Building Bridges: STEM College to High School Students

YSU got a good look at its future engineers on Friday, March 1st, at the Fifth Annual Mahoning Valley Miniature Bridge Building Competition. The competition gathered high school students from around the Valley to participate in building balsa wood bridges, which are then tested to see which team built the best bridge.

Each year, students gather from different schools, into groups of two to three, to build model bridges. They are given twenty balsa wood sticks, three three-foot long balsa wood sticks, one balsa wood plank, and medium-density super glue. With those supplies, the students have a maximum of three hours to build a miniature bridge that they will test by days end. They test the bridges to see which bridge has the highest load-to-weight capacity. Continue reading

CTME Advisory Board Meeting

YSU’s Center for Transportation and Materials Engineering held an Advisory Board Meeting in Moser Hall, Friday, January 6, 2020 with 16 members present including Ms. Cynthia Gerst, Research Program Manager at the Ohio Department of Transportation. The Advisory Board sets policies and procedures for the CTME which are the guidelines Joann Esenwein, as Director, uses to make decisions throughout the year. The Board also has input on the selection of research, outreach and workforce development projects selected for funding. Ms. Gerst presented an overview of the ODOT Strategic Research Plan. Ms. Esenwein went over the highlights of 2011 which included the submission of a proposal for new funding through the University Transportation Centers program, submitted in collaboration with the University of Pittsburg and University of Akron. Additional highlights included YSU’s Transportation Career Day, an ODOT visit, and funding received from ODOT District 4. Esenwein also informed the Board that the call for white papers for new research activities within the current funding cycle went out January 3, 2020 and are due January 18, 2020.

Professor Kin P. Moy Received Prestige SAE “2011 Technical Standards Board Outstanding Contribution Award”

Professor Kin P. Moy, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering Technology, has been selected by the Motor Vehicle Council of Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) to receive the 2011 Technical Standards Board Outstanding Contribution Award in recognition of his outstanding service within the technical committee activities of SAE.

Professor Moy was the only engineer from an academic institution to receive this award in 2011 and was officially recognized in the 2011 SAE World Congress during the Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, April 12th at Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan.

The purpose of the Outstanding Contribution Award is to recognize individuals for outstanding service in the technical committee activities of SAE International including:

  • Outstandingly valuable contributions to the work of SAE technical committees.
  • Unusual leadership in the activities of an SAE technical committee.
  • Significant contributions as a representative of SAE to the accomplishments of technical committees of other organizations or of government agencies.
  • Outstanding contributions to SAE technical committee work in the form of research, test methods and procedures, and/or development of standards.

Due to active participation into the EMC standards activities, Professor Moy has been awarded numerous research grants from the Hong Kong Productivity Council, Automotive Research & Testing Center of Taiwan and the U.S. Department of Transportation via YSU’s Center for Transportation & Material Engineering (CTME). Much of the technical knowledge gained from these activities has been incorporated into his classes to enrich students’ ability to understand real world global engineering issues.

This award enhances Youngstown State University’s Global image as an Urban Research University.

7th Annual ASM Summer Camp for Pre-college Teachers

The CTME along with the ASM Materials Education Foundation co-sponsored a “Materials Camp” for pre-college teachers the week of July 11– 15, 2011, which culminated in a luncheon hosted by Dr. Martin A. Abraham, Dean, College of STEM.  Joann Esenwein, CTME Director, Youngstown State University, served as the Materials Camp Coordinator for the first time. The master teachers included Mr. Thomas Glasgow, Ms. Georgia Peet, Mr. Eric Towers. Mathew Coppage, current YSU student and CTME Intern, and Jenifer Miller assisted the master teachers.

Twenty-five pre-college educators participated in this year’s camp and learned the basics of Material Science Technology with hands-on metal, ceramic, polymer and composite projects.  ASM workshop materials can be used as a basis for teaching a stand-alone MST course or infused into an existing science and technology course with the common goal of exciting students about science, technology and engineering.

The ASM workshop was developed at the University of Washington and Edmonds Community College and supported by the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technology Education program.