TCNJ’s Solar Splash team came back with numerous awards in the 2012 Intercollegiate Solar Splash Competition held in Cedar Falls, Iowa.  The team was assembled as a senior project and consisted of team members Glen Reese, Steve Voinier, Steve Stockhamer, Chris O’Mullane, Patrick Dougherty and advisors Dr. Norman Asper, Anthony Deese, and Karen Yan.

This year’s team designed their boat around a previous year’s hull. Special features of their design included fabrication of a custom propeller that was machined on TCNJ’s new five axis CNC machine, a new peak power transfer system, new solar panels complements of Schott Solar, and a robust storage system that allowed for maximum boat buoyancy in case the boat filled with water. “The project required a lot of time and effort” Patrick said, “but that helped to make the competition as fun and enjoyable as it was.”

The competition spanned five days and consisted of three events, endurance, sprint and slalom. The endurance event tested the boat’s power efficiency and use of solar power; the sprint event raced each boat to 300m; the slalom event tested the boats’ maneuverability. Teams were also judged on visual display, technical report, qualifying time, hull design and workmanship. TCNJ came back with 4^th place in the overall competition, 3^rd in slalom and for their technical report, 5^th in sprint, and won awards for Outstanding Hull Design and Outstanding Workmanship.

Information and pictures from the competition of the team can be found on Solar Splash’s website, TCNJ Solar Boat, and TCNJ Solar Boat Pictures

Ceramic type hip implants are common in the prosthetics field as they are highly compatible to the human body and have a long working life due to the low wear conditions of ceramics. However, a major problem exists in 1-10% of implants, vibration induced squeak. Their goal was to investigate possible factors attributing to squeaking and to better understand the phenomenon by analyzing a donated ceramic hip joint. With a better understanding of the phenomenon, manufactures of this type of hip replacement may be able to spot imperfections and prevent squeak prone designs. Mark and Dr. Paliwal will be attending the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ IMEC conference in Houston, Texas to present their findings.

Mark would like to thank Dr. Paliwal for his guidance, Dr. Allen for donating the hip implant, and the MUSE program for this opportunity. Additionally, he had this to say about the program:

”You learn more than what textbooks can teach you. You don’t have exact instructions, solutions to check your answers, or a guarantee that you will succeed. All you have is the challenge, your enthusiasm, and hopefully in the end, the reward of results.”

Information about applying to the MUSE program and a list of other MUSE projects can be found: Here and http://fscollab.pages.tcnj.edu/.

This research was based on a real world instillation and use of a fuel cell manifold, with a focus on how fuel both enters the manifold and is dispersed over each of the power generating cells. Longer lasting, more efficient and greener systems can be created in the future with an increased knowledge in this field. To study the flow, the group used a model of a fuel cell fitted with special inlet pipes, a powerful laser and specialized hardware and software to record data of the flow distribution within the manifold. The students learned to use a technique called Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) to obtain data and produce images that revealed the flow symmetry for three different inlet pipe types; straight, 90 degree bend, and 180 degree bend. These inlet types were chosen based on possible real world configurations. Dr. Grega plans to combine data acquired this year with that of previous years to publish an article to ASME.
Both students were grateful to the MUSE program and Dr. Grega for allowing them a chance to see what graduate school research would be like. Additionally, the students said the program provided them with, as Manthan put it, “a wealth of new knowledge as well as an opportunity to further enhance our skills.” Information about applying to the MUSE program and a list of other MUSE projects can be found here and http://fscollab.pages.tcnj.edu/ .

WHAT: discussion of music and computation
WHO: leading video game designers, scientists, mathematicians, musicians, and authors
Friday, March 30, 2012 | 8am – 10pm
Saturday March 31, 2012 | 8am-5pm
Where: Mayo Concert Hall

The purpose of the Music, Mind, and Invention Workshop will be to explore the rich interconnections between music, cognition, computation, and creativity, addressing themes such as: creativity across disciplines, ways of thinking about music, and music as a medium  for improvement. The workshop will feature a keynote address, invited talks by , panel discussions, and presentations of peer-reviewed papers and creative work.

