April 26, 2013
Career Celebration & Senior Appreciation
Mechanical Engineering
Program Agenda
All events are located inside the John M. Clayton Hall.
2:30pm Registration
3:00pm Welcome & Overview
by Suresh Advani
Mechanical Engineering
3:15pm Senior Design Teams
Recognition & ASME
Outstanding Project Award
3:45pm Student Honors & Awards
4:00pm Senior Design Presentations
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Career CelebrationSENIOR APPRECIATION&
Mechanical EngineeringApril 26, 2013
4:30pm Alumni Distinguished Career
Awards & Panel Discussion
5:45pm Networking & Socializing
6:45pm Senior & Alumni
Appreciation Dinner
Closely followed by special
senior design awards
8:00pm Keynote Address
by John Thackrah ‘79
executive director, U.S. Navy,
Military Sealift Command
& 2005 DCA Honoree
Welcome & Overview
Suresh G. Advani
Dr. Suresh G. Advani, George W. Laird Professor and
chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering,
joined the UD faculty in 1987. He earned his bachelors
of technology in mechanical engineering from the
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and his
doctoral degree in mechanical engineering from
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
His research interests include materials, rheology,
fluid mechanics and heat transfer in composite
processing, fuel cells and hydrogen storage. Advani,
who is also the associate director of the Center for
Composite Materials and co-investigator of University
of Delaware’s fuel cell bus program, is the co-
author and editor of 20 books and over 250 journal
publications. Since 2000, he has served as the North
American editor for the journal Composites Part A;
Applied Science and Manufacturing and has chaired
multiple international conferences surrounding the
liquid molding of composites. Advani was elected a
fellow of ASME in 1998 and received the University ’s
Outstanding Doctoral Graduate Student Advising and
Mentoring award in 2008.
GeorGe W. LAird ProfeSSor & chAir
DEPArTMENT Of MECHANICAL ENGINEErING
3:15pm
Senior Design Teams recognition &
ASME Outstanding Project Award
3:45pm
Student Honors & Awards
Senior Awards
W. francis Lindell
distinguished Senior Awards
Dhara Amin, Christine Gregg, &
Benjamin Hockman
Mary and George Nowinski Award for
excellence in Undergraduate
research Award
Christine Gregg & Benjamin Hockman
Junior Awards
W. francis Lindell
distinguished Junior Awards
Peter Hauser, Benjamin Henry, &
Brandon Zimmerman
W. francis Lindell Mechanical
engineering Achievement Awards
Nathan Giguere, Emily Pierce, &
Jessica Harrington
ASMe delaware Section outstanding
Student Award
Anna D’Alessio
ASMe Student Section Award
Scott Wroten
outstanding Student Leader Awards
Anna D’Alessio & Michael Pfeiffer
Graduate Achievement Awards
Harman Khare & Zachary Melrose
Graduate Teaching Assistant Award
Amy Bucha
Me Alumni Awards:
outstanding Senior
Kevin Matthews & ravi Sharma
outstanding Junior
Kenneth Manley & frederick Mauer
outstanding Sophomore
Joseph Esposito & Garrett Swenson
other departmental Awards
TeAM WhiTe oPTicS
Spray Coat System Automation
Team White optics replaced a manual coating system used in
product manufacturing with an automated, semi-continuous spray application.
By adapting the spray gun to a mechanical linkage above a belt conveyor,
sensors detect the presence of a part and turn the spray on and off. The new
system allows the company to increase its production rate.
4:00pm
Senior Design Presentations
TeAM SMiThS deTecTioN
X-Ray Conveyor Belt System
Team Smiths detection redesigned the conveyor belt system that is
used in many of the sponsor ’s products. By simplifying the assembly process, the
new design reduced the manufacturing time required to make the conveyor
system, allowing for quick replacement of worn belts.
TeAM YeS U cAN
Hands-Free Bicycle Steering System
Team Yes U can retrofitted a recumbent bicycle with a joystick steering system
using a stepper motor, making it possible for a physically handicapped rider to
independently maneuver the bicycle. Power is generated when an incorporated
functional Electrical Stimulation (fES) system jumpstarts the muscles in the
user ’s legs.
TeAM WhiTe oPTicS
Spray Coat System Automation
Team White optics replaced a manual coating system used in
product manufacturing with an automated, semi-continuous spray application.
By adapting the spray gun to a mechanical linkage above a belt conveyor,
sensors detect the presence of a part and turn the spray on and off. The new
system allows the company to increase its production rate.
TeAM SMiThS deTecTioN
X-Ray Conveyor Belt System
Team Smiths detection redesigned the conveyor belt system that is
used in many of the sponsor ’s products. By simplifying the assembly process, the
new design reduced the manufacturing time required to make the conveyor
system, allowing for quick replacement of worn belts.
TeAM YeS U cAN
Hands-Free Bicycle Steering System
Team Yes U can retrofitted a recumbent bicycle with a joystick steering system
using a stepper motor, making it possible for a physically handicapped rider to
independently maneuver the bicycle. Power is generated when an incorporated
functional Electrical Stimulation (fES) system jumpstarts the muscles in the
user ’s legs.
