambitious plan for growth, our college aims to have an even greater impact through leadership
CONTENTS
4
Headed in a new direction
PERSPECTIVE
MAGAZINE
Christian Franck’s goal is to learn how a
common ball-control technique affects
athletes competing in the world’s most ENGINEERING EXTERNAL RELATIONS
popular sport. Editor: Renee Meiller
perspective@engr.wisc.edu
Writers: Jason Daley, Alex Holloway, Adam Malecek,
Tom Ziemer
Designers: Joel Hallberg, Kristen Koenig
6
Ground control COLLEGE LEADERSHIP
How engineering advances useful on Dean: Ian M. Robertson
Earth are laying the groundwork for
future explorations in space. Executive Associate Dean: David Noyce
Associate Deans:
Edward Borbely, Engineering Professional Development
Douglass Henderson, Faculty Development
Manuela Romero, Undergraduate Affairs
Oliver Schmitz, Research and Graduate Affairs
Cathleen Walters, Advancement
8
Adam Whitehorse, Chief Financial Officer
Closing the loop
Can chemical engineering save the CONNECTIONS
world from mounting plastic pollution? Prospective Students
coeadvising@wisc.edu
Engineering Professional Development
epd.wisc.edu
Make a gift to the college
(608) 265-8021 • cgwalters@wisc.edu
donate.engr.wisc.edu
11 From the Lab
College of Engineering research news Get involved
alumni@engr.wisc.edu
16 The Next Generation
Engineering students do some amazing things Connect with the college
19 Badger Engineers @UWMadEngr
Honoring elite alumni
22 Wisconsin Idea
Engineering at work in the world
2 Perspective Magazine
IN DEPTH
A MESSAGE FROM DEAN IAN ROBERTSON
Greetings from Wisconsin!
In September 2020, our college received a their impact on student learning, and will
$32 million commitment from The Grainger introduce the best practices broadly to improve
Foundation—a pledge that helps us to take our students’ educational experience. This
the next steps in exciting plans we have to effort will be bolstered by the Keith and Jane
expand our enrollment, recruit and reward Morgan Nosbusch Professorships in
top professors, and position the college for Engineering Education.
the future.
We also have heard students and employers
The largest portion of that pledge—$20 when they tell us there is a need for more
million—established a matching undergraduate engineers from UW-Madison. We plan to
scholarship program known as the STAR respond by creating 1,000 new opportunities
(Strategic Targeted Achievement Recognition) for students to study engineering. Part of
initiative. The pledge challenges us to raise this plan includes a new interdisciplinary
an additional $20 million that we will use instructional and research building on our
to enable talented individuals to study engineering campus. This new building will
engineering at UW-Madison. Many thanks provide modern, safe spaces for our students to
to all who have already taken advantage of learn and conduct research—and I hope that in
this matching opportunity and have created the future, I will be able to report that we have
a STAR scholarship. received support from the state and are starting
the transformation of our engineering campus.
The remainder of the pledge endowed seven
new named professorships. It also named the On, Wisconsin!
college deanship. Given the programs and
initiatives that have been made possible by
The Grainger Foundation, I am particularly
honored to be named the first Grainger Dean Ian Robertson
of the College of Engineering at UW-Madison. Grainger Dean of the College of Engineering
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many Dedicated to fostering the highest standards
changes to our campus. Our faculty and of integrity, ethics, inclusiveness, and service
instructional staff have been exceptional and to society.
I am very impressed with the creativity they
have shown—especially in how to conduct
instructional laboratories remotely. We are
evaluating their approaches to determine
Spring 2021 3
A teenage soccer player darts toward goal,
accelerating away from a defender before
leaping into the air, thrusting her head
forward and thumping the airborne ball with
her forehead past a helpless goalkeeper and
into the back of the net. Skill, timing and
athleticism converge to produce a textbook
header—and a goal.
But at what cost to the player?
HEADED IN A NE
By Tom Ziemer
4 Perspective Magazine
As awareness of concussions has risen per week. But the simple fact is the effects
in recent decades—and, more recently, of headers haven’t been thoroughly
research into the effects of sub-concussive studied in adults, let alone adolescents.
impacts—debates about the safety of
heading the ball in soccer have followed.
Christian Franck, the Grainger Institute
for Engineering Associate Professor of
mechanical engineering, is co-leading
a project with researchers in the
UW-Madison School of Medicine and
Public Health and School of Nursing to
examine the ramifications of headers
among adolescent soccer players.
Franck is hoping to pin down
the answer to what he calls the
“golden question”—how much
Using a seed grant from the UW-Madison
EW
strain on a neuron is required to Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research
cause a concussion—in the next and Graduate Education, Franck and his
year. “We’re getting super close,” collaborators will create computer models
using MRI data and outfit players ages 12-
he says. 17 with protective headbands containing
sensors to record data. They’ll then
It’s part of Franck’s broader quest to feed those numbers into the computer
define the forces inflicted upon brains models to generate brain motion data
and thresholds for injury in concussions and see whether that mechanical loading
and other traumatic brain injuries. In is approaching dangerous levels. As part
addition to looking at brain strain in of the grant, Traci Snedden, an assistant
soccer and football, Franck is working professor in the School of Nursing, is also
with companies in the cycling (Trek), leading an effort to develop cognitive
construction (Milwaukee Tool) and assessment tests that could help tease
military (Team Wendy) spaces to out links between brain changes and
inform helmet and hard hat designs. academic performance.
