C E N T R A L M I C H I G A N U N I V E R S I T Y C O L L E G E O F S C I E N C E A N D E N G I N E E R I N G

FALL 2018academichighlights

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CMU, an AA/EO institution, strongly and actively strives to increase diversity and provide equal opportunity within its community. CMU does not discriminate against persons based on age, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, height, marital status, national origin, political persuasion, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, race, religion, sex, sex-based stereotypes, sexual orientation, transgender status, veteran status, or weight (see http://www.cmich.edu/ocrie). Produced by University Communications and printed by CMU Printing Services. UComm 9975-14,700 (9/18)

Mussel-strengthening research CMU team assesses health of Kalamazoo watershed by testing condition of mollusksAsk Central Michigan University biology faculty member Daelyn Woolnough why she studies freshwater mussels, and she brings up canaries.

“They are kind of like the canary in the coal mine,” she explained. “If you start to see them declining, we start to see the decline in water quality. Then, we see a decline of higher level organisms, like fish, being affected.”

Preventing that decline is the mission she and her team of students worked on this summer in the

Kalamazoo watershed, a large portion of which was devastated by an oil spill in 2010.

Bolstering the project is a three-year, $499,000 grant from the Kalamazoo River Community Recreational Foundation. CMU also is partnering with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources on the research.

“This is really going to help the conservation of mussels across the state of Michigan and the Great

Lakes,” said Woolnough, who also is a faculty member of CMU’s Institute for Great Lakes Research.

Streamside educationAmong the summer student researchers were Megan Malish, from Mount Pleasant, Michigan, who is pursuing a

C S E N E W S C O L U M N

What’s new in CSEThe College of Science and Engineering continues to change to keep up with the needs of our students and faculty.

In July, the board of trustees approved designating two divisions of the college — Engineering and Informatics, and Mathematics and Natural Sciences — as part of the university-wide organizational review. This designation highlights the range of expertise and opportunities in CSE and will help promote our outstanding academic programs. A new Department of Statistics, Actuarial and Data Science will be created as part of this initiative.

Other new opportunities for students include the graduate program in biochemistry, cell and molecular biology that debuted last spring; the new facility in physics, where perfect crystals can be grown; and the chance to learn to use drones for scientific research.

What hasn’t changed is our focus on student and faculty success. In the pages that follow, you can read about research on pressing topics such as the health of the Kalamazoo River and the frequency of severe storms in Michigan, along with advances in technology to improve vehicles, computer accessibility, and fuel cells. These projects are just a few of the many ways that CSE faculty provide opportunities for students to engage in work that builds their skills and knowledge and prepares them for great careers while also benefitting communities in Michigan and beyond.

CSE Director of Development Robert Lake, who joined CMU last fall, would love to discuss CSE with you. You can contact him at 989-774-3773 or robert.lake@cmich.edu. •

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master’s degree in conservation biology, a program distinct among Michigan universities, Woolnough said.

Upon graduation, Malish wants to continue research on how human activity impacts the environment and share that knowledge with the public.

“I would like to work someplace like a natural history museum where you have research going on but you also have that outreach aspect, where you engage and teach the public,” she said.

Joining her on the river was Grace Henderson, from Brighton, Michigan, who majored in biology and minored in natural resources.

She previously did mussel surveys in the Grand River near Lyons, Michigan, and her own independent project on the Chippewa River.

“I’ve lived in Michigan my entire life, fishing and swimming in its lakes and rivers as a child. It seemed natural that in my college career I’d be involved in the conservation of that resource for the next generation to enjoy.”

She plans to pursue a master’s degree in conservation.

Unique to this studyWoolnough has researched mussels with students at a number of sites over the years, including the Grand River in Michigan and the Maumee River basin that connects to Lake Erie.

But this year’s research is unique in that the team had a mobile, stream-side lab to enable on-site experiments.

Team members were able to test water to see whether mussels from one site could survive in another, which would help in diversifying populations, Woolnough said.

The lab, a converted trailer, also served as a roving classroom. Teams took it into surrounding communities to show how mussels clean rivers and streams and why it is important for a community to guard against contaminants that could enter the waters and kill the mussels.

CMU, along with the Michigan DNR, were to develop Michigan’s first mussel hatchery as part of the project.