Scott Wroten, Colleen Cannatelli, Lauren Resch, Benjamin Natrin
Devin Prate, Daniel Evans, Christopher Leonard, Matthew Klixbull
Gerad Lieb, Benjamin Hockman, Luke Walmer, Gregory Ohnemus
eLLeN f. BeNedicT, ‘75, is the
director of Strategy and Business Programs
for Global Oncology Care, Philips Healthcare
in Andover, Mass. She uses her expertise in
business analytic modeling, market research,
segmentation and analysis, strategy and
execution, product management, medical
science, Six Sigma (she’s a black belt) and
biomedical engineering to translate the
needs of medical care providers into products and solutions that improve
patient care. following her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering
from UD, Benedict earned a master of science in biomedical engineering
from rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which included a two-year clinical
internship at Hartford Hospital. Benedict launched her career as an engineer,
but it was during her time with Hewlett-Packard/Agilent Technologies that she
transitioned to marketing.
BriAN r. ScoTT, ‘84, is a senior
researcher for the U.S. Army dealing with
composite armor materials while maintaining
his commission in the Ordnance Corps.
Previously he redesigned high-temperature
carbon composite rocket nozzle sections with
Morton Thiokol, then accepted a position with
the DuPont Company as technology manager
of armor systems. With the end of the Cold War,
Scott was transferred to DuPont’s Kevlar division to develop helmets, vests and
spall liners for vehicles. In 2003 he retired from DuPont and returned to Army
civilian status at the Army research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Ground,
where he earned his doctorate and now focuses on designing vehicle armors.
4:30pm
Distinguished Career Awards and Panel Discussion
ALfred J. UNioNe, ‘67, currently a
consultant for the Department of Energy in
the nuclear power industry, spent almost four
decades in risk management of nuclear plants,
in energy and water technology development
and in developing the infrastructure to safely
and sustainably manage “cold war” nuclear
wastes. Unione’s career included roles in
government, industry and in academia, where
he led energy and risk management projects overseas and in the U.S. He
even participated in a televised debate on the safety of nuclear power in the
Swedish Parliament. Unione’s most recent assignment was at the National
Energy Technology Laboratory, where he held the position of chief technology
officer for Parsons and UrS Corporation. Currently, he is part of a committee
developing codes and standards for hydrogen systems.
JeffreY c. WeiL, ‘67, currently holds
joint appointments as a scientist at the
University of Colorado and a visiting scientist
with the National Center for Atmospheric
research. He is considered an international
expert on atmospheric dispersion. following
UD, he earned his master’s and doctoral
degrees from MIT before spending 15 years
with Martin Marietta Laboratories in Baltimore.
Weil made significant contributions to
numerical simulation of atmospheric dispersion, buoyant plume modeling and
laboratory dispersion experiments and was among the first to address the role
of large-scale boundary layer structure on the vertical asymmetry of dispersion.
He also developed dispersion models for real-world problems involving stacks,
buoyant emissions and turbulence – issues commonly encountered in air
pollution, environmental safety and toxics modeling.
8:00pm
Keynote: John Thackrah, BME ‘79 - 2005 DCA
Be criSP
Abstract
What does it mean to be an engineer? What does it take to be successful? John
Thackrah has learned a lot in his 34 years since graduation about how to succeed
in the corporate, private and public sectors and even government environments.
In this invited lecture, Thackrah will share several basic principles, or values, he
has identified throughout his diverse career as critical to success—particularly for
those just starting out.
JohN ThAckrAh is executive director of
the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command, which
operates approximately 110 noncombatant,
civilian-crewed ships that replenish U.S. Navy
ships, conduct specialized missions, strategically
preposition combat cargo at sea around the world
and move military cargo and supplies used by
deployed U.S. forces and coalition partners.
Previously, Thackrah served the Navy as principal
deputy of the Strategic Systems Program; acting
assistant secretary of research, Development and
Acquisition; and deputy assistant secretary of
Management and Budget.
2012
Ernest E. Jones ‘92
Dinesh Mohan ‘70
Ken Ryder ‘86
Ann M. Sastry ‘89
2011
Ann M. Badmus ’84
Mark E. Conroy ’80
William H. Lotter, Jr. ’56
Paul H. Norton ’80
2010
Ralph D. Cope ’78, ’79M
Frank S. Hyer ’58
Doug B. McKenna ’82
2009
E. Fenton Carey, Jr. ’67, ’70M
John W. Gillespie, Jr. ’76, ’78M, ’85Ph.D.
E. Douglass Huggard ’55, ’61M (deceased)
James R. Laser ’69
Eric M. Svendsen ’71
2008
Martha Meaney Murray ’87
oren B. Phillips ’68
raymond V. feehery, Jr. ’74
James J. Gitney ’78
david B. Meyers ’81
2007
Donald R. Cohee ’67
Michael J. Doyle ’92
James B. Foulk ’59
Jerome T. Kegelman ’78
Jodie l. (Kuchler) Morgan ’85
Nancy R. Sottos ’86, ‘91Ph.D
2006
Alan W. Flenner J.D., P.E. ’86
Carl W. Hall ’50M
Terri L. Kelly ’83
Kaushal Kurapati ’95M
William G. Mavity ’72
2005
Dave T. Bach ’77
Alex Bourdon ’80
Frederick H. Kohloss ’51M
Anthony Laganelli ’61M, ’66Ph.D.
Amy Lerner ’90
Don McCoy ’75 (deceased)
Jack N. Pezza ’98
Stephen D. Popovich ’49
Patrick J. Reynolds ’68
John Thackrah ’79
Previous Distinguished Career Alumni