Current U.S. Youth Soccer rules bar players “I gravitate toward hard problems,”
10 and under from heading in games and says Franck.
practice, while limiting the number of
headers for 11- and 12-year-olds to 25
Spring 2021 5
GROUND CONT
On July 8, 2011, the space shuttle Atlantis blasted off from “The gravitational pull on Phobos is
1,700 times weaker than on Earth,” Negrut
the Kennedy Space Center into a cloudy sky in the last
says. “The question is, can rovers move
launch of the three-decade-old program. in gravity that low, or are they just going
to bounce? They have some interesting
In the 10 years since that day, NASA Mechanical Engineering, comes in. Negrut
wheel designs that aren’t like a typical
engineers have been developing the is an expert in using simulations to predict
cylinder. The shape of the wheel has
Space Launch System (SLS), a powerful how complex mechanical systems change
grooves that are almost like hands or
rocket that could be the backbone for in time—for example, a vehicle operating
scoops that can grab granular material,
deep-space missions beyond Earth’s on soft terrain or a vessel plowing through
which behaves differently in low gravity.”
orbit. It’s an effort that involves people, ice north of the Arctic Circle.
industry and researchers in every state Negrut says he sees rover simulations as
He and his students are working on a
in the nation. And with work that has vital to preparing manned or autonomous
NASA project to simulate how the VIPER
applications right here on terra firma, vehicles to traverse the surfaces of the
rover—which is scheduled for launch in
our own engineering faculty, staff and moon and Mars. As those simulations
2023—will traverse the lunar surface as
students are working to tackle the improve, he can more accurately predict
it searches for frozen water. They are
challenges of this next generation of how such vehicles might behave with
leveraging Project Chrono, an open-source
travel to the moon and beyond. human drivers.
physics simulation engine developed
When humans return to the moon at UW-Madison in collaboration with A manned mission in space for any length
or make it to Mars for the first time, scientists from Italy, where European of time also will require some sort of
they’ll likely need vehicles to traverse Space Agency researchers use it to power source, and Paul Wilson,
extraterrestrial surfaces. That’s simulate how a rover might travel the Grainger Professor of
where Dan Negrut, the Mead across the surface of Phobos, Nuclear Engineering and
Witter Foundation Professor of one of the Mars moons. an expert in modeling
Dan Negrut, Paul Wilson,
Mead Witter Foundation Professor Grainger Professor of
of Mechanical Engineering Nuclear Engineering
6 Perspective Magazine
HOW ENGINEERING ADVANCES USEFUL ON
TROL EARTH ARE LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR
FUTURE EXPLORATION IN SPACE.
By Alex Holloway
complex nuclear energy systems, says that gather energy emitted from the sun In the future, faculty, staff and students
portable nuclear reactors could help. could help propel those journeys, says in the College of Engineering likely will
Ramathasan Thevamaran, an assistant focus their attention even more directly
It’s an idea that’s more plausible than you
professor of engineering physics. Solar on these and other questions related to air
might think: In July 2020, NASA and the
sails aren’t a new concept; some small and space: The Department of Engineering
U.S. Department of Energy announced a
satellites, such as the Planetary Society’s Physics has added an aerospace
call for proposals from industry partners
Lightsail 2, use them to orbit Earth. engineering option to its engineering
to build a nuclear power plant for use
“The idea is that you create these large mechanics major. Wilson, who is the
on the moon and, eventually, Mars. In
mirrors made up of thin, very lightweight department’s chair, says this new option
2018, the National Nuclear Security
materials,” says Thevamaran, who meets growing student demand and
Administration and NASA revealed
develops revolutionary materials for a builds upon the department’s historical
KRUSTY—a kilowatt reactor that
variety of engineering applications. “If astronautics option, which focuses on
could serve as the foundation for the
you make a mirror on one side, the sun’s space. “We have an opportunity to educate
type of reactors used to power outposts
radiation will exert pressure on that. students in all the skills it’s going to
on distant planets. “You’d need enough
The amount of thrust you get is very take to do this kind of work,” he says. “It
fissile material to keep a reaction going,”
small, but it’s constant.” allows us to look at the combination of
Wilson says. “But once you have that, you
technologies across the spectrum of things
can usually operate it at different power Such solar sails could play a role in
that fly. There’s never been, in Wisconsin,
levels. So if you can carry and deploy that scheduled transits; for example, says
an aerospace degree program, so we’re
power source once you get there, it could Thevamaran, they could ferry regular
filling an important gap to give students
provide you with a steady source supply payloads to a hypothetical
exposure to aerospace topics within our
of electricity.” Mars outpost if the trips are
engineering physics program.”
correctly planned.
As we look toward traveling
deeper into space, solar sails
Ramathasan Thevamaran,
Assistant Professor of
Engineering Physics
Spring 2021 7
8 Perspective Magazine
By Jason Daley
Can chemical engineering
save the world from mounting
plastic pollution?
Plastic is truly a wonder material. Since the earliest versions
hit the market, the lightweight, flexible polymers have remade
the world—sometimes literally. Plastics have revolutionized
medical devices, packaging and shipping, construction, vehicle
manufacturing, the toy industry and hundreds of other fields.
But the world’s love affair with plastic has come at a huge
cost. Waste plastic is polluting oceans and shores, clogging
landfills and fostering dependence on the fossil fuels from
which most plastics are derived.