Some of the speakers at the event will include:

Eran Egozy- creator of Guitar Hero
Marvin Minsky- Artificial Intelligence Pioneer
Noam Elkies
Tod Machover
Dmitri Tymoczko

The workshop will be open to the public; registration is required and is available online at: ww.tcnj.edu/~mmi

For more information:

ww.tcnj.edu/~mmi

Twitter: tcnjmmi

facebook.com/tcnjmmi

mmi@tcnj.edu

609-771-2759

The Winning Device Designed by: James Riccobono (above) and Alex Michalski

2011 ASME Student Design Competition

H2Go: The Untapped Energy Source?

Students were to design a scaled, proof of concept prototype for rain energy conversion. Their prototype device had to propel a model car as far as possible in a straight line by converting the potential energy of one liter of water at one meter height. All water had to be contained within the device and a penalty was to be assessed for any water spilled.

Device Requirements
1. The only power source to be used was the 1 L of water. If any stored energy was used in the device besides the elevated water, teams had to prove that the amount of additional stored energy after the device operated was equal to or greater than the initial stored energy.
2. The device had to have an easily removable and drainable water storage container capable of storing at least 1.1 L of water.
3. The device had to fit, fully assembled and ready to operate, within a box measuring, on the inside, 370 x 165 x 165 mm. Any expansion or extension had to be done by the device itself during the competition run.
4. Each team was to provide their own car which had to:

• Have a mass of 10 – 90 grams
• Be 25 mm to 45 mm wide
• Be 65 mm to 100 mm long
• Not be used as a projectile

Contest Operation 
At the start signal a team member poured the 1L of water into the funnel. No one could touch the device other than to pour the water. The entire liter of water had to be poured continuously in no more than 20 seconds.

At the end of the run, the water was measured to ensure no loss.

Distance traveled was measured using a string. The straight line distance from the initial location of the model car to the final position was recorded. A single point on the car was chosen for measuring and used at initial and final locations.

Each team was given two runs. The second run began immediately after measurements were made from the first. The team was allowed to manually reset their device between runs.

Scoring and Penalties
The winning device had the highest score S where:

D = Distance car traveled in mm
W = Water spilled over 25 mL in mL
i = run number

Learn more:

• ASME 2011 Student Design Competition
• ASME 2011 International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition
• Student Professional Development Conference (SPDC)
• H2Go Regional Results
• H2Go Regional Competition

Learn more:

ASEE DELOS Best Paper Award requirements

Standing from the left: Zach Esh, frame design and fabrication; Kyle Wilson, telemetry & instrumentation; Joe McCarty, motor & motor controller (design and fabrication); Justin (Maxx) Binger, project leader & solar power system; Hunter Carson, fairing and braking; Dr. Norm Asper, Professor Emeritus, secondary mechanical advisor. Kneeling from the left: Dr. Karen Yan, assistant professor, primary mechanical advisor; Jon Saia, steering & suspension. Not pictured: Dr. Anthony Deese, assistant professor, primary electrical advisor.

According to the ELECTRATHON AMERICA website which creates the official regulations for these types of events “ELECTRATHON is a type of ELECTRIC MARATHON in which the winner is determined by how far you go in a certain time with a given amount of battery power. ELECTRATHON AMERICA class competition uses specific design rules to ensure safe and fair competition. ELECTRATHON AMERICA events are held around the country and is an exciting new environmentally progressive sport.”

The stated goals were:

• To drive electrically powered vehicles as far as possible for one hour on a closed loop course using limited electrical energy.
• To provide a forum where skill and ingenuity may be displayed, compared and tested.
• To improve public awareness and understanding of efficient alternative electric vehicles.
• To create an affordable sport defined by established rules in which groups and Individuals can participate competitively and safely.

TCNJ designed their vehicle in Pro/Engineer and loaded into Fluent to analyze aerodynamic drag. Its design materials were sheet aluminum body panels with polycarbonate windshield and side windows. There were a lot of steps involved in completing the vehicle which will not be relayed here. Luckily Dr. Norman Asper wrote an excellent article in which he described the process in detail.

