COMBATING CORROSION IN DATA CENTERS
D
ata centers suck up a tremendous amount of energy. In an attempt to reduce the amount that goes into keeping computing equipment from overheating, many data centers use low-power systems that bring in outdoor air to keep things cool.
NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE
CLEAR FOR LANDING
PAID
Syracuse University College of Engineering and Computer Science Syracuse, NY 13244-1240
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY SYRACUSE NY
pollutants in data centers around the world. Ultimately, the results of the study will help data centers use as little energy as possible while keeping their vital computing equipment humming.
The problem is, these systems can also bring in gaseous and particulate pollutants from the atmosphere that corrode the copper and silver in the computing equipment.
L
anding an airplane on an aircraft carrier is a dangerous maneuver. There’s only so much space to land, and ships are moving targets. Ships heave. They sway. They surge. They pitch, roll, and yaw. Plus, airplanes move similarly in the air. Pilots have to resist these motions to stay steady while being pummeled by strong gusts of wind coming off the ocean. All of this adds up to a need for a better understanding of the swirling forces that engulf airplanes’ wings and make touchdown so perilous.
To provide a better understanding of this damage, Professors Jianshun Zhang and Roger Schmidt, and Clemson Professor Jeremy Gilbert, have been awarded a grant by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineering to determine the impact of gaseous contamination, humidity, and temperature on computing equipment performance in data centers. The team will look at the impacts of gaseous pollutants such as SO2, NO2, H2S, O3, and Cl2 under various temperature and humidity conditions.
Assistant Professor Melissa Green, an expert in fluid dynamics, along with Assistant Professor David Rival of Queen’s University, have been awarded a grant from the Office of Naval Research to study the topology of force production in unsteady flows around
The team’s results and recommendations will help establish new design and operating guidelines for controlling humidity and
swept wings. This joint proposal will study the axial, vertical, and lateral gust responses over a generic swept-wing body.
Green says, “Air is a fluid, so the flow fields that we study in our water tank can be applied to the flow of air around airplane wings. It’s not overstating it to say that a better understanding of fluid dynamics could lead to advancements that would make flying and landing planes much safer for Navy pilots and sailors.”
ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE FOR VETERANS
S
yracuse University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science has been recognized with a 2016 Engineering Excellence for Veterans Award from the American Society of Engineering Education. The award names the College a top military-friendly institution and a “Best for Vets” school, recognized by Military Times and US News & World Report.
YOUR DEPARTMENT, YOUR COLLEGE, YOUR SUCCESS We share these accomplishments with you because you are a part of us. As an alumnus or a friend of this Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, you have contributed to our shared success by your very association. A great many of you have also generously helped fund the endeavors highlighted within this newsletter. Gifts to our College allow us to further prepare our students in ways that will differentiate them in the competitive marketplace and magnify the value of a Syracuse University engineering and computer science degree. Gifts will also support specific initiatives aimed at positioning our College as a leading model for contemporary engineering and computer science education, as presented in our Transforming Our Future plan at eng-cs.syr.edu/transformation. With your help, there is no limit to what we can achieve. Please consider making your gift today at eng-cs.syr.edu/givenow.
VISIT US ON FACEBOOK @ENGINEERINGSU @ENGINEERINGSU CONNECT WITH US ENG-CS.SYR.EDU
“It is a great honor to accept this award, and an even greater honor to enroll and support veterans. Their experience and skills serve them extremely well in engineering and computer science disciplines. We are firmly committed to aligning our College with the needs and aspirations of veterans today and in the future,” says Dean Teresa Abi-Nader Dahlberg. The College is part of a campus that has a strong reputation and tradition for supporting veterans. Military Times recently named the University the No. 1 private school in the country and No. 3 overall for service members, military veterans, and their families.
Department of
In her lab at the Syracuse Center of Excellence and the OTTER Lab at Queen’s, Green’s and Rival’s research teams will conduct experiments to acquire time-resolved 3D flow fields, pressure, force, and moment data on a model performing analogous surge, pitch, and yaw motions underwater in optical towing tanks and water tunnels.
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
DISCOVERY IMPROVES HEAT TRANSFER IN BOILING W
hile the average person associates boiling with cooking dinner, the process is also widely used to transfer heat across surfaces. Right now, around 90 percent of electricity in the United States is generated by steam turbines, which require boilers. More efficient boiling can result in significant energy and cost savings. That’s why researchers continue to study the process.
The new mechanism developed by Maroo and former Ph.D. student An Zou ’15 is based on early evaporation of the microlayer, which is a thin liquid film present at the base of a bubble. Microridges on the surface partition the microlayer and disconnect it from bulk liquid, causing it to evaporate sooner, thus leading to an increase in bubble growth rate, departure frequency, and CHF.
Associate Professor Shalabh Maroo has discovered a new way to improve the efficiency of boiling heat transfer. Featured in a recent publication of Langmuir, Maroo’s research enhances the critical heat flux (CHF), the maximum practical heat transfer in boiling.
Maroo’s discovery will allow coupling of the new mechanism with existing mechanisms to further push the limits of boiling heat transfer, enable the design of micro and nanostructures to achieve desired transfer of heat with boiling, and advance the next-generation technology of thermal management of electronics.
“Even though boiling has been studied for over 50 years, we have introduced and validated a new mechanism to increase boiling heat transfer,” says Maroo.
ASEE
NEW UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE LAB TAKES FLIGHT The new UAV lab gives researchers the ability to test drones for a wide range of applications.
A
state-of-the-art unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) laboratory has been unveiled at the Syracuse Center of Excellence. It is a customizable space more than 20 feet high. Within, researchers can fly UAVs and track them using a camera-based motion tracking system that provides real-time 3D monitoring of how they respond to changing conditions.
While UAV technology is advancing at a rapid pace, most commercial drone systems are still unable to operate autonomously in high wind or unstable weather conditions. In the new facility, Associate Professor Amit Sanyal and his team are developing an autopilot system that uses specially designed algorithms with commercial sensors, actuators and processors for autonomous flight control of drones. The autopilot can reduce the workload of certified drone
SPRING 2017
pilots through autonomous sense-and-avoid technology and operate more efficiently than piloting options currently available for commercial use. The new lab will also allow Sanyal’s team to bring in fans to create air disturbances to test the autopilot. Faculty and students share the lab with UAV startups from the Genius NY business accelerator, including Sasi Prabhakaran’s G’15 company, Akrobotix. Every UAV system being developed at the lab has its own challenges and each gives engineering students and entrepreneurs a unique opportunity to design solutions. The new facility was funded in part by a donation from Millennium Engineering and Integration, where Patrick Murphy ’88 serves as president and CEO.