There’s really no end in sight. In fact, by 2040, the current
plastic production of 330 metric tons per year likely will be
double that number annually. By 2050, projections show that
plastics manufacturing will produce 15 percent of the world’s
carbon emissions. One estimate even claims the mass of
plastics in the ocean will outweigh fish by mid-century.
Spring 2021 9
Wonder material or not, the world has a plastic problem. oil into monomers and finally
convert those monomers into
virgin polymers.
College of Engineering
researchers also are working
on a solvent-based recycling
which break down in landfills that uses solvent baths to project for multilayered
Why not recycle? in a matter of months or years, dissolve plastics and separate plastics using a technique they
versus decades or hundreds of specific polymers from call STRAP processing. STRAP
While many people think years for conventional plastics. one another. uses a series of solvent washes
of plastic as a recyclable However, many of those to selectively dissolve and
commodity, that’s not really plastics are still in the early precipitate single plastics out
stages, and it’s unlikely they
How are we in
the case. In the United States, from multilayer combinations
can replace the various types the mix?
only about 9 percent of plastic of plastics. In early efforts, they
waste is actually recycled, and of plastics. have been able to separate
At UW-Madison, chemical
most of that is downcycled, or Other researchers are three-layered plastics, but
engineers are beginning to
converted into less valuable looking into plastic thermal the team hopes to refine the
refine some of these processes
plastic products. conversion to turn common technique and identify solvents
as part of a new $12.5 million
plastics like polyethylene and to process plastics with up to a
That’s because while plastic U.S. Department of Energy-
polypropylene into synthetic dozen layers.
seems pretty straightforward, funded multi-university center
it is often a complex material gas, which could be used to focused on chemical upcycling
rarely made of pure polymers. produce electricity. Other of plastic waste. Its director,
“When people see those researchers are investigating George Huber, the Richard L.
recycling numbers—one pyrolysis, or heating plastics Antoine Professor of chemical
through seven—they think in a low-oxygen environment. and biological engineering,
it must be easy to recycle That results in an oil that along with many other
plastics,” says Jeff Seay, could be used as fuel. researchers in the College of
a professor of chemical Engineering, are investigating
engineering at the University The most promising
ways to make recycling easier
of Kentucky and founder of solutions, however, are and more cost effective.
Engineers for Sustainable in chemical processing
One avenue of investigation George Huber
Energy Solutions. “But even techniques that separate
is pyrolysis, which uses high
though there are seven types plastic polymers from They’re also investigating
temperatures to break down
of plastic, there are tens of chemical additives to ways to produce biodegradable
plastics and recover virgin
thousands of formulations.” recover “virgin” polymers, polymers that could one
polymers. Currently, Huber
Manufacturers add hundreds which then can be used day replace polyethylene,
and his team are examining
of different chemical additives over and over, creating which represents about one
the components of various
to plastic, including dyes and a closed-loop recycling third of the total plastics
pyrolyzed plastics and
colorants, chemicals to block market. “Chemical upcycling
system similar to the way determining what types of
UV light and plasticizers to of plastic waste builds on
in which metals and glass catalysts could be used to
improve rigidity. “All of these decades of prior research in
are recycled. convert the pyrolyzed plastics
chemical additives in the the Department of Chemical
into monomers. “We’re
plastic make them incredibly Researchers are exploring and Biological Engineering
providing the molecular-
difficult to recycle,” says Seay. several methods for chemically that has ranged from catalysis
level information about the
recovering polymers, some of to molecular modeling to
chemicals that you can make
which work best on certain systems research to zdesign of
from pyrolysis,” he says. “That
So, what then? types of plastic. Chemolysis polymerization reactors,” says
gives us ideas about how we
uses chemicals to break apart, Huber. “We are now applying
can more efficiently go back to
Researchers are working on or depolymerize, plastics like this knowledge base to show
the original plastics.”
many potential solutions to PET and polyurethane into how chemical engineering
solve the plastics problem. One The goal, Huber says, is to can be used to design new
monomers, which can be used
avenue is simply developing eventually be able to pyrolyze processes for plastic recycling.”
to produce virgin plastic.
biodegradable plastics, derived mixed plastics into an oil,
Selective solvent extraction is
from corn or wheat starch, then catalytically convert the
another promising technique
10 Perspective MagazineFROM THE LAB
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING RESEARCH NEWS
Sensing a shift
in the earth
On Nov. 15, 2017, a 5.4-magnitude
earthquake struck the seaside city of
Pohang, South Korea. Like others, the
quake was tied to a nearby geothermal
power plant, but researchers think it
could have been prevented.
In enhanced geothermal systems, water
injected up to three miles into the earth
fissures the rock and creates superheated
In the future, your underground reservoirs, where water heats
before it’s pumped back to the surface for
Airbus could fly like power generation.
a Prius Rocks in those underground regions can be
under large stress, either from the weight
As the automobiles we drive of material pushing down on them or from
increasingly incorporate flexible fuel the collisions and extensions of rocks
and all-electric or hybrid-electric under plate tectonics. Injecting water
technologies, engineers are turning can change that stress and as a result,
their attention skyward. And with trigger earthquakes.
$11.5 million in U.S. Army funding,
our engineers are leading a multi-
institutional team on a research
journey that someday could fill the
air with hybrid-electric planes.