“We will use a portion of an existing MDNR fisheries research station in Saline to house and reproduce mussels to eventually increase the numbers or to add diversity to the Kalamazoo River,” Woolnough said.

Mussels’ importanceMussels are important because they remove contaminants from water as they filter it for food. The more mussels there are, the better the water quality.

Also, the more diverse the variety of species, the better the long-term health of the stream or river, because each species filters different things, she explained. Also, if an environmental event harms one species, the others will continue to do their work. And it’s a big job.

“Mussels can filter up to a swimming pool of water within a couple of days, depending on how many mussels are in the bottom of the river,” Woolnough said.

She was expecting to find species in the river that they’ve never found before, aided by the funding that allowed her to pay eight students to test at 100 sites this summer. By contrast, a much smaller team in 2012 worked at nine sites, where they found 17 live species, she said. •

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Emily Tinney’s senior research project has good news for future Michigan severe storm chasers, not-so-good news for builders.

The Central Michigan University meteorology major from Haslett, Michigan, has determined through computer models that there could be a 35 percent increase in the frequency of the most intense storms in Michigan.

“Knowing this will help us to prepare by building our infrastructure better and taking steps to protect our agriculture from more damaging storms,” said Tinney, who compared storm data from 1990-2005 to 2085-2100.

“No one has looked at how the change in weather patterns will impact Michigan in the future from a life-and-property standpoint.”

She presented her findings on April 24 at the state Capitol during CMU’s 17th annual Capitol Scholars event, which showcases CMU student research projects to the public and recognizes how they advance the understanding of science and technology.

Eyes on the storm

Tinney’s interest in weather began in childhood.

“A lot of meteorologists will tell you of a defining moment that got them interested in the weather,” she said.

Her moment came while visiting her uncle, who repaired cars and had a number of them on his Eaton County property. A tornado had come through the area in the 1970s and threw cars everywhere.

“As a kid, I would walk through the woods and see trees growing through the cars. It was the coolest thing. It was amazing to me that weather could make that happen.”

After that, whenever young Tinney heard tornado sirens, she would try to dash outside to see the approaching storm, she said.

Destined for CMU?

Her interest in weather gathered strength through her high school years and became the focus of her college searches. Her grandfather had his own choice in mind.

“My now-deceased grandpa always wanted to have a CMU granddaughter or grandson,” she said. “He never went to CMU, he had no ties to CMU, but he just wanted someone to be a Chippewa. And we still don’t know why.”

Tinney was impressed that CMU’s undergraduate meteorology program is the only one in Michigan that meets all the requirements set by the American Meteorological Society and National Weather Service. But she wanted to look around.

She considered nearby Michigan State University, in addition to other large universities around the state and country, but their size just didn’t feel right to her.

After Tinney’s two visits to campus and winning a full-ride Centralis scholarship, her grandfather got his wish.

Benefits of ‘small’

“As a CMU student, you don’t feel like you’re so tiny in a big place, but it’s large enough that you have many opportunities to learn. It’s big enough that you can meet lots of different

More frequent

severe storms?

Senior’s meteorology research predicts increase in Michigan

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Geology exam comes to CMUStatus as Michigan’s only test site could boost CMU graduates and programBecoming the first and only location in Michigan where budding geologists can take a national exam required for licensing could help Central Michigan University’s own geology students.

Administering the Fundamentals of Geology Exam here will allow CMU’s geology program to use it as an assessment tool to help determine how well students are prepared in eight fundamental content areas and improve on the program’s 85 percent placement rate in jobs and graduate schools, said Lawrence Lemke, chair of the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

The National Association of State Boards of Geology has approved CMU to be the only location in Michigan where geology majors can take the exam — a step toward becoming licensed. CMU seniors are encouraged to take the exam in their final semester or soon after graduation.

Before now, geology students and unlicensed geology graduates in Michigan had to travel to Indiana or Illinois to take the test, adding travel and lodging costs to examination fees that can run hundreds of dollars.

Those barriers blocked many students and geologists, especially those in mid- to upper Michigan, Lemke said.

For example, he said that while CMU graduates about 15 geology students per year, only 10 of them over five years have taken the exam.

“The number of students who will be able to take the exam will increase dramatically,” he said.

A license gives the holder a leg up on competitors in the job market, said Adam Heft, president of the Michigan chapter of the American Institute of Professional Geologists.

