Mines Mechanical Engineering Winter 2020 Newsletter

Mechanical AT MINES 4. Brice named Fryrear chair 6. Putting biomechanics research to work 16. ME students make an impact INSIDE THIS ISSUE WINTER 2020 MINES MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 16 | Student Stories 18 | Graduates MINES MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 3 3 | Letter from the Department Head 4 | Faculty Spotlight 6 | Alumni Updates 7 | Graduate Student Spotlight 8 | Research News 14 | Department News 15 | Publications Dr. John Berger Department Head From the Department Head CONTENTS Dr. Craig Brice, one of two Mines professors awarded the 2020 Ben L. Fryrear Endowed Chair for Innovation and Excellence, holds up a 3D-printed nickel alloy test coupon with a complex lattice structure. Brice is a professor of practice in Mechanical Engineering and director of the Advanced Manufacturing graduate program. Mines currently has open faculty positions with a focus in manufacturing and materials. To learn more, visit mines.edu/human-resources/careers. WINTER 2020 VOL. 4 · ISSUE 1 FRONT COVER: A Newsletter for Friends and Supporters of the Colorado School of Mines Department of Mechanical Engineering Colorado School of Mines President: Dr. Paul Johnson Department Head: Dr. John Berger jberger@mines.edu Mailing/Delivery Address: 1500 Illinois Street Golden, CO 80401 Main Office: Brown Hall W350 1610 Illinois St. Golden, CO 80401 303.273.3650 Technical and Operations Manager: Traci Case tcase@mines.edu Visit us online at mechanical.mines.edu 2 MECHANICAL.MINES.EDU The 2020 fall semester was like no other in Mines’ history, but ME students, faculty and staff rose to the occasion. Students returned to campus in August with COVID safety protocols firmly in place. Course delivery took on different forms – some courses were delivered in person, some were virtual, and some were a combination. Research labs operated at reduced capacity and with guidelines for sanitation and physical distancing. The efforts paid off: we are proud to say that no virus transmission was traced to any classrooms or labs on campus this semester. While it was a challenging semester, we were still able to celebrate some highlights as a department and as a university. In the latest U.S. News & World Report “best colleges” ranking, Mines ME was ranked No. 33 best undergraduate mechanical engineering program among schools where the highest degree offered is a doctorate. Mines scored high in multiple areas in the rankings: No. 34 public university in the country No. 42 best undergraduate engineering program No. 56 best college for veterans To top that off, Mines was ranked the No. 4 engineering school in the nation according to Money Magazine. What a year for Mines! Mines ME boasts over 1,373 undergraduate students, over 250 graduate students and 40 tenure/tenure track and teaching faculty. The department holds steady as the largest on campus in terms of student enrollment, faculty size and research volume. We pride ourselves in having a strong hands-on curriculum that emphasizes the connections between fundamental engineering analysis and practical engineering design. As we move into 2021, we will continue to deliver outstanding curriculum and cutting-edge research results, all while prioritizing the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff. We hope to welcome you back on campus in the near future. Until then, stay healthy, and go Orediggers! Mines Mechanical Engineering proves resilient in the face of pandemic-related challenges Dear friends of Mines Mechanical Engineering, Silverman elected ASME fellow Mechanical Engineering Professor of Practice Craig Brice was awarded the Ben L. Fryrear Endowed Chair for Innovation and Excellence to drive institutional change at Mines. Brice, along with Dr. Alexis Navarre-Sitchler, associate professor of geology and geological engineering, are the fifth and sixth Mines faculty members to hold the position since it was endowed in 2017 by Mines alumnus Ben Fryrear ’62. Each Fryrear Chair receives $25,000 in discretionary funds a year for three years in exchange for driving a strategic initiative or program that will further the MINES@150 vision and mission. Brice joined Mines in 2018 to lead the new advanced manufacturing graduate program, following a 20-year career in research and development in industry and government, with a focus on the materials and processing side of additive manufacturing. He previously held roles at Lockheed Martin Space’s Advanced Technology Center, NASA Langley Research Center’s Advanced Materials and Processing Branch and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics’ Advanced Development Programs. With the Fryrear Chair, Brice hopes to find “tangible and tactile” ways to integrate engineering soft skills within the Mines curriculum, starting with the students in his advanced manufacturing program. “In line with our MINES@150 goals to create signature student experiences at Mines, I want to challenge our students to put their soft skills into practice through outside-the- classroom innovation competitions that require planning, executing