PILOTING THE UNMANNED AIRCRAFT REVOLUTION
ADVANCE IN PASSIVE LIQUID FLOW TAKES CUES FROM THE FOREST
NEW FACULTY
A substantial round of UAS research funding at Syracuse University further establishes the institution as an academic leader in this emerging field.
L
ocated in one of the nation’s top hubs for unmanned aerial systems (UAS), Syracuse University is at the forefront of integrating UAS into society. Recently, more than $230,000 in state revitalization funding was awarded to six UAS projects across the University. Faculty and students from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering are contributing to three of these groundbreaking efforts.
Associate Professor Amit Sanyal is developing a system for fully autonomous navigation and coordination of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) by providing stability and trajectory assurance guarantees, performing onboard processing of images for detection of objects of interest and autonomously generating trajectories for collision and obstacle avoidance.
Professors Utpal Roy and Ram Murthy and Associate Professor of Practice Mike Roppo are developing sensor- and Internetof-Things-enabled technologies for application-specific and data-driven UAV operations and decision-making. And, in a separate project, Roy and Murthy are creating a course to teach undergraduate and graduate students how to use current UAS technologies to design, manufacture and configure applicationspecific UAVs, and then to carry out routine operations in a safe and secured environment.
Gurdip Singh Associate Dean for Research & Graduate Programs Ph.D. Stony Brook University Elevating the prominence of the College’s research activities, fostering interdisciplinary and translational research, directing funds and support for collaborations, and developing research infrastructure and expertise.
Mohd Yousuf Ali Assistant Professor of Practice Ph.D. Florida State University Analyzing complex high-speed fluid phenomena such as shock wave/boundary layer interaction, jets in crossflow, and development and implementation of high-speed flow control actuators.
The addition of these new faculty members reaffirms our strong commitment to research and expands our College’s expertise in fluid mechanics.
A
By virtually modeling the way atoms interact at a solid surface, Syracuse University researchers suggest that passive liquid flow could serve as a highly efficient coolant-delivery mechanism without the need for pumps. The results, published in Langmuir, also have implications for the development of new nanoscale technology. “We were surprised at the strength of the passive liquid flow we obtained, which showed that it can be used to remove a large
Geoffrey Vaartstra ’17 Geoffrey Vaartstra ’17 solidified his interest in mechanical engineering after contributing to salt water desalinization research in Associate Professor Shalabh Maroo’s lab following his freshman year. The research inspired his passion for nanoscience and nanotechnology, and the development of advanced materials for water and energy applications. During his time in Syracuse, Vaartstra was named the University’s 2016 Astronaut Scholar and was honored
MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
as a Syracuse University Scholar, the highest undergraduate honor that the University bestows. He will pursue a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at MIT this fall. “The environment at Syracuse University helped me achieve so much. If it weren’t for my friends across campus and professors in engineering who supported me along the way, in academics and in life, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
He is currently serving as program director for the Engineering Research Centers program at the National Science Foundation and D.W. Reynolds Distinguished Professor and department chair of mechanical engineering at Clemson University, with a joint faculty appointment as professor of bioengineering.
# of Faculty
# of Undergraduate Students
# of Ph.D. Students
Aerodynamics and Propulsion
Design and Optimization
Energy Conversion and Heat Transfer
Energy Efficiency and Environmental Systems
Energy Sources, Conversion, and Conservation
Manufacturing and Engineering Systems
Fluid Mechanics
Smart Materials for Health Care
Solid Mechanics and Materials
Degrees Awarded May 2015–2016 amount of heat over a very small surface area,” says Associate Professor Shalabh Maroo, senior author on the new study. As electronics have gotten smaller, the problem of cooling next-generation technology has become more difficult. Building off this research, Maroo aims for creation of cooling devices that can dissipate the massive amount of concentrated heat generated by small-scale devices through surface-driven passive flow. Liquid would continually evaporate at the hot surfaces, while simultaneously being continually drawn to the areas requiring cooling by the passive flow mechanism.
113
Undergraduate
101 Graduate
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
Melur K. “Ram” Ramasubramanian G’87 Melur K. “Ram” Ramasubramanian G’87, a mechanical engineering alumnus, has been named the University of Virginia’s vice president for research. In his new role, he will direct UVA’s collaborative research and scholarship portfolio and advance the university’s research infrastructure and support services.
24 470 # of Master’s Students
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
RESEARCH AREAS
173 49
Passive liquid flow, which allows trees to move water up their trunks to their branches, can be used to cool next-gen tech without mechanical pumps. new study, inspired by water’s movement from roots to leaves in tall trees, shows that a certain kind of passive liquid flow is remarkably strong. In passive liquid flow, liquids naturally move in response to surface atomic interactions instead of being driven by external forces like pumps.
FACTS AND STATS
MOON APPOINTED DEPARTMENT CHAIR
Assistant Professor Michelle Blum
Ramasubramanian is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.
Young Moon, the William J. Smith Professor in Manufacturing Enterprises, has been named the chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
and innovative solutions to complex systems problems, such as cybermanufacturing systems, new product development processes, enterprise systems, and sustainable manufacturing.
Ramasubramanian earned a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from the National Institute of Technology in Durgapur, India, and a master’s in applied sciences before earning a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at Syracuse University.
Moon had been serving as the interim chair of the department. A Fulbright Scholar, he has been a professor at Syracuse University for more than 28 years. His research focuses on the use of modeling and simulation methods to develop effective
Moon’s endowed professorship is funded by the late William J. Smith ’50. Smith was an emeritus trustee and visiting professor at the University.
Assistant Professor Michelle Blum was honored by the Technology Alliance of Central New York as the organization’s College Educator of the Year.
biomaterials and biomaterial characterization utilizing a combination of experimental techniques, nanoindentation, and computational modeling.
Blum serves as the program director for mechanical engineering and has consistently worked to find new ways to actively engage her classes. In her research, Blum specializes in high-performance materials development and characterization for tribological (friction and wear), structural, and biomedical applications. Her primary research interests are in the development of orthopedic
Julie M. Hasenwinkel, the College’s associate dean for academic and student affairs, said, “Professor Blum is very deserving of this award based on my observations of her student-centered approach to teaching and mentoring, her commitment to academic excellence through inclusion, and her enthusiastic attitude, compassion, and teamwork.”
