May 7, 2014
Mechanical Engineering Graduate Conference
Industry and government representatives joined graduate students and faculty from the Schulich School of Engineering for the 2014 Mechanical Engineering Graduate Conference last week, to showcase ongoing research projects and start potential future industry collaborations.
More than 100 attendees also heard from two keynote speakers, Martin Chamberlain, assistant deputy minister in the Resource Development Policy Division, who presented the provincial government鈥檚 perspective on energy-related R&D and Dan Balaban, CEO and president of Greengate Power Corporation, talked about industry鈥檚 views on energy-related research.
A showcase of research
More than 50 graduate students presented their work across a wide range of topics, including corrosion control and pipeline safety, solar collector and PV panel design, oil drill technology and wind forecasting/mapping and atmosphere flow modelling.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great opportunity for starting MSc and PhD students to practice among their peers,鈥 says Phil Egberts, assistant professor in the mechanical engineering department.
鈥淭he reason I like this conference is the fact that it is informal and I can see what my peers are doing,鈥 says Zahra Hosseini, a PhD candidate who presented her paper: Experimental investigation of the three-dimensional instabilities in the wake of a wall-mounted pyramid. 鈥淢oreover,鈥 she says, 鈥淚 can present among people who work on a similar field as I do.鈥
Conference growing
The conference, an annual event in the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, is growing every year with both more abstracts and presentations being submitted and more people attending. It gives a thorough overview of the current state of research in the department and provides a showcase to the Alberta energy industry about potential opportunities for collaboration with researchers in the department.
鈥淭he conference is an opportunity for students and faculty to showcase their research capabilities and also to practice public presentations,鈥 says Arman Hemmati, a PhD candidate and conference chair. 鈥淚t helps students to take the leadership role and organize a large-scale academic event.鈥
Award Winners: (2014 MEGC Scholarships)
Best Paper:
- Kirspin Davis, 鈥Extending Model Predictive Control and Planning in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to Achieve Aggressive Maneuvering and Semi-Autonomy in Confined Environments鈥
Runner-ups (in no particular order):
- Youssef Al-Ammari, 鈥Effect of Micro Dimpled Joint Surfaces on the Stiffness and Damping Properties鈥
- Stephen Cull, 鈥淎 Solid-Fluid Mixture Model for Bone Growth and Remodeling鈥
- Phillip Du Plessix, 鈥An Investigation into the Merits of Generalized Phase Averaging with Application to a Normal Flat Plate Wake鈥
- Meraj Mohebi, 鈥The Near Wake of Inclined Thin Flat Plates and Related Bodies over Large Range of Reynolds Number鈥
- Nathan Neeteson, 鈥Pressure Field Extraction from Lagrangian Particle Tracking Data using a Voronoi Tessellation Based Algorithm鈥
- Ivan Vinicio Olea Uribe, 鈥淪tochastic Simulation of Polydisperse Turbulent Flows in Horizontal Pipes鈥
- Chaneel Park, 鈥I Vibration Assisted Nano Mechanical Machining using AFM Probe鈥
- Allen Sandwell, 鈥Design of a Sub-Newton Force Sensor System using Optical Principles and Mechanical Amplification鈥
- Christopher Stobart, 鈥Design and Testing of a Haptic Interface for Human Factors Research of Ultra-mobile Devices鈥
- Jamie Wong, 鈥淥n the Influence of Propulsor Kinematics on Thrust Production and Lift Augmentation in Natural Swimming鈥