At the competition TCNJ’s The NJ011 car completed 47 laps and won first place in the Solar Division. Justin (Maxx) Binger describes the effort as “using less power than the average hair dryer with an equivalent energy consumption of 807 miles per gallon*! (*One US gallon of gasoline contains an average of 36.6 kWh of energy.)

According to Dr. Asper “This has been a great learning experience, and a great basis for future Electrathon projects, not only in The College of New Jersey’s School of Engineering, but also extended out into area high school technology programs.

Learn more:

• Connecticut Electrathon Challenge
• ELECTRATHON AMERICA website
• Dr Asper’s detailed description of Electrathon (with pictures)

It is a long-standing tradition for The College of New Jersey’s School of Engineering to send teams to compete at the Society of Automotive Engineer’s (SAE’s) Baja Competition. This year’s team won first place for the Water Maneuverability Challenge and scored top ten positions in several other challenges including: the Endurance Race, Land Maneuverability and Cost.   The team placed an impressive 8th overall out of a field of 59.  The team members included Robert Allsop, Rachel Werner David Casas, Peter Goldsmith, Shawn Kircher and their advisors were Dr. Yan, Dr. Paliwal, and Dr. Asper. TCNJ competed at the Eastern Regional Competition which was hosted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
As described by SAE, “Engineering students are tasked to design and build an off-road vehicle that will survive the severe punishment of rough terrain and sometimes even water. The object of the competition is to provide SAE student members with a challenging project that involves the planning and manufacturing tasks found when introducing a new product to the consumer industrial market. Teams compete against one another to have their design accepted for manufacture by a fictitious firm. Students must function as a team to not only design, build, test, promote, and race a vehicle within the limits of the rules, but also to generate financial support for their project and manage their educational priorities.”

Learn more:

• Competition results
• SAE’s Synopsis of the event
• TCNJ Mini Baja Website
• Baja SAE Birmingham Competition Website

Engineering students Abbruzzese, O’Laughlin and Lee had the opportunity to showcase research conducted at TCNJ via the Mentored Undergraduate Summer Experience(M.U.S.E.). Their project was entitled Investigation of the effect of cement viscosity in Total Knee Replacement using Digital Image Correlation. Aseptic loosening of the tibial implant is a prevalent reason for failure in Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA). The cement viscosity at the time of application to the bone is vital for cement penetration and mechanical stability of the construct. High viscosity cements greatly reduce operating time, yet, may result in decreased penetration into the bone and reduced stability.

Twelve Sawbone models were instrumented with Zimmer NexGen-LPS tibial plates and fixed with one of four cements of differing viscosities: Simplex-P, Endurance, DePuy II, and Palacos (n = 3). The constructs were subjected to cyclic compressive loading (600 N) in the sagittal plane of the tibial implants for 6000 cycles. After cyclic loading, the construct was loaded to 3000 N at the rate of 20 N/s. Both were loaded using the MTS 810 Testing Machine. Digital Imaging Correlation (DIC) was used to determine displacements between image frames taken from a fixed CCD camera.

These techniques allowed the transverse and sagittal-plane micro-motions to be quantified. Simplex had the smallest micro-motion of all cements in sagittal plane (P = 0.002 vs. Palacos and Endurance, and P = 0.2794 vs. Depuy-2). In transverse plane, Simplex had the lowest micro-motion 0.0234mm±0.0175mm, P = 0.01 vs. Endurance; P > 0.2 vs. Depuy-2 and Palacos). There was no statistically significant difference among cements when comparing maximum force at failure. These results have direct clinical relevance for TKA patients suffering from aseptic loosening.

Speaking for his team-mates Abbruzzese said “TCNJ granted a wonderful opportunity to the three off us, allowing us to collaborate with other pioneers in the field and reflect on professional opinions. We even gained pivotal information for our research! Overall, attending the conference as undergraduates provided us with a remarkable experience and allowed us to grow intellectually.”

Learn more:

• Mentored Undergraduate Summer Experience
• Orthopedic Research Society
• Total Knee Arthroplasty
• Sawbone models
• Digital Imaging Correlation