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S U MM E R 2 0 1 4
ENGINEERING
SOLUTIONS
A PUBLICATION OF THE FRANCIS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Innovation and
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurs Fabricate
Artificial Limbs for Children
PAGE 4
In this Issue
Dear Alumni, Colleagues and Friends,
Summer provided us an opportunity to reflect on a
tremendous spring. First, the National Science Foundation
(NSF) recognized our significant efforts in the area of
wind-energy research, especially in the design and
manufacture of large-scale composite blades, and approved
an Industry/University Cooperative Research Center
for Wind Energy, Science, Technology and Research
(WindSTAR). The effort, years in the making, is led by
mechanical engineering Prof. Christopher Niezrecki.
The project is a collaboration between UMass Lowell and the University of Texas
at Dallas, along with Iowa State University, Southern Maine Community College,
the Maine Ocean & Wind Industry Initiative and Kid Wind.
Second, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has awarded
a planning grant to a UMass Lowell-led initiative called “Facilitating Industry by
Engineering, Roadmapping and Science (FIBERS),” which aims to advance
manufacturing of composite materials in the United States. The effort, led by
Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and mechanical engineering Prof. James
Sherwood, brings together 44 companies, five universities (including Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, University of New Hampshire, University of Delaware
and Iowa State University) and eight other organizations.
Third, Raytheon has formally agreed to fund the Raytheon–UMass Lowell Research
Institute, which includes outfitting space on the fourth floor of the Saab Emerging
Technologies and Innovation Center and housing scientists in the facility. The multimillion-dollar endeavor, headed by electrical and computer engineering Prof. Craig
Armiento, will support new research in the growing field of flexible electronics.
Finally, as if these three awards are not enough cause for celebration, an infusion
of funding totaling $5 million from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and
the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center will allow the university’s Massachusetts
Medical Device Development Center (M2D2) incubator to assist more than double
the number of companies from the current 52. According to M2D2 director and
Distinguished University Professor Stephen McCarthy, so far the center has facilitated
$4.6 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health and more than
$40 million from angel and venture investors, enabling companies to hire 152
new employees and 37 UMass Lowell interns. This is a wonderful example of
the impact that UMass Lowell has on the regional economy.
Young Entrepreneurs
Win Top Prize
6
A Passion for Cars
and the Environment
7
8
‘Mr. Meds’
to the Rescue
11
12
The Business
of Saving Lives
Change + New
Technologies=
Business Opportunities
Engineering
Capstone Program
College Highlights
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Nonspec co-founder and vice president Erin Keaney ’14
shows a prototype of the innovative prosthetic arm
that her company is developing for young amputees.
Keaney is a graduate of UMass Lowell’s Francis
College of Engineering, having earned a combined
bachelor of science/master of science degree in
plastics engineering in 2014.
4
Engineering Solutions is published
by the Office of University Relations
www.uml.edu/engineering
Joseph C. Hartman, Ph.D., P.E.
Dean, Francis College of Engineering
University of Massachusetts Lowell
University of Massachusetts Lowell
One University Ave.
Lowell, MA 01854
978-934-3224
Editor: Edwin L. Aguirre
Designer: Paul Shilale
Cover Photo: Joson Images
Sincerely,
2
4
University Expands
Space for
Entrepreneurs
10
And that brings us to the focus of this issue of Engineering Solutions: entrepreneurship and innovation. We look at this topic from a variety of perspectives, including (1)
students developing their ideas through the campus DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge,
leading to prototypes and funding for further development; (2) alumni who have
been successful in moving ideas to market and starting their own companies and (3)
professors infusing innovation into our curriculum. This final step has been spurred by
UMass Lowell’s inclusion in the Pathways to Innovation program funded by the NSF
and directed by the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance.
If you have a story to share or would like to partner with the Francis College
of Engineering, please feel free to contact me ([email protected];
978-934-2576 or via LinkedIn). I look forward to hearing from you.
