DIMENSIONS - Iowa State University

Kathryn Hining:Outstanding senior in mechanical engineeringMajor: Mechanical engineeringHometown: Quincy, IllinoisClubs and Activities: Iowa State Club VolleyballTeam, various intramural sportsAwards and Honors: Dean’s List, First-Year Honors MentorGrant, highest 2% of engineering freshman, NationalMerit Special Scholarship, Return to Iowa – GenerationsScholarship, Meier Family Endowed Scholarship ,John P. Keller Endowed Scholarship in MechanicalEngineering , Raymond A. and Kathryn A. Engel Fundin Mechanical Engineering, William and Emily HainesMemorial Scholarship, Award for Competitive ExcellenceKathryn Hining’s musical taste earned her the nickname“Beatles Girl,” her sports skills have earned 14 intramuralchampionship t-shirts and a fifth in the nation place withIowa State’s club volleyball team – all while earning tophonors studying mechanical engineering at Iowa State.Hining hails from Quincy, Illinois and is a thirdgeneration Cyclone. Both her parents andgrandfather studied engineering at Iowa State.“At first I was like, ‘I want to go somewhere new, I want tobe different.,’” Hining said. “I didn’t want to do exactly whatmy parents did. And I visited campus and I was like, ‘alright,never mind.’ I loved it and my parents were super excited.”Hining considers balancing the demands of mechanicalengineering while also creating lasting memoriesand friendships her greatest accomplishmentthroughout her four years at Iowa State.Maintaining a busy schedule and staying on top of her studieswouldn’t have been possible if not for the people Hining met andrelationships she’s formed over the course of her time in Ames.Forming study groups was crucial for Hining while in mechanicalengineering, to be able to work together and bounce ideas offof one another. Her biggest piece of advice for freshmen andunderclassmen within engineering is to “find your people.”“Find true friends, find people that are going to help you whenyou’re struggling, find people that are hopefully smarter thanyou,” Hining said. “I try to study with people that are betterthan I am at that subject, you don’t want to be the one that’sdragging all your friends along, you want to find people thatcan build you up and make you stronger and I think that’s whyI did well at Iowa State, because I was lucky enough to findthose people pretty early and I’ve had them all four years.”Having a role model such as teaching professor ofmechanical engineering, Gloria Starns, was pivotal forHining, a fellow female in the STEM field. So much so, thatHining would prematurely scour course catalogs to ensureshe was placed in Starns courses for the semester.“She’s just so pro-lady engineers, that I just loved her,”Hining said. “She’s uniting the women left and right. Shewas the first professor that I had felt comfortable talking tothat I knew, knew my name, knew that if I had a problem thathad nothing to do with school, that I could talk to her.”When Hining isn’t blasting Beatles music outside CurtissHall or doing homework, she can usually be foundoutdoors, participating in any activity where she can showoff her athleticism, or doing things that help her minddecompress after a long day of staring at a screen.Post-graduation, Hining is going to work for Hoss and BrownEngineers, a consulting firm in Kansas City. Her first project isgoing to be visiting the Pentagon, right away after graduating.Contributed by Sierra Hoeger/Engineering College Relations“Find your people”Read about another effort thataims to connect ME students:me.iastate.edu/like-me-article5