COMBATING CORROSION IN DATA CENTERS
D
ata centers suck up a tremendous amount of energy. In an attempt to reduce the amount that goes into keeping computing equipment from overheating, many data centers use low-power systems that bring in outdoor air to keep things cool.
NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE
CLEAR FOR LANDING
PAID
Syracuse University College of Engineering and Computer Science Syracuse, NY 13244-1240
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY SYRACUSE NY
pollutants in data centers around the world. Ultimately, the results of the study will help data centers use as little energy as possible while keeping their vital computing equipment humming.
The problem is, these systems can also bring in gaseous and particulate pollutants from the atmosphere that corrode the copper and silver in the computing equipment.
L
anding an airplane on an aircraft carrier is a dangerous maneuver. There’s only so much space to land, and ships are moving targets. Ships heave. They sway. They surge. They pitch, roll, and yaw. Plus, airplanes move similarly in the air. Pilots have to resist these motions to stay steady while being pummeled by strong gusts of wind coming off the ocean. All of this adds up to a need for a better understanding of the swirling forces that engulf airplanes’ wings and make touchdown so perilous.
To provide a better understanding of this damage, Professors Jianshun Zhang and Roger Schmidt, and Clemson Professor Jeremy Gilbert, have been awarded a grant by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineering to determine the impact of gaseous contamination, humidity, and temperature on computing equipment performance in data centers. The team will look at the impacts of gaseous pollutants such as SO2, NO2, H2S, O3, and Cl2 under various temperature and humidity conditions.
Assistant Professor Melissa Green, an expert in fluid dynamics, along with Assistant Professor David Rival of Queen’s University, have been awarded a grant from the Office of Naval Research to study the topology of force production in unsteady flows around
The team’s results and recommendations will help establish new design and operating guidelines for controlling humidity and
swept wings. This joint proposal will study the axial, vertical, and lateral gust responses over a generic swept-wing body.
Green says, “Air is a fluid, so the flow fields that we study in our water tank can be applied to the flow of air around airplane wings. It’s not overstating it to say that a better understanding of fluid dynamics could lead to advancements that would make flying and landing planes much safer for Navy pilots and sailors.”
ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE FOR VETERANS
S
yracuse University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science has been recognized with a 2016 Engineering Excellence for Veterans Award from the American Society of Engineering Education. The award names the College a top military-friendly institution and a “Best for Vets” school, recognized by Military Times and US News & World Report.
YOUR DEPARTMENT, YOUR COLLEGE, YOUR SUCCESS We share these accomplishments with you because you are a part of us. As an alumnus or a friend of this Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, you have contributed to our shared success by your very association. A great many of you have also generously helped fund the endeavors highlighted within this newsletter. Gifts to our College allow us to further prepare our students in ways that will differentiate them in the competitive marketplace and magnify the value of a Syracuse University engineering and computer science degree. Gifts will also support specific initiatives aimed at positioning our College as a leading model for contemporary engineering and computer science education, as presented in our Transforming Our Future plan at eng-cs.syr.edu/transformation. With your help, there is no limit to what we can achieve. Please consider making your gift today at eng-cs.syr.edu/givenow.
VISIT US ON FACEBOOK @ENGINEERINGSU @ENGINEERINGSU CONNECT WITH US ENG-CS.SYR.EDU
“It is a great honor to accept this award, and an even greater honor to enroll and support veterans. Their experience and skills serve them extremely well in engineering and computer science disciplines. We are firmly committed to aligning our College with the needs and aspirations of veterans today and in the future,” says Dean Teresa Abi-Nader Dahlberg. The College is part of a campus that has a strong reputation and tradition for supporting veterans. Military Times recently named the University the No. 1 private school in the country and No. 3 overall for service members, military veterans, and their families.
Department of
In her lab at the Syracuse Center of Excellence and the OTTER Lab at Queen’s, Green’s and Rival’s research teams will conduct experiments to acquire time-resolved 3D flow fields, pressure, force, and moment data on a model performing analogous surge, pitch, and yaw motions underwater in optical towing tanks and water tunnels.
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
DISCOVERY IMPROVES HEAT TRANSFER IN BOILING W
hile the average person associates boiling with cooking dinner, the process is also widely used to transfer heat across surfaces. Right now, around 90 percent of electricity in the United States is generated by steam turbines, which require boilers. More efficient boiling can result in significant energy and cost savings. That’s why researchers continue to study the process.
The new mechanism developed by Maroo and former Ph.D. student An Zou ’15 is based on early evaporation of the microlayer, which is a thin liquid film present at the base of a bubble. Microridges on the surface partition the microlayer and disconnect it from bulk liquid, causing it to evaporate sooner, thus leading to an increase in bubble growth rate, departure frequency, and CHF.
Associate Professor Shalabh Maroo has discovered a new way to improve the efficiency of boiling heat transfer. Featured in a recent publication of Langmuir, Maroo’s research enhances the critical heat flux (CHF), the maximum practical heat transfer in boiling.
Maroo’s discovery will allow coupling of the new mechanism with existing mechanisms to further push the limits of boiling heat transfer, enable the design of micro and nanostructures to achieve desired transfer of heat with boiling, and advance the next-generation technology of thermal management of electronics.
“Even though boiling has been studied for over 50 years, we have introduced and validated a new mechanism to increase boiling heat transfer,” says Maroo.
ASEE
NEW UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE LAB TAKES FLIGHT The new UAV lab gives researchers the ability to test drones for a wide range of applications.
A
state-of-the-art unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) laboratory has been unveiled at the Syracuse Center of Excellence. It is a customizable space more than 20 feet high. Within, researchers can fly UAVs and track them using a camera-based motion tracking system that provides real-time 3D monitoring of how they respond to changing conditions.
While UAV technology is advancing at a rapid pace, most commercial drone systems are still unable to operate autonomously in high wind or unstable weather conditions. In the new facility, Associate Professor Amit Sanyal and his team are developing an autopilot system that uses specially designed algorithms with commercial sensors, actuators and processors for autonomous flight control of drones. The autopilot can reduce the workload of certified drone
SPRING 2017
pilots through autonomous sense-and-avoid technology and operate more efficiently than piloting options currently available for commercial use. The new lab will also allow Sanyal’s team to bring in fans to create air disturbances to test the autopilot. Faculty and students share the lab with UAV startups from the Genius NY business accelerator, including Sasi Prabhakaran’s G’15 company, Akrobotix. Every UAV system being developed at the lab has its own challenges and each gives engineering students and entrepreneurs a unique opportunity to design solutions. The new facility was funded in part by a donation from Millennium Engineering and Integration, where Patrick Murphy ’88 serves as president and CEO.