1
Creating Pathways
to Innovation
Engineering Curriculum
to Innovation
Creating Pathways
Program to Incorporate Entrepreneurship,
Innovation into Engineering Curriculum
Today’s fast-paced, global economy presents curriculum challenges
for universities everywhere. But UMass Lowell Lecturer Daniel Sullivan of the Mechanical Engineering Department is optimistic.
“UMass Lowell engineering students will be
better suited to meet the challenges of the 21stcentury world economy if they are afforded an
educational experience that fuses rigorous traditional engineering curriculum with an outwardlooking entrepreneurial focus,” says Sullivan.
In response, the university is participating in a
new nationwide initiative, called Pathways to Innovation Program, to help school faculty and adLecturer
ministrators fully incorporate innovation and
Daniel Sullivan, Ph.D.
entrepreneurship into all aspects of undergraduate
engineering education. Pathways is created and run by the National
Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation (Epicenter), which
is funded by the National Science Foundation and directed by
Stanford University and the National Collegiate Inventors and
Innovators Alliance.
UMass Lowell is one of 12 schools that have been selected for the
first cohort, which includes California Polytechnic State
University, San Luis Obispo; Texas A&M University; University
of California, Merced; Michigan Technological University;
New Mexico State University; Tennessee Technological University; University of Pittsburgh and University of Wisconsin–
Milwaukee.
Representatives from each institution attend several workshops throughout the year and participate in online meetings,
webinars and working groups to analyze the needs and opportunities at their respective schools and develop action plans for
transforming the students’ learning experience. (see page 11)
“Pathways is a unique type of virtual learning academy where
teachers from around the country train, collaborate and learn
from some of the best scholars and practitioners in the fields of
creative thinking, engineering innovation and entrepreneurial
education,” explains Sullivan, who is one of the UMass Lowell
co-team leaders for the project.
Other members include Assoc. Vice Chancellor for Entrepreneurship & Economic Development Steven Tello; Engineering
Dean Joseph Hartman and Manning School of Business
Visiting Prof. Tom O’Donnell, who is the co-team leader.
“Pathways’ goal is to equip college and university-level educators with cutting-edge knowledge, tools and resources needed
to enable students to combine their technical skills and abilities
in developing innovative technologies that solve important realworld problems with an entrepreneurial mindset and skill set,”
says Sullivan. “We hope to empower UMass Lowell undergraduate engineering students into bringing their ideas to life for
the benefit of our economy and society.” ■
ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS
SUMMER 2014
1
University News
University
EXPANDS
Space for
Entrepreneurs
M2D2 Director Stephen McCarthy,
named UMass Lowell Distinguished
University Professor in 2012, holds
at least eight U.S. and two international
patents on biodegradable polymers.
An artist’s rendering of 110 Canal St. in Lowell, Mass.
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ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS SUMMER 2014
University News
M2D2 and Innovation Hub in Lowell
to Provide Startups Room to Grow
UMASS LOWELL is expanding space for
entrepreneurs, startups and new ventures in Lowell’s
emergent Hamilton Canal District, thanks to $5 million in
capital funding from the state.
The funding will help complete construction of the two top
floors of the newly renovated four-story, 55,000-square-foot
building at 110 Canal St. The university, the building’s first
tenant, is leasing 22,000 square feet of space from the
developer, Trinity Financial.
This new UMass Lowell Innovation Hub will have enough
room for as many as 40 entrepreneurs and early-stage ventures, helping them to test products and business concepts,
develop prototypes, raise funds and launch high-growth
businesses. It will also provide additional space for the
Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2),
a UMass Lowell–UMass Medical School partnership that offers
product and business development assistance, incubator
space and other support to medical device entrepreneurs so
they can quickly move their products and ideas from the lab
to the marketplace. M2D2 currently occupies 14,000 square
feet in Wannalancit Mills at 600 Suffolk St.
The $5 million is a combination of $1 million from Gov.
Deval Patrick’s Advanced Manufacturing Fund and an award
of $4 million from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center to
UMass Lowell for M2D2’s expansion.