Creating a safe environment for in-personmechanical engineering classesLauren Perdue (left) and Jacob Bevirt work on their laptops during ME 270: Introduction to Mechanical Engineering Design on Sept. 24, 2020.When Iowa State University was given the go-ahead to openup for fall classes, faculty, staff and student technicians in themechanical engineering department quickly made every effortto prepare lesson plans, classrooms, labs and other spacesto be as safe as possible so students can get the hands-onengineering education Iowa State is known for while alsotaking the necessary steps to reduce the spread of COVID-19.Much of this effort has been coordinated by mechanicalengineering (ME) department chair Caroline Hayes.Hayes, who also serves as the Lynn Gleason Professor ofInterdisciplinary Engineering, said that all of the “unknowns”early on made planning for the fall exceedingly difficult.“Back in March, when we first started planning for fallsemester in a COVID world, we didn’t know yet whetherwe would be teaching online or in-person,” said Hayes.“The virus was so new that scientists did not how itwould behave, or how one can best guard against it.”In May the uncertainty continued as disruptions insupply chains left Hayes questioning if they would evenhave access to disinfectants, hand sanitizer, personal6ME 2020protective equipment (PPE) and other gear that hasbecome essential during the COVID-19 era.“It was really scary to think that we might have to startthe semester in-person without those things. We wereconsidering making both hand sanitizer and masks if we couldnot get them through the normal channels,” said Hayes.Though the department did procure the necessarysupplies, it was also involved in its own efforts to producePPE using both traditional means as well as 3D printing.Hayes even drove to Iowa City twice to hand deliverboxes of face shields to the University of Iowa Hospitalsand Clinics and other health care organizations.“The sports rivalry side of things is fun, but in times likethese it’s important for us to come together,” Hayes said.The virus has drastically changed the way courses are deliveredand the way that classrooms and labs are set up. Hayes saidthat masks, physical distancing and good ventilation werethe three key necessities they kept in mind for designing safein-person instruction. Of these three, the need for physical

distancing in teaching spaces hashad the largest repercussions.“It jointly impacts the physical layout ofteaching spaces, and the way in whicheach class is structured,” said Hayes. “Inorder to give students adequate spacefor physical distancing, you need biggerteaching spaces. Unfortunately, forlaboratories requiring special equipmentwhich is wired or plumed into a specificroom, you can’t easily move it to a biggerroom without major construction –assuming we even had a bigger room.”Instead, personnel in the departmenthave thought of new ways of effectivelyusing the existing space. For example,by temporarily removing half the labstations to make space, and thenscheduling half the students to gatherdata on any given day. In another model,half the students on a lab team comein person while the other half connectwith their teammates remotely. Thenthey switch for the next lab session.Sebastien Feve, associate teachingprofessor of mechanical engineering,has made adaptations to his sectionsof M E 270: Intro to MechanicalEngineering design this semester. Partof these adaptations included activitiessuch as team quizzes (in-person) andearly assignment work check-ins (inperson and remote hybrid). Studentshave even had to adapt the way inwhich they communicate, with moreemphasis on web calls and email.“The learning curve for this new styleof communication was steep at firstbut I’m proud to see everyone hasbeen coming along nicely since thestart of the semester,” said Feve.Sandy Sayer, program coordinator forME and a member of the department’ssafety committee, led her team of teachinglab coordinators and student techs inmaking adaptations to the teachingspaces to ensure safety. It requiredconstant, summer-long collaborationEvan Christianson works on his laptop during ME 270: Introductionto Mechanical Engineering Design on Sept. 24, 2020.between her team and the instructorsto ensure the new set-up wouldsupport instruction, and vice versa.“What I hear most from students is thatthey are happy to be here,” said Sayer.“The students that I am around arecareful to wear their masks and physicallydistance because they want to continue tohave hands-on opportunities on campus.”The final challenge, and perhaps the mostdifficult of all, was to provide preferredsolutions that could meet the students’varied needs. Some students preferredin-person instruction, while others,including those already managing serioushealth challenges, felt safer continuingremotely until the virus subsides.“We needed to serve all of our students.You can’t simply deliver all classesin-person or all classes on-line andstill meet the needs of the students.They need options,” she said.Department personnel now look aheadto the spring semester, though manyuncertainties remain. Hayes and others inthe department will continue to monitor thesituation and will do everything possible toprovide a top-notch engineering educationwhile taking the necessary precautionsto lessen the spread of COVID-19.“It’s a work in progress, but I am proud ofthe efforts from everyone,” said Hayes.“We are still learning and watchingcarefully to see how spring goes. Sofar, fall semester has gone surprisinglysmoothly. But continued success ofin-person learning in the COVID-19 eradepends on the whole community, faculty,staff and students, continuing to be verycareful, and very proactive, both oncampus and also in their personal lives.”7