and selling their ideas,” Brice said. “I'm excited for the opportunity to help better prepare our graduates for success early in their careers.” Professor Anne Silverman was elected a 2020 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Fellow. The distinction of Fellow is bestowed upon ASME candidates to recognize their outstanding engineering achievements. To be considered, candidates must have at least 10 years of active practice, 10 years of corporate level ASME membership, and are nationally or internationally recognized for their significant achievements and contributions to engineering. faculty spotlight FRYREAR CHAIR BY THE NUMBERS 4 MECHANICAL.MINES.EDU Endowed in 2017 by  Ben L. Fryrear '62 Chairs receive $25,000 per year in discretionary funds for 3 years to drive strategic initiatives 6 faculty have been awarded the position since it was endowed in 2017 Craig Brice named Fryrear Chair Professor Garritt Tucker was one of two awardees of the Institute for Materials Science (IMS) Distinguished Faculty Scholar Program at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Dr. Tucker, along with a postdoc and a PhD student from his research group, Computational Materials Science and Design, will spend 8–12 weeks collaborating with LANL scientists. Their research will develop new scientific understandings of the structure-property relationships of grain boundaries, their interactions with other defects, and their role in the multiscale behavior of metallic microstructures. Tucker and team will also develop new methods for integrating computational and experimental research, with an eye toward large-scale data acquisition and analysis using the new research techniques/tools that he and LANL scientists are advancing. IMS is an interdisciplinary research and educational center focused on fostering the advancement of materials science at LANL. The Distinguished Faculty Scholar Program is designed to enhance LANL collaborations that will not only generate new initiatives within materials science at LANL but will also create additional workforce pipelines and enhance LANL’s reputation in international materials science communities. The other 2021 IMS Distinguished Faculty Scholar is Dr. David Mitlin from The University of Texas at Austin. MINES MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 5 FACULTY SPOTLIGHT Tucker named IMS Distinguished Faculty Scholar Catching up with biomechanics grads ALUMNI UPDATES “If we can build this thing, we'll be able to have unlimited access to the shadowed regions of the moon.” — Ross Centers Read more about the team's solution, Lunar Autonomous Scalable Emitter and Receiver (LASER) at minesnewsroom.com. Kate Wagner MS, 2019 Research Associate Brooks Running Students from Colorado School of Mines’ Space Resources Program are developing a wireless system that could beam power to lunar rovers exploring deep inside the permanently shadowed craters on the Moon. The Mines students, along with collaborators at the University of Arizona, are one of eight collegiate teams working on real-world solutions to NASA’s space technology hurdles as part of the space agency’s 2020 Breakthrough, Innovative, and Game-changing (BIG) Idea Challenge. Teams received NASA funding earlier this year to design and build a sample lunar lander payload that tackles one of the biggest challenges for future lunar exploration: how to supply power and collect data inside the dark, sunless craters near the Moon’s polar regions – home to potentially valuable reserves of water ice. “The water trapped in the permanently shadowed regions of the Moon could be used as rocket propellant and break what’s called the ‘tyranny of the rocket equation,’” said Ross Centers, a space resources student at Mines and member of the BIG Idea team. “The first stage is exploration – prospecting – and to do that, we need to power rovers at levels on the orders of kilowatts and kilometers away from where there is sun energy.” Also on the team are Joshua Schertz, Loren Kezer, Adam Janikowski, Curtis Purrington, Jef Hinton, John Schmit, Timofey Broslav, and David Dickson at Mines; and Leonard Vance, Himangshu Kalita, Alvaro Diaz-Flores, and Jose Fernandez at the University of Arizona. Their advisor is Professor George Sowers. Lauren Sepp PhD, 2019 Manager, Concept Testing Adidas 6 MECHANICAL.MINES.EDU Space resources students win  NASA's BIG Idea Challenge Jasmin Honegger PhD, 2020 Research Engineer Xsens MINES MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 7 graduate STUDENT SPOTLIGHT We followed up with three recent biomechanics graduates to find out how they're putting their Mines degrees to use in the real world. After completing her PhD in 2019, Lauren Sepp went to work for Adidas, where she helps develop and test new performance footwear innovations for future product releases. The heart and “sole” of her work is to transform biomechanical research and athlete data into on-foot technology. “I love getting to work at the intersection of engineering, design, marketing and athletics,” Lauren said. Most of Lauren’s work is included in products that will be released 4–5 years from now, and