“We invest in innovation because we believe in enabling
and encouraging industries that are using their brainpower to
help shape our future,” Patrick said in announcing the funding. “We look forward to seeing the great work that will
come out of the Innovation Hub.”
“This is great news for the university. This facility will provide much-needed innovation space for startup companies,
expanding beyond just the medical-device industry by supporting other startups,” says Chancellor Marty Meehan.
A MILL BUILDING REBORN
The third floor of the Canal Street building, a former mill,
is scheduled to open in the fall and will feature office space,
collaboration and meeting areas, industry suites and prototype-development and advanced manufacturing facilities.
“This expansion will double
M2D2’s current capacity and also
allow for the inclusion of biotech
companies,” says Stephen McCarthy, plastics engineering professor and M2D2 director. “We
expect to play a pivotal role in the
economic development of the
region as well as a real-world
educational experience for our
students and faculty.”
To date, M2D2 has helped 52
companies secure $40.5 million in
private funding and $4.6 million
in federal grants for R&D, enabling
them to hire 152 workers as well
as 37 UMass Lowell interns, said
McCarthy.
The Canal Street building was
built in 1920 by the Lowell Machine Shop, at one time a leading
manufacturer of textile-making
machinery and one of the largest
businesses in Lowell. It was occupied from 1954 to 2006 by the
Pellon Corp., which later became
the Freudenberg Nonwovens
Corp., a maker of lining materials
for the garment industry and other
technical applications. The building has been vacant since 2006.
The Innovation Hub’s strategic
location and proximity to UMass
Lowell will enable entrepreneurs to
access the expertise of faculty researchers and the resources
of the university, including M2D2 and the Mark and Elisia
Saab Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center—an
84,000-square-foot, $80 million state-of-the-art R&D and
academic facility that opened in 2012. The Saab Center
features a nanofabrication lab with clean-room facilities, a
materials characterization lab, wet lab and engineering lab
spaces and a plastics processing high bay, among others. ■
M2D2’s expanded space on the top floor, expected to open
for business in spring 2015, will include wet labs and offices
as well as prototyping and collaboration space.
ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS
SUMMER 2014
3
Cover Story
Young
Entrepreneurs
Win Top Prize
in Design
Competition
Team Fabricates Innovative
Artificial Limbs for Children
4
ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS SUMMER 2014
Jonathan de Alderete ’14 and Erin Keaney ’14
discuss the prototype of the prosthetic arm with
Tom O’Donnell, left, management and entrepreneurship
visiting professor in the university’s Manning School of
Business. In the background is the Arburg Allrounder
470 E injection molding machine at the Saab Emerging
Technologies and Innovation Center that was used
to fabricate the arm’s components.
Cover Story
development: “The university is thrilled to see
the hard work and success of our students recognized and rewarded by respected national
professional organizations like the ASME. This
recognition is a testament to the quality of
the students and faculty at UMass Lowell.”
GIVING A HAND, CHANGING A LIFE
NONSPEC—a startup company
established by UMass Lowell engineeringstudents-turned-entrepreneurs to design and
mass-produce low-cost prosthetic limbs for
children in developing countries—won the top
prize of $25,000 during the eighth annual
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
(ASME) Innovation Showcase, held in April
in Washington, D.C.
The ASME created the national competition
to “foster and promote creativity and entrepreneurial spirit within the next generation of innovation leaders.” The university beat eight
other entries from seven schools, namely Johns
Hopkins University, University of Virginia, Rice
University, George Washington University,
University of Hawaii, University of Michigan
and Western New England University.
“Nonspec is honored to receive the award,”
says Erin Keaney, one of the company’s
founders, who graduated in May with a combined bachelor of science/master of science
degree in plastics engineering. “The competition was fierce, and we were very impressed
with the innovative technologies highlighted
at the event.”