The tests are offered in October and March. •

people, but having the small Honors Program inside the larger university is great.

“Plus, the small size of the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences allows you to make really good one-on-one connections with the professors and be involved in their research projects. They are always available, and that has been a huge help.”

Her faculty adviser, John Allen, agrees the student-faculty relationship is an advantage.

“There’s a real personal aspect here,” he said. “The professors are approachable and know the students. I know what all my students’ problems are, and they know that if something happens I can help them. It’s a more tailored experience.”

Plus, undergraduates have opportunities to get involved in research, he emphasized.

“At the larger universities, you are one of 160 students. Here, you are one of 30 or so students.”

But the program is growing. The introductory class has risen from 20 students to the mid-30s in just a few years, he said.

While Tinney will attend graduate school this fall at the University of Oklahoma, considered one of the top meteorology schools in the country, she is confident that she will maintain the close friendships she has made at CMU.

“We always say that we are a big meteorology family.” •

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In case you’ve ever wondered, salamanders have personality. Not so much that they can do TV commercials, but some are aggressive, others are not.

Central Michigan University biology graduate student Shaundon Moore knows that from previous studies. What he wanted to find out with his CMU research was if their personalities affected the surrounding ecosystem.

Amphibians are an important part of our ecosystem, said Moore’s faculty advisor and fellow herpetologist Kirsten Nicholson, and the ones he is studying, though prevalent in Michigan, have not been studied much.

“He’s had a lot of brilliant ideas looking at the behavior of salamanders,” she said of Moore.

Specifically, Moore tested to see if the more assertive red-backed salamanders in Michigan are reducing forest habitats by eating large amounts of prey — such as insects, worms, spiders and slugs — that normally would break down leaf litter, rotting logs, mushrooms and the like. That breakdown adds nutrients to the soil, supporting trees, plants and valuable organisms.

“Basically, we’re trying to figure out if these aggressive personalities have a greater effect on the branch of the

animal kingdom under them than less-aggressive salamanders,”

Moore said.

Evidence from his research shows that may be the case, Nicholson said.

Conservation

For a broader perspective, personality might say a lot about the success of

invasive species and the success of threatened species,

Nicholson explained.

If you know the animal is very bold and it’s an invasive species, that

could be a big problem that you have to counteract, she said.

Salamanders with

personality

“On the other hand, when you are talking about a threatened species and you know something about their personalities, you might be able to predict how successful they are going to be in recovering and if there is something you can do about that.

“This is an untapped aspect of conservation research.”

Learning through teaching

Moore’s study not only gave him research experience, it also gave him experience in teaching and supervising others. He had three undergraduate seniors help him with various aspects of the study:

• Pamela Baldwin tried to determine the intelligence of salamanders by testing whether they can learn to associate a rock with a reward.

• Jacob Horsley tested whether head size and shape determine behavior.

• Chloe Bates researched whether predation influences coloration in the species.

“The collaboration with them has helped me become a better mentor,” Moore said. “I’m fortunate to have them in the lab.”

Choosing Central

Moore feels fortunate to be at Central.

When the Atlanta, Georgia, resident was looking for a graduate school, CMU’s affordable tuition and opportunities to develop as a biologist caught his attention.

The new Biosciences Building helped seal the deal, he said.

“After I saw what was going on here, I felt there was really room for me to grow, to learn about a variety of different fields from a variety of professors,” he said.

“In this new building, I can literally just walk down the hall and be in a different field of science and talk with professors and students. I feel like I’ve gotten a lot of help just by taking a walk — it has really helped me grow.” •

Biology graduate student finds CMU the

perfect habitat for his research

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When recent mechanical engineering graduate and current Ford Motor Co. employee Ian Eickholdt looks back at his accomplishments at Central Michigan University, he credits the support and mentoring he received from faculty and staff.

“From early on, I had professors like Ben Ritter and Daniel Chen who genuinely cared about my education,” Eickholdt said. “No one person can achieve his full potential on his own. I was very fortunate.”

Eickholdt’s successes include being chosen CMU’s Society of Automotive Engineers president, being president of CMU’s Baja racing team, winning CMU’s first SAE Rumbaugh Outstanding Student Leader award in 2017 and graduating in May with a job at Ford waiting for him.