PILOTING THE UNMANNED AIRCRAFT REVOLUTION
ADVANCE IN PASSIVE LIQUID FLOW TAKES CUES FROM THE FOREST
NEW FACULTY
A substantial round of UAS research funding at Syracuse University further establishes the institution as an academic leader in this emerging field.
L
ocated in one of the nation’s top hubs for unmanned aerial systems (UAS), Syracuse University is at the forefront of integrating UAS into society. Recently, more than $230,000 in state revitalization funding was awarded to six UAS projects across the University. Faculty and students from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering are contributing to three of these groundbreaking efforts.
Associate Professor Amit Sanyal is developing a system for fully autonomous navigation and coordination of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) by providing stability and trajectory assurance guarantees, performing onboard processing of images for detection of objects of interest and autonomously generating trajectories for collision and obstacle avoidance.
Professors Utpal Roy and Ram Murthy and Associate Professor of Practice Mike Roppo are developing sensor- and Internetof-Things-enabled technologies for application-specific and data-driven UAV operations and decision-making. And, in a separate project, Roy and Murthy are creating a course to teach undergraduate and graduate students how to use current UAS technologies to design, manufacture and configure applicationspecific UAVs, and then to carry out routine operations in a safe and secured environment.
Gurdip Singh Associate Dean for Research & Graduate Programs Ph.D. Stony Brook University Elevating the prominence of the College’s research activities, fostering interdisciplinary and translational research, directing funds and support for collaborations, and developing research infrastructure and expertise.
Mohd Yousuf Ali Assistant Professor of Practice Ph.D. Florida State University Analyzing complex high-speed fluid phenomena such as shock wave/boundary layer interaction, jets in crossflow, and development and implementation of high-speed flow control actuators.
The addition of these new faculty members reaffirms our strong commitment to research and expands our College’s expertise in fluid mechanics.
A
By virtually modeling the way atoms interact at a solid surface, Syracuse University researchers suggest that passive liquid flow could serve as a highly efficient coolant-delivery mechanism without the need for pumps. The results, published in Langmuir, also have implications for the development of new nanoscale technology. “We were surprised at the strength of the passive liquid flow we obtained, which showed that it can be used to remove a large
Geoffrey Vaartstra ’17 Geoffrey Vaartstra ’17 solidified his interest in mechanical engineering after contributing to salt water desalinization research in Associate Professor Shalabh Maroo’s lab following his freshman year. The research inspired his passion for nanoscience and nanotechnology, and the development of advanced materials for water and energy applications. During his time in Syracuse, Vaartstra was named the University’s 2016 Astronaut Scholar and was honored
MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
as a Syracuse University Scholar, the highest undergraduate honor that the University bestows. He will pursue a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at MIT this fall. “The environment at Syracuse University helped me achieve so much. If it weren’t for my friends across campus and professors in engineering who supported me along the way, in academics and in life, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
He is currently serving as program director for the Engineering Research Centers program at the National Science Foundation and D.W. Reynolds Distinguished Professor and department chair of mechanical engineering at Clemson University, with a joint faculty appointment as professor of bioengineering.
# of Faculty
# of Undergraduate Students
# of Ph.D. Students
Aerodynamics and Propulsion
Design and Optimization
Energy Conversion and Heat Transfer
Energy Efficiency and Environmental Systems
Energy Sources, Conversion, and Conservation
Manufacturing and Engineering Systems
Fluid Mechanics
Smart Materials for Health Care
Solid Mechanics and Materials
Degrees Awarded May 2015–2016 amount of heat over a very small surface area,” says Associate Professor Shalabh Maroo, senior author on the new study. As electronics have gotten smaller, the problem of cooling next-generation technology has become more difficult. Building off this research, Maroo aims for creation of cooling devices that can dissipate the massive amount of concentrated heat generated by small-scale devices through surface-driven passive flow. Liquid would continually evaporate at the hot surfaces, while simultaneously being continually drawn to the areas requiring cooling by the passive flow mechanism.
113
Undergraduate
101 Graduate
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
Melur K. “Ram” Ramasubramanian G’87 Melur K. “Ram” Ramasubramanian G’87, a mechanical engineering alumnus, has been named the University of Virginia’s vice president for research. In his new role, he will direct UVA’s collaborative research and scholarship portfolio and advance the university’s research infrastructure and support services.
24 470 # of Master’s Students
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
RESEARCH AREAS
173 49
Passive liquid flow, which allows trees to move water up their trunks to their branches, can be used to cool next-gen tech without mechanical pumps. new study, inspired by water’s movement from roots to leaves in tall trees, shows that a certain kind of passive liquid flow is remarkably strong. In passive liquid flow, liquids naturally move in response to surface atomic interactions instead of being driven by external forces like pumps.
FACTS AND STATS
MOON APPOINTED DEPARTMENT CHAIR
Assistant Professor Michelle Blum
Ramasubramanian is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.
Young Moon, the William J. Smith Professor in Manufacturing Enterprises, has been named the chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
and innovative solutions to complex systems problems, such as cybermanufacturing systems, new product development processes, enterprise systems, and sustainable manufacturing.
Ramasubramanian earned a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from the National Institute of Technology in Durgapur, India, and a master’s in applied sciences before earning a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at Syracuse University.
Moon had been serving as the interim chair of the department. A Fulbright Scholar, he has been a professor at Syracuse University for more than 28 years. His research focuses on the use of modeling and simulation methods to develop effective
Moon’s endowed professorship is funded by the late William J. Smith ’50. Smith was an emeritus trustee and visiting professor at the University.
Assistant Professor Michelle Blum was honored by the Technology Alliance of Central New York as the organization’s College Educator of the Year.
biomaterials and biomaterial characterization utilizing a combination of experimental techniques, nanoindentation, and computational modeling.
Blum serves as the program director for mechanical engineering and has consistently worked to find new ways to actively engage her classes. In her research, Blum specializes in high-performance materials development and characterization for tribological (friction and wear), structural, and biomedical applications. Her primary research interests are in the development of orthopedic
Julie M. Hasenwinkel, the College’s associate dean for academic and student affairs, said, “Professor Blum is very deserving of this award based on my observations of her student-centered approach to teaching and mentoring, her commitment to academic excellence through inclusion, and her enthusiastic attitude, compassion, and teamwork.”
