A $10 million grant over five yearsfrom the National Institutes of Healthwill establish a prestigious InstitutionalDevelopment Award (IDeA) Center ofBiomedical Research Excellence(COBRE) in Matrix Biology at BoiseState University. COBRE centerspromote collaborative, interactiveefforts among researchers withcomplementary backgrounds, skills andexpertise. The COBRE in MatrixBiology is funded by the NIH NationalInstitute of General Medicine.

The IDeA program builds researchcapacities in states that historically have had low levels of NIH funding by supporting basic, clinicaland translational research; faculty development; and infrastructure improvements.

This is the first COBRE grant awarded to Boise State and the third in Idaho. It will supportresearch in heart disease, cancer and stroke; ligament injury and repair; and liver fibrosis. Additionalprojects could be added over the course of the grant in musculoskeletal and cancer research.

The grant will be housed within the Boise State Biomolecular Research Center (BRC) andadministered by Julia Oxford, biology professor and director of the BRC. The grant is part of theInstitutional Development Award (IDeA) program, which broadens the geographic distribution ofNIH funding for biomedical and behavioral research.

NewsletterNewsletter

A research team led by Yanliang Zhang at Boise State University isworking to make sure authorities can keep tabs on what’s happening inside anuclear power plant in the wake of a disaster like the earthquake andsubsequent tsunami that crippled Japan’s Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in2011.

Zhang, assistant professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering, isattempting to harvest the heat from a nuclear power plant to enable self-powered sensor networks. He and Darryl Butt, a distinguished professor ofmaterials science and engineering, will develop high-efficiency thermoelectricgenerators using thermal energy from nuclear reactors.

Their work is funded by a three-year $980,804 grant from theDepartment of Energy called a Nuclear Energy Enabling Technological(NEET) Research and Development and Infrastructure Award. Zhang’sproposal was one of only six selected for the 2014 awards from almost ahundred submissions under the NEET Advanced Sensors & Instrumentationprogram.

“Sensors are critical to nuclear safety,” Zhang said. “If they are selfpowered, even during an outage the sensors will be working and people can

access all the needed information. This will enhance the safety of both nuclearplants and spent fuel storage facilities.”

To be successful, Zhang will need to develop an efficient and reliablethermoelectric generator that can withstand the extreme conditions inherent tothe industry. The team will study materials that cover working temperatures

“An award of this magnitude is recognition ofthe high-quality research being done by Boise State’sbiomolecular faculty investigators and will allow usto increase our biomedical research efforts. Itdemonstrates that our researchers are contributing tosolving the major health concerns of the nation,”said Boise State President Bob Kustra. “ It alsoreflects the university’s focus on the collaborative,transdisciplinary research that is vital to innovationand scientific discovery.”

Kustra made a particular point about the roleprivate donors – Duane and Lori Stueckle of Boise –played in making this grant possible. The Stueckleslearned about Oxford’s research in 2005 and beganinvesting in her work and faculty position throughregular philanthropic gifts, ensuring her researchwould stay at Boise State.

“Duane and Lori’s generosity and commitmentto Boise State helped create this extraordinaryopportunity,” Kustra said. “It’s an inspiring exampleof how donors can potentially impact thousands oflives by giving and how philanthropy is building thefuture of this university.”

WWiinntteerr 22001144

Boise State Receives $10 Million COBRE Grant from NIHBy: Kathleen Tuck

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Continued on page 7

Continued on back

Kristen Mitchell, Julia Oxford and Trevor Lujan

Self-Powered Sensors Aim to Keep Tabs on Nuclear DisastersBy Kathleen Tuck

Yanliang Zhang holds an example of a thermoelectric generatorhe is developing with co-investigator Darryl Butt.

From the Dean’s DeskOver the Thanksgiving

holiday, I had the opportunityto reflect on the people whohave made the College ofEngineering at Boise StateUniversity what it is today. Youmay not realize how much eachand every one of you hascontributed to our success;

therefore, I would like to use this space to thank youfor your effort, support, advocacy, and enthusiasm.

I am thankful for:

Our students – they are the reason we are here!We may be distracted by meetings and deadlines, butwe maintain our unshakeable focus on studentlearning.