she can’t wait to see her work come to life. Jasmin Honegger defended her PhD in the fall of 2020 and has already moved to the Netherlands to begin working as a research engineer at Xsens, a company that supplies inertial sensors and 3D motion capture products based on micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. Jasmin works in the Technology group conducting research to help deliver performance insights aimed at improving algorithms for motion tracking applications, especially for sports and health applications. Jasmin said one thing she loves about her job is that every day is different and poses new challenges. She is often testing new algorithms, collecting biomechanical data or overseeing interns working on new research projects. “My team is multidisciplinary and multicultural – I love working with people from a variety of backgrounds.” Kate Wagner earned her MS in 2019 and started an internship in the Run Research Lab at Brooks Running. In 2020, Kate had the opportunity to join the team as a full-time research associate. In her new role with the product assessment lab team, she evaluates the biomechanical performance of Brooks footwear and gives recommendations to the designers and developers on how to improve products. “I have enjoyed learning about what makes good (and bad!) footwear,” Kate said. She appreciates the opportunity to collaborate across a number of different teams made up of talented people who all bring enthusiasm to their work. And she also likes getting to test all kinds of awesome running shoes! Read more about these stories and other mechanical engineering research projects at mechanical.mines.edu/news. Professors Robert Braun and Neal Sullivan are collaborating with Nexceris LLC, a world-leading developer of solid oxide cell (SOC) technology, and Northwestern University to demonstrate reversible solid oxide (RSOC) stack technology at the prototype system level. Their goal is to demonstrate performance that is compatible with a hydrogen production cost of less than $2 per kilogram. Nexceris will leverage their electrolyte- supported cell and stack technologies that offer enabling attributes for reversible operation for large-scale energy storage and low-cost hydrogen production. Northwestern will contribute fundamental knowledge of RSOC fuel electrode materials and conduct pressurized testing on button cells before impacts of pressurization are assessed in RSOC stacks. Professors Braun and Sullivan were awarded $600,000 of the $3M effort to contribute their extensive RSOC system design, pressurized stack testing capabilities and techno-economic analysis to the three-year project. “My group has been studying and advancing system concepts for high-temperature (>650°C) reversible solid oxide cell technology for over 10 years now,” Braun said. “We’ve worked in collaboration with Northwestern on several projects and are very excited to work now with Nexceris to develop stacks and system hardware to demonstrate the systems we’ve designed and to move the technology one large step forward.” The project is part of a U.S. Department of Energy program that seeks R&D on new materials, stack design, and balance-of-plant and control system to both produce hydrogen for energy storage and reverse these systems to generate electricity. Such flexible systems are deemed critical for grid integration and renewable energy firming through both hydrogen and power production.   Research NEWS Professor Anne Silverman is collaborating with Naval Health Research Center (NHRC) on a new award from the Department of Defense as part of their Military Operational Medicine Research Program (MOMRP). This award builds on Silverman’s previous work with NHRC to assess the risk of musculoskeletal injuries among military service members related to walking with heavy backpack loads. Ruck marching is a biomechanically demanding activity associated with injury occurrence in the military. Walking with backpack loads increases muscle and joint contact forces, which can lead to overuse injury – and injuries affect military readiness. Injury rates are higher for women than for men in the military, which may be partly due to differences in muscle strength and variations in strength across joints. Silverman suggests that the risk of injury can be mitigated with training and gear recommendations that are informed by an understanding of the relationship between muscle strength and injury risk factors. Silverman’s research team, including mechanical engineering PhD candidate Jordan Sturdy, has already developed a musculoskeletal model to simulate walking with backpack load carriage to investigate biomechanical injury mechanisms related to backpack design. The results were recently published in Applied Ergonomics. With this new project, entitled “Individualized Injury Risk Assessment Using Warfighter Specific Modeling: Implications for Training,” Silverman’s team will receive approximately $600,000 over three years to improve musculoskeletal model predictions to more accurately assess individual injury risks related to specific load carriage configurations and levels of muscle strength. “This is a large component of our ongoing collaboration with the Warfighter Performance Department at Naval Health Research Center,” said Silverman. “This award will enable us to translate musculoskeletal modeling results to inform training plans and rigorously investigate the effects of muscle strength on injury. 