COMBATING CORROSION IN DATA CENTERS
D
ata centers suck up a tremendous amount of energy. In an attempt to reduce the amount that goes into keeping computing equipment from overheating, many data centers use low-power systems that bring in outdoor air to keep things cool.
NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE
CLEAR FOR LANDING
PAID
Syracuse University College of Engineering and Computer Science Syracuse, NY 13244-1240
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY SYRACUSE NY
pollutants in data centers around the world. Ultimately, the results of the study will help data centers use as little energy as possible while keeping their vital computing equipment humming.
The problem is, these systems can also bring in gaseous and particulate pollutants from the atmosphere that corrode the copper and silver in the computing equipment.
L
anding an airplane on an aircraft carrier is a dangerous maneuver. There’s only so much space to land, and ships are moving targets. Ships heave. They sway. They surge. They pitch, roll, and yaw. Plus, airplanes move similarly in the air. Pilots have to resist these motions to stay steady while being pummeled by strong gusts of wind coming off the ocean. All of this adds up to a need for a better understanding of the swirling forces that engulf airplanes’ wings and make touchdown so perilous.
To provide a better understanding of this damage, Professors Jianshun Zhang and Roger Schmidt, and Clemson Professor Jeremy Gilbert, have been awarded a grant by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineering to determine the impact of gaseous contamination, humidity, and temperature on computing equipment performance in data centers. The team will look at the impacts of gaseous pollutants such as SO2, NO2, H2S, O3, and Cl2 under various temperature and humidity conditions.
Assistant Professor Melissa Green, an expert in fluid dynamics, along with Assistant Professor David Rival of Queen’s University, have been awarded a grant from the Office of Naval Research to study the topology of force production in unsteady flows around
The team’s results and recommendations will help establish new design and operating guidelines for controlling humidity and
swept wings. This joint proposal will study the axial, vertical, and lateral gust responses over a generic swept-wing body.
Green says, “Air is a fluid, so the flow fields that we study in our water tank can be applied to the flow of air around airplane wings. It’s not overstating it to say that a better understanding of fluid dynamics could lead to advancements that would make flying and landing planes much safer for Navy pilots and sailors.”
ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE FOR VETERANS
S
yracuse University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science has been recognized with a 2016 Engineering Excellence for Veterans Award from the American Society of Engineering Education. The award names the College a top military-friendly institution and a “Best for Vets” school, recognized by Military Times and US News & World Report.
YOUR DEPARTMENT, YOUR COLLEGE, YOUR SUCCESS We share these accomplishments with you because you are a part of us. As an alumnus or a friend of this Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, you have contributed to our shared success by your very association. A great many of you have also generously helped fund the endeavors highlighted within this newsletter. Gifts to our College allow us to further prepare our students in ways that will differentiate them in the competitive marketplace and magnify the value of a Syracuse University engineering and computer science degree. Gifts will also support specific initiatives aimed at positioning our College as a leading model for contemporary engineering and computer science education, as presented in our Transforming Our Future plan at eng-cs.syr.edu/transformation. With your help, there is no limit to what we can achieve. Please consider making your gift today at eng-cs.syr.edu/givenow.
VISIT US ON FACEBOOK @ENGINEERINGSU @ENGINEERINGSU CONNECT WITH US ENG-CS.SYR.EDU
“It is a great honor to accept this award, and an even greater honor to enroll and support veterans. Their experience and skills serve them extremely well in engineering and computer science disciplines. We are firmly committed to aligning our College with the needs and aspirations of veterans today and in the future,” says Dean Teresa Abi-Nader Dahlberg. The College is part of a campus that has a strong reputation and tradition for supporting veterans. Military Times recently named the University the No. 1 private school in the country and No. 3 overall for service members, military veterans, and their families.
Department of
In her lab at the Syracuse Center of Excellence and the OTTER Lab at Queen’s, Green’s and Rival’s research teams will conduct experiments to acquire time-resolved 3D flow fields, pressure, force, and moment data on a model performing analogous surge, pitch, and yaw motions underwater in optical towing tanks and water tunnels.
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
DISCOVERY IMPROVES HEAT TRANSFER IN BOILING W
hile the average person associates boiling with cooking dinner, the process is also widely used to transfer heat across surfaces. Right now, around 90 percent of electricity in the United States is generated by steam turbines, which require boilers. More efficient boiling can result in significant energy and cost savings. That’s why researchers continue to study the process.
The new mechanism developed by Maroo and former Ph.D. student An Zou ’15 is based on early evaporation of the microlayer, which is a thin liquid film present at the base of a bubble. Microridges on the surface partition the microlayer and disconnect it from bulk liquid, causing it to evaporate sooner, thus leading to an increase in bubble growth rate, departure frequency, and CHF.
Associate Professor Shalabh Maroo has discovered a new way to improve the efficiency of boiling heat transfer. Featured in a recent publication of Langmuir, Maroo’s research enhances the critical heat flux (CHF), the maximum practical heat transfer in boiling.
Maroo’s discovery will allow coupling of the new mechanism with existing mechanisms to further push the limits of boiling heat transfer, enable the design of micro and nanostructures to achieve desired transfer of heat with boiling, and advance the next-generation technology of thermal management of electronics.
“Even though boiling has been studied for over 50 years, we have introduced and validated a new mechanism to increase boiling heat transfer,” says Maroo.
ASEE
NEW UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE LAB TAKES FLIGHT The new UAV lab gives researchers the ability to test drones for a wide range of applications.
A
state-of-the-art unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) laboratory has been unveiled at the Syracuse Center of Excellence. It is a customizable space more than 20 feet high. Within, researchers can fly UAVs and track them using a camera-based motion tracking system that provides real-time 3D monitoring of how they respond to changing conditions.
While UAV technology is advancing at a rapid pace, most commercial drone systems are still unable to operate autonomously in high wind or unstable weather conditions. In the new facility, Associate Professor Amit Sanyal and his team are developing an autopilot system that uses specially designed algorithms with commercial sensors, actuators and processors for autonomous flight control of drones. The autopilot can reduce the workload of certified drone
SPRING 2017
pilots through autonomous sense-and-avoid technology and operate more efficiently than piloting options currently available for commercial use. The new lab will also allow Sanyal’s team to bring in fans to create air disturbances to test the autopilot. Faculty and students share the lab with UAV startups from the Genius NY business accelerator, including Sasi Prabhakaran’s G’15 company, Akrobotix. Every UAV system being developed at the lab has its own challenges and each gives engineering students and entrepreneurs a unique opportunity to design solutions. The new facility was funded in part by a donation from Millennium Engineering and Integration, where Patrick Murphy ’88 serves as president and CEO.