Other members of the Nonspec team
include Jonathan de Alderete, the company’s
CEO and co-founder who completed a master
of science degree in innovation and technological entrepreneurship, and Katherine Cain, who
earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, both in the spring, and Brendan
Donoghue, a mechanical engineering and
history undergraduate and co-op student.
“Nonspec greatly exceeded my expectations,” says mechanical engineering Prof.
Robert Parkin, the team’s senior capstone
adviser. “The team has now applied for a
patent through the university’s Office of Commercial Ventures and Intellectual Property.”
Adds Assoc. Prof. Steven Tello, associate vice
chancellor for entrepreneurship and economic
In war-torn regions of the world, the leading
causes of loss of limb or amputation are land
mines, terrorist bombings, accidents and the
lack of basic public health, which often leads
to infection and gangrene. Amputees have to
deal not only with the loss of physical ability,
but the disfigurement can also cause lasting
emotional and psychological trauma and loss
of dignity.
According to a 2006 report published by
the American Academy of Orthotists and
Prosthetists, a traditional prosthetic limb
made in a developing country can
cost up to $1,900 apiece, and
children can go through 25 limbs
or more in their lives.
C corporation and are working for Nonspec
as our primary employer.”
“We are witnessing the evolution of both
the product—the extendable prosthetic arm—
and the Nonspec team,” says Tello. “This is no
longer a student capstone project but rather a
sustainable business model and assistive technology device that strives to make a real difference in the world. It has been both rewarding
and fun to watch this evolution.”
He notes that awards and recognitions
of Nonspec from four different national
organizations over the past year—the International Association of Plastics Distribution, the
National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators
Alliance, the ASME and Moo.com—suggests
that the university’s plan to elevate and integrate entrepreneurship across academic and
extra-curricular programs was well-founded.
“This presents a major problem
since the average family income in
rural areas is typically around $300
annually,” the report states.
Nonspec’s goal is to fabricate
durable, customizable replacement
limbs that anyone can afford—the
team estimates the cost per unit of
its device to be $20 for the first
20,000 units. Using an innovative
telescoping system of thermoplastic
rods, the students designed the limb
to be “growable,”or scalable.
From left, Nonspec members Katherine Cain ‘14, Erin Keaney ‘14,
Jonathan de Alderete ‘14 and Brendan Donoghue pose with
the ASME check for $25,000 in Washington, D.C.
“This means children in developing nations
need to change their prosthetics fewer times
throughout their childhood, allowing them to
develop their muscles regularly and, overall,
enjoy a more normal, active and hands-on
life,” says de Alderete, who also earned a
bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering
from the university. “Our product can
also be adjusted for adult clients as a
life-long product.”
GETTING READY FOR THE NEXT PHASE
“The ASME prize money will sustain us
as we embark on human U.S. trials,” notes
Keaney. “The future of Nonspec is looking
bright. We have recently incorporated as a
“We knew our students could be
successful in national design and business
plan competitions; Nonspec’s success
proves this,” says Tello.
The company’s accomplishment is now encouraging other student teams to step forward
with their own ideas through the DifferenceMaker program, an initiative Tello introduced
last year as a way to engage students, faculty
and alumni in interdisciplinary activities meant
to explore real-life problems, create solutions
and make a difference in the community, the
region and the world.
“Everybody has ideas—if you don’t talk to
anyone about your idea, it’s not going
anywhere,” he says. ■
For more information, go to nonspec.org.
ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS
SUMMER 2014
5
Student Research
A PASSION
FOR CARS
AND THE
ENVIRONMENT
Students Help Make Combustion
Engine More Eco-Friendly
From left, Erik Christiansen, Jeremy Dorson and
Victor Maldonado present their concept and prototype
before a panel of judges during the DifferenceMaker
Idea Challenge held in April at the Saab Emerging
Technologies and Innovation Center.
t’s hard to be a car enthusiast, with
a love for big engines and lots of
horsepower, while also being an environmentalist, championing the green
technology of electric and hybrid cars
with smaller engines and better fuel
economy. But some engineers refuse
to give up on both. Recent mechanical engineering graduate, and now master’s degree
student, Erik Christiansen is one of them.
