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Mechanical Engineering

 
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jmikowski



Joined: 09 Dec 2005
Posts: 121

PostPosted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 1:59 pm    Post subject: Mechanical Engineering Reply with quote

All accomplishments in Mechanical Engineering go here. Please keep it objective information we can use. Opinions won't win an argument.
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- Justin Mikowski
Computer Engineering '07
"Non sibi Sed Suis" -Not for one's self but for one's people.
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mollyzogirl



Joined: 09 Dec 2005
Posts: 93
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 4:36 pm    Post subject: .. all kinds of stuff... Reply with quote

Laboratories and Research:
Through elective courses, undergraduate students can study specialization areas such as robotics, intelligent sensing, engineering climate analysis, environmental systems, mechanics, and composite materials. For example, the robotics and intelligent sensing laboratories contain PUMA, ADEPT, and TRC robots, as well as image processing and robotic welding equipment. Students in the mechanics laboratory conduct measurements using laser interferometry equipment and learn how to manufacture composite materials. The thermodynamics laboratory contains an environmental test chamber. Furthermore, the Mechanical Engineering Department is home to the South Central Office of the National Institute for Global Environmental Change, a unit of the U.S. Department of Energy. After completing our program, our graduates are well prepared to compete as engineering professionals or to go on to graduate studies. They have become engineers, scientists, military officers, physicians, surgeons, lawyers and business men and women.

Nationally Competitive:
In mechanical engineering, our students are bright and successful. They have won prestigious scholarships such as Fulbright scholarships, and taken first place in national competitions such as the student paper presentation competition sponsored by the national professional society of mechanical engineers.

Mechanical Engineering Student Activities:
Student activities are an important part of the experience and learning. The Mechanical Engineering profession has several professional societies, and several have student chapters at Tulane. These include the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Student organizations are actively pursuing projects that are interesting, fun, and worthwhile. For example, the Society of Automotive Engineers student chapter has participated in a national vehicle competition called the Mini-Baja competition for years. The students build their own vehicle and compete against entries from other engineering schools. In the 2004-2005 school year, senior students participated in two new competitions as well. The SAE Aero Design competition involved designing a remote controlled airplane. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) sponsored a competition called Solar Splash. The object of this competition was to design and build a powerful yet efficient solar powered boat. Through working on these projects, students gain invaluable knowledge of teamwork and real-world design and construction, and have a great time too.


All info found on Tulane's Department of Mechanical Engineering website under the link "What is Tulane Mechanical Engineering Like?"
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ggreen



Joined: 11 Dec 2005
Posts: 52

PostPosted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 5:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jorge Nagel, a Master's student in Tulane University's Mechanical Engineering department and B. S. in Biomedical Engineering from Tulane, was a member of the development team for Kat-5, which placed 4th in the DARPA Grand Challenge.
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hollus



Joined: 20 Dec 2005
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 12:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I believe that the 2003-2004 Mini-Baja team placed 1st in the written portion of the competition in Canada that year.
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asdurey



Joined: 21 Dec 2005
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Wed Dec 28, 2005 5:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Calvin Mackie, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Tulane University, was among nine individuals and eight institutions President Bush honored with the 2003 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. Each year the president recognizes people and institutions that have provided opportunities for women, minorities and disabled persons in science, mathematics and engineering at the elementary, secondary and university levels.

Full text of this press release was found at:
http://www.me.gatech.edu/me/about-gwws/Archives/Mackie.doc
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gbonie



Joined: 21 Dec 2005
Posts: 7
Location: Irvine, CA

PostPosted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 2:07 am    Post subject: Mars Pathfinder team Reply with quote

I couldn't find an up-to-date bio, but Robin Vaughan (BSME '81) was Valedictorian of my Engineering School class in 1981 (and my lab partner in honors chemistry). As you can see below, she was later a vital member of the Mars Pathfinder mission. Sounds pretty "world class" to me!

