Incoming Iowa State University faculty member Qiang Zhong grew up in Wenzhou, a small coastal city in southeast China. He remembers spending summers with his grandfather, a well-known diesel mechanic in his hometown, which is what got him interested in the field of engineering. His parents always encouraged him to do hands-on activities like building model airplanes and RC boats.
Conducting research within the field of pharmaceuticals might be the last place you’d expect to find a mechanical engineer but Michael Olsen would prove you wrong. Olsen, a professor of mechanical engineering (ME) at Iowa State University, is getting ready to begin his newest research project with his colleague Dennis Vigil, professor of chemical and …Continue reading “Applying mechanical engineering to pharmaceutical research”
Roy Pillers, mechanical engineering graduate student, was named the 2020 FED Prof. Kirti Ghia Scholar. The Fluids Engineering Division [of ASME] selects several students representing a different technical committee and awards them the ASME FED Graduate Student Scholar (GSS) Award. The Prof. Kirti Ghia Scholar award is the highest and most prestigious of these awards recognizing the best graduate student submission for the conference.
Well before the COVID-19 pandemic vastly altered the everyday lives of people across the globe, a group of mechanical engineering (ME) faculty and staff at Iowa State University were working on ways to bring virtual, hands-on labs into the homes of students via the internet. In 2012, Jonathan Wickert, then dean of Iowa State’s College …Continue reading “ME faculty, staff developing methods for teaching hands-on labs via the internet”
Incoming mechanical engineering faculty member looks to establish a research niche combining fluids and energy at Iowa State University Returning to Ames and conducting research at Iowa State University will be something of a homecoming for incoming mechanical engineering faculty member. Todd Kingston grew up in North Bend, Nebraska, about three hours west of Ames. …Continue reading “Bringing research expertise in fluids and energy”
Iowa State faculty and staff will be honored during the university’s annual awards ceremony on Sept. 23. Theodore Heindel, Bergles Professor of Thermal Science and professor of mechanical engineering, will be bestowed the title of “University Professor” at the ceremony. The title of University Professor is awarded to a faculty member who has acted as …Continue reading “ME’s Ted Heindel named University Professor”
A group of researchers from Iowa State University and the University of Ottawa in Canada have teamed up on a research project that will examine electrostatic charging of particles made of insulating materials such as plastic in fluidized bed reactors. Findings from this research can be applied to the industrial systems such as the production …Continue reading “Iowa State, U of Ottawa collaboration examines electrostatic charging of particles in insulating materials”
A mechanical engineering faculty member was recently selected to attend a symposium for a prestigious non-governmental engineering organization. Nicole N. Hashemi, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, was among 84 early career engineers selected to participate in the National Academy of Engineering’s (NAE) 24th annual U.S. Frontiers of Engineering Symposium. The two-and-a-half day event will bring …Continue reading “ME professor selected to attend National Academy of Engineering symposium”
A group of six agricultural engineering students represented Iowa State University for the first time at the Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge on April 11-14, 2018. The team designed a human-powered vehicle that used a hydraulic powered transmission. This was a national competition sponsored by the National Fluid Power Association and was held at the Danfoss …Continue reading “Agricultural engineering team competes at the Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge”
Professor Emeritus Richard Pletcher passed away September 12, 2015 at the age of 80. Dr. Richard (Dick) Pletcher was born in 1935 in Elkhart, Indiana. He graduated from Purdue University with a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering in 1957. He married Carol Robbins on June 9, 1957 in Elkhart, and from there the couple left …Continue reading “Professor Emeritus Richard Pletcher passes away”
Daniel Attinger paused before handing over a photo of a crime scene. “Are you bothered by the sight of blood?” There was good reason for his question: The photo showed blood pooled and smeared on a floor. Blood drops ran down a nearby wall. A single shoe was left in the evidence of violence and …Continue reading “Attinger working to put more science behind bloodstain pattern analysis”
Iowa State University will host the 47th Annual Society of Engineering Science (SES) Technical Meeting on October 3-6 at the Gateway Hotel and Conference Center in Ames. The meeting is co-sponsored by the College of Engineering and three of its academic departments: aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, and materials science and engineering The meeting’s goals—expanding cooperation, …Continue reading “College co-sponsors upcoming SES Technical Meeting”
Richard Wlezien has been named the Vance and Arlene Coffman Endowed Department Chair in Aerospace Engineering at Iowa State University. Currently professor and chair of mechanical engineering at Tufts University, Wlezien will begin at Iowa State’s College of Engineering on August 16. Wlezien’s career includes extensive experience in industry, academia, and the federal government. He …Continue reading “Wlezien to chair aerospace engineering at Iowa State”