Our staff – every accomplishment in the collegehas been touched in some way by one of our hard-working staff. These are the individuals who worktirelessly to schedule classes, advise students, managelabs, purchase materials, track budgets and expenses,arrange travel, edit grant proposals, coordinateoutreach events and job fairs, manage websites, andkeep track of more files and documents than you canimagine.

Our faculty - these are the dedicated teacherswho strive to bring the best possible education to ourstudents. They excel at delivering high qualityinstruction, cutting edge research, and service to theiruniversity, community and profession.

Our industry partners - without connections toreal world needs and advances in technology, we runthe risk of becoming isolated in an ivory tower. Ourindustry partners come into the classroom as guestspeakers, work with student clubs, coach and judgestudent competition teams, help with our strategicplanning, and provide our students with a solid bridgeto their future careers.

Our community partners - Boise State is ametropolitan university. Each of us belongs in someway to a wider community beyond where we workand study. Our community nourishes our sense ofplace, and we welcome opportunities to give back tothat place we call home.

Our Boise State campus community – we oftentake our infrastructure for granted. Boise Statesupport staff create and maintain our facilities andbusiness processes. They fix our network, manageour web site, shovel our sidewalks, repair our systems,and support our students.

So as you read about our recentaccomplishments, and walk through our timeline, Ihope you appreciate the many people who contributeevery day to our success as a college. Thank youeveryone for another wonderful year!

Amy Moll

Dean and ProfessorCollege of Engineering

College of Engineering Newsletter | Winter 2014

Dr. Sulmer Fernandez looks out of her new officewhere she works as a research scientist for nuclear magneticresonance specialists, Bridge 12 in Boston, and is amazed bythe path that brought her here. In 2014, Fernandezgraduated with honors from Boise State University. Earningher PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Fernandezis the first woman to graduate with a doctoral degree fromthe College of Engineering.

Ask her how she got her start and she’ll tell you it wasjust natural curiosity that motivated her to figure out howthings worked, but it was her father who inspired her. As ateenager, Fernandez says she and her younger sister watchedher father study as he worked to complete his doctorate inBiological Systems Engineering. He would often talk abouthis projects and find ways to get them involved. He

encouraged them to experiment and follow their curiosity. While he continued his work atWashington State University, Fernandez enrolled as an undergraduate. Fernandez smiles asshe tells how she had the opportunity to work with her father as part of his research groupand collaborate with him on publications while she was there.

Undoubtedly hard work carried her far, but Fernandez says it was the support offamily, friends, colleagues, and her advisor, Dr. Jim Browning, that kept her going. That,and the thought of the endless possibilities ahead of her. Fernandez says that for now, sheintends to focus on industry research in microwave devices. Well, research and marathontraining, that is. While in Boston, Fernandez has also made it her goal to complete at least ahalf marathon.

In the long run, she hopes to return to academia to teach the students of the future.Her words of wisdom for every aspiring young person: “Pursue what you are passionateabout, whether it is art or science. You should always do what you want to do and not whatsociety thinks you should do.”

The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department is part of the vibrant Collegeof Engineering, which was ranked 16th in U.S. News & World Report's list of bestundergraduate engineering programs among comprehensive public universities. TheDepartment provides accessible, high quality, nationally recognized undergraduate andgraduate education in Electrical and Computer Engineering that prepares students forproductive careers and a lifetime of learning. In addition to an undergraduate degree inElectrical Engineering, the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering also offersthree graduate degrees, including a Master of Science, Master of Engineering, and adoctoral degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering.

First Woman to Graduate with a DoctoralDegree from the College of Engineering.By Jenn Ambrose

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COEN Faculty and Students in Action

Vishal Saxena

Vishal Saxena, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical andComputer Engineering, was quoted in a story for MIT Technology Reviewtitled “A Brain-Inspired Chip Takes to the Sky.” The story is about work tocreate “neuromorphic” chips modeled on features seen in brains. Read thearticle here: technologyreview.com/news/532176/a-brain-inspired-chip-takes-to-the-sky/. The article also was cited at phys.org/news/2014-11-drone-flight-special-chip.html

Quincy Conley

Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning faculty memberQuincy Conley has been selected to develop and test applications forGoogle Glass.