For now, their focus is on military
aircraft. The researchers are studying
how to enable these hybrid aircraft
systems to run reliably and stably
on different types of fuel and in
Hiroki Sone, an assistant professor of
extreme environments, and they’re
civil and environmental engineering
also analyzing the benefits and
and geological engineering, and his
tradeoffs involved with adding electric
collaborators are taking a revolutionary
technologies to an aircraft
approach to measuring that stress. They
propulsion system.
will intentionally fracture a borehole
Led by David Rothamer, the Robert wall by cooling it, using miniature
Lorenz Professor of mechanical seismometers to “listen” to the
engineering, the research on campus cracking. Drawing on data from several
leverages the expertise of faculty, staff seismometers, the team hopes to be able
and students in the Engine Research to tell not only when the rocks fracture,
Center and the Wisconsin Electric but where—ultimately helping to predict
Machines and Power Electronics and prevent earthquakes associated with
Consortium. enhanced geothermal systems.
Spring 2021 11FROM THE LAB
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING RESEARCH NEWS
Enabling a critical
cancer treatment
option
CAR T therapy is an emerging
treatment that leverages T cells—
a patient’s own “soldiers” of the
immune system”—to fight cancer,
particularly in people who are
running out of options.
In the treatment, T cells are removed
from the patient’s body, engineered
into cancer-targeting super-soldiers,
then reinjected into the patient.
How fluid dynamics researchers are breaking
down a deadly blood disease
Sickle cell disease causes red blood cells engineering who models cell movement
to stiffen and become sickle-shaped. This in the bloodstream, is illuminating some
Biomedical Engineering Professor
painful disorder affects 70,000 to 80,000 of the answers.
Melissa Skala and her students can
Americans per year, primarily African
use optical imaging techniques they’ve He and his students have learned that
Americans and Hispanic Americans,
developed to reliably identify activated when stiffer cells, like white blood cells
and comes with a host of complications,
immune T cells based on metabolites and platelets, collide with red blood cells,
including anemia, organ damage
glowing faintly within them. That’s they’re driven toward blood vessel walls in
and inflammation.
important for helping doctors answer a process called “margination.” He and his
questions about whether patients Today, people with the disease often collaborators also found that margination
have enough healthy immune cells live into their 40s. But there is still more also happens with sickle cells and
and whether they are likely to benefit progress to be made, and Michael Graham, ultimately, activates inflammatory signals.
from this last-line therapy. Now, Skala the Vilas Distinguished Achievement
Graham hopes that understanding will
and her collaborators are working to Professor and Harvey D. Spangler
help researchers find new treatment
commercialize their techniques. Professor in chemical and biological
methods for the disease.
12 Perspective MagazineProcessing improvements
Leveraging microorganisms, a team of and off and effectively convert levulinic
chemical engineers has developed a acid into methyl ethyl ketone.
process that in the future could produce
Otherwise known as butanone, it’s
an array of sustainable chemicals
a common industrial petrochemical
from biomass.
solvent—and among many chemicals
It starts with levulinic acid, a biomass- that could be made through the process.
derived five-carbon organic acid that can
Pfleger hopes this metabolic engineering
become a platform precursor to biofuels
will be a sustainable paradigm shift for
and other chemical products, and a
For spintronic bacterium called Pseudomonas putida
producing commodity chemicals. “In a
petrochemical refinery, you have a list of
devices, the KT2440 that can “eat,” or process, the
acid and use it to produce more cells.
compounds that are in the barrel of oil,
you do some reactions, and you make
movement continues With his students and colleagues, Brian some chemical conversions. But basically,
A new x-ray technique has unlocked Pfleger, the Jay and Cynthia Ihlenfeld what you’re trying to do is find a use for
the magnetic secrets of nanoscale Professor of chemical and biological every single one of those molecules,” he
spintronic devices. engineering, identified specific genes that says. “Here, we’re starting with sugar, or in
enable this ability and learned how they this case levulinic acid, and we can go to
For our daily lives, next-generation processed levulinic acid. Using the well virtually any molecule a cell could make.”
spintronic devices can help make our understood “model” organism E. coli, they
electronics smaller, faster and more tested its ability to turn those genes on
energy-efficient.
Understanding and controlling
magnetism is key to developing these
new spintronic devices, and Materials
Science Engineering Professor Paul
Evans and Assistant Professor Jiamian
Hu and their graduate students were
part of an international team seeking to
understand their magnetic properties.
The team created a spintronic device,
then used the European Synchrotron
Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France,
to image it—but in a unique way. Rather
than x-ray it directly, like an ER doctor
might do with a broken bone, the team
used hard x-ray nanobeam diffraction
techniques to probe all the layers of the
spintronic device at once. What they saw
and learned will change how the devices
are modeled and designed in the future.
Spring 2021 13FROM THE LAB
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING RESEARCH NEWS
Engineering afield Phone tree
Electrical and Computer Engineering The near future of flexible electronics than layering that entire substrate with
Assistant Professor Bhuvana promises gadgets like paper-thin expensive gallium nitride (currently the
Krishnaswamy is part of a team that’s displays or tablets that can roll up. highest performing microwave transistor
developing wireless underground material), the team used just a speck of
And Zhenqiang “Jack” Ma, Lynn
sensor networks as part of an effort the compound.
H. Matthias Professor and Vilas
to make transformative advances
Distinguished Achievement Professor of The resulting flexible circuit is sustainable
in our understanding of soils. That
electrical and computer engineering, and and effective: It can output 10 milliwatts
knowledge could lead to revolutions
his collaborators are using an inexpensive, of power beyond 5 gigahertz, and the
in agriculture, soil science and
sustainable substance—wood—to make cellulose nanofibril substrate is just
ecosystem research.
the flexible microwave circuits that could as compatible with the microwave
power those futuristic devices. components as polyethylene substrates.
