Welcome to the News & events Page of ME Department

                      News and Events

• News related to faculty:

   

  • Dr. Bob Minaie, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, joined the ME department in January 2005 from the University of South Alabama.  He teaches mechanical design and finite element courses.  He conducts computational and experimental research in advanced polymer composites, nanocomposites, and functionally graded hybrid composites using intelligent process design, optimization and control.

   

  • Dr. David N. Koert, Associate Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department, was recently selected as Bombardier-Learjet Fellow in the College of Engineering.  He is active in combustion and fuels research and has been funded by the FAA and Boeing to study aircraft fuel tank safety.

   

  • Dr. Behnam Bahr, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, was nominated for the 2004/2005 Wichita State University Excellence in Research Award.  Dr. Bahr is a Boeing Fellow in the College of Engineering, ad he leads an active research program on automation, robotics, CAD/CAM and manufacturing.

   

  • Dr. Bob Minaie, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Department, received substantial funding from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) for his research project on “Advanced Polymer Composite Molding Through Intelligent Process Analysis and Control.”

   

  • Dr. T.S. Ravi, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, received financial support from the KUCR/NASA/EPSCoR program for his research project entitled, “Nano-structured Battery Separators for Enhanced Performance and Lifetime -- A Concept Feasibility Study”.

   

  • Dr. Ikram Ahmed, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, received funding for his research project from the Aircraft Design and Manufacturing Center (ADMRC) for his project, entitled “Thermal Spray Coatings for Composite Structures in Aviation”.

   

  • Dr. Kurt Soschinske, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, received financial support form the KUCR/NASA/EPSCoR program for his project, entitled “Spacecraft System Leak Repair Methods.” He also received funding from the University Technology Committee for a project on “Global Design Laboratory: Developing Design Skills in a Global Learning Environment.”

   

  • Dr. Brian Driessen, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, received a University Research/Creative Project Award. 

• News related to students and alumni:

• • College of Engineering Open House 2005 Awards

     

  • ME graduate student, John Ashton, won First Place in the poster division of the first annual symposium, Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects (GRASP), taken place at the Hughes Metroplex. He had co-authored a paper with his advisor, Dr. Ravi.  The title of his presentation was "A Model for Prostate Cryoablation". There were fifty-five other poster entries from business, education, engineering, fine arts, health professions and liberal arts and sciences.
     

  • Holly A. Haynes, Undergraduate ME student at WSU, was selected as one of the national recipients of the 2005 Goldwater Scholarship Awards.  The Goldwater Scholars have very impressive academic qualifications.  They are selected on the basis of academic merit from a filed of over 1000 science and engineering student applicants nominated by universities nationwide.  Holly is the only Goldwater Scholar selected form Wichita State University and one of the 10 selected from the State of Kansas. Holly’s career goal is to receive a PhD degree in alternative energy, to conduct research to improve the effectiveness of current alternative energy technologies or to create new energy generation methods in order to reduce fossil fuel depend

     

  • The ASME Student Section sent a team, supervised by Dr. Ahmed, to the Design Contest at the ASME Regional Student Conference at Grand Forks, North Dakota in March.  The Design Team had been working in conjunction with the capstone design course under the supervision of Dr. Kurt Soschinske. The team had designed and built a bulk material handler, and completed in the demonstration of the system as well as the Old Guard poster-board contest.   Our students represented the department very well, and obtained valuable experience.

   

  • The SAE Mini-Baja Racing Team at WSU is gearing to compete again in two of the three competitions held in the US (West and Midwest).  The team placed second in the 2004 West Competitions.  The competition in the dynamic events includes a sled pull, rock crawl, maneuverability course, acceleration test, and four-hour endurance test.  The team must also present a complete design report, which must include cost and safety analyses.  The team has come a long way over the year in technological advances.  The Baja team currently uses the CATAI V5, AutoCAD, Nastran, ADAMS/Car, and ProEngineer for the design and analysis of the vehicle.

   

  • Mr. Cheriyan Koshy, Ph.D student of Mechanical Engineering has received Delano Maggard, Jr. Graduate Research Grant for Spring 2005, in support of his research project.

   

  • Mr. Preston Saal has recently received the Boeing Fellowship for graduate studies in Mechanical Engineering.  He will be starting as a PhD student in the Fall of 2005 and plans to work with Dr. Koert in the area of aircraft fire safety research.

   

  • WSU alumnus, Dr. Majid Faiz who received his PhD in December 2004, is currently working at the General Electric Aircraft Engines in Cincinnati, Ohio. While a PhD student at WSU, Dr. Faiz, was the recipient of the 2004 University Turbine Systems Research (UTSR) Gas Turbine Industrial Fellowship, sponsored by the DOE National Energy Technology and offered at the South Carolina Institute for Energy Studies.

   

  • WSU alumnus, Dr. Panu Putthawong who received his PhD in 2004, has recently been appointed as head of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Naresuan University in Pitsanulok, Thailand.

   

  • Mr. Larry Hole, an aircraft mechanical systems lead engineer at Boeing Wichita and a member of the ME Department Industrial Advisory Board, received the Kansas Society of Professional Engineers 2004 State Awards for the Engineers of the Year and the NSPE Fellow.