Google Glass is a wearable computer in the form of eyewear that includesan optical head-mounted display (OHMD). The Explorer Edition, asshown in the photo, receives data through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to share dataconnection.

Lan Li

Lan Li, assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science andEngineering, was awarded a 2014 Minerals, Metals & Materials Society(TMS) Young Leader Professional Development Award. Li was formallyrecognized at the 143rd TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition held at the SanDiego Convention Center.

The award recognizes early-career individuals, under the age of 40, fortheir potential as future leaders within TMS and the materials and

engineering community it serves. Award winners have unique opportunities to becomemore involved in society activities and to network with prominent TMS members.Advancing professional growth of TMS’s young members is part of the mission of theTMS Foundation, the award sponsor. It tripled the original size of the award class in 2014,added a second prestigious Early Career Faculty Fellowship and collaborated in support ofa new international scholarship.

College of Engineering Newsletter |Winter 2014 3

Wind is a trickything. On a flat plain, itsdirection and speed —or flow — can beplotted with fairly simplecalculations. When theterrain gets morecomplex, involvingforested mountains, hills

and seaside cliffs, so does the math, physics and computing.

This fact is the basis for a new interdisciplinary grant at Boise Statedesigned to develop open-source software to help predict wind patterns,determine optimal placement of wind turbines and increase capacity onexisting transmission lines. Ideally, turbines are set up to produce maximumwind energy in a “sweet spot” that offers plenty of wind power withstructurally tolerable turbulence levels.

Four Boise State faculty received $500,000 over three years from theNational Science Foundation’s Division of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure,Software Infrastructure for Sustained Innovation Program. Their proposalis titled “GEM3D: Open-source Cartesian adaptive complex terrainatmospheric flow solver for GPU clusters.

Principal investigator is Inanc Senocak, an associate professor ofmechanical and biomedical engineering with expertise in the field ofcomputational fluid dynamics and parallel computing. Also working on the

project are Grady Wright and Donna Calhoun in the Department ofMathematics, and Elena Sherman in the Department of Computer Science,each of them bringing unique expertise to the project.

“This is a good example of the types of activities going on at BoiseState,” said Wright. “It’s an interdisciplinary proposal centered on asoftware idea, pushing the leading edge of what’s going on in terms ofcomputational abilities.”

Boise State’s project not only will assist those involved in wind energyresearch and wind modeling, but also provide invaluable workforceexperience for students in the development of the complex software thatdefines our age.

“In today’s world, we have multiple people writing hundreds ofthousands of lines of code to simulate a complex multiphysics problem,”said Senocak. “How do we create and maintain these software efforts whilemaking sure that the physics being simulated is right? We need to not onlywrite a code and ensure high performance on supercomputers, but test andmaintain our product, so others can continue the work and rely on theresults.”

This material is based upon work supported by the National ScienceFoundation under Grant No. 1440638 to Boise State University. Anyopinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in thismaterial are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views ofthe National Science Foundation.

NSF Grant Supports Winds of Change in Scientific Software

Kurtis Cantley

Kurtis Cantley, assistant professor in theDepartment of Electrical and ComputerEngineering, has received a United States AirForce Young Investigator Program researchgrant to fabricate electronic chips that couldbe used to enhance the intelligence of bothpiloted and autonomous vehicles. The award

is for $359,430.

Janelle Wharry

Janelle Wharry, assistant professor in theDepartment of Materials Science andEngineering, has been awarded a prestigiousU.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission FacultyDevelopment Grant.

The $430,000 award aims to support newfaculty focused on nuclear-related research

and is highly competitive. Boise State was one of only 12universities nationwide to receive an award.

Dianxiang Xu

Dianxiang Xu, professor, Department ofComputer Science, was quoted in a columnby the Idaho Statesman’s Zach Kyle aboutsmartphones and cyber security. Xu notesthat “many smartphone users infect theirown phones [with malicious apps] andhighlights some ways you can avoid

downloading apps hiding nefarious software.

For more news visithttp://news.boisestate.edu/update/category/engineering/

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4 College of Engineering Newsletter | Winter 2014 C

Collge of Engineering Through the Years!