Rough road

It’s not an easy road for a student to balance classes, be an SAE leader and build off-road racing vehicles.

“It’s a huge time commitment,” Eickholdt said, adding that he would sometimes put in 30 hours a week working on the vehicles. “But I wanted to do something that was more hands-on in addition to coursework.”

The students don’t just do all the engineering, design and welding on the vehicles, they also perform cost analyses and put together a sales presentation where they propose a startup company that could build at least 4,000 of these vehicles a year.

“It’s a lot more in-depth than just engineering,” Eickholdt said. “It’s like we’re essentially starting a business.”

The CMU Baja team has been growing in its success, more consistently placing in the top 10 against such schools as the University of Michigan and the Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of Technology — and beating them in some aspects of the competition, he said.

Beyond the race

But it’s not just about the race, it’s the grades — and where the combination can take a student.

SAE requires student members to have at least a 2.5 grade point average, soon to be increased to 2.75, Ritter said, adding that most students maintain at least a 3.0.

“If you want to work at a company like Ford, GM, Continental or BorgWarner, you have to have a 3.0 or they won’t look at your résumé,” said Eickholdt, of Rochester Hills, Michigan. “That’s how competitive it is.”

He kept his GPA above a 3.5.

While automakers want good students, they also want them to be well-rounded good thinkers, Ritter said.

GM and Ford executives are not just in their offices reviewing résumés, they are out recruiting at events like the formula car competitions at Michigan International Speedway or hosting engine plant meet and greets, Ritter and Eickholdt said.

“We’re meeting very high-level people, making those connections and networking that the average student wouldn’t have the opportunity to do,” Eickholdt said.

Automakers’ view

Daniel Nicholson, GM vice president of global propulsion systems, recognizes the value of being involved in SAE.

“Individuals who are engaged in SAE and who are interested in moving the industry forward through developing standards, teamwork and collaboration are valuable to General Motors and the industry,” Nicholson said.

Ford’s Gary Johnson, vice president of manufacturing, North America, also supports SAE and Eickholdt in particular. Johnson had met Eickholdt during previous visits to CMU.

“The fact that Ian represented the entire team at CMU, and now has won the Rumbaugh award, makes it incredibly special that he will represent both CMU and Ford in the future. Our manufacturing team at Ford is proud of him.” •

Racing to engineering leadershipBaja race team president is CMU’s first winner of statewide SAE honor

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Reed Kolany, a physics major at Central Michigan University, certainly isn’t one to stand around and wait for opportunity.

Back when he was a CMU freshman, the Naperville, Illinois, resident decided he wanted to be a medical physicist. Not long after, he set his sights on a highly competitive fellowship offered by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

He knew that as a freshman he’d likely be turned down.

So Kolany decided to “build his résumé” like fine masonry and wait to take his biggest swing as

an upperclassman.

And so, it happened. By the middle of his junior year the fellowship was his. Kolany was one of seven students in the country to land one.

“Things worked out in my favor,” Kolany said.

Chicago-based assignment

He was placed for 10 weeks — June to mid-August — at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

He spent the summer working with the center’s medical physicists on cases of incidental radiation hitting metastasized parts of the brain — that is, cancers that arrive from other areas of the body.

Kolany and the team studied a type of radiation treatment that involved very high doses.

“The radiation gives a very concentrated dose to the tumor, but it’s not perfect, so there’s some incidental radiation,” Kolany said. “We were looking to see if that incidental irradiation was preventing further tumors from growing.”

And that would be a good thing, right?

“Yeah,” said Kolany, “If that’s true, it would be great.”

No answers yet

Scientists don’t expect any answers for a while, Kolany said.

“It was a wonderful experience,” he said. “I was able to see the whole workflow: how a patient comes in needing treatment and how the process works.

“It was definitely interesting to watch and see if it was something I wanted to do.” •

Central Michigan University physics faculty member Junjie Yang likens himself to a farmer.

But instead of growing food, he is growing materials to power next-generation electronics and industry — and to empower CMU students to be the next leaders in those fields.

Specifically, Yang is growing crystals from atoms, using physics and chemistry. His immediate goal is to create crystals that would be used to replace the current silicon wafers in computers and other electronics, making them much faster with greater memory.

