Volume 5, Number 2, November, 2008
Welcome to Ahoya! Engineers - Marquette University's College of Engineering e-Newsletter for alumnae, alumni, students and their families, faculty, staff, and MU friends. We want you to know what’s happening in your College of Engineering. This newsletter will be published periodically to share our accomplishments, milestones and activities.
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Marquette and Paradigm Sensors Receive 2008 R&D 100 Award. The i-SPEC Q-100 Handheld Biodiesel Analyzer, developed by Paradigm Sensors, LLC, with technology acquired from your College of Engineering, has been honored by R&D Magazine as one of the most technologically significant products of the year.
For 46 years these prestigious awards have been helping companies provide the important initial push a new product needs to compete successfully in the marketplace. Past winners of the award have included the flashcube (1965), the automated teller machine (1973), the halogen lamp (1974), the fax machine (1975), the liquid crystal display (1980), Taxol anticancer drug (1993) and HDTV (1998).
The i-SPEC Q-100 technology was developed in the college under the direction of Dr. Martin Seitz, Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Director of the university’s Center for Materials Science Technology. Robert Young, founder of Milwaukee-based Paradigm Sensors, introduced the i-SPEC at the 2008 National Biodiesel Conference and Expo.
“This is an example of how academic research can contribute to economic development,” Dr. Stan Jaskolski, OPUS Dean of Engineering, said. “Our laboratories are ideal places to test potential solutions and foster creative problem solving. With our new Discovery Learning curriculum we are producing students with the knowledge and innovative spirit to generate new global products that customers want.”
Robert Young, president of Paradigm and chairman of the Industrial Advisory Board for Marquette’s Engineering Management program, said increasing interest in environmentally-friendly products made 2008 the perfect time to launch the biodiesel analyzer, which uses impedance spectroscopy to assess the chemical content of biodiesel, including glycerin, acid number, blend percent, and methanol. “That analysis of the alternative fuel is important,” he explains, “to prevent problems caused by bad biodiesel mixes that can cause mechanical problems in vehicles and machinery.” The portability of the handheld device is particularly attractive to potential customers.
The patented biodiesel analyzer provides a fast, efficient, cheaper way to analyze biodiesel content, as opposed to the traditional method of removing a sample from the manufacturing process, distribution, or end user site and shipping it to a laboratory for expensive, time-consuming analysis.
Paradigm has expanded its workforce from five original employees to twelve and alumni of Dr. Seitz’s lab, on whose research the product is based, work with the company. Investors have seized on the potential of the i-SPEC to revolutionize biodiesel testing. Paradigm received funding from angel investors led by Silicon Pastures, SEI, and the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA).
The award was presented at the 46th Anniversary R&D Awards on October 16th at the Navy Pier in Chicago. This was Dr. Seitz’s second appearance at this prestigious awards ceremony. In 1996, he accepted an R&D 100 Award, on behalf of Marquette University, for the Solder Paste Statistical Process Control System, which was also developed under his direction in his research center.
Marty Seitz recently retired after 42 years of service to your college. After receiving his doctorate in Materials Science from Northwestern University, he joined the faculty at Marquette and began a very successful career of teaching and directing research. Through the years, he also served on many department, college and university committees and presented numerous seminars on transformer and power substation design. For a number of years he served as Chair of his department.
Lead Picture: From left - Dr. Dick Hirthe, Director of R&D for Paradigm Sensors; Dr. Marty Seitz; and Robert Young, President
Engineers in Action! Alumni Who Led Marquette Interchange Project Featured on New Web Site. What do you get when you cross 120 incoming freshman engineering majors + eight-year-olds who love engineering + alumni who helped lead the state’s largest transportation construction project + a dean who envisions a game-changing college?
With a proposed new facility, initiatives to increase the pipeline of future engineers and unprecedented momentum, your college is offering a new Web page to feature news and activities. Features include:
- A snapshot of the planned new engineering facility
- A video series with a behind-the-scenes look at the Marquette Interchange, summer academies in Haggerty Hall introducing engineering to kids as young as six (think building robots, rockets, bridges, towers and other fun stuff) and an innovative program inviting freshman engineering majors to campus for a 3-day sneak peek at how their engineering education can impact societies worldwide
- Stories in the college that are garnering media attention
Visit the new Marquette Engineering on a Mission Web page.