8 MECHANICAL.MINES.EDU Detail of the military backpack attachment model from J.T. Sturdy et al., "A backpack load sharing model to evaluate lumbar and hip joint contact forces during shoulder borne and hip belt assisted load carriage," Applied Ergonomics, DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo/. 2020.103277 Image adapted from Getty Images Silverman wins award to assess risk of musculoskeletal injuries in the military A “large step forward” in reversible fuel cell energy storage systems Captn or Name Title MINES MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 9 The vacuum chamber in the Center for Space Resources will be used to re-create lunar surface conditions at cryogenic temperatures. Partnerships enhance path toward sustainable lunar exploration A cross-disciplinary team from Mines is partnering with Pioneer Astronautics, an aerospace R&D company located in Lakewood, Colorado, to mature technology for sustainable exploration of the Moon as part of an SBIR Phase II-S award under NASA’s Artemis program. Together with Mines, Honeybee Robotics, and NASA Johnson Space Center, Pioneer Astronautics will build and demonstrate hardware to produce oxygen and steel from lunar regolith, or dirt. Such technology would provide a foundation for manufacturing operations on the Moon using local resources, a process known as in situ resource utilization or ISRU. The planned system is called Moon to Mars Oxygen and Steel Technology (MMOST). Mines’ role in the project is to use the reduced lunar regolith simulant produced by Pioneer Astronautics to create a feedstock wire that can be deposited using additive manufacturing and to measure quality and performance throughout the process. The team includes five professors across three innovative research centers at Mines: Angel Abbud-Madrid, Chris Dreyer, and Kevin Cannon from the Center for Space Resources (CSR), Craig Brice from the Alliance for the Development of Additive Processing Technologies (ADAPT), and Zhenzhen Yu from the Center for Welding, Joining, and Coatings Research (CWJCR). The vision is to use local resources (lunar dirt) to make a feedstock that would then be used in a directed energy deposition AM process to make metallic structures on the moon. CSR Director Abbud-Madrid said, “It is exciting to participate in a project that will get us one step closer to reducing our dependence on Earth materials in space by enabling us to manufacture parts from lunar resources.” Professor Mohsen Asle Zaeem and Professor Amy Clarke (Metallurgical and Materials Engineering) were awarded $562,000 from the National Science Foundation for a three-year program to study the origination and evolution of solidification defects in aluminum alloys. To develop high-performance aluminum alloys to be used as structural components in automotive or aerospace applications, it is critical to understand how microstructural defects form during the solidification step in manufacturing processes such as casting, welding or additive manufacturing. The formation of solidification defects associated with folded oxide layers, known as oxide bifilms, in aluminum alloys negatively affects the mechanical strength of the final parts. Asle Zaeem and Clarke’s program aims to investigate how these defects originate and evolve during processing by integrating quantitative computational models with novel experiments for aluminum alloy casting. Asle Zaeem will perform multi-billion-atom molecular dynamics simulations and large-scale phase-field simulations to study the solidification defects associated with oxide bifilms. Clarke will perform advanced in situ X-ray imaging during casting experiments and ex situ electron microscopy of cast part samples to validate and benchmark the computational models. The integrated computational-experimental approach will achieve unparalleled findings on the origination and evolution of solidification defects in aluminum alloys. MINES MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 11 10 MECHANICAL.MINES.EDU Understanding solidification defects Professor Jason Porter will gasify bio oil for Greenfield Global, a leading producer of raw materials for the low-carbon economy. Bio oil is a liquid derived from biomass feedstocks. In addition to being a renewable feedstock, bio oils offer increased energy density, making them an attractive intermediary for technologies that convert biomass to fuel and chemicals. Per the agreement, Porter will use the state-of-the-art gasifier in the High-Pressure Flow Reactor Lab in the Mechanical Engineering department. RESEARCH NEWS section name Professor Paulo Cesar Tabares-Velasco received a seed grant from Nexus, a Mines-NREL partnership, that will enable the development of an NSF proposal on future dynamic materials that will ultimately change the way buildings interact with