His dream is to grow new materials that would enable the control of both their electric and magnetic properties and operate at room temperature.

CMU student gets competitive fellowshipPhysics major devotes years to reaching coveted goal

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Physics lab takes quantum leapNew space allows students to help create new materials for super-fast electronics

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“That would be a breakthrough,” said Christopher Tycner, physics chair. He believes CMU is on the right path.

CMU hired Yang nearly a year ago to do this innovative research and gave him the resources to create a new lab in the Dow Science Complex. He put the finishing touches on the lab this summer.

Part of the lab is used to grow crystals with no imperfections and whose atoms align perfectly so the energy flow remains constant. Another part tests them under extreme temperatures and pressure, such as minus 456 degrees Fahrenheit and 145 tons per square inch.

If it passes the quality tests here, the sample is taken to a national lab, such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to test it for flaws with a neutron beam.

“The future belongs to those who can grow materials that don’t exist in nature, and CMU is on the leading edge,” Tycner said. “Think next-generation memory chips, sensors and circuits.”

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That means today’s CMU students can be involved in cutting-edge research. Phoenix Jones, a senior from Detroit majoring in physics, is one of them.

Jones wanted to be involved in research and development and joined the lab after hearing Yang lecture on materials science and learning about his lab.

“He’s given me a lot of experience that I can take into my future,” Jones said. “Realistically, I want to use all the things I’ve learned to do in his lab to get a job, and I have no doubt I will.”

Tycner agrees.

“For a student to be involved in potentially breakthrough research in materials science is an extraordinary opportunity,” Tycner said. “Yang’s students will have the experience that will open doors for them in industry.”

Yang also is a member of CMU’s research-intensive interdisciplinary science of advanced materials program involving physics, chemistry and engineering.

Computer chip maker Intel has hired students from the program right out of CMU, Tycner said. •

Physics lab takes quantum leap

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It didn’t take long for Natalia Zakharova to launch into research after joining the earth and atmospheric sciences faculty in August 2017.

At the end of January, the Central Michigan University assistant professor joined 33 scientists from around the world to study one of the most seismically active areas in Europe: a 5-million-year-old rift in the Gulf of Corinth.

The expedition drilled deep into the “young” rift for sediment cores that tell the geologic history of the area, such as faulting, landscape evolution, earthquake activity and climate fluctuations. Zakharova brought some core samples back to CMU, where she has been creating a lab that she and students will use to study the conditions under which rocks break and rifts form.

“I really appreciate the support of the department.” Zakharova said of the opportunity to join the International Ocean Discovery Program expedition conducted by the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling.

Part of Zakharova’s role on the expedition was to study the cores on land at the University of Bremen in Germany and integrate the new data with other data sets on the gulf.

The data will “help us understand other active and ancient rift zones around the world,” said co-chief scientist Donna Shillington, of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, in a news release.

From Russia to CMU

Zakharova’s specialty is geophysics, which means she uses physics to understand the Earth’s past. Her main interests are in energy resources, environmental protection and climate change solutions.

She was born in Russia and did her undergraduate and master’s work at Moscow State University. She received her Ph.D. at Columbia University in New York, where she also did postdoctoral research.

While her experience at Columbia was rewarding, she yearned to do more than research.

“I wanted to work in an academic environment where I could combine research with very good teaching. At CMU, I get both components.

“I also wanted to work in a smaller department where there would be a more collegial atmosphere. I loved the people here when I interviewed, and the joint emphasis on research and teaching and the potential for growth seemed to be a really good fit.”

She said she hopes that her experience on the expedition will open the door for CMU graduate students to participate in the future.

“Natalia’s participation in the Gulf of Corinth expedition is exciting for CMU geology students and faculty alike,” said Lawrence Lemke, chair of the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

“CMU geology students have already benefited from her ability to explain quantitative concepts in her classes, and they are eager to take her geophysics class in the fall.” •

CMU faculty member joined a global team looking for climate data beneath the ocean

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Computer with a key differenceWhen you walk into any coffee shop, college library or office, you see fingers flying across computer keyboards.

But what if you don’t have fingers, or can’t use the ones you have? How do you communicate? How do you fit in?

That’s the issue Central Michigan University computer science faculty member Tony Morelli and graduate assistant Taylor Ripke, of McBain, Michigan, are tackling. They’re refining a computer system that has a projected image in place of a keyboard and a monitor that doubles as a camera.

