Educational Videos

University of Michigan Energy Systems Engineering

2009-02-03T15:18:00Z

GM is joining with the University of Michigan to create a new automotive advanced battery lab in Ann Arbor, Mich., and a specialized curriculum within U-M's College of Engineering to develop automotive battery engineers. Building on U-M’s leadership role in energy issues and innovative environmental applications, this new program will prepare engineers to creatively meet the needs of developed and developing economies by adapting the fundamentals of civil power supplies, transportation power and microelectric and portable power. Dr. Ann Marie Sastry, Director of the Energy Systems Engineering Program at the University of Michigan, elaborates further on this multidisciplinary specialization. For more information, go to: Michigan Interdisciplinary and Professional Engineering.

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(4539 Views, 0 Comments)

Tree Voltage and Forest Fire Prevention

2008-12-01T15:15:00Z
Researchers at MIT are using the voltage produced with the pH difference between the soil and a tree to power a wireless network. Christopher Love, a senior in the chemistry department explains one application of this research, preventing forest fires.

(5400 Views, 11 Comments)

Micro and Nano Photonics

2008-11-01T14:56:00Z
At the University of California San Diego Campus, Dr. Shayan Mookherjea are working on, “trapping light” through the idea of localization of light that would allow a pulse of light to be used as a switch or as a memory element in optical communications.

(3542 Views, 1 Comments)

The NEESWood Project

2008-10-01T14:32:00Z
The Network for Earthquake Engineering and Simulation in mid-rise wood frame construction (NEESWood) consists of a group of 15 shared use equipment sites to study seismic activity and building methods. Funded by the National Science Foundation, NEESWood’s goal is to safely increase the height of wood frame construction buildings to six stories while effectively incorporating technology that minimizes damage incurred by structures in a seismic event. In this episode, Dr. John W. van de Lindt, Associate Professor at Colorado State University, gives us an overview of the project and explains more about NEESWood.

(3442 Views, 2 Comments)

Aerospace Engineering Controls Lab

2008-09-01T15:05:00Z
The aerospace engineering and engineering mechanicals undergraduate controls laboratory at the University of Texas, Austin, is open to juniors and seniors who have completed a feedback controls systems course and are ready to apply their understanding of classical and state space control theory in the lab. University of Texas Lecturer and Principle Engineer of Controls and Simulation at National Instruments, Jeannie Falcon, Ph.D., shows us around and demonstrates the experimental hardware of the lab, including a linear translational plant and a control loop system that operates on linear quadratic regulator (LQR) control allowing students to do state feedback and LQR control.

(3171 Views, 1 Comments)

Lawrence Tech Mechatronics

2008-07-31T22:28:00Z
Professor Vladimir Vantsevich introduced Lawrence Tech’s master’s degree program in mechatronic systems engineering in 2006. This unique high-tech educational program, the first in Michigan, includes research options for students. Mechatronics degree programs, common in Europe and Asia but still a rarity in the United States, meld mechanical, electrical and computer engineering disciplines. Vehicles rely more and more on sophisticated electronics and computer controls. Vantsevich was very familiar with this approach after a nearly 30-year academic career in Belarus, where he specialized in designing driveline systems and control devices for multi-wheel-drive vehicles. To outfit the laboratory, equipment and software was contributed by Bosch, dSPACE, Eaton, Festo, Kistler Instrument, KUKA Robotics and National Instruments. Chrysler contributed nearly $50,000 for academic support programs and also donated hardware. This high level of interest indicates that the private sector sees good things coming from the program. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in robotics, aerospace, automotive and other industries will benefit if there are more American engineers available to bring mechatronics to the product design and production process. The suppliers will benefit if the next generation of engineers understand how to take advantage of the specialized engineering equipment and software.

(2864 Views, 1 Comments)

Kinematically Redundant Robotics

2008-06-30T23:31:00Z
The majority of robotics used in industry are in very structured environments. To program and teach a robot a specific task in industry, like spray painting an area, takes a significant amount of time. Dr. Anthony Maciejewski and his team of Randy Hoover and Shantell Hinton at Colorado State University are working on a way to not only automate the process but also to reduce configurations that create kinematic singularities which reduce motion by dropping off a degree of freedom of the robotic movement.

(3202 Views, 8 Comments)

Electrical Impedance Tomography

2008-06-02T05:44:00Z
Dr. Boris Rubinsky, Arnold and Barbara Silverman Distinguished Professor, Bioengineering; Professor, Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley introduces us to his revolutionary technology of Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT). EIT develops an image of the electrical impedance of the body from electrical measurements around the body by placing electrodes around organs and injecting current at certain locations while measuring potential at others. It is a noninvasive procedure that uses inexpensive hardware: the medical imaging system will use cell phone technology to enable doctors around the world.

(5557 Views, 7 Comments)