-Gary Bonie (BSEE '81)


The bio below is from NASA's web site at:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/MPF/bios/allteam2.html

Robin M. Vaughan Biography November 26, 1997

Robin M. Vaughan is currently a senior member of engineering staff in the Navigation and Flight Mechanics Section at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena,California. She has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana ('81) and master's and Phd degrees in aeronautics and astronautics from M.I.T. in Cambridge, Massachusetts ('83 and '87). She joined JPL in 1987, working with the optical systems analysis group. She worked on optical navigation operations for the Voyager 2 Neptune encounter in 1989 and the Galileo encounter with the asteroid Gaspra in 1991. She spent the next 3 years working on orbit determination analysis and optical navigation issues for the Cassini mission to Saturn. Robin joined the navigation team for the Mars Pathfinder mission in late 1994 and continued as part of the team through its successful landing on Mars on July 4, 1997. Robin has worked part-time on various other tasks over the years, including studies for missions to Pluto and development of navigation software tools. She is currently the navigation system engineer for Advanced Deep Space System Development Program (ADSSDP)/X2000 working on the design of navigation systems for future interplanetary missions such as a Europa orbiter, comet landing and sample return, and Mars sample return.

Robin is a senior member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA); she has been an officer of the San Gabriel Valley Section for many years and is the current treasurer.

Robin was born and raised in New Orleans, LA. Her hobbies include reading (mostly science fiction), various forms of needlework and other arts and crafts, baking, and playing the piano.
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wckirby



Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 355
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 5:46 pm    Post subject: Another Article about Machie Reply with quote

Another Article about Dr. Mackie from the National Science Foundation:

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=100381&org=NSF&from=news
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Clay Kirby
11th generation New Orleanian
4th generation Tulanian
Mechanical Engineering Class of '06
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wckirby



Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 355
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 6:00 pm    Post subject: Dr. Venkatesh just got something big from the NSF Reply with quote

I just learned that Dr. Venkatesh just got a very prestigous award from the National Science Foundation. I've heard the detail will be posted soon, but the award has an extremely large fiscal reward associated with it, too.

Details to come.
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Clay Kirby
11th generation New Orleanian
4th generation Tulanian
Mechanical Engineering Class of '06
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wckirby



Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 355
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 6:16 pm    Post subject: Mechanical Engineering Faculty Reply with quote

Here's the list of all the ME faculty and where they got their doctorates. We've got 2 MIT grads, a Georgia Tech grad, a CalTech grad, a UC Berkley grad, 2 Brown grads, a Purdue grad, a Northwestern grad, 2 Tulanians and that's not even counting the Dean of the School of Engineering. Dr. Venkatesh is also a graduate of the India Institue of Techology, which is considered to be in many ways to be better than MIT.

All those MIT, Georgia Tech, etc. names. Hmmm. Sounds like an A-List of engineering schools to me. But I guess Cowen thinks these schools aren't "Nationally Prominent" and their graduates are a bunch of bums.



Nicholas J. Altiero
Professor and Dean of Engineering
Computational Mechanics, Fracture Mechanics, Biomechanics
Ph.D. 1974, The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor

Michael C. Larson
Associate Professor
Fracture Mechanics, Composite Materials, Design Methodology
Ph.D. 1992, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Ho-Hoon Lee
Associate Professor
Automatic Control, Mechatronics, Real-Time Control, Robotics and Automation
Ph.D. 1991, California Institute of Technology

Guang Lu
Assistant Professor
Intelligent sensing and control, Vehicle control and dynamics, Precision control, Robotics
Ph.D. 2004, University of California, Berkeley

Calvin Mackie
Associate Professor
Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics, Hydrodynamic Stability, Solidification Processes
Ph.D. 1996, Georgia Institute of Technology

Morteza M. Mehrabadi
Professor and Chair
Continuum Mechanics, Constitutive Modeling, Mechanics of Granular Materials
Ph.D. 1979, Tulane University

Efstathios E. Michaelides
Professor
Experimental Fluid Mechanics, Coastal Erosion, Particulate Flows, Energy Conversion
Ph.D. 1980, Brown University

