Archive for October, 2011

Behind the wheel

Joseph Burke, a junior in mechanical engineering, likes to go fast. He races when he’s behind the wheel of his rally car, a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9, but not through life or school at Auburn. Burke is an internationally ranked motorsport champion and at 18 became the youngest American rally […]

by × October 21, 2011 ×

That’s smart stuff

Three Auburn Engineering professors and a graduate student are developing efficient geotextile fabrics with electronic antenna capabilities, and their prototypes are already showing promise. David Elton in civil engineering, Gwen Thomas in polymer and fiber engineering, Lloyd Riggs in electrical engineering and doctoral student Andrew Sivulka are combining their electrical, […]

by × October 21, 2011 ×

Teachers become students

In August, industrial and systems engineering hosted a teachers institute for the Material Handling Institute of America. The week-long, biannual event featured visiting industrial engineering, logistics and business faculty from around the world, including Canada, South America, Europe and the Middle East, learning new methods for teaching materials handling, logistics […]

by × October 21, 2011 ×

Bird of a different feather

Thad Roppel’s electrical and computer engineering class recently “borrowed” Auburn’s new indoor practice facility to conduct a test flight that might normally be done inside Jordan-Hare Stadium by Auburn’s own Nova. Instead, Roppel’s students launched an ornithopter — a robotic cardinal that operates via remote control. Robo Nova, as it […]

by × October 21, 2011 ×

Into the Lab: Aerospace

Department head John Cochran, visiting research professor Harold Zallen and graduate student Judith Bailey are looking at human factors that might be attributed to recent unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crashes during landing. By using a static flight simulator built at Auburn, they are able to simulate extended UAV missions, as […]

by × October 20, 2011 ×

Into the Lab: Biosystems

Faculty member Puneet Srivastava and several colleagues are using El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) information generated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) to develop methods for addressing both drought and flood in the Southeast. The team assisted the city of Auburn in planning for drought this summer as […]

by × October 20, 2011 ×
World-class research on the road

World-class research on the road

This summer, Auburn Engineering celebrated the 25th year of the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT), which was created in 1986 during Weaver’s tenure, through an agreement with the National Asphalt Pavement Association Research and Education Foundation and Auburn University. The center’s success has involved the cooperation of more than […]

by × October 20, 2011 ×

Into the Lab: Chemical

Faculty members Bob Ashurst and Virginia Davis, along with chemical engineering alumnus Christopher Kitchens, who is an assistant professor at Clemson University, have been awarded a National Science Foundation grant for their project, “Collaborative Research: Processing and Properties of Cellulose Films for MEMS Applications.” The researchers will investigate the feasibility […]

by × October 20, 2011 ×
Into the Lab: Civil

Into the Lab: Civil

Civil engineering faculty members Justin Marshall and Brian Anderson led undergraduate student Patrick Kimmons, below, and graduate students Luke Meadows, behind ladder, and Jared Jensen, above, in testing a bridge’s endurance for real-world use in the Harbert Structures Lab this summer. A full-scale, 20-foot span precast concrete specimen was donated by […]

by × October 20, 2011 ×

Into the Lab: Computer Science and Software

Weikuan Yu, faculty member in the department, and students in Auburn’s Parallel Architecture and Systems Laboratory have been recognized by Mellanox Technologies Inc. for their research and software development. Mellanox presented Auburn with a $150,000 grant to conduct research that led to the development of a Hadoop acceleration software product […]

by × October 20, 2011 ×