PILOTING THE UNMANNED AIRCRAFT REVOLUTION
ADVANCE IN PASSIVE LIQUID FLOW TAKES CUES FROM THE FOREST
NEW FACULTY
A substantial round of UAS research funding at Syracuse University further establishes the institution as an academic leader in this emerging field.
L
ocated in one of the nation’s top hubs for unmanned aerial systems (UAS), Syracuse University is at the forefront of integrating UAS into society. Recently, more than $230,000 in state revitalization funding was awarded to six UAS projects across the University. Faculty and students from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering are contributing to three of these groundbreaking efforts.
Associate Professor Amit Sanyal is developing a system for fully autonomous navigation and coordination of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) by providing stability and trajectory assurance guarantees, performing onboard processing of images for detection of objects of interest and autonomously generating trajectories for collision and obstacle avoidance.
Professors Utpal Roy and Ram Murthy and Associate Professor of Practice Mike Roppo are developing sensor- and Internetof-Things-enabled technologies for application-specific and data-driven UAV operations and decision-making. And, in a separate project, Roy and Murthy are creating a course to teach undergraduate and graduate students how to use current UAS technologies to design, manufacture and configure applicationspecific UAVs, and then to carry out routine operations in a safe and secured environment.
Gurdip Singh Associate Dean for Research & Graduate Programs Ph.D. Stony Brook University Elevating the prominence of the College’s research activities, fostering interdisciplinary and translational research, directing funds and support for collaborations, and developing research infrastructure and expertise.
Mohd Yousuf Ali Assistant Professor of Practice Ph.D. Florida State University Analyzing complex high-speed fluid phenomena such as shock wave/boundary layer interaction, jets in crossflow, and development and implementation of high-speed flow control actuators.
The addition of these new faculty members reaffirms our strong commitment to research and expands our College’s expertise in fluid mechanics.
A
By virtually modeling the way atoms interact at a solid surface, Syracuse University researchers suggest that passive liquid flow could serve as a highly efficient coolant-delivery mechanism without the need for pumps. The results, published in Langmuir, also have implications for the development of new nanoscale technology. “We were surprised at the strength of the passive liquid flow we obtained, which showed that it can be used to remove a large
Geoffrey Vaartstra ’17 Geoffrey Vaartstra ’17 solidified his interest in mechanical engineering after contributing to salt water desalinization research in Associate Professor Shalabh Maroo’s lab following his freshman year. The research inspired his passion for nanoscience and nanotechnology, and the development of advanced materials for water and energy applications. During his time in Syracuse, Vaartstra was named the University’s 2016 Astronaut Scholar and was honored
MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
as a Syracuse University Scholar, the highest undergraduate honor that the University bestows. He will pursue a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at MIT this fall. “The environment at Syracuse University helped me achieve so much. If it weren’t for my friends across campus and professors in engineering who supported me along the way, in academics and in life, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
He is currently serving as program director for the Engineering Research Centers program at the National Science Foundation and D.W. Reynolds Distinguished Professor and department chair of mechanical engineering at Clemson University, with a joint faculty appointment as professor of bioengineering.
# of Faculty
# of Undergraduate Students
# of Ph.D. Students
Aerodynamics and Propulsion
Design and Optimization
Energy Conversion and Heat Transfer
Energy Efficiency and Environmental Systems
Energy Sources, Conversion, and Conservation
Manufacturing and Engineering Systems
Fluid Mechanics
Smart Materials for Health Care
Solid Mechanics and Materials
Degrees Awarded May 2015–2016 amount of heat over a very small surface area,” says Associate Professor Shalabh Maroo, senior author on the new study. As electronics have gotten smaller, the problem of cooling next-generation technology has become more difficult. Building off this research, Maroo aims for creation of cooling devices that can dissipate the massive amount of concentrated heat generated by small-scale devices through surface-driven passive flow. Liquid would continually evaporate at the hot surfaces, while simultaneously being continually drawn to the areas requiring cooling by the passive flow mechanism.
113
Undergraduate
101 Graduate
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
Melur K. “Ram” Ramasubramanian G’87 Melur K. “Ram” Ramasubramanian G’87, a mechanical engineering alumnus, has been named the University of Virginia’s vice president for research. In his new role, he will direct UVA’s collaborative research and scholarship portfolio and advance the university’s research infrastructure and support services.
24 470 # of Master’s Students
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
RESEARCH AREAS
173 49
Passive liquid flow, which allows trees to move water up their trunks to their branches, can be used to cool next-gen tech without mechanical pumps. new study, inspired by water’s movement from roots to leaves in tall trees, shows that a certain kind of passive liquid flow is remarkably strong. In passive liquid flow, liquids naturally move in response to surface atomic interactions instead of being driven by external forces like pumps.
FACTS AND STATS
MOON APPOINTED DEPARTMENT CHAIR
Assistant Professor Michelle Blum
Ramasubramanian is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.
Young Moon, the William J. Smith Professor in Manufacturing Enterprises, has been named the chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
and innovative solutions to complex systems problems, such as cybermanufacturing systems, new product development processes, enterprise systems, and sustainable manufacturing.
Ramasubramanian earned a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from the National Institute of Technology in Durgapur, India, and a master’s in applied sciences before earning a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at Syracuse University.
Moon had been serving as the interim chair of the department. A Fulbright Scholar, he has been a professor at Syracuse University for more than 28 years. His research focuses on the use of modeling and simulation methods to develop effective
Moon’s endowed professorship is funded by the late William J. Smith ’50. Smith was an emeritus trustee and visiting professor at the University.
Assistant Professor Michelle Blum was honored by the Technology Alliance of Central New York as the organization’s College Educator of the Year.
biomaterials and biomaterial characterization utilizing a combination of experimental techniques, nanoindentation, and computational modeling.
Blum serves as the program director for mechanical engineering and has consistently worked to find new ways to actively engage her classes. In her research, Blum specializes in high-performance materials development and characterization for tribological (friction and wear), structural, and biomedical applications. Her primary research interests are in the development of orthopedic
Julie M. Hasenwinkel, the College’s associate dean for academic and student affairs, said, “Professor Blum is very deserving of this award based on my observations of her student-centered approach to teaching and mentoring, her commitment to academic excellence through inclusion, and her enthusiastic attitude, compassion, and teamwork.”