As always, we welcome your feedback regarding our bold vision for the college, our new Web site or these videos!
We're changing the game at Marquette engineering and we know we can count on your help.
Opportunity Returns for Direct IRA Transfers to Marquette. As you may have heard, the newly extended IRA charitable rollover allows individuals 70 ½ yrs. or older to EXCLUDE FROM GROSS INCOME any direct charitable transfers they make from their Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), up to $100,000 per year, for tax years 2008 and 2009. For more information, please contact Kate Braasch, Director of Development, University Advancement, by e-mail or by phone at (414) 288-6376.
Engineering Team Honored for Outreach Efforts. Your college’s Outreach Team received a 2008 Excellence in STEM Award at the annual sySTEM Now! (Strengthening our Youth in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) conference here on campus on October 21st.
Recognized in the education category, the team includes: Dr. Jon Jensen, Associate Dean for Enrollment Management; Jack Samuelson, Coordinator of Outreach Programs; and Lori Stempski, Administrative Assistant.
In accepting the award, Dr. Jensen also acknowledged the assistance of six past and current engineering students; Dr. Robert Weber, Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Erin Richardson from Arnold & O’Sheridan Consulting Engineers who helped with instruction and team building skills; and volunteer engineer James Jodie from CH2M Hill.
The award from the Engineers & Scientists of Milwaukee honors an institution “whose curriculum, individual activities and/or overall program demonstrate a unique approach and/or unparalleled commitment to promoting STEM awareness and improving the STEM competency of K-12 students.”
OPUS Dean of Engineering Stan Jaskolski praised the efforts of the college’s outreach team. “We have dramatically increased our efforts to interest young students,” he said. “From our partnerships with area high schools through Project Lead the Way and mentoring to the wonderful weekend and summer academies developed by Dr. Jensen and his team, we are reaching literally hundreds of elementary, middle and high school students each year.” More information about the academies, including those offered this semester, is available online.
Engineering Outreach Team and many who assisted with their programs
Grant Awarded to Improve Efficiency. Dr. Richard Marklin, Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, received a three year $898,124 grant from the Electric Power Research Institute for his project, A Systematic Method for Specification, Purchase and Upfitting of Fleet Vehicles in the Electric Power Industry.
The purpose of this study is to develop an efficient method for electric utilities to specify and then purchase fleet vehicles, which range from pickup trucks to aerial bucket trucks, so workers can use the trucks productively and with minimal risk of injury. This method will also minimize total cost of original vehicles and subsequent upfitting (retrofitting).
How many “Luminaries of Marquette Engineering” do you know? As Marquette College of Engineering marks its Centennial Year (1908-2008) we wish to uniquely honor our distinguished alumni, the leading lights who transform technology, industry, education and everyday life through advances, and through service and leadership.
We invite you to nominate Luminaries of Marquette Engineering
Eligibility
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Marquette alumni – living or deceased
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Innovators and achievers in the field of engineering, technology and industry
A committee comprised of Marquette University faculty and administrators will select final candidates, and the naming of the Luminaries of Marquette Engineering will be recognized in the Fall of 2009 as we enter the next 100 years of the College of Engineering at Marquette University.
Please click here for an online nomination form or call 1-800-344-7544 to nominate a Marquette Engineering Luminary by December 31, 2008.
Investigating Therapies for Stroke Patients. Dr. Michelle Johnson, Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), was recently interviewed by Milwaukee Public Radio about the research in which she is engaged. Supported by a five year grant, she is investigating studies on robot-assisted therapies for stroke patients at the MCW and will begin recruiting volunteers for her research in 2009. You can listen to her interview, featured on the November 6th edition of “Lake Effect” on WUWM radio
Thanksgiving Greetings. Warm wishes for a bountiful and happy Thanksgiving.
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