Asher A. Rubinstein
Professor
Metallurgy and Mechanics of Solids, Failure Analysis and Mechanics of Fracture, Micromechanical Aspects of Failure Development in Composites and Reinforced Ceramics, Integrity Analysis of Protective Coatings.
Ph.D. 1981, Brown University

T. A. Venkatesh
Assistant Professor
Nanostructures and Interfacial materials, Thermodynamics of Composites, Micro
Materials and Systems
Ph.D. 1998, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Robert G. Watts
Professor
Flow Instabilities, Global Climate Change and CO2, Ecology of Deep Lakes
Ph.D. 1964, Purdue University

Lucy Zhang
Assistant Professor
Multi-scale Fluid Dynamics, Fluid-Structure Interactions, Computational Nanotechnology
Ph.D. 2003, Northwestern University

Annette B. Oertling
Supervisor of Laboratories/Instructor
Fluid and Thermal Sciences, Numerical Modeling of Sea Ice
Ph.D. 2001, Tulane University
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Clay Kirby
11th generation New Orleanian
4th generation Tulanian
Mechanical Engineering Class of '06
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wckirby



Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 355
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 6:36 pm    Post subject: Waldemar Nelson Reply with quote

Today, I went to the lobby of the engineering building and took photos of the plaques on the Tulane Engineering Hall of Fame or whatever it is. I'm transcribing the plaque writing for a few of the photos I took. Keep in mind that I'm only transcribing the biggest ones. There are more on that wall that I'm not going to trascribe.

The first one I'll do is Waldemar S. Nelson:

"Waldemar S. Nelson graduated in 1936 from Tulane with a degree in mechanical and electrical engineering. He is a civil, electrical and mechanical engineer registered in 44 states and is a principal with the firm of Waldemar S. Nelson and Company, Inc. in New Orleans. He has received numerous industry and university awards and has contributed significantly to the field of engineering."


Waldemar passed away shortly before Thanksgiving this year.

On a personal note, I've know Waldemar since I was in elementary school. He was one of those rare people that truly enriched the lives of everyone around him. He spoke at my Eagle Scout Court of Honor. He was one of my mentors when I went about deciding what I wanted to do with my life. It's due in no small part to him that I'm a mechanical engineer. It was an honor to know him.
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Clay Kirby
11th generation New Orleanian
4th generation Tulanian
Mechanical Engineering Class of '06
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wckirby



Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 355
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 6:45 pm    Post subject: Albert Baldwin Wood Reply with quote

From his plaque in Boggs:

"Albert Baldwin Wood was a recent graduate when he designed the pumps for which he became world-famous. The wood pumps presently drain the city of New Orleans and are also used in the Zuyder Zee region of Holland, as well as Egypt, China, and India."

Non Sibi Sed Suis, translated as "not for one's self, but for one's own."

That's Tulane's motto. Name ANY Tulane graduate that have lived up to that motto more than Waldemar Nelson and Albert Baldwin Wood and I'll man the wrecking ball that demolishes Boggs myself.
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Clay Kirby
11th generation New Orleanian
4th generation Tulanian
Mechanical Engineering Class of '06
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wckirby



Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 355
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 6:53 pm    Post subject: William Monroe White Reply with quote

"William Monroe White was chief engineer at the Allen-Cha_____ (my photo is a bit blurry, I can't read it) Co. An unrivaled expert in hydro-electric development, his genius is reflected in many of the most important hydroelectric installations int he world, including Niagra Falls."
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Clay Kirby
11th generation New Orleanian
4th generation Tulanian
Mechanical Engineering Class of '06
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ET



Joined: 13 Dec 2005
Posts: 5

PostPosted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 5:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

From nola.com:

"Professor honored

T.A. Venkatesh, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Tulane, has received this year's Faculty Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation.

The award, which comes with a $450,000 check, is designed to honor people who successfully integrate research and teaching.

In his research, Venkatesh studies deformation and damage processes in materials to help him develop damage-resistant components for airplanes and biomedical implants."


http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-13/1142060442174100.xml
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