the grid. 12 MECHANICAL.MINES.EDU MINES MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 13 The project’s conceptual design integrates a high-power-density solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) into the flow path of an aircraft engine. The SOFC produces efficient DC electrical power for aircraft electrical loads and as needed, battery energy storage. Learn more at mechanical.mines.edu/news Protecting against traumatic brain injury Carbon-neutral electric power for narrow-body aircraft Professor Leslie Lamberson is part of a multi-organization collaboration that will study traumatic brain injury (TBI) in soldiers with an award from the Office of Naval Research. The project team includes investigators from Colorado School of Mines, University of Wisconsin – Madison (lead), Brown University, Robert Morris University, University of Southern California and Team Wendy (industry leaders in the design and development of innovative head protection). The team is part of the PANTHER Program (Physics-bAsed Neutralization of Threats to Human tissuEs and oRgans), an interdisciplinary research hub that seeks to understand, detect and prevent TBI. Lamberson explained that the first goal of the project is to understand and predict the onset of TBI at the cellular level. While models have been developed to simulate TBI and to estimate the force of blunt or blast impact on the brain, little is known about the magnitude and direction of forces within cells that initiate TBI. Without this critical knowledge, protective equipment such as helmets cannot be adequately designed or tested. The second goal is to develop a sensing system embedded in helmet liners that measures the impact kinematics of the head (not the helmet or liner). The sensing system will be designed for use in existing helmets or in future combat helmet liners. Finally, the team will develop a quantitative engineering framework to determine the ability of the helmet-liner system to prevent or significantly mitigate TBI. “This is where Mines comes in,” Lamberson said. “Our role in the project is to examine current and next-generation military helmet liner materials under various impact loading scenarios.” With these experiments, she and Stylianos Koumlis, a research assistant professor in mechanical engineering, will be able to characterize and understand the protective properties of these materials and their potential to mitigate TBI. Lamberson and Koumlis will receive approximately $750,000 of the $10 million award over a period of three years. “Our Mines team is extremely honored to be part of a team that’s developing next-generation improved-protection materials. It’s very satisfying to know that what we are doing in the lab will directly improve the lives of our soldiers and citizens,” Lamberson said. Mines professors in mechanical and electrical engineering have won $700,000 to design and develop a new generation of hybrid electric power plants for aviation as part of the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E REEACH program (Range Extenders for Electric Aviation with Low Carbon and High Efficiency). The Mines team, which includes ME Professor Greg Jackson, ME Rowlinson Professor Robert Braun, and EE Professor Tyrone Vincent, will work with the University of Maryland (program lead) over two years to develop lab-scale prototypes for the Phase I effort. Other collaborators include Raytheon Technologies Research Center and Ion Storage Solutions. The team proposes to develop a highly efficient and cost-effective hybrid-electric turbogenerator suitable for powering narrow-body aircraft like the Boeing 737. This project supports the overall objective of the REEACH program to develop a disruptive system to convert chemical energy stored in energy-dense carbon neutral liquid fuels (CNLFs) into electric power for aircraft propulsion via electric powertrains and other key systems. In 2017, air travel accounted for about 2.6% of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., and half of that was attributed to narrow-body aircraft. Using decarbonized electrified propulsion for narrow-body aircraft can make an impact on overall emissions. Furthermore, the efficiency gains expected by the energy storage and power generation sub-systems developed in this program could reduce aircraft fuel consumption. Mines’ role in the program includes system-level modeling, novel fuel cell and fuel processor design and integration, and development and implementation of advanced controls to ensure reliable operation of the fuel cell housed inside the turbogenerator flow path. “Rather than integrating with an internal combustion engine, this program is placing the electric production of the fuel cell inside the flow path of a gas turbine,” Jackson said. “This has been tried before, but we are taking a novel approach that may enable the fuel cell to survive in this dynamic environment where conventional fuel cell architectures would almost surely fail.” Caption or Name Title RESEARCH NEWS 14 MECHANICAL.MINES.EDU DR. DANIEL GONZALEZ United States Military Academy, West Point “Wearable Robotic SuperLimbs and Agile