I
“I’m a diehard automotive fan. Since I was
young I’ve had a real passion for cars, and
there is always a place in my heart for big,
powerful combustion engines,” says
Christiansen. “But as I grew up, I kept
asking myself: ‘How can I enjoy cars
without harming our environment?’ ”
Christiansen’s answer is “OTTOnomous
CVVT,” a system that he and his team in the
6
ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS SUMMER 2014
DifferenceMaker program are developing to
provide continuously variable valve timing in
internal combustion engines. Named in honor
of German inventor Nikolaus Otto, who invented the four-stroke combustion cycle, or
Otto cycle, in 1876, OTTOnomous is designed
to replace camshafts that actuate the cylinders’
intake and exhaust valves with electromechanical actuators.
“The actuators use a high-performance electric servo motor, which is controlled by a computer aboard the car,” explains Christiansen.
“The combination of the actuator and logic
control allows valve-actuation events to be variable through a great range of valve lift, timing
and duration, allowing engineers to prescribe
optimal valve timing characteristics to suit all
operating conditions. The on-board computer
will instantaneously compute the valve lift, tim-
ing and duration that will net the highest
efficiency ever extracted from conventional
internal combustion engines.”
The team, which also includes electrical
engineering major Jeremy Dorson and Suffolk
University business major Victor Maldonado,
won first place in the “Innovative Technology
Solution” category and $4,000 in cash prize at
this spring’s DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge.
The group’s research suggests OTTOnomous
can help improve fuel economy by up to
40 percent and reduce emissions by up to
50 percent.
“This is needed as new CAFE, or Corporate
Average Fuel Economy standards, which define
the minimum fuel economy required for vehicles sold in the United States, are increasing,”
notes Christiansen.
‘Mr. Meds’
to the Rescue
Student Research
Award-winning Student Project Helps
Patients with their Medicine
TAKING MEDICATION—especially when
there are numerous pills that need to be taken
at different times of day and with different instructions—can be confusing. Fortunately, the
process may soon get easier, thanks to an invention by a team of UMass Lowell students.
“Mr. Meds,” an innovative mobile robot
designed to distribute pills to patients in
hospitals, nursing homes and rehabilitation
facilities, can make sure patients are receiving
their correct medication at the right time,
reducing potentially harmful or fatal errors.
Mr. Meds can also give nurses and other
health-care providers more time to attend to
the patients’ personal needs by allocating
the mundane task of dispensing meds to
the robot.
The team is actively raising funds and plans to
operate an engine fitted with OTTOnomous
by next year.
“We are confident we can achieve drastic
improvements in fuel economy and reduce
emissions,” says Christiansen, who entered the
university’s master of science in innovation and
technological entrepreneurship program this
fall. “A benefit to adapting this technology
is that it will require minimal changes to current
engine technology.”
He adds: “The DifferenceMaker program has
shown us how an emerging technology must be
framed within a strong business model, and how
to frame that business model around the technology with sound business theory, intellectual
property strategy and market research.” ■
The concept won the “Fan Favorite” award
at this spring’s DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge as well as an “Honorable Mention” at
the 2014 Cornell Cup USA competition in
Orlando, Fla. The Cornell Cup—presented
jointly by Intel and Cornell University—is a
unique, annual nationwide contest that
challenges undergraduate and graduate
students in computer science and engineering
to use embedded design and technology
based on the Intel Atom processor to help
create a better world.
“Our team first researched current statistics
on the number of medication errors that occur
in hospitals and how they happen, then gathered information on how inpatient pharmacies
handle and dispense medication,” explains
computer engineering graduate student and
Cornell Cup team leader Philip Colangelo on
how the idea for Mr. Meds began. “Once it
was decided there was a problem to be
solved in this industry, we wrote our proposal
for a mobile robotic pill dispenser. Further
research through online science journals and
meetings with pharmacists, pharmacy owners
and nurses proved to support our concept for
a pill storage and delivery machine.”