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Boise State begins offeringbaccalaureate degreeprograms in civil, electrical,and mechanical engineering

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Department of MaterialsScience & Engineeringgraduates its first twoundergraduate students andbecomes accredited

Micron TechnologyFoundation awards $5 millionto support the new Ph.D.program in Electrical &Computer Engineering

Idaho State Board of Educationapproves new name for theDepartment of Mechanical &Biomedical Engineering

COEN begins yearlongcelebration of their dramaticfirst decade

Construction Managementbecomes a separatedepartment in the newly-formed College ofEngineering (COEN)

Department of Instructional& Performance Technologyjoins COEN

Idaho MicrofabricationLaboratory, a Class 1000cleanroom outfitted with$2.25 million in donatedequipment opens its doors

Seven companies donateequipment and supplies: Micron Technology, Zilog,SCP Global Technologies,AMI, West Coast Paper,Comdisc Electronics Group,and Hewlett-Packard

Boise State Universityengineering programsgraduate first students in civil,electrical and mechanicalengineering

COEN receives accreditationfrom the ABET (AccreditationBoard for Engineering andTechnology) for its first threeprograms in civil, electricaland mechanical engineering

The Harry W. Morrison CivilEngineering Building iscompleted with a $2 milliondonation from the Harry W.Morrison Foundation. Thebuilding houses more than 10specialized labs and space foroperating high-vibrationequipment

New Micron EngineeringCenter is dedicated with a $6million donation from MicronTechnology that is matchedwith $6 million in donationsfrom more than 40 companies,foundations, and individuals

Idaho State Board of Educationauthorizes master’s degree incivil, mechanical, electrical,and computer engineering

State Board of Educationapproves new Center forMaterials Characterization

COEN kicks off its first evercomprehensive campaignwith a goal of raising $18million to enhance people,places and programs.

COEN graduates the first ECEPhD candidate

Astronaut and educatorBarbara R. Morgan joins theCollege as DistinguishedEducator in Residence, toprovide leadership on science,technology, engineering andmath (STEM) education

COEN surpasses the halfwaymark in their $18 millioncampaign – reaching $11.2million

The $2 million MicronTechnology Foundation dollarfor dollar match challenge ismet to support the ECEdoctoral program. Donorsinclude more than 25 private,public and corporate partners

The Engineering HonorSociety was recognized as theIdaho Gamma chapter of TauBeta Pi, the nationalengineering honor society,following a six year effort

The Department ofConstruction Managementcelebrates 30 years of trainingthe nation’s constructionleaders

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1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 20142006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

5 College of Engineering Newsletter | Winter 2014

g Through the Years!

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

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Department of ComputerScience joins COEN from theDepartment of Math andComputer Science in theCollege of Arts and Sciences

COEN joins the EngineeringSchools of the West Initiativewith a $1 million grant fromthe William and FloraHewlett Foundation

Micron TechnologyFoundation pledges $2 millionover four years to start aMaterials Science andEngineering bachelor’s degreeprogram

Dean Cheryl B. Schrader takesover from foundingDean LynnRussell

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Environmental ResearchBuilding is completed. CivilEngineering Departmentmoves in.

Boise State Gets Approval forNew Ph.D. in MaterialsScience and Engineering

Boise State Receives $1Million Keck FoundationGrant to Pioneer a NovelDisease Detection System

Amy MollnamedDean ofCollegeafterserving asInterim

Dean for 1.5 years

Bernard YurkeNamedDistinguishedResearch Fellow

ComputerScienceProposal Approved by HERCfor IGEM Funding

Boise State Team AwardedNSF Grant forSupercomputing andVisualization Infrastructure

Instructional and PerformanceTechnology Gets New Name.Organizational Performanceand Workplace Learning(OPWL)

$1 Million State Grant toHelp Double Boise StateComputer Science Grads

Boise State Receives $10Million COBRE Grant fromNIH

Dr. Sulmer Fernandez is thefirst woman to graduate with adoctoral degree from theCollege of Engineering

http://coen.boisestate.edu

Classes begin in the newDepartment of MaterialsScience & Engineering

Micron TechnologyFoundation grants $320,000to initiate development of adoctoral program in Electrical& Computer Engineering