Morelli demonstrated the system at an assistive technology conference and trade show in the spring at California State University, Northridge.

How it works

The “keyboard” is a flat pad onto which a few isolated characters and commands are projected — not the entire alphabet. By moving a finger, hand or the end of an arm, the user chooses characters, tabs and spaces. When the user indicates the empty space between two of the projected letters, say A and G, the letters within that range will appear and can be selected.

The computer’s camera sees the choices and adds them to the screen as the user “types.”

“It doesn’t matter what the person’s hand looks like or how it functions, as long as it’s in view of the camera. Any person can use the system as long as they can move their finger, hand or arm to the letter they want,” Ripke said.

Growth of an idea

In the late 1990s at Purdue University, Morelli was part of a service-learning senior project that was to address human, community and environmental needs. He knew people whose children with motor impairments wanted to use computers, and his project group decided to try to help.

He found a computer touchpad and experimented. They used the ending of a nursery rhyme as a signal for a child to push a green button on the pad to continue, and he substituted a green sheet of paper for the button. The idea was that once the child learned to hit the sheet of paper, it would be cut in half, and the child would learn to hit smaller and smaller targets as steps on the way toward using a keyboard.

“We didn’t quite get that far,” he said.

But the idea of helping people with disabilities who couldn’t use a keyboard stuck in his head.

Later, when Morelli saw the computer built by Hewlett-Packard called HP Sprout, with a touch pad in place of a standard keyboard, the idea of an accessible keyboard came back to him. He contacted HP, and it lent him some Sprouts.

He sketched out a plan and gave it to his undergraduate student at the time, Brad Wojcik, to implement it for his senior project. Wojcik programmed the first version of the system, conducted a study where people would try it using a finger and fist, and got good results, Morelli said.

Changing hands

Morelli chose Ripke to help advance the project because of his expertise in computer vision.

Now the team is thinking of other ways the interactive technology can be used, perhaps including people who are visually impaired by adding sound, Ripke said.

Morelli and Ripke would like to develop a system for elementary school classroom use.

“The technology is very new,” Ripke said. “We are just beginning to explore its capabilities.” •

Faculty-student team creates system for people with physical disabilities

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Drone class targets opportunityNew course prepares students for FAA certification, in-demand jobs

Commercial drone use keeps climbing, and many companies are looking for candidates with the skills and certifications to take them to the next level.

Central Michigan University is on a trajectory to help students fill that need.

Benjamin Heumann, a faculty member in geography and environmental studies, has designed and taught a new course — Drones: Theory, Application and Society — on regulations for drone use and opportunities for skilled pilots.

“We are doing everything involved in drone operation except the actual flying,” he said. “The goal is to prepare students to operate drones in the commercial environment and to think about them more professionally.”

Soaring opportunities

While drone-like vehicles have been in use, mainly by the military, for 100 years, commercial use has skyrocketed since Amazon announced in 2013 that it was testing the use of drones for delivery.

Drone permits approved by the Federal Aviation Administration have increased from just two in 2014 to 3,100 in 2016 and keep climbing, fueled by clarified and relaxed FAA rules.

“Now anyone can take an FAA test for safe UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) commercial operations,” Heumann said.

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International predicts that by 2025 the commercial drone industry will create more than 100,000 jobs in the U.S., from commercial businesses like real estate to sports broadcasting.

Megan Miller, majoring in geography: geographic information sciences, took Heumann’s class because she is looking to the future.

“With the growing use of UASs in everything from agriculture to search and rescue, we as students are bound to find where they play a part in our future careers,” said Miller, from Pewamo, Michigan.

“This class makes us more marketable for drone-thriving industries ahead.”

Academic research

Drone use also has been a great help to academic researchers, Heumann said, citing geology students who use them for mapping deposits and mine modeling, meteorology students who use them to collect atmospheric samples, engineering students who use them for surveying and infrastructure inspections, and journalism and cinematic arts students.

He said the interest in his first class was so high he had to find a larger room to accommodate the numbers.

John Gross, an earth and ecosystem sciences doctoral student from Brighton, Michigan,

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researches and maps biodiversity, the number of species in a given area and their relative abundance.