And, Ma says, beyond microwave
For their substrate, they used cellulose
applications, it could be useful for all
nanofibril paper, a strong, flexible,
sorts of flexible electronic components.
transparent and biodegradable film
made from wood fiber. Then, rather
The team is developing wireless
algorithms for sensors that will be
deployed in a test bed constructed
at Argonne National Laboratory.
Krishnaswamy, who researches Caregiver connections
wireless networks, will apply her
expertise through communication Across the United States, 16 million people are developing interventions to support
algorithms that are low-power provide unpaid care for individuals with those caregivers, reduce their stress, help
and traverse through soil and Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias, them work more effectively alone and
air over long distances. “The soil and the work of these informal caregivers with other caregivers, and ultimately,
macroscope project will provide adds up to more than 18.5 billion hours to provide the best care possible.
a deeper understanding of soil’s each year.
biogeochemistry through orders-of- This caregiving is a responsibility that
magnitude improvements in the size starts with the best of intentions but often
and resolution of collective soil data. slides into feelings of frustration, isolation
Its end-to-end underground sensor and burnout. A team led by Nicole Werner,
networks will gather soil data in real Harvey D. Spangler assistant professor of
time, at root zone depth, and at high industrial and systems engineering, has
spatiotemporal resolution,” she says. studied this work. She and her students
14 Perspective MagazineWhat blood flow
says about the
hearts of men
and women
Our hearts might hold many secrets,
but an imaging technology called 4D
flow MRI is enabling our engineers to
see when they are broken.
Alejandro Roldán-Alzate, an assistant
professor of mechanical engineering,
postdoctoral researcher David
Rutkowski and their collaborators
have used the technology to identify
significant differences in blood flow in
the hearts of healthy men and women.
They documented, in real time, blood
flow characteristics such as speed,
twists and turns, as well as differences
in cardiac performance between
sexes—all of which will help them
establish quantitative standards for
what’s normal for each sex.
New fusion era takes wing
For more than two decades, UW-Madison Also drawing on the expertise of Stephanie
engineers have leveraged resources, Diem, who recently joined the Department
expertise and a unique experiment called of Engineering Physics as an assistant
Pegasus to advance fusion energy and professor, Pegasus-III researchers will
plasma science and establish themselves test a handful of the most promising
as world leaders in the field. concepts and implement the best solution
on the larger national experiment at the
Now, with a major reconfiguration, The technology also allowed them
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
Pegasus-III will play an even greater role to reach beyond what’s currently
in the nation’s fusion research program, UW-Madison is a great place for this next possible in clinical assessments. “Our
providing a dedicated U.S. platform and step for fusion, says Fonck. “We have goal is to use existing technology to
proving ground for studying innovative the expertise on this technique and an develop new ways of determining
techniques for starting a plasma, the existing facility that can be converted how sick a patient with cardiovascular
ultra-hot ionized gas that releases to this opportunity,” he says. “It’s disease is,” says Roldán-Alzate. “These
energy in a fusion reactor. “In a sense,” cheaper and more flexible—and it gives methods also allow us to assess the
says Engineering Physics Professor a wonderful opportunity for students to effectiveness of a treatment or surgery
Emeritus Ray Fonck, “we’re working to get an education and to work with people for improving a patient’s
provide a match to light the fusion fire from other labs.” heart function.”
in future reactors.”
Spring 2021 15THE NEXT GENERATION
ENGINEERING STUDENTS DO SOME AMAZING THINGS
Space shield
Students in the fall 2020 freshman
design course took on a real-world
project that may enable us to explore
a whole new universe. “Our goal
was to design a magnetic shielding
device for spaceships for long space
travel to Mars,” says first-year nuclear
engineering student Charlie Erickson.
“The shield is to protect against
solar radiation.”
Board teachers
Civil and environmental engineering While in high school, Baraka occasionally
undergrads Joel Baraka and Anson Liow returned to Uganda to see family. When
have invented 5 STA-Z, a board game for he visited his old primary school in the
students in Africa—particularly those refugee camp, he noticed that kids in the
in refugee camps—that literally turns back of the room would often lose focus
For their project, the students learned
learning into fun. and play among themselves. “Even during
about the physics of solar radiation and
breaks when they were not having class,
The game incorporates core curriculum space travel. They discussed potential
I could see them inventing simple games
subjects taught in Uganda—math, science, solutions, developed a design, and built
and just playing,” he says.
social studies and English—and breaks a small-scale prototype for their client,
them down into easy-to-understand That sparked the idea for 5 STA-Z; played Paolo Desiati, an astrophysicist at
parts. “It’s collaborative and competitive, in groups of five, it makes learning more UW-Madison who has funding from
and something we want to be fun and engaging. “My hope is that when children NASA for the shielding project.
engaging,” Baraka says. use this game, they will become ‘stars,’”
They also learned what it’s like to work
he says. “They are learning and becoming
It’s also very personal. Baraka was born in on an engineering project in a group.
its stars as they master the content. When
the Democratic Republic of Congo, but his “Beyond learning the hard skills like
you look at the name, it’s ‘five stars,’ but
family fled to Uganda’s Kyangwali Refugee chemistry or math, I’d argue it’s more
it’s spelled with ‘A-Z’ because I wanted
Settlement to escape civil war in his home important that we’re learning those
to create a game that covered the full
country. He grew up in the camp, where he soft skills like communicating with a
curriculum of Uganda.”
completed his primary education before team,” says biomedical engineering
attending high school at the African Through their startup company, My HOME student Raad Allawi. “We’re learning
Leadership Academy (ALA) in South Stars, the team has produced more than to work together and listen to different
Africa. “In a refugee camp, there aren’t 200 games to support two primary schools ideas to build a better project. It’s a
many resources that children can use,” in the Kyangwali Refugee Settlement. unique experience, but it’s an essential
Baraka says. “They rely on teachers as the The two now are working with a Ugandan one. If you’re an engineer, you’re never
main form of learning. Classes can have producer to manufacture it. really working alone.”
up to 200 children, and that can be very
frustrating for students and teachers.”