COEN’s first doctoral programin Electrical & ComputerEngineering receivesunanimous approval by IdahoState Board of Education

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

2011 2012 2013 20142011 2012 2013 2014

6 College of Engineering Newsletter | Winter 2014

Computer ScienceWill Dietrich, CS,December 2013,works for IntelSecurity in St. Paul,Minnesota, and isworking with the WebSecurity researchteam. He categorizes and catalogs thethreat level of hundreds of millionsof URLs received from sourcesaround the world. “My education atBoise State prepared me to learn newtechnologies and handle thechallenges I encounter daily in thesoftware industry”.

Construction ManagementDave Stauffer, CM, 1999, is a ProjectManager for Zelham Inc. in Boise.Zelham is a company that remodelshotels across the united states.

Josh Milton, CM, 2002, is a ProjectEngineer for George M. RaymondCo. in Las Vegas, NV.

Scott Castoe, CM,2007, works forBalfour BeattyConstruction in FortWorth, Texas with hiswife Mandy, and 2

year old daughter Brooklyn. Scottworks in the special project division,as a project superintendent, workingon remodels and tenant build outs.

Josh Martin, CM, 2007, is anOperations Manager for NorthwestGuardrail LLC in Boise. Josh and hiswife Charmolita have two sons,Rowen and Ryken.

Materials Science &Engineering

Arturo Gutierrez, MSE, 2009, iscurrently working at ArgonneNational Laboratory as a PostdoctoralAppointee. His research is focused

on materials for energy storage, bothlithium- and sodium-ion batteries.Arturo and his wife, Annie, havethree kids; Emma – 6 yrs., Elaiza – 3yrs., Kimball – 1 yr.

Mechanical & BiomedicalEngineering

Jose Lepe, ME,2004, is aSeniorMechanicalEngineer for amedical devicestartup inValencia, CA.

He is working on a neuromodulationdevice that stimulates the vagusnerve and activates the body's naturalinflammatory reflex to treat patientswith debilitating inflammatorydiseases such as Crohn's Disease andrheumatoid arthritis.

Dan Russell, ME 2005, works forEngineering Incorporated in Boise,and obtained his P.E. license in 2010,which led to a lead design engineerposition. Dan works on manyinteresting design projects within thetreasure valley community. Dan andhis wife, Rachel, have four children.

Jason Hesse, ME2008, is a VehicleEngineer at STVIncorporated inBoston.

Emily (Perri) andBen Leake, ME,2009, Ben andEmily bothgraduated in 2009in MechanicalEngineering, andboth engineers at

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Theyhave been married for almost threeyears and are expecting a baby girl inFebruary 2015.

Brittany Siewert,ME 2012,obtained aMaster’s fromUT SouthwesternMedical Centerin Prostheticsand Orthotics.She is currently

completing her Orthotics Residencyat Brownfield’s Prosthetics andOrthotics in Boise, Meridian, andNampa offices. Brittany presentedher work to students at Boise State inNovember.

Brooke Garner, ME 2014, works atMicron Technology as a KeyEquipment Engineer in the CentralTest Team.

Levi Holt, ME 2014, graduated fromBSU with a Mechanical EngineeringDegree and a Minor in MilitaryScience on May 17 2014. Three daysafter graduating he had orders fromthe military to go to Fort BenningGeorgia. Levi recently finished theInfantry Basic Officer LeadershipCouse and is now prepping to go toRanger School. After completion ofRanger School he will be stationed inHohenfels, Germany for about threeyears, working in Engineering unit.

Brandon Lee,ME 2014,works forAcutus Medical,a San Diegobased companythat recentlyreceived funding for medical devicetechnology focusing on thediagnostics, prevention, andtreatment of heart disease. Theproject was transferred to Boise asone of the first projects in the newMedtech Furnace facility at theYanke Family Research Park.

Alumni represented at theannual COEN Career Fairs!