“What we’ve been working on is trying to create models that can predict indicators of biodiversity and mapping those in such a way that you can look at an image that we created with the drone and identify areas of high and low biodiversity for conservation purposes,” he said.

As a master’s student at CMU, he heard about Heumann’s background and talked with him about using drones for his mapping.

“They’ve been a very useful tool,” Gross said.

“I think drones are going to become increasingly used in remote mapping and other scientific research because the technology is developing and the cost is decreasing. I think there are a lot of opportunities for drones to help answer questions that previously people have fumbled with.” •

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New degree crosses boundariesDepartments, college team up for biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology program

Biochemistry, cellular biology and molecular biology happen on a small scale, but bringing them together for a new Central Michigan University graduate degree program took some big-picture thinking.

Specifically, it took months of collaboration by CMU’s departments of biology, chemistry and biochemistry, and the College of Medicine, said Xantha Karp, associate professor of biology. Karp chairs the committee administering the new postgraduate program.

“Our program is somewhat special in Michigan in that it brings together multiple departments within a single program,” Karp said of the program that started last fall.

“Bringing together faculty and students from biology,

biochemistry and medicine results in outstanding

opportunities for students to study and investigate important questions

in basic biomedical science,” said Jane Matty, acting dean of the College of Science and Engineering, which houses the chemistry and biology departments.

“The program was created to take advantage of CMU’s broad expertise in biomedical sciences and our excellent laboratory facilities to train new scientists for exciting careers,” she said.

Two birds with one stone

The new biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology program targets two pressing needs: postgraduate options for life-science students, and

student research partners for faculty, particularly in the College of Medicine.

Because med students are in a professional program and not a traditional graduate school, Karp explained, they don’t have the same research obligations.

“Those students are there to learn to be medical doctors. Some of them do a little bit of research, but that’s not their primary role there,” she said, “whereas medical school faculty are expected to be not only teaching those med students but actively engaged in research.

“There’s a real need for graduate students who can do a research-based thesis in their labs,” and the BCMB program calls for exactly that.

Meanwhile, a lot of undergraduates want to “get to that next career stage” by earning a master’s degree or Ph.D. at CMU, Karp said.

The program’s research emphasis and in-demand subject matter tee up a number of career possibilities, according to Karp. For Ph.D. students, options include biomedical positions in academia, government labs and private companies; education; consulting firms; nonprofit organizations; and more. The master’s degree program prepares students for biotech jobs or entry into professional schools in health professions, including medicine.

And the job outlook is good.

“In Michigan and nationally,” Karp said, “employment predictions for careers in the life sciences show a projected increase over the next eight years ranging from 4.5 percent to 19 percent.”

Strong selling points

The BCMB webpage casts a wide net for candidates, promoting the opportunity to “conduct high-impact, original research with award-winning faculty mentors in state-of-the-art facilities, all while residing in the beautiful (and affordable) state of Michigan.”

The message goes to the heart of CMU’s identity: big enough to matter, small enough that each student matters. •

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Driving for a better fuel cell DOE grants power the work of an international team of CMU researchers

When Yazan Maswadeh, of Jordan, decided to pursue his Ph.D., he didn’t search the web for universities, he looked for researchers who were doing work in his field of crystallography.

“I was seeking high-level research. There are very few people in the world who are conducting this kind of research.”

That’s how he found Valeri Petkov, a faculty member in Central Michigan University’s physics department.

“His research areas interested me,” Maswadeh said. “So I just sent him an email saying that I am a student from Jordan who has just finished my master’s degree in physics and my research interest is in atomic structural analysis. If you have a Ph.D. position, I would be a valuable component to your research.”

Petkov interviewed Maswadeh online and encouraged him to apply to CMU.

“I did not have prior knowledge about CMU or where it was located. But I thought ‘I’ll apply to this university.’”

Now as a doctoral student in the science of advanced materials program in CMU’s College of Science and Engineering, Maswadeh is part of an international team of CMU researchers working to identify the weak points in fuel cells and give feedback to other researchers to improve them. The research is being funded by another $238,000 in a seven-year string of

grants from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Petkov, originally from Bulgaria, leads the team. He is joined by Joseph Ausmus, a physics master’s degree student from Iowa, and physics postdoctoral researcher Jorge Vargas-Tellez, from Mexico. A student from China is expected to join them this fall.

