The Technician Issue 3 Winter 2012

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The

Technician bulldogs.kettering.edu/technician

March 5, 2012

Volume 108

Issue 3

Romney Visits Kettering

By Matthew White Assistant Editor

In a visit that hearkened back to the campaign stump made by then-Senator Obama in 2008, presidential contender Mitt Romney visited Kettering’s Connie and Jim John Recreation Center on February 25. The rally, open to the public, was well attended by community members, faculty, staff, and students. Also in attendance were high school seniors and their parents visiting campus for the Admitted Students Program. Dr. Robert McMahan, Kettering University’s president, was the first speaker. His introductory remarks evoked Thomas Jefferson, using the opportunity to reinforce Kettering’s core theoretical and experiential learning models. Continued on page 5

What’s Inside

New Faculty Three departments are hiring

Plant Maintenance

Co-op Changes 1

Updates planned to improve experience

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Automotive

Perfect new car for Kettering students

Students Visit Grand Rapids

By Adlai Milbitz Technician Staff

By Robert Hayes Editor-in-chief

The Technician was given the opportunity to learn more about one of Kettering’s underground departments. Plant maintenance is responsible for everything from unclogging toilets and replacing light bulbs to repairing air systems and rebuilding boilers. The tour of plant maintenance began in the maintenance office in the cc basement. From the cabinets of fasteners and fittings to the shelves of vendor catalogs and the drill press conveniently located next to the computer, this office is an extremely functional space. The eleven-person team takes care of the specification and purchasing of any components they need, as well as getting bids on jobs when necessary. The first area visited was the mechanical room in the Mott Center, which contains the 3 boilers that supply the campus with steam. Kettering used to purchase steam from a power plant in Buick City before that plant was shut down, necessitating the construction of the current system. The Mott Center also houses its own hvac system on the 3rd floor. It is the most modern system on campus, filtering the air, chilling it to 55 degrees, and then piping it to classrooms and offices, where it is reheated to the desired temperature. One of the more recent upgrades to the hvac systems on campus was the switch to 3-ply filters, which are much more efficient than the previous filters. This area also houses the transformers for the Mott Center, which transform the power from 13,300 volts for the building.

While Michigan’s unemployment rate may still seem high, there are industries across the state that are still struggling to find new workers, especially in high-demand fields like engineering and advanced manufacturing. To that end, in January, twentytwo Kettering seniors were courted by Grand Rapids area companies and talent initiatives, hoping to show students what West Michigan has to offer new graduates and to hopefully entice some students to settle there after graduation. On the tour, Kettering students were taken on guided tours of Cascade Engineering in Grand Rapids, and Gentex, Inc. in Zeeland. The students then attended a networking session with West Michigan employers sponsored by John Irwin, Senior Vice President of Huntington Bank, before attending the charity preview of the Michigan International Auto Show in Grand Rapids.

Continued on the next page

Entertainment 6

Memes & Commentary

Academic Departments Hiring Computer Science By Rebeccah MacKinnon Online Editor The Computer Science Department is in the process of hiring a new faculty member to fill the spot created when Professor Wu left the school last year. This week, the department hosted two candidates for the position: Dr. Giuseppe Turini, University of Pisa, and Dr. Yanhui Guo, University of Michigan. Both candidates gave a brief presentation on their current research as well as a sample lecture for Computer Science students and faculty. Dr. Guo, who visited campus on Wednesday, February 22, gave a sample lecture on digital image processing and its applications. The half-hour lecture gave a brief overview of the topic and went into a couple of detailed examples of how digital image processing is used in the world. The audience was mainly comprised of faculty and upper-class Computer Science students who were asked to attend the lecture instead of their normal Software Engineering lab. His research deals with lung segmentation in ctpa (computed tomography pulmonary angiogram) images. Continued on the next page.

Photo courtesy of seyferth pr

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