Robotic Teammates for Empowering Emergency Responders” DR. MARK F. HORSTEMEYER Liberty University “Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME): Past, Present and Future” DEPARTMENT NEWS MINES MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 15 Study Abroad Program at Mines PUBLICATIONS Selected publications by ME faculty Dr. Daniel Gonzalez on Zoom, presenting wearable robotic "SuperLimbs" DR. CHUNMEI BAN University of Colorado Boulder “Fast Determination of Lithium Content and Failure Mechanism for Aged Lithium-Ion Battery Electrodes” Alumni Spotlight: Claire Teklitz, United Launch Alliance Jessica Reeves, Trane Technologies Ryan Zamora, Milwaukee Tool Graduate Student Panel DR. ROBERT J. WEBSTER Vanderbilt University “Can Needle-Sized Robot Tentacles Help Surgeons Save Lives?” Industry Perspective ET1 (SS) Ryan M. McCabe, U.S. Navy Karl Grueschow, Patroness DR. CLARE FITZPATRICK Boise State University “Applying Computational Models to Address Clinical Issues in Biomedical Engineering” C. Cissé, M. Asle Zaeem, “An asymmetric elasto-plastic phase-field model for shape memory effect, pseudoelasticity and thermomechanical training in polycrystalline shape memory alloys,” Acta Materialia, vol. 201, pp. 580–595, Dec. 2020. K. Taghikhani, P. J. Weddle, J. R. Berger, R. J. Kee, “Chemo-mechanical behavior of highly anisotropic and isotropic polycrystalline graphite particles during lithium intercalation,” Journal of the Electrochemical Society, vol. 167, no. 11, pp. 110554, July 2020. S. A. Lolon, J. F. Brune, G. E. Bogin Jr., A. Juganda, “Study of methane outgassing and mitigation in longwall coal mines,” Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration, vol. 37, pp. 1437–1449, Oct. 2020. S.-M. Cho, B. G. Thomas, “Electromagnetic effects on solidification defect formation in continuous steel casting,” JOM, vol. 72, pp. 3610–3627, Sept. 2020. M. R. Walden, C. V. Ciobanu, G. L. Brennecka, “Stability of epitaxial BiXO3 phases by density-functional theory,” APL Materials, vol. 8, no. 8, pp. 081106, Aug. 2020. C. Stetson, Z. Huey, A. Downard, Z. Li, B. To, A. Zakutayev, C.-S. Jiang, M. M. Al-Jassim, D. P. Finegan, S.-D. Han, S. C. DeCaluwe, “Three-dimensional mapping of resistivity and microstructure of composite electrodes for lithium-ion batteries,” Nano Letters, vol. 20, no. 11, pp. 8081–8088, Oct. 2020. J. C. A. Dela Cueva, L. Zheng, B. Lawlor, K. T. Q. Nguyen, A. Westra, J. Nunez, J. Zanteson, C. McGuire, R. Chavez Morales, B. J. Katko, H. Liu, V. Eliasson, “Blast wave interaction with structures: an application of exploding wire experiments,” Multiscale and Multidisciplinary Modeling, Experiments and Design, vol. 3, pp. 337–347, Aug. 2020. S. Raikar, M. Heilig, A. Mamidanna, O. J. Hildreth, “Self-terminating etching process for automated support removal and surface finishing of additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V,” Additive Manufacturing, in press, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2020.101694. L. Wang, Y. Yu, K. J. Gaskell, E. J. Crumlin, Z. Liu, B. W. Eichhorn, G. S. Jackson, “In operando x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies of H2 oxidation and H2O electrolysis on gadolinia-doped ceria electrodes,” Journal of Physics: Energy, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 014004, Nov. 2020. D. L. Foley, S. H. Huang, E. Anber, L. Shanahan, Y. Shen, A. C. Lang, C. M. Barr, D. Spearot, L. Lamberson, M. L. Taheri, “Simultaneous twinning and microband formation under dynamic compression in a high entropy alloy with a complex energetic landscape,” Acta Materialia, vol. 200, pp. 1–11, Nov. 2020. H. Yu, M. Mooney, A. Bezuijen, “A simplified excavation chamber pressure model for EPBM tunneling,” Tunneling and Underground Space Technology, vol. 103, pp. 103457, Sept. 2020. W. T. Hamilton, A. M. Newman, M. J. Wagner, R. J. Braun, “Off-design performance of molten salt-driven Rankine cycles and its impact on the optimal dispatch of concentrating solar power systems,” Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 220, pp. 113025, Sept. 2020. P. L. Husa, B. D. Saunders, B. E. Suesser, A. J. Petruska, “Optimal current shell approximation for solenoids of rectangular cross-section,” AIP Advances, vol. 10, no. 9, pp. 095126, Sept. 2020. J. D. Honegger, J. A. Actis, D. H. Gates, A. K. Silverman, A. H. Munson, A. J. Petrella, “Development of a multiscale model of the human lumbar spine for investigation of tissue loads in people with and without a transtibial amputation during sit-to-stand,” Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10237-020-01389-2, Oct. 2020. L. Q. Le, C. Herradon Hernandez, M. Hernandez Rodriguez, L. Zhu, C. Duan, H. Ding, R. P. O'Hayre, N. P. Sullivan, “Proton-conducting ceramic fuel cells: Scale up and stack integration,” Journal of Power Sources, vol. 482, pp. 228868, Jan. 2021. S. Wijesuriya, P. C. Tabares-Velasco, “Experimental apparatus and methodology to test and quantify thermal performance of micro and macro-encapsulated phase change materials in building envelope applications,” Journal of Energy Storage, vol. 32, pp. 101770, Dec. 2020. Z. Khalifa, L. Pocher, N. Tilton, “Regimes