16 Perspective Magazinetubing included in their box. Others
examined heat transport by baking sweet
potatoes. One examined the effects of
ingredient changes on the browning,
height, volume and density of sugar
cookies, then used cellphone cameras
to evaluate cookie color. Another team
mimicked a Rockwell hardness tester
using a drill bit, a small basket and
some quarters.
For their formal experiments, students
analyzed real data sets from previous
summer lab sessions and wrote technical
reports based on their results.
All in all, students report working the
same long, intense hours as those in
previous in-person summer labs. And
Kitchens, cupcakes, cookies and chemicals while the class of 2020 learned differently,
the experience was just as rigorous. “I
For many undergrads participating in to experience this “rite of passage” think we got a different set of skills than
CBE 424, the chemical and biological held every summer since 1948. previous graduating classes,” says student
engineering capstone course popularly Sahana Walter. “But that’s the heart of
Undaunted, they made lemonade out
known as “summer lab,” it’s a chance to engineering. Not everything in life is
of lemons, and their virtual summer lab
apply everything they’ve learned over ideal and you have to make do with the
centered around the kitchen—a room
the last few years. resources you’re given.”
that is the center of almost every home.
The intensive course is a taste of life as
CBE staff filled and distributed (safely, in
a chemical engineer; students work full
person, or via mail) more than 100 boxes
time for five weeks in an Engineering
for students’ kitchen laboratories. Their
Hall laboratory performing experiments
contents included thermocouples, a scale,
and running pilot-scale industrial
a pH meter, a total dissolved solids meter,
equipment such as distillation columns
activated charcoal, sand, coffee filters, and
and heat exchangers. They do formal
other items that students might need to
group experiments on chemical process
design and perform experiments.
equipment and, in teams of two, perform
a series of self-directed informal Not surprisingly, many chose food-science
experiments. They spend evenings and based experiments, working with cookies
weekends writing up technical reports on and cupcakes, sweet potatoes, orange juice
those experiments. To support their work, and other items they could grab or order
students have access to a well-equipped from the grocery store. “Our students did
stockroom and to an analytical lab with some really good science,” says instructor
equipment like gas chromatographs. Jim Miller. “There were a number of
different, inventive and scientifically
In spring 2020, however, as the reality
rich experiments.”
of the COVID-19 pandemic set in and
campus closed, students and faculty One team built a sophisticated heat
began to wonder if they would be able exchanger using plastic bottles and PVC
Spring 2021 17THE NEXT GENERATION
ENGINEERING STUDENTS DO SOME AMAZING THINGS
opportunities. In summer
Building opportunities Undergrad 2018, he worked with a team
In 2020, civil and Beyond her work in the field among world’s of ecologists in Uruguay to
develop computational models
environmental engineering
senior Dalila Ricci earned the
and in the classroom, Ricci is
active across campus. She is
intellectual to investigate the effects of
Alliant Energy/Erroll B. Davis, involved with the Wisconsin elite
Jr. Academic Achievement Union Directorate, is an
Award, an annual honor that events director for the Senior Senior Alex Plum was among
recognizes the academic Year Office, and works as a finalists for the Rhodes
and community service of tutor through the Leaders Scholarship, the oldest and
engineering and business in Engineering Excellence most celebrated college award
students from traditionally and Diversity scholars. She’s for postgraduate international
underrepresented groups also a member of the Society study. He is earning a double
at UW-Madison and of Hispanic Professional major in mathematics and
UW-Platteville. Engineers and now is its engineering physics, with
internal vice president. “I’ve honors in the liberal arts and
been mentored and get to certificates in physics and environmental policy on
be a mentor now,” she says. computer science. a water reservoir. During
“We have this vision of Beyond those formal academic spring and summer 2020,
underrepresented minorities pursuits, Plum has received he worked with physical
succeeding in STEM, and a Wisconsin Academic biologist Christopher Kempes,
having that ideal personified Excellence Scholarship, a a professor at the prestigious
in that organization is why four-year, partial-tuition Santa Fe Institute, the world’s
I’m a part of it. That’s the scholarship for top Wisconsin leading research center for
organization I’m proud of high school graduates, as complex systems science.
because I’ve been in it since well as more than a dozen He’s also a tutor through the
Ricci, who is focusing on the very beginning and I’ve scholarships, including engineering Undergraduate
construction engineering grown so much because of it.” a Sophomore Research Learning Center, volunteers
and management, has Ricci plans to graduate in May Fellowship and a Hilldale with a science outreach
held internships in road 2020. She has already secured Research Fellowship, program, and is president
construction, as well as several job offers and is in UW-Madison’s top of the Socratic Society,
with J.H. Findorff & Son in the process of determining undergraduate research a philosophy club where
Madison on a project to build where she wants to live as she awards. Since his freshman students discuss topics at the
the Exact Sciences Discovery starts her career as a project year, Plum has worked with intersection of philosophy, the
Campus on the city’s west engineer. Further down the Botany Professor David sciences, and current events.
side. In summer 2020, she line, she says she’d like to Baum on research projects
also worked on the Pier 26 pursue an MBA to round out investigating the origins
project in New York City, her skillset as an engineer of life. He also has sought
which opened to the public and business leader. numerous off-campus research
in fall 2020. “All of these
projects have been incredibly
fulfilling,” she says.