Iowa State alum turns passion project into areality with the help of Boyd LabWhen Sebastien Mueller (‘19 mech engr) was young, his dadtold a story about his quest to “save the Dahu,” a goat whoselegs are shorter on one side than the other, making it so Dahuscan only walk in circles around their mountain homes.The story was the inspiration behind the name for thebicycle Mueller crafted in Boyd Lab. Mueller hopesthat with his bicycle, riders will never want to leave themountain and continue going in circles around it.Dahus are fictional, but what are engineers if not makersof reality from what was once just imagined?Education Passion BikesGrowing up in Santa Cruz, California, Mueller wassurrounded by bikes. He had worked at a bicycle shopin high school and envisioned a future with them.“Since I was in college and doing mechanical engineering,I wanted to try and kind of put it together, my educationand something I enjoyed doing,” Mueller said.After learning of the Boyd Lab and meeting withCraig Severson, supervisor of the lab, Muellerwas itching to get started on a project.“We discussed it and we were both excited,” Muellersaid. “Overall it was just a way to kind of blend morethings I’m passionate about and my education.”Born from BoydThe Boyd Lab, located in Hoover Hall at Iowa State,provides students with the resources needed to completehands-on engineering projects. Tools such as powertools, hand tools, woodworking equipment, milling andturning equipment, metal-working equipment, weldersand a plasma cutter are all available for use.Never having used tools like this before, Mueller relied onhelp from Severson and Josh DeLarm, another lab supervisor,as well as problem-solving skills to craft the bicycle.“I went from never having done anything like this todesigning and building all the fixtures and workingwith Craig to see what geometry would work the best,”ME student Sebastien Mueller (right) and ME teaching labcoordinator Craig Severson pose with Mueller’s Dahu bicycle.Mueller said. “It definitely wouldn’t have happenedwithout the resources Iowa State let us use.”Throughout the duration of this project, Muelleralso learned about and got hands-on experiencewith the manufacturing process.Specialized SkillsWhile on a road trip to Santa Cruz with his brother, Mueller gotto visit Specialized, a bicycle manufacturing company knownfor creating the first production mountain bike. Specializedhad also donated parts to help Mueller complete Dahu.Right now Mueller works in the auto industry but plansto work in engineering bicycles in the future.“I really used skills that I developed in myeducation and my mechanical engineering degreeto be able to make this,” Mueller said.Contributed by Sierra Hoeger/Engineering College Relations“Sebastien designed a custom frame, selected the appropriate material, made custom jigs and fixtures,operated various machining equipment, and became proficient at TIG welding a challenging bicycleframe. The frame was designed with a slacker geometry for better stability and higher speeds.” Craig Severson, Boyd Lab Supervisor8ME 2020