of flow through cylinder arrays subject to steady pressure gradients,” International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 159, pp. 120072, Oct. 2020. N. S. Johnson, P. S. Vulimiri, A. C. To, X. Zhang, C. A. Brice, B. B. Kappes, A. P. Stebner, “Invited review: Machine learning for materials developments in metals additive manufacturing,” Additive Manufacturing, in press, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2020.101641. H. Zhu, W. G. Coors, S. Ricote, C. Karakaya, R. J. Kee, “Self-contained electrochemical process to produce pure compressed hydrogen from hydrocarbons and steam without an external energy supply,” Journal of the Electrochemical Society, vol. 167, no. 10, pp. 104512, June 2020. Mechanical Mondays return in 2021! Distinguished Seminar Series DR. SANDRINE RICOTE Colorado School of Mines “Recent Progress and Promise of High-Temperature Proton Conductors” After a pandemic-induced hiatus for the fall semester, the Mechanical Mondays series is coming back in virtual mode for the spring of 2021. The spring schedule includes: DR. francesca tavazza NIST – Gaithersburg “Materials Discovery via Machine Learning: Modeling Across Properties and Uncertainty Evaluation” We are grateful to our distinguished guest speakers who were willing to present virtually this semester. Our fall series featured speakers from industry and academia. ME students among winners of Capstone Design Showcase MINES MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 17 Jules Brown Dr. Jeff Ackerman (left), Bradley Jesteadt (center), and Claire Thomas (right) put the finishing touches on their design. Callie McCaffery honored as a 2020 National Gold Award Girl Scout First-year mechanical engineering student Callie McCaffery was named a 2020 National Gold Award Girl Scout this fall for her development of a simple insulin calculator that people with diabetes can use to calculate necessary insulin units at any given time. This award, given to only 10 Girl Scouts nationwide, is the top honor from the Girl Scouts of the USA. McCaffery's Gold Award project was inspired by her younger brother, Jack, who was diagnosed with Type I diabetes a few years ago. With the help of BitWise, a tech company near her hometown in California, McCaffery will turn the calculator into an app that will be available to everyone. Student Stories Jules Brown named 2020–21 Humanitarian Engineering Shultz Scholar ME senior Jules Brown was named a 2021 Humanitarian Engineering (HE) Shultz Scholar. She was awarded the scholarship in recognition of her commitment to using engineering to help address society's greatest challenges. Brown will receive $8,500 each semester for one year. During that year, she will serve as an HE ambassador. 2020 Gene Haas Foundation Scholars Colorado School of Mines' Mechanical Engineering Department has been awarded a $12,500 grant from the Gene Haas Foundation (GHF) for scholarships for student workers in the ME Instructional Machine Shop. Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation, Inc. started the Gene Haas Foundation in 1999 to support efforts to introduce students to careers in machining and related technologies. That goal is primarily accomplished by funding student scholarships for graduating high school students, displaced workers and military veterans. Based in Oxford, California, Haas Automation is America's leading machine tool builder. Mines ME uses the GHF grant to fund specialized multi-year fellowships for students who work in the Mechanical Engineering Machine Shop. The Gene Haas Foundation Scholars will get additional training on the CNC mill, and through a multi-year process will become “train-the-trainers” for the shop's mill. The Machine Shop, located in the basement of Brown Hall, is home to two Haas CNC mills and two desktop mills. The Fall 2020 GHF Scholars are Shelby Ryan, Nicholas Finn Mahoney, Keely Stevenson, Justin Rozendaal, Travis Rogers and Erik Skansberg. Student Stories Mines Maker Society created epic costume for annual Magic Wheelchair Halloween Build An Arvada girl had a helluva Halloween costume this year, thanks to Dr. Jeff Ackerman and the Mines Maker Society. Dr. Ackerman and ME students Claire Thomas and Bradley Jesteadt unveiled the one-of-a-kind costume at the annual Magic Wheelchair Halloween build this October. Their design drew its inspiration from Ursula (of “Little Mermaid” fame) and was featured on 9News. Callie McCaffery 16 MECHANICAL.MINES.EDU Four ME undergrads named Fall 2020 University Innovation Fellows ME undergraduates Henry Jenkins, Regan Sampson, Johnny Desrosiers, and Indiana Sjahputera were named Fall 2020 University Innovation Fellows and were honored in a virtual ceremony on November 30th. The four ME students are among 198 students from 45 higher education institutions in 14 countries who were named University Innovation Fellows this fall. The UIF program, run by Stanford University's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, aims to empower students to become agents of change at their schools. Senior Henry Jenkins is spearheading an effort to host TED-style events on campus