18 Perspective MagazineBADGER ENGINEERS
HONORING ELITE ALUMNI
Aero update
In summer 2021, a new, sleek cutting-edge
aircraft will take its maiden voyage in the
skies over Madison, when the DarkAero
1 begins test flights at the Dane County
Regional Airport.
But the jet-black two-seat prop plane
could just as easily be called the
BuckyAero. The aircraft’s designers are The brothers believed that by using The result of the advanced design process
three brothers—Ryley, Keegan and River modern manufacturing techniques, and materials is a plane that will be faster,
Karl—all of whom graduated from the they could drop the price point of lighter and more efficient than anything
College of Engineering and are intent their kit plane while also improving its currently on the market. The DarkAero 1
on disrupting the kit aircraft industry. performance over other kits in the market. has a 23-foot wingspan, a cruising speed of
275 miles per hour and can fly 1,700 miles.
The Karl brothers grew up hearing stories Initially, they worked nights and weekends
about airplane construction from their putting together plans for DarkAero, If it hadn’t been for their education at
grandfather, an engineer at Boeing, and then in 2017, they quit their day jobs and UW-Madison, the brothers say DarkAero
they spent long hours putting together began working full time on the project wouldn’t exist. Keegan says several lab
model airplane kits as kids. The three at a rented hangar at the Dane County courses he took apply directly to his
had always talked about going into Regional Airport. daily work creating engine mounts and
business together, but as they graduated molding composites. His extracurricular
While modern aerospace firms use some
from college, they got jobs with different participation on the hybrid vehicle team
of the most sophisticated engineering
companies in different industries. at the university also gave him hands-
tools available, the brothers say that those
on experience in wiring the plane. Ryley
In 2011, Ryley (BSEM ’08) rejoined his high-tech processes have not trickled
says his entire undergrad experience,
brothers in Madison after working in down to amateur aircraft. “The designs
which included calculating airplane
hydraulic systems R&D for Caterpillar in on the market were implemented one,
performance, working with wind tunnels
Decatur, Illinois. He brought with him a kit two or three decades ago using the best
and even designing an airplane for his
aircraft he’d been putting together for fun. tech at the time,” says Ryley. “But there
senior project, laid the groundwork for the
In their spare time, Keegan (BSME ’10) and hasn’t been a fresh attempt using all new
DarkAero 1. River believes that exposure
River (BSEE ’12) pitched in to help build tech. That’s a big part of what we’re doing,
to the tools and software used in modern
the plane. As the aircraft slowly came taking these new tools and improving
engineering during their undergrad years
together, the brothers realized that many home-grown aircraft to push the
gave them an edge. “If you don’t have that,
of the materials and designs in the kit industry forward.”
you don’t even know these tools exist,” he
were outdated or could be improved using Those tools include using CAD and says. “We were exposed to skills that we
modern engineering tools. 3D modeling to develop the plane and didn’t have to learn on our own.”
That also was the case for other kit aircraft simulation tools to model the designs
The preliminary designs for the plane
designs they researched—and none of using computational dynamics and virtual
have convinced the hobbyist community
those filled the long-range, high-speed wind tunnels. The brothers are also using
that the DarkAero is the real deal, and
niche. “Because of our broad coverage in state-of-the-art CNC machines to cut out
the company currently has more than 40
mechanical, aeronautical and electrical parts and make dimensionally accurate
deposits for aircraft. The three brothers
engineering, we thought we could do molds. They’ve used 3D printing to create
plan to build the $79,900 kits themselves,
something very interesting,” says Ryley. some specialized parts. The plane itself
producing a handful the first year,
“I’m not sure who suggested it, but we has an infusion-molded frame made of
then double production the year after,
started talking about developing our own composite materials—unique in the kit
hiring more labor as they perfect their
kit. There wasn’t anyone in the market aircraft world—which in the past would
manufacturing processes.
doing long-range, high-speed aircraft.” have required a multimillion-dollar
autoclave to produce.
Spring 2021 19BADGER ENGINEERS
HONORING ELITE ALUMNI
Our college has approximately 50,000 engineering alumni, and each
one of your careers has taken unique turns. One thing you all have
in common is that your education has prepared you to respond to
whatever challenge or opportunity comes your way. We’re proud of
each one of you, and we wanted to share just a few examples of your
achievements. While we couldn’t gather in person for our annual
Engineers’ Day celebration on Homecoming 2020 weekend, we
honored the following alumni with college awards in 2020.
Early Career Awards
Subbu Rama Karien J. Rodríguez, Ph.D. James Tamplin
MSECE ’05, PhDBME ’10, BSIE ’06, MSIE ’07,
Founder, Research technical strategist– Founder partner,
Accio Ventures life sciences, global research & Founder Collective
engineering,
A visionary and entrepreneurial Kimberly-Clark Corp. A systems engineer and
leader in technology innovation, entrepreneur who has
including pioneering virtualization A biomedical engineer who fundamentally transformed and
of hardware accelerated devices. is shaping the personal care greatly simplified mobile and
industry through her creative web applications development.
and innovative research.