Other members of this year’s Cornell
Cup team were Gianni Falzone (Manning
School of Business graduate student),
Bryan Nguon (computer engineering graduate
student), Curtis Quintal (computer science
undergraduate student) and Vikas Subramani
(computer engineering graduate student).
Advising the team were Assoc. Prof. Yan Luo
in electrical and computer engineering and
Prof. Holly Yanco in computer science.
The engineers on the team had participated
in last year’s Cornell Cup, and Colangelo had
experience in prototype development in the
previous DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge,
winning the “Innovative Technology Solution”
category with a robotic feeding arm. The team
invited Falzone onboard to lead the development of its business plan for both competitions. Falzone is pursuing a master’s degree in
innovation and technological entrepreneurship
while Colangelo is completing his master’s
degree in computer engineering.
In the meantime, the team is focusing on
the potential consumer application of its “universal pill dispenser,” an automated system
designed to dispense pills of different shapes
and sizes. This eliminates the need to have a
different cartridge for each pill, as with current
products in the market. As the technology is
refined, the members will continue to pursue
potential business opportunities. ■
Graduate students Gianni Falzone, left, and
Philip Colangelo pose with Executive Vice
Chancellor Jacqueline Moloney after receiving
an award at this year’s DifferenceMaker Idea
Challenge.
ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS
SUMMER 2014
7
The Business
of Saving Lives
Alumni Focus
Alum’s Company to Help Combat Deadly Blood-borne ‘Superbugs’
A microbiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention examines petri dishes containing cultures
of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA,
bacteria (see the facing page), which is the leading cause of
life-threatening bloodstream infections and pneumonia in
hospital patients and an emerging threat for global pandemic.
8
ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS SUMMER 2014
Alumni Focus
S
epticemia and sepsis, also known
as “blood poisoning,” are lifethreatening conditions caused
by various infections, including those of the skin, lungs,
abdomen and urinary tract.
Unless aggressively treated
with antibiotics and intravenous fluids,
patients with these conditions usually
die from septic shock. Those who do
survive severe bloodstream infections
are more likely to have permanent organ
damage, cognitive impairment and
physical disability.
This view showing
In the United States, about 210,000
patients died from sepsis in 2011, a mortality rate of 28 percent, according to
Bob Ward ’71, president and CEO of
ExThera Medical Corp., based in
Berkeley, Calif.
numerous clumps of MRSA
bacteria was taken with a
scanning electron microscope at 9,560 times
magnification. The goal of
Bob Ward’s company is to
safely capture and remove
such pathogens and toxins
from the patient’s blood.
“Bloodstream infections are becoming
more common, and more deadly,” notes
Ward. “Overuse of antibiotics has promoted resistance. The threat is
increasing, but there are few new drug therapies in the pipeline.”
In response, ExThera has developed the Seraph® Microbind® Affinity
Blood Filter, an external single-use medical device designed to safely
remove pathogens and toxins from whole blood. It works by connecting the device to the patient using a catheter. A pump draws in
contaminated blood, filtering it. The cleansed blood is then returned
to the patient.
“Seraph’s proprietary filter media made from novel biomaterials can
capture harmful, increasingly drug-resistant bacteria that cause sepsis,
meningitis, Lyme disease, scarlet fever, strep throat and pneumonia;
viruses that cause hepatitis, herpes, hemorrhagic fever, encephalitis
and AIDS; and parasites that cause malaria, mad cow disease and
megacolon, just to name a few,” says Ward. “The technology can be
applied not only in treating dialysis patients but also in safeguarding
the banked blood supply.”
He adds: “Rapid treatment stops the disease’s progression and
decreases mortality and the risk of serious complications. It also reduces
the cost of hospital stays and medications.”
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION IN BIOMATERIALS
“ExThera is a privately held development-stage company founded
in 2007 with five full-time employees and several consultants and
advisers,” says Ward. “We hope to begin product sales in 2016.”
