September 2006

Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Professor Fan-Bill Cheung has been selected to receive Technical Achievement Award by the American Nuclear Society (ANS), Thermal Hydraulics Division (THD). It is the highest award given by the THD. It is normally presented annually to a member of the THD in recognition of outstanding past or current technical achievement. It is based on a major contribution to the state of the art, an important publication, a major technical achievement, or a sustained record of accomplishment and technical excellence in the art or science of Thermal hydraulics. Nominations for this award are made directly by the Division membership or others in the technical community. Nominations accompanied by at least three supporting letters are submitted in writing to the THD Honors and Awards Chair. The Technical Achievement Award is a plaque with an appropriate citation and a monetary grant.

The award will presented to Cheung at the annual ANS winter meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico in November 2006. (9/06)

Computer Simulation Shows Road Wending its way through the Human Stomach - A computer model or ''virtual stomach'' revealed a central ''road'' in the human stomach, dubbed the Magenstrasse, that could explain why pharmaceuticals sometimes have a large variability in drug activation times, according to a team creating computer simulations of stomach contractions. ''We are predicting variables that we wish we could measure, but we cannot,'' says James G. Brasseur, professor of mechanical engineering, bioengineering and mathematics at Penn State. ''Now that we know the Magenstrasse exists, we can look for it, but, it will not be easy to measure its existence and could require expensive technology.'' Read full story here. (9/06)

Dr. Aman Haque, professor of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, received a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for $250,000. The grant will fund Haques research "Nano-mechanical Properties of Grain Boundaries".  More than 50 years of research on grain boundaries has established their impact on the overall strength of materials, yet experimental studies on their yield strength or Young's modulus are rare in the literature. This is because grain boundaries are random networks of interfaces that are only a few nanometers wide and cannot be isolated and characterized by conventional tensile, bending, indentation tools. This project aims to address this challenge by developing an experimental setup using micro-electro-mechanical (MEMS) force and displacement sensors and in-situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Since TEM renders the microstructures visible, the experimental setup will allow simultaneous characterization of crystallographic orientations, crack propagation and plastic deformation mechanisms with atomic resolution. Models based on interfacial fracture mechanics will be developed to extract the grain boundary properties from the experimental data. The fundamental understanding on the interfaces in materials will impact grain boundary engineering, an evolving research direction towards optimized materials design. (9/06)

Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Students Selected as Finalists for ANS Student Design Competition - For the first time since 1996 Penn State has been selected as a finalist in the undergraduate category in American Nuclear Society Student Design Competition. The Penn State design team consists of Andrew Bielen a Nuclear Engineering student and Michael Meholic and Daniel Skilone who are enrolled in the dual degree major program in Nuclear and Mechanical Engineering.  Drs. L.E. Hochreiter amd K.I. Ivanov were their advisors on the design project.  The title of their design report is” Optimum Loading Pattern Design and Analysis Considerations”.  Read full story here. (9/06)

 

Two Penn Staters Win US Department of Energy Graduate Fellowships
Two students in Penn State’s Nuclear Engineering Program in the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering won prestigious nationwide fellowships awarded by the US Department of Energy to students pursuing graduate degrees in nuclear engineering.  Andy Bielen won a Nuclear Engineering/Health Physics (NEHP) Fellowship, and Jeff Lane won a Naval Nuclear Propulsion (NNP) Fellowship.  Each Fellowship provides four years of support towards the MS and PhD degrees at the school of the winner’s choice.  Bielen and Lane elected to pursue their graduate studies in Penn State’s Nuclear Engineering Program. Read full story here. (9/06)