The Team

Left to right:  Thomas, Russ, Megan, Evan, and Alan

The Balls of Steel team consists of five senior students from Penn State's College of Engineering.  All five team members are mechanical engineering students, and one is also an electrical engineering student.  A comprehensive understanding of both fields is important, as each team member plays an integral part in the design and construction of a magnetic bearing.  The magnetic bearing design is truly a multi-disciplinary project.  Mechanical engineering knowledge is necessary for understanding of the movement of the shafts and the use of a flywheel as generator.  Likewise, electrical engineering knowledge is essential to provide not only magnetism to levitate the steel ball, but electromagnetic flux and control systems to maintain the ball's position.  In order to execute all of the tasks involved in the design project in an organized, professional manner, each team member has been assigned a specific team duty.  Aside from specific team duties, all team members are equally responsible for work on the design itself.  The team is dedicated to working as a cohesive unit alongside mentor Dr. Eric Mockensturm and sponsor Jonathan Gabrys of Boeing. 

    TEAM MEMBERS                                                                             

• Russ Wooddell
• Thomas Duncan
• Evan Reutzel
• Alan Battista
• Megan Gilman

RUSS WOODDELL

Russ will be graduating in May 2005 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering.  He was elected by the group to be Team Captain.  He makes sure the the team is on the ball with assignments, updates, and meetings.  He is also in charge of the correspondence, both within the team and with the project sponsor and mentor.  Russ sends weekly updates to the project sponsor on the team's progress.  He is from Doylestown, PA.  During the Summer and Winter of 2003, Russ worked as an intern with Pilling Surgical, where he was involved in both engineering and marketing.  He also completed a marketing internship with Dentsply Professional in the Summer of 2004. 

Email-  crw150@psu.edu.

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THOMAS DUNCAN

Thomas will be graduating in May 2005 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering.  He is primarily responsible for the team accounting.  Thomas submits weekly time sheets to Dr. Mockensturm on behalf of the entire group, as well as carefully tracks the team budget and purchases.  He is from Cheltenham, PA.   During the Summers of 2002, 2003, 2004, and Winter 2003, Thomas worked as an intern for Lockheed Martin in Moorestown, NJ. 

Email-    tpd119@psu.edu

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EVAN REUTZEL

Evan will be graduating in December 2004 with a BS in both Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering.  In May 2005, he will receive a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.  His EE work has focused on controls, making him an extremely valuable part of the team.  Evan is undoubtedly in charge of the EE aspects of the design project.  He is also responsible for keeping the team's records, such as email correspondences, graphs, calculations, ect.  He is from State College, PA.  Evan's work experience includes a Summer 2003, 2004 internship with Sandia National Laboratories in the Navigation, Pointing and Control Group, located in Albuquerque, NM.

Email-   emr143@psu.edu.

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ALAN BATTISTA

Alan will be graduating in December 2004 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering.  Alan is responsible for most of the computer modeling and physical model alterations done within the group.  He is from Doylestown, PA.  Alan has completed 3 semesters of coop with Lutron Electronics, as well as an internship with Northrop Grumman.  He has accepted a full-time position with Northrop Grumman in Baltimore, MD in January 2005.

Email-  Battista91@yahoo.com.

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MEGAN GILMAN

Megan will be graduating in December 2004 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering.  She is responsible for the design and content of the team website.  She updates the website weekly with the latest developments in the team's progress.  She is from Middletown, NY.  During the Summers of 2002 and 2003, Megan worked as an intern at Fellenzer Engineering LLP in Middletown, NY.  In the Summer of 2003, Megan also studied energy generation, with an emphasis on alternative energy sources, at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.  During the Summer of 2004, she worked as an intern at Beaudin Ganze Consulting Engineers in Vail, CO.

Email-   mmg193@psu.edu

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Email questions of comments about the content of this website to Megan at mmg193@psu.edu