He says the company represents an “ideal” business model in innovation and entrepreneurship—it recognized an unmet clinical need and
created entrepreneurial opportunity by developing innovative biomaterials to address the growing global problem of bloodstream infections.
Before taking the helm of ExThera, Ward was founder and president/CEO of the Polymer Technology Group, now DSM Biomedical.
Prior to this, he served in various executive management positions
at Thoratec Corp. and Avco Medical Products. He has more than
40 years of experience in the development and manufacturing
of Class III medical devices as well as R&D/manufacturing of
novel biomaterials for critical applications. Materials and
components developed and manufactured under his direction
have been used in hundreds of devices and prostheses, such as
pacemakers, orthopedic implants and joints, catheters, stents,
contact lenses, implantable sensors and artificial hearts.
“Bob Ward is without peer in manufacturing polymeric biomaterials
for application in the hostile environment of the human body,” wrote
James M. Anderson, a Case Western Reserve University professor and
editor-in-chief of the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research.
Ward, who obtained a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in
1971 from UMass Lowell, then known as Lowell Technological Institute,
says the education and training he received went a long way in helping
launch his professional career.
“The university offered excellent value for the money,” he says.
“My engineering education has allowed me to do just about anything
professionally.” In 2012, UMass Lowell conferred an honorary doctorate
on Ward for his lifelong pioneering work in biomaterials
and medical devices.
He and his wife, Gail, live
in Orinda, Calif., where they
grow Syrah grapes and make
wine. When not scouting for
life-science companies of tomorrow, Ward pursues his
other passions, which include
playing bass guitar, glassblowing, golfing, scuba diving and
underwater photography.
To date, the Wards
have given nearly $2 million
in philanthropic contributions
to the university to further
advance its mission.
Bob Ward ’71 is a biomedical polymer
scientist, inventor and entrepreneur,
with many patents and more than 40
co-authored papers in peer-reviewed
journals. Here he is shown with his
wife, Gail, at their family vineyard in
Northern California.
“Support for public education is such an important
priority,” he explains. “Public
universities are a critical antidote to the concentration of
wealth in the hands of a very few, something, I think, that’s getting
worse and worse as time passes. It’s really so important that anyone
from anywhere who wants it has access to an education. So whatever
I’m able to do toward that goal, I’m happy to try to do.” ■
ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS
SUMMER 2014
9
Alumni Focus
Change+ New
Technologies =
Business Opportunities
ALUM USES FORMULA FOR SUCCESS
MICHAEL FAHEY ’88 loves to read about history and
technology. “I believe valuable lessons can be learned from
implementation of new technologies and their impact on
human development and the destiny of civilizations,” he says.
Take for example the huge transformation happening in
information technology, which he feels will have a dramatic
effect on all major markets for years to come.
“This new transformation includes cloud-based analytics,
virtualization, Big Data and Internet of Things, or IoT,
technologies,” says Fahey. “There are now great opportunities
to create new innovations and start new businesses which
would not be possible in an environment without change,
where dominant market leaders are locked into stale,
outdated technology and suppress innovation.”
Fahey is CEO of Sensi, a South Africa-based
medical device company that enables health-care
professionals to analyze and assess patients with
heart murmurs using an electronic stethoscope and
cloud-based application. He says there are huge
changes in America’s health-care system, particularly
with the implementation of the Accountable Care
Organizations (ACO) and the Patient Centered
Medical Home (PCMH) under the government’s
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,
commonly known as “Obamacare.”
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ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS SUMMER 2014
“The ACO and PCMH are huge
proactive business drivers for new
analytics and diagnostic solutions
using new IT technologies,” notes
Fahey. “Ultimately, the ability to
innovate and be entrepreneurial
means these waves of change will
create new business opportunities.”
Before joining Sensi this summer,
he was president of InfoBionic,
an emerging health company he
co-founded in Lowell in 2011 that
offers digital patient-monitoring solutions and is based in the
university’s Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center,
or M2D2 (see page 2).