and is in the process of completing the required documentation to become a Mines-sanctioned student organization. Johnny Desrosiers, an ME junior, is focusing on the creative space project to supplement Mines' existing workshop and maker spaces. Junior Regan Sampson and sophomore Indiana Sjahputera are both working on projects related to mental health on campus. Twelve of fifteen members of the first-place Capstone Design team were ME seniors. Team Re-Volt converted a 1979 Volkswagen Bus (pictured above) from gas to electric power to win the top prize. The team also won "best of" awards for Societal Impact/Human Systems and Website Design & Engagement. ME students could be found on all four award-winning teams. Read about their projects on minesnewsroom.com. Congratulations to our newest alumni! Outstanding Graduating Senior Grace Cole Emeritus Faculty Choice Exemplary Undergraduate Student Ryan Frederickson The John Steele Commemorative Service Award Shelby Ryan Outstanding Student Service Award Christian Palacios Emeritus Faculty Choice Exemplary Graduate Student Jasmin Honegger Recent Graduates Master of Engineering, Nuclear Engineering Samuel Kerber Master of Science, Advanced Manufacturing Logan Braden Thomas Hinkemeyer Noah Mostow Cindy Sanchez Chavez Master of Science, Materials Science Victoria Avance Master of Science, Robotics Megan Shapiro Master of Science, Space Resources Adam Brown Hunter Danque Adam Janikowski Mitchell Paradis Benjamin Pemble Nima Sherpa Michael Yeosock Doctor of Philosophy, Materials Science Thomas Gallmeyer  Advisor: Aaron Stebner “The Effects of Heat Treatment on Structure-Property Relationships of Additively Manufactured Inconel 718” Caleb Stetson Advisors: Steven DeCaluwe, Mowafac Al-Jassim “Three-Dimensional Electronic Resistivity Mapping of Solid Electrolyte Interphase and Anode Active Material in Lithium-Ion Batteries” Doctor of Philosophy, Nuclear Engineering Nickolas Duncan Advisor: Mark Deinert “Characterization of Transport Equations with Forensic Applications (Nuclear and Social)” Doctor of Philosophy, Operations Research  with Engineering Jesse Wales Advisor: Alexandra Newman “Improving Renewable Energy System Design and Operations with Optimization and Simulation” Congratulations,  award winners! BACHELOR OF SCIENCE, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Interdisciplinary Programs Jessica Abraham Zachary Alspach Daniel Bulfer Rachel Clemens Mark Dudley Kyle Ferguson John Fuller Stewart Grimshaw Joshua Gruener Christopher Hampel Bradley Harger Alessandro Henry Lindsey Hulett Derek Jacobsen Kassidy Knutson Joslyne Lovelace Monica Padeway Jason Pickett Ramprasad Rajagopalan Angenid Reyes Basanta Rijal Michael Vessa Nicholas Yearout MASTER OF SCIENCE, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, Mechanical ENGINEERING Brock Abeyta Aflah Al Abri Zachary Amatelli Charles Barron Jacob Barson Jasmine Berry Layton Blankenship Ian Blythe Julius Brusco Zachary Budzik Michael Byckovski Erik Carrillo Rodriguez Grace Cole McKenzie Davis Lian Doerr John Doherty Gregory Duncan Mason Elliott Ryan Frederickson Benjamin Friedel Austin Gates Gage Gellerman Nicholas Gertie Rion Gipson-Hansen Rachel Godard Luke Greenidge Dylan Greenman Joshua Gregory Loren Griffeth James Gukeisen Ernest Hernandez Jr. Hunter Hodge Brandon Horgan Zachary Howell Jose Ibarra Zana Jabari Nicholas Kistler Ilana Kitterman Nicole Lasater Justin LaVerde Jordan Lopez Eryk Lorenz JohnPaul Luke Stephen Mancuso Alejandro Martinez Jack Mathes Andrew Maynard Timothy McCracken Kevin Medina Dalton Metz Thomas Mitchell Sophia Modar Nicholas Mulay Nicholas Navarro Brendan Nichols Mary Oglesby Joshua Olson Christian Palacios Daryus Patel Samuel Pearson Jeremiah Pisarra Maxwell Porter Jacob Rider Brady Robinson Patricia Robinson Tristan Robinson Shelby Ryan Jonathan Salas Navarro Avery Schilt Austin Schwaderer Paul Slade Erin Smethers Preston Smith Alexander Vogel Andrew Wood Remha Yohannes Jasmin Honegger Advisors: Anthony Petrella, Anne Silverman “Multiscale Modeling of the Lumbar Spine to Investigate Tissue-Level Load Transfer During Activities of Daily Living” Benjamin Kee Advisor: Steven DeCaluwe “Protonic Ceramics for Electrochemical Hydrogen Compression” Zahra Khalifa Advisor: Nils Tilton “Flow Through Cylinder Arrays Subject to Steady and Unsteady Pressure Gradients” Jincheng Lou Advisor: Nils Tilton “CFD Simulation of Polarization Phenomena in Direct Contact Membrane Distillation Systems” MINES MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 19 18 MECHANICAL.MINES.EDU SUPPORT MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 1500 ILLINOIS ST. GOLDEN, CO 80401-1887 A gift to the Department of Mechanical Engineering is an investment in the future. Gifts can support scholarships, fellowships, professorships, academic programs, faculty research and other initiatives that are not typically supported through state appropriations. Private philanthropy empowers the department to achieve greater excellence in research and education. To learn more about supporting the department, contact the Mines Foundation at weare.mines.edu/supportme or call 303.273.3275.