Sam Campbell and Corey Breshearsrepresent Clearwater Analytics

Electrical Engineering alums: JimHall, Steele Stone, and Aaron Erbe,Micron Technology

CM alums: Jake Stones and TylerMcIntyre from RSCI

Richard Gines, CS, and YvetteBarrios, ME 2004, representedHewlett Packard

AlexHammond, CE,Army Corps ofEngineers

Alumni News

in theD

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Boise-State-College-of-Engineering/286253614738328

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Boise State College ofEngineering

BSUEngineering

Boise State College ofEngineering Related Blogs

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http://coen.boisestate.edu/blogs/

Alumni NotesWe want to stay in touch.Please send your updates toLeandra Aburusa-Lete atlaburusa@boisestate.edu

As program director and principal investigator, Oxford willsupervise three other investigators on individual projects that share acommon scientific theme. Creating a central mass of investigatorsworking on related projects allows for a beneficial exchange of ideasand allows the researchers to manage an NIH-funded research laband apply for NIH research funding. All three researchers areworking on projects related to extracellular matrix structure, functionand changes related to disease or injury.

Trevor Lujan, assistant professor of mechanical and biomedicalengineering, is one of the three investigators involved in the work.His research is focused on the role of the extracellular matrix inligament injury and repair.

Ligament sprains can lead to chronic joint disorders due to theslow and poor healing of the damaged tissue. Thus, a critical needexists to develop treatment strategies that speed and strengthenligament repair. This research project will utilize experimental andcomputational methods to determine whether the direct applicationof mechanical loads to damaged ligament will stimulate healthytissue remodeling. Results from this project could support the use ofeconomical therapies such as soft-tissue mobilization to enhanceligament healing.

The other two individual projects are: “Extracellular matrix inthe calcification of the cardiovascular system,” led by Allan Albig,assistant professor of biological sciences; and “Liver fibrosis andextracellular matrix overproduction,” led by Kristen Mitchell,associate professor of biological sciences.

The COBRE award will support research infrastructure such asprofessional research and administrative staff, access to sophisticatedinstrumentation, equipment training and grant writing workshops. Italso will partner with the Idaho INBRE on its summer researchprogram.

COBRE support comes in three sequential five-year phases.Phase 1, for $10 million, focuses on developing researchinfrastructure and providing junior investigators with formalmentoring and research project funding to help them acquire dataand successfully compete for independent research grant support.

7College of Engineering Newsletter | Winter 2014

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Computer Science Program Moving into Downtown BoiseOne of Boise State University’s most in-demand high-tech programs will move into The Gardner

Company’s latest development, City Center Plaza, adjacent to The Grove in downtown Boise. The universitywill lease space for its fast-growing Department of Computer Science in the new building that will becompleted in 2016 on the west side of the U.S. Bank Plaza.

The State Board of Education approved the lease agreement on June 19. Boise State announced the moveduring a press conference today on The Grove. During the event, Gardner Company Chairman Kem Gardnershared how important scholarships had been to him as a student and pledged a $1 million gift to Boise State forscholarships.

The computer science program will be located in the same building as Clearwater Analytics and withinshort walking distance of about 20 more of Boise’s top technology companies.

“This move will place Boise State’s computer science students and faculty in the heart of Boise’sdowntown technology community,” said Boise State President Bob Kustra. “It will provide our students an unparalleled opportunity for internships andinteractions with industry, spur creative and collaborative research of mutual interest and allow local business greater access to our programs.” Readmore at http://news.boisestate.edu/update/2014/06/24/computer-science-program-moving-downtown-boise/

$10 Million COBRE Grant Continued...TanyaLalicker, EE,Puget SoundNavalShipyard

Duel Christensen, CM AndersenConstruction, and Kevin Higgs, CMGranite Construction

Byron Walker and Josh Christofferson,Gayle Manufacturing

Josh Hobbs and Rick Nielson, CM, workat Intermountain Slurry Seal

Manuel Rauhut, CE and Peter Voss, CErepresenting HDR Engineering

Will Johnson, CE2014 works at HDREngineering

Brett Bishop, CM 1998, and Sal Varela,CM 2008 from RSCI

College ofEngineeringalumni that workat RSCI werehighlighted at theCareer Fairs,including Presidentof RSCI, ZekeJohnson, CE 2002

Jo Doherty, CE 2014, and Alan Avila CM2013 work for Turner Construction inPortland, OR