20 Perspective MagazineDistinguished Achievement Awards
Michael F. Conway Steven R. Erbstoesser Peter Holsten Todd Kelsey
BSChE ’78, BSMineE ’74, MSMineE ’75, BSME ’72, BSEE ’87, MSEE ’89,
Retired president, Owner, President and managing broker, President and CEO,
Shell Trading, Royal Dutch Shell Global Operations & Holsten Real Estate Development Plexus Corp.
Management Advisors LLC; Corporation
A chemical engineer who rose retired, ExxonMobil An exemplary leader of a
to the top of the international oil A mechanical engineer and Wisconsin-based company
trading business while serving An engineer, scientist and humanitarian who is devoted who demonstrates commitment
as an exemplar for management executive who has transformed to the principle that everyone to creating new technologies and
practices that reflect his values of organizations and led global deserves affordable, quality innovations that make a profound
integrity and civic responsibility. teams to achieve world-class housing and who strives to build impact in people’s lives.
safety, operational, and business and maintain healthy communities.
performance in oil and
gas operations.
Laurie Lindborg Parsons Jeffrey Rotsch Oscar Marcelo Suárez Amy Warner
MSCEE ’87, BSIE ’72, MSMetE ’93, PhDMetE ’00, BSEM ’91,
Water resources division director, Retired president, worldwide sales, Professor and coordinator of the Vice president and general manager
Ramboll US General Mills materials science and engineering of IT digital business solutions and
program, corporate director of accessibility,
A respected civil and An industrial engineer and University of Puerto Rico- Intel Corp.
environmental engineer, leader visionary leader who drove global Mayagüez
and advocate for clean water who business success in the consumer An IT leader whose professional
has been a role model for women foods industry. A metallurgical engineer who adaptability and commitment
in STEM. has led innovations in university to empowering those of all
education, promoted STEM, and abilities make her an example
advanced research on composite for future engineers.
materials and nanotechnology.
Spring 2021 21WISCONSIN IDEA
ENGINEERING AT WORK IN THE WORLD
COVID-19:
15 WAYS WE MADE A
DIFFERENCE IN 2020
When it became clear that there were urgent
needs as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded
in the United States in the early part of 2020,
not only did our engineers continue their
research and teaching—but, in the spirit
of the Wisconsin Idea, they also rushed to
help. Throughout the year, they continued to
respond and innovate. Though there are more
examples, here are 15 ways we contributed.
1
With campus and industry partners, we pioneered an
open-source face shield now in use by millions of people
worldwide, as well as a follow-up version with fabric that
cinches around the jawline.
2 We created an automated online platform to help connect
face shield buyers with suppliers. 4 6
We partnered with
the university’s Field
3 5
Day Lab to develop
fun, educational
materials science
An industrial
video games for
Alum Tyler Vermey engineer who
middle and high
navigated the aftermath of specializes in
school students.
an earthquake and a raging modeling infectious
blizzard on a journey diseases worked
from Utah to Madison to closely with We were part of a
contribute his expertise local and state team that worked to
in ventilator design to health leaders to develop a quick, low-
GE Healthcare. develop COVID-19 cost saliva-based
prediction models COVID-19 testing
and also has been method.
widely quoted in
local, state and
national media.
22 Perspective Magazine12
We studied various
mask materials,
11
created videos
13
that demonstrate
how effectively
Alum James Tamplin each material and
and collaborators mask style contains One of our graduate
developed virus particles, students led a large-
7
Researchers in our Center for Health Enhancement Systems covidactnow.org, scale United Nations-
and with partners
Studies helped support healthcare providers who needed to a heavily accessed backed effort to
across campus,
shift quickly to telehealth visits for everything from regular website that strives mobilize personal
designed a three-
checkups to mental health and substance abuse services. to provide timely protective equipment
layer spun-bond
and accurate local polypropylene production in
8
and state COVID-19 material for developing countries
data. reusable masks. worldwide.
A chemical engineer
and partners in the
Wisconsin Institute
for Discovery received
funding to study how
14
9 A civil and environmental Engineering researchers in the
coronaviruses enter
engineer leads the Wisconsin Wisconsin State Laboratory of
cells, spread and
State Laboratory of Hygiene, Hygiene and collaborators at
cause varying immune
which has played a leading role UW-Milwaukee are tracking
responses in different
in testing efforts during COVID-19 through its genetic
people.
the pandemic. fingerprint in human waste.
15
10
An industrial engineer who specializes in risk analysis
shared her expertise in a Badger Talks video and was We pioneered an easy DIY
widely quoted in local, state and national media about mask fitter that helps to
what drives pandemic-related decisions such as stay-at- create a better seal around
home and mask-wearing orders. the edges of your face mask.
Spring 2021 231415 Engineering Drive, Madison, WI 53706
Support the College of
Engineering on April 6-7
dayofthebadger.org
In CEE/GLE 291, Problem Solving
Using Computer Tools, and its
associated hands-on lab section,
students learn basic physical
computer programming skills and,
crucially, how to use land surveying
equipment like levels and total
stations. Early in fall 2020, while
the weather was still mild, they
met safely outdoors. Later in the
semester, they turned to tools such
as Arduino prototyping boards to
learn how to use computing skills in
conjunction with equipment that’s
often used in civil engineering.
24 Perspective MagazineYou can also read