Why fuel cells

The United States and other countries are looking for cleaner and more efficient power sources to replace fossil fuels.

“The biggest challenge,” Petkov said, “is to come up with an energy supply that is all around us, is portable, doesn’t need special investments into grids, and that anybody can use to power their car, house or business.”

Fuel cells are very efficient, about 70 percent compared to 26 percent for gasoline in cars. They don’t pollute and their hydrogen “fuel” is abundant. Indeed, there already are 31 hydrogen fueling stations in California to keep cars with fuel cell “engines” rolling. And while it can take hours to charge a fully electric car, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles can fill up in about three to five minutes — just a bit longer than it takes to fuel a car or truck with gasoline.

But they have their problems, Petkov said, particularly in cars. He noted that currently they cannot operate in

extreme temperatures and are too costly for the average person. Nonetheless, federal agencies, the Army and many companies — including IBM, 3M, GM, GE — are spending big money to try to perfect fuel cells. And they need to be tested.

The CMU team

That’s where Petkov and his team of chemists and engineers come in. Collaborators from industry and academia give them the latest fuel cells so they can identify problems and offer potential solutions. Precious or rare metals — such as palladium, platinum, gold and iridium — are needed to accelerate the sluggish chemical reactions inside the cells but are too expensive, Petkov said. So they are testing alternative materials.

The team does much of its research near Chicago at the Argonne National Laboratory, which provides the type of X-rays needed to test the alternative materials as they function inside the cells.

Maswadeh is using his knowledge to analyze the microstructure of the materials down to the atomic level to see if an answer lies there.

“For now, this is a hot topic,” Petkov said. “There’s a feeling in the air that they can finally make it work in a few more years.” •

CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITYMOUNT PLEASANT, MI 48859

Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Mount Pleasant, MI 48859 Permit No. 93

It’s good that ice storms can’t stop Brian DeJong.

In 2007, he drove to Central Michigan University through such a storm to interview for a job as an assistant professor of engineering. When he arrived, he discovered classes were canceled.

“There was like me and three professors on campus,” he said with a laugh. “I loved the campus, but I went away thinking ‘they don’t want me.’”

But they did, and 11 years later the now-associate professor of engineering was honored March 2 as the Michigan Science Teachers Association’s 2018 College Science Teacher of the Year.

He was chosen for modeling best teaching practices, inspiring students, demonstrating innovative teaching strategies, being an excellent role model for students and teachers, demonstrating leadership, and exhibiting a passion for science and teaching.

Making an impressionDeJong has made an impression on his colleagues and students alike. They say he sets high standards but is fair, quickly

DeJong named Teacher of the YearMichigan Science Teachers Association notes his leadership, passion, role modeling

learns his students’ names and uses a lot of hands-on examples to make lessons relevant.

Andrew Ruby, a student who nominated him for the award, said DeJong makes learning fun and always puts his students first, whether it’s giving extra attention to someone struggling or missing a meeting to stay after class to make sure students understand a concept.

Terry Lerch, director of the School of Engineering and Technology and one of several colleagues who endorsed him, noted DeJong’s emphasis on hands-on learning, including:

• Creating a Lego robot king of the hill competition.

• Coordinating the designing, building and racing of cardboard boats across Rose Ponds each year before CMU’s homecoming football game.

He also teaches engineering summer camps for K-12 students.

“Teaching is my passion,” DeJong said. “I love seeing students excited to learn and seeing the lightbulb go on when they realize they have grasped a concept.”

RootedThat passion for teaching has deep roots in the DeJong family. His father was a mechanical engineering professor, his mother was a principal, his two sisters and a brother are teachers, and another brother is an engineer.

“I was brought up thinking like an engineer,” he said. “I like math, research and solving problems. I also have always liked teaching and helping people.

“I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

DeJong is the first winner in the School of Engineering and Technology.

More than a jobIt wasn’t just landing a job that motivated DeJong to drive those icy roads to CMU in 2007. It was about making a positive difference.

“I knew that in coming to Central I could get in on the ground floor and help design the curriculum. I’ve done a lot of that.”

Among his accomplishments are redesigning the freshman engineering course and creating the junior-level mechatronics course. In addition, he coordinates the mechanical engineering program. •