Tyler Resnick, CM, and Bryan Scanlan,CM 2014, work for McAlvainConstruction

College of EngineeringDean: AMY MOLL(208) 426-1153

amoll@boisestate.edu

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs: JANET CALLAHAN(208) 426-1153

janetcallahan@boisestate.edu

Assistant Dean for Research &Infrastructure: REX OXFORD(208) 426-5744

roxford@boisestate.edu

Development Director:DONALD MURRAY(208) 426-1422

donaldmurray@boisestate.edu

Civil EngineeringChair: MANDAR KHANAL

(208) 426-3743mkhanal@boisestate.edu

Computer ScienceChair: TIM ANDERSEN

(208) 426-5767tandersen@boisestate.edu

Construction Management+Chair: ROBERT HAMILTON

(208) 426-3764rhamilton@boisestate.edu

Electrical & ComputerEngineering

Interim Chair: REBECCA MIRSKY(208) 426-1167

rebeccamirsky@boisestate.edu

Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning

Chair: DON STEPICH(208) 426-1312

dstepich@boisestate.edu

Materials Science &Engineering

Chair: PETER MÜLLNER(208) 426-5639

petermullner@boisestate.edu

Mechanical & BiomedicalEngineering

Chair: DON PLUMLEE(208) 426-4078

dplumlee@boisestate.edu

In Peter Müllner’s Magnetic Materials Laboratory at BoiseState, researchers study magnetic shape memory (MSM) alloys,materials that shape-shift in response to magnetic fields.

Apply a magnetic field, and the material responds with ashape change. Remove the field, and the new shape remains. Applya different magnetic field and the material re-forms into a newshape. Do this quickly and with purpose and you have a smallmotor or pump.

The Boise State research caught the attention of MartinVreugdenhil of the University of Birmingham in England.Vreugdenhil studies the brain function of rats in relation toschizophrenia.

In September 2013, Vreugdenhil contacted Müllner, distinguished professor of materialsscience and engineering, after reading a publication detailing a magnetic shape memory micro-pump that was developed at Boise State in 2011.

Vreugdenhil needed a pump that would accurately deliver sub-microliter volumes of drugswhile at the same time being small and light enough to be carried on a rat’s head. He asked if apump meeting his specifications could be developed using MSM technology.

In February 2014, Müllner received a gift from the Micron Foundation to further advancethe MSM micro-pump. Sam Barker, a Boise State undergraduate engineering student working withMüllner designed a new micro-pump capable of delivering liquids at three-tenths of a microliterper minute, thus meeting Vreugdenhil’s specifications. The pump housing was 3D-printed withthe help of Blaise Lawless of Idaho TechHelp’s New Product Development lab at Boise State.

In June, Barker took eight prototype micro-pumps to the medical school at the University ofBirmingham, where he then worked in collaboration with Vreugdenhil and his student. Theprototype pumps were successful, performing as expected and demonstrating that the design hasthe potential to provide an accurate, long-term solution.

“Having the opportunity to work on a collaborative project that brought together materialsscience, mechanical engineering and biological science was a very unique and rewardingexperience,” Barker said.

“Barker’s experiments in Birmingham are a critical step toward commercializing this excitingtechnology,” said Müllner. “We anticipate developing a new, even smaller pump to be placed on ahead stage on the rat so that drugs can be delivered and brain activity can be monitored while therat is moving about. We plan returning to Birmingham for further experiments in summer 2015.”

Boise State Micro-Pump Aids Neurological ResearchBy: Kathleen Tuck

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Self-Powered Sensors Continued...

ranging from 30-600 degrees Celsius, that arenot only high efficiency but also characterizedby high thermal stability and mechanicalstrength. They will also examine the issue ofirradiation damage, performing comprehensivetests before, during and after gamma irradiationat various user facilities.

Prior to coming to Boise State, Zhangworked for research startup GMZ Energy Inc.

in 2011, where he was a co-principal investigator for an $8 million DOE award aimed atharnessing the waste heat from a car engine to enhance fuel efficiency. He continued on theproject after moving to Boise State in February 2013. That project is now nearingcommercialization and has a prototype, with interest from Honda and other industry leaders.