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Material Advantage Group
The WSU Materials Advantage student chapter has received a $1000 grant from Bruce and Barb Wollstein that supports student efforts to build a forge and participate in next year’s Bladesmithing Symposium and Competition, sponsored by the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS). » More ...

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Welcome to The School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering

John McCloy
Dr. John McCloy, Director, School of Mechanical & Materials Engineering

The School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at WSU has one of the largest undergraduate programs in the Pacific Northwest, with about 1000 students and 45 faculty members spread across three sister campuses (the main campus at Pullman, and sister departments at Everett, Tri-cities, and Bremerton). Our graduate student and postdoctoral researcher populations are growing, underpinned by continuously increasing annual research expenditures (currently over $9m), with over 100 PhD students. It is one of few schools where both Mechanical Engineering (ME) and Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) programs are offered under the same roof, allowing our students to be reared in a highly interdisciplinary, enriching environment.

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SEMINAR SERIES (4-1-2021)

Optoelectronic Sensing of the Deformation of Soft Robots, and their Electrohydraulic Power

Dr. Robert F. Shepherd, Associate Professor, Sibley School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering, Cornell University

Dr. Robert F. Shepherd

Thursday, April 1st, 2021 11:00 am to Noon via Zoom

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Abstract

An engineering contradiction exists between enduring and adaptable robots—we have examples of autonomous cars that can drive for 100’s of miles, or legged ones that can do backflips for a little while, but never the twain shall meet. Pushing this Pareto frontier outwards towards biological capabilities of enduring and adaptive mobility will probably require embracing complexity and multifunctionality. Meaning, hierarchical assembly of several sub‐systems (i.e., organs) and packing energy into every cubic centimeter of volume. Towards this end, I will talk about our work to “innervate” robots for tactile feedback using stretchable sensing “skins” for high density shape sensing measurements to improve control authority in high degree of freedom (passive or active) continuum structures and actuators.

My focus will be on the use of stretchable fiberoptic lightguides as a sensing medium for estimating deformation and temperature in the “meat” of these compliant structures and actuators. After discussing sensing, I will then describe our concept of “Robot Blood” in order to increase the overall energy density of hydraulically powered robots. This Robot Blood is an electrolyte based off of redox flow battery (RFB) chemistry that performs the additional function of force transmission and soft actuator inflation. I will close by demonstrating robots that take advantage of this electrohydraulic power.

 

Biography

Rob Shepherd is an associate professor at Cornell University in the Sibley School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering. He received his B.S. (Material Science & Engineering), Ph.D. (Material Science & Engineering), and M.B.A. from the University of Illinois in Material Science & Engineering. At Cornell, he runs the Organic Robotics Lab (ORL: http://orl.mae.cornell.edu), which focuses on using methods of invention, including bioinspired design approaches, in combination with material science to improve machine function and autonomy. We rely on new and old synthetic approaches for soft material composites that create new design opportunities in the field of robotics.

Our research spans three primary areas: bioinspired robotics, advanced manufacturing, and human‐robot interactions. He is the recipient of an Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Award, an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, and his lab’s work has been featured in popular media outlets such as the BBC, Discovery Channel, and PBS’s NOVA documentary series.

SEMINAR SERIES (3-18-2021)

Advanced Green Composites

Dr. Anil N. Netravali, Jean and Douglas McLean Professor of Fiber Science, Department of Fiber Science and Apparel Design, Cornell University

Dr. Anil N. Netravali

Thursday, March 18, 2021 11:00am to Noon via  Zoom

 

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Abstract

Light weight fiber reinforced composites have replaced metals in many applications from automobile parts to satellites and from windmill blades to sporting goods. Most of these composites are made using fibers and resins that are derived from petroleum. Since they tend to be non‐degradable, non‐ recyclable and non‐reusable, most of them end up in landfills at the end of their life. Green composites made from plant‐based fibers and resins on the other hand are fully sustainable and compostable.

Since the beginning of the research on green composites that started only 25‐30 years ago, a significant progress has been made. Natural fiber reinforced green composites now can be found in many applications from automobile parts to housing and from furniture to packaging. Advanced Green Composites with high strength and toughness comparable to Kevlar® based composites can now be made using cellulosic fibers.

This presentation will discuss the research progress in the field of green composites including self‐healing and fire resistant green composites.

Biography

Dr. Netravali received his Ph.D. in Fiber & Polymer Science from North Carolina State University in 1984 and joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Cornell University as a postdoctoral associate. In 1987 he joined the Department of Fiber Science & Apparel Design as an assistant professor. Currently he is the Jean and Douglas McLean Professor of Fiber Science. His main research is in the fields of Fiber Reinforced Composites, Green Materials and Green Processes. Within the area of green materials his group has developed Green resins from plant‐based proteins and starches and reinforced them using plant‐based fibers to fabricate environment‐friendly, Green Composites and Advanced Green Composites for a variety of applications.

Dr. Netravali is a member of the American Chemical Society, the Fiber Society and the American Nano Society. He is an Adjunct Professor in the Dept. of Materials Science & Engineering at Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, AL. He is the Editor of Reviews of Adhesion and Adhesives (RAA) and serves on the Editorial Advisory Boards of 6 international research journals. He has over 170 research publications and book chapters and has edited or co‐edited four books. He has presented his research at numerous conferences as Keynote and Plenary speaker. He was the winner of the ‘Green of the Crop’ in the Inventor & Entrepreneur category in New York in 2010 and received the 2012 Founder’s Award by the Fiber Society in recognition of his outstanding achievement and commitment to the science, engineering and technology of fibers and fiber‐ based products.