PILOTING THE UNMANNED AIRCRAFT REVOLUTION
ADVANCE IN PASSIVE LIQUID FLOW TAKES CUES FROM THE FOREST
NEW FACULTY
A substantial round of UAS research funding at Syracuse University further establishes the institution as an academic leader in this emerging field.
L
ocated in one of the nation’s top hubs for unmanned aerial systems (UAS), Syracuse University is at the forefront of integrating UAS into society. Recently, more than $230,000 in state revitalization funding was awarded to six UAS projects across the University. Faculty and students from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering are contributing to three of these groundbreaking efforts.
Associate Professor Amit Sanyal is developing a system for fully autonomous navigation and coordination of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) by providing stability and trajectory assurance guarantees, performing onboard processing of images for detection of objects of interest and autonomously generating trajectories for collision and obstacle avoidance.
Professors Utpal Roy and Ram Murthy and Associate Professor of Practice Mike Roppo are developing sensor- and Internetof-Things-enabled technologies for application-specific and data-driven UAV operations and decision-making. And, in a separate project, Roy and Murthy are creating a course to teach undergraduate and graduate students how to use current UAS technologies to design, manufacture and configure applicationspecific UAVs, and then to carry out routine operations in a safe and secured environment.
Gurdip Singh Associate Dean for Research & Graduate Programs Ph.D. Stony Brook University Elevating the prominence of the College’s research activities, fostering interdisciplinary and translational research, directing funds and support for collaborations, and developing research infrastructure and expertise.
Mohd Yousuf Ali Assistant Professor of Practice Ph.D. Florida State University Analyzing complex high-speed fluid phenomena such as shock wave/boundary layer interaction, jets in crossflow, and development and implementation of high-speed flow control actuators.
The addition of these new faculty members reaffirms our strong commitment to research and expands our College’s expertise in fluid mechanics.
A
By virtually modeling the way atoms interact at a solid surface, Syracuse University researchers suggest that passive liquid flow could serve as a highly efficient coolant-delivery mechanism without the need for pumps. The results, published in Langmuir, also have implications for the development of new nanoscale technology. “We were surprised at the strength of the passive liquid flow we obtained, which showed that it can be used to remove a large
Geoffrey Vaartstra ’17 Geoffrey Vaartstra ’17 solidified his interest in mechanical engineering after contributing to salt water desalinization research in Associate Professor Shalabh Maroo’s lab following his freshman year. The research inspired his passion for nanoscience and nanotechnology, and the development of advanced materials for water and energy applications. During his time in Syracuse, Vaartstra was named the University’s 2016 Astronaut Scholar and was honored
MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
as a Syracuse University Scholar, the highest undergraduate honor that the University bestows. He will pursue a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at MIT this fall. “The environment at Syracuse University helped me achieve so much. If it weren’t for my friends across campus and professors in engineering who supported me along the way, in academics and in life, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
He is currently serving as program director for the Engineering Research Centers program at the National Science Foundation and D.W. Reynolds Distinguished Professor and department chair of mechanical engineering at Clemson University, with a joint faculty appointment as professor of bioengineering.
# of Faculty
# of Undergraduate Students
# of Ph.D. Students
Aerodynamics and Propulsion
Design and Optimization
Energy Conversion and Heat Transfer
Energy Efficiency and Environmental Systems
Energy Sources, Conversion, and Conservation
Manufacturing and Engineering Systems
Fluid Mechanics
Smart Materials for Health Care
Solid Mechanics and Materials
Degrees Awarded May 2015–2016 amount of heat over a very small surface area,” says Associate Professor Shalabh Maroo, senior author on the new study. As electronics have gotten smaller, the problem of cooling next-generation technology has become more difficult. Building off this research, Maroo aims for creation of cooling devices that can dissipate the massive amount of concentrated heat generated by small-scale devices through surface-driven passive flow. Liquid would continually evaporate at the hot surfaces, while simultaneously being continually drawn to the areas requiring cooling by the passive flow mechanism.
113
Undergraduate
101 Graduate
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
Melur K. “Ram” Ramasubramanian G’87 Melur K. “Ram” Ramasubramanian G’87, a mechanical engineering alumnus, has been named the University of Virginia’s vice president for research. In his new role, he will direct UVA’s collaborative research and scholarship portfolio and advance the university’s research infrastructure and support services.
24 470 # of Master’s Students
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
RESEARCH AREAS
173 49
Passive liquid flow, which allows trees to move water up their trunks to their branches, can be used to cool next-gen tech without mechanical pumps. new study, inspired by water’s movement from roots to leaves in tall trees, shows that a certain kind of passive liquid flow is remarkably strong. In passive liquid flow, liquids naturally move in response to surface atomic interactions instead of being driven by external forces like pumps.
FACTS AND STATS
MOON APPOINTED DEPARTMENT CHAIR
Assistant Professor Michelle Blum
Ramasubramanian is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.
Young Moon, the William J. Smith Professor in Manufacturing Enterprises, has been named the chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
and innovative solutions to complex systems problems, such as cybermanufacturing systems, new product development processes, enterprise systems, and sustainable manufacturing.
Ramasubramanian earned a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from the National Institute of Technology in Durgapur, India, and a master’s in applied sciences before earning a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at Syracuse University.
Moon had been serving as the interim chair of the department. A Fulbright Scholar, he has been a professor at Syracuse University for more than 28 years. His research focuses on the use of modeling and simulation methods to develop effective
Moon’s endowed professorship is funded by the late William J. Smith ’50. Smith was an emeritus trustee and visiting professor at the University.
Assistant Professor Michelle Blum was honored by the Technology Alliance of Central New York as the organization’s College Educator of the Year.
biomaterials and biomaterial characterization utilizing a combination of experimental techniques, nanoindentation, and computational modeling.
Blum serves as the program director for mechanical engineering and has consistently worked to find new ways to actively engage her classes. In her research, Blum specializes in high-performance materials development and characterization for tribological (friction and wear), structural, and biomedical applications. Her primary research interests are in the development of orthopedic
Julie M. Hasenwinkel, the College’s associate dean for academic and student affairs, said, “Professor Blum is very deserving of this award based on my observations of her student-centered approach to teaching and mentoring, her commitment to academic excellence through inclusion, and her enthusiastic attitude, compassion, and teamwork.”
COMBATING CORROSION IN DATA CENTERS
D
ata centers suck up a tremendous amount of energy. In an attempt to reduce the amount that goes into keeping computing equipment from overheating, many data centers use low-power systems that bring in outdoor air to keep things cool.
NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE
CLEAR FOR LANDING
PAID
Syracuse University College of Engineering and Computer Science Syracuse, NY 13244-1240
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY SYRACUSE NY
pollutants in data centers around the world. Ultimately, the results of the study will help data centers use as little energy as possible while keeping their vital computing equipment humming.
The problem is, these systems can also bring in gaseous and particulate pollutants from the atmosphere that corrode the copper and silver in the computing equipment.
L
anding an airplane on an aircraft carrier is a dangerous maneuver. There’s only so much space to land, and ships are moving targets. Ships heave. They sway. They surge. They pitch, roll, and yaw. Plus, airplanes move similarly in the air. Pilots have to resist these motions to stay steady while being pummeled by strong gusts of wind coming off the ocean. All of this adds up to a need for a better understanding of the swirling forces that engulf airplanes’ wings and make touchdown so perilous.
To provide a better understanding of this damage, Professors Jianshun Zhang and Roger Schmidt, and Clemson Professor Jeremy Gilbert, have been awarded a grant by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineering to determine the impact of gaseous contamination, humidity, and temperature on computing equipment performance in data centers. The team will look at the impacts of gaseous pollutants such as SO2, NO2, H2S, O3, and Cl2 under various temperature and humidity conditions.
Assistant Professor Melissa Green, an expert in fluid dynamics, along with Assistant Professor David Rival of Queen’s University, have been awarded a grant from the Office of Naval Research to study the topology of force production in unsteady flows around
The team’s results and recommendations will help establish new design and operating guidelines for controlling humidity and
swept wings. This joint proposal will study the axial, vertical, and lateral gust responses over a generic swept-wing body.
Green says, “Air is a fluid, so the flow fields that we study in our water tank can be applied to the flow of air around airplane wings. It’s not overstating it to say that a better understanding of fluid dynamics could lead to advancements that would make flying and landing planes much safer for Navy pilots and sailors.”
ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE FOR VETERANS
S
yracuse University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science has been recognized with a 2016 Engineering Excellence for Veterans Award from the American Society of Engineering Education. The award names the College a top military-friendly institution and a “Best for Vets” school, recognized by Military Times and US News & World Report.
YOUR DEPARTMENT, YOUR COLLEGE, YOUR SUCCESS We share these accomplishments with you because you are a part of us. As an alumnus or a friend of this Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, you have contributed to our shared success by your very association. A great many of you have also generously helped fund the endeavors highlighted within this newsletter. Gifts to our College allow us to further prepare our students in ways that will differentiate them in the competitive marketplace and magnify the value of a Syracuse University engineering and computer science degree. Gifts will also support specific initiatives aimed at positioning our College as a leading model for contemporary engineering and computer science education, as presented in our Transforming Our Future plan at eng-cs.syr.edu/transformation. With your help, there is no limit to what we can achieve. Please consider making your gift today at eng-cs.syr.edu/givenow.
VISIT US ON FACEBOOK @ENGINEERINGSU @ENGINEERINGSU CONNECT WITH US ENG-CS.SYR.EDU
“It is a great honor to accept this award, and an even greater honor to enroll and support veterans. Their experience and skills serve them extremely well in engineering and computer science disciplines. We are firmly committed to aligning our College with the needs and aspirations of veterans today and in the future,” says Dean Teresa Abi-Nader Dahlberg. The College is part of a campus that has a strong reputation and tradition for supporting veterans. Military Times recently named the University the No. 1 private school in the country and No. 3 overall for service members, military veterans, and their families.
Department of
In her lab at the Syracuse Center of Excellence and the OTTER Lab at Queen’s, Green’s and Rival’s research teams will conduct experiments to acquire time-resolved 3D flow fields, pressure, force, and moment data on a model performing analogous surge, pitch, and yaw motions underwater in optical towing tanks and water tunnels.
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
DISCOVERY IMPROVES HEAT TRANSFER IN BOILING W
hile the average person associates boiling with cooking dinner, the process is also widely used to transfer heat across surfaces. Right now, around 90 percent of electricity in the United States is generated by steam turbines, which require boilers. More efficient boiling can result in significant energy and cost savings. That’s why researchers continue to study the process.
The new mechanism developed by Maroo and former Ph.D. student An Zou ’15 is based on early evaporation of the microlayer, which is a thin liquid film present at the base of a bubble. Microridges on the surface partition the microlayer and disconnect it from bulk liquid, causing it to evaporate sooner, thus leading to an increase in bubble growth rate, departure frequency, and CHF.
Associate Professor Shalabh Maroo has discovered a new way to improve the efficiency of boiling heat transfer. Featured in a recent publication of Langmuir, Maroo’s research enhances the critical heat flux (CHF), the maximum practical heat transfer in boiling.
Maroo’s discovery will allow coupling of the new mechanism with existing mechanisms to further push the limits of boiling heat transfer, enable the design of micro and nanostructures to achieve desired transfer of heat with boiling, and advance the next-generation technology of thermal management of electronics.
“Even though boiling has been studied for over 50 years, we have introduced and validated a new mechanism to increase boiling heat transfer,” says Maroo.
ASEE
NEW UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE LAB TAKES FLIGHT The new UAV lab gives researchers the ability to test drones for a wide range of applications.
A
state-of-the-art unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) laboratory has been unveiled at the Syracuse Center of Excellence. It is a customizable space more than 20 feet high. Within, researchers can fly UAVs and track them using a camera-based motion tracking system that provides real-time 3D monitoring of how they respond to changing conditions.
While UAV technology is advancing at a rapid pace, most commercial drone systems are still unable to operate autonomously in high wind or unstable weather conditions. In the new facility, Associate Professor Amit Sanyal and his team are developing an autopilot system that uses specially designed algorithms with commercial sensors, actuators and processors for autonomous flight control of drones. The autopilot can reduce the workload of certified drone
SPRING 2017
pilots through autonomous sense-and-avoid technology and operate more efficiently than piloting options currently available for commercial use. The new lab will also allow Sanyal’s team to bring in fans to create air disturbances to test the autopilot. Faculty and students share the lab with UAV startups from the Genius NY business accelerator, including Sasi Prabhakaran’s G’15 company, Akrobotix. Every UAV system being developed at the lab has its own challenges and each gives engineering students and entrepreneurs a unique opportunity to design solutions. The new facility was funded in part by a donation from Millennium Engineering and Integration, where Patrick Murphy ’88 serves as president and CEO.