Student hopes NASA internship will propel herto career in aeronautic or automotive industryFrom New Jersey to Australia to Michigan to California andback to Ames, Sara Mayne has done a lot during her short timeas a mechanical engineering student at Iowa State University.Mayne grew up in South New Jersey, east of Philadelphia.She was attracted to STEM at an early age becauseof her parents, Gigi and Joseph, who both work asprogrammers that studied computer science at Penn StateUniversity. She was also influenced by her oldest sister,Kristina, who studied civil engineering at Penn State.However, Mayne bucked the family trend of attending PennState, and instead opted to pursue her studies at IowaState. She remembers visiting Iowa State’s campus on anuncharacteristically warm February day – temperatures werein the 60s as she recalls – and she immediately fell in lovewith the picturesque campus and all that it had to offer.“I wanted that big school feel and that big college towncommunity, like my parents and sister had at Penn State,”said Mayne. “I loved the hands-on Boyd Lab insideHoover Hall and also the fact that they have a high-levelfootball team. It just seemed like I’d really fit in here.”Again deviating slightly from her parents and sister, SaraMayne decided to study mechanical engineering (ME). Shesaid her decision was influenced by her time on the FIRSTrobotics team in high school. She liked designing and buildingthe mechanical components for the robots and felt that MEwas her best path to continue to develop these interests.Classes such as M E 170: Engineering Graphics andIntroductory Design and M E 270: Intro to MechanicalEngineering Design further cemented her interest in thedesign and fabrication processes. She said that she liked ME 170 because it allowed her to design a project using theSOLIDWORKS software. During this process, she discoveredthat she could combine her analytical skills with her creativeside. She actually took the project that she designed for thiscourse and presented it during the spring 2018 EngineeringPitch Off contest and was ultimately named runner-up.“Then for M E 270 we’re solving a real world problemand manufacturing it ourselves. That helped mework through the entire process of designing andbuilding and modifying things,” she said.Just as these two courses have contributed positively toher professional development, she cites two ME facultymembers as being just as impactful: Paola Pittoni, associateteaching professor; and Gloria Starns, teaching professor.“I was in Dr. Starns’soffice hours like everyday last semester forour dynamics class.She gave me interviewadvice and was justa really awesomeprofessor,” saidMayne. “Dr. Pittoniwas my M E 170professor and is also the faculty adviser for SAESupermileage. She even wrote me a letter of recommendationfor the internship I ended up getting with NASA.”During the spring 2020 semester, Mayne served as anaeromechanics intern at NASA’s Ames Research Centerin Mountain View, Calif. She worked on three mainprojects during her three and a half month stint.The first project utilized the structural analysis skills shedeveloped in the ME curriculum back in Ames. She alsorelied on the SOLIDWORKS software that she has beentrained on at Iowa State. These were used to validatethe structural analysis of a future Mars helicopter.The second project she said was similar to her M E 270course. For this, she designed and tested the locking andactuating arms for a six-blade Mars helicopter. This projectwas unfortunately cut short when the COVID-19 pandemicforced NASA to close down most of its research park.However, she was able to complete the internship and for herfinal weeks she relocated to Arizona and worked remotelyfrom her aunt’s home. For this third project, she did a tradestudy on the folding legs of a Mars helicopter to optimizethe use of space in the aeroshell for its journey to Mars.In addition to the NASA internship, she completed an internshipwith Nexteer Automotive in Saginaw, Mich. During the summerof 2019. Back on campus, she is a member of Alpha SigmaKappa, a social sorority for “Women in Technical Studies”and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) student group.Mayne plans to complete her B.S. in ME in fall 2021. Aftergraduation, she wants to go on for a master’s degree and afterthat, hopes to work in either the aeronautical or automotivefields for an employer like NASA, SpaceX or Tesla.“I want to work for one of those places that’s really pushingthe envelope in terms of technological innovation,” she said.9

Using computer simulationsto improve clean energy generationThe research team will also utilize the NGA code developedby Capecelatro, which is capable of taking the informationobtained by the simulations of the largest turbulent particleladen turbulent flow performed with the ISU-GT-UM codeand computing the flow inside a commercial reactor. ThoughSubramaniam acknowledges these particular simulationsare not part of his current project, the research performed inthis regard will open the door to future studies in this field.Shankar Subramaniam, professor of mechanical engineering(left), and Jiazhong Zhou, Ph.D. student in mechanicalengineering, pose in front of the high performance computing(HPC) supercluster known as Nova, located inside theDurham Data Center on the Iowa State University campus.As the damaging effects of climate change become moreapparent, researchers are studying ways to generate energywith minimal impact on the environment. Computer simulationscould be the key to making this process more efficient.Shankar Subramaniam, a professor of mechanical engineeringat Iowa State University (ISU), is the principal investigator (PI)on a project titled “Advances in closure modeling for turbulentflows with finite-sized particles informed by massive simulationson heterogeneous architectures.” The National ScienceFoundation’s (NSF) Computation and Data-enabled Scienceand Engineering (CDS&E) program has provided more thana quarter of a million dollars to Iowa State University for thisthree-year study. The total award amount for the project to allthree institutions is 678,526, of which 262,072 comes to ISU.The research team will use highly accurate simulationsof turbulent particle-laden flow developed previously bySubramaniam and his colleagues combined wi

Iowa State’s club volleyball team – all while earning top honors studying mechanical engineering at Iowa State. Hining hails from Quincy, Illinois and is a third-generation Cyclone. Both her parents and grandfather studied engineering at Iowa State. “At first I was like, ‘I want to go somewhere new, I want to be different.,’” Hining .