“I started InfoBionic after I was diagnosed with arrhythmia,
or irregular heartbeat, in 2008 and was sent home with a cardiac event monitor, which is a technology from the ’80s using
a modem and landline telephone,” he recalls. “My health is
fine now but my shock that such archaic technology was still
being used at leading hospitals drove me to investigate
this opportunity.”
Fahey used his knowledge and experience to develop InfoBionic’s cloud-based Big Data and IoT solution for detecting
cardiac arrhythmias. “It is sold as Software as a Service, which
doctors now use to monitor their patients remotely,” he says.
Fahey graduated from UMass Lowell, then known as the
University of Lowell, in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in
electrical engineering and a math minor in computer science.
“Attending UMass Lowell was one of the best decisions of
my life,” he says. “The university gave me the confidence to
learn new technologies and the ability to see the parallels
between old technologies and new opportunities.” n
Engineering Capstone Program
Teaching Students
to Think Like
Entrepreneurs
Interdisciplinary Program Aims to Spur Innovation
A
s part of the Pathways to Innovation program (see page 1),
this fall the Francis College of Engineering and the Manning
School of Business are launching a pilot program where
engineering and business students will work together on
engineering capstone projects.
development. Electrical engineering Lecturer John Palma expects about
20 students from electrical, computer, mechanical and plastics engineering to collaborate and develop prototypes and business plans for
up to six class projects. The students will team up with about the same
number from the Manning School of Business under the supervision
of Lecturer Ashwin Mehta.
For the first five weeks, all the students will be in session together
to build teamwork, learn about the business canvas model for product
development and strategic thinking and formulate a work plan for the
rest of the semester.
Afterward, engineering and business students will split into their
respective disciplines and work with Palma and Mehta to develop
their business and product/technology strategies and plans.
“The hope is that engineering majors will learn about entrepreneurship and marketing while business majors will gain
a better understanding of the innovation process,” says Engineering
Dean Joseph Hartman.
Finally, during the last four weeks, the students will be brought back
together so they can compare and consolidate their progress, fill in
gaps and complete the projects. At this time, guest speakers will come
in to talk about venture funding, intellectual property management
and other timely topics as students complete the final deliverables.
The three-credit course, which fulfills the senior capstone project requirement for both colleges, will concentrate on product and business
“We'll evaluate what went well and the lessons learned in preparation for offering the same course next spring,” says Palma. n
ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS
SUMMER 2014
11
College Highlights
Student Successes
■ Nonspec, an engineering-led student team
(and now nonprofit company), won the top prize
of $25,000 during the 2014 American Society of
Mechanical Engineers Innovation Showcase held
in April in Washington, D.C. (see page 4).
■ The “Mr. Meds” team won honorable mention
at this year’s Cornell Cup USA embedded systems
design competition presented by Intel in Orlando
in May (see page 7).
U.S. Dept. of Energy
3
1
UMass Lowell garnered third place overall
in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Collegiate
Wind Competition held in May in Las Vegas.
Mechanical engineering Asst. Profs. David Willis
and Christopher Hansen and plastics engineering
Asst. Prof. Stephen Johnston advised the team,
which consisted of 23 students from engineering
and business. (Photo 1)
■
■ The university’s concrete canoe team took
second place overall, winning the “Best Final
Product” and “Oral Presentation” categories,
during the American Society of Civil Engineers
student regional competition hosted by
UMass Lowell at Bare Hill Pond in Harvard,
Mass., in April. (Photo 2)
2
■ Mechanical engineering graduate student
Cynthia Mitchell won the Best Poster award
in the Academic Poster Session at the Simulia
Community Conference in Providence, R.I.,
in May. Simulia is a product of Dassault
Systemes.
■ Saroj Bhatta in mechanical engineering and
Arash Deylam Salehi in electrical and computer
engineering won Best Poster prizes during the
17th annual Student Research and Community
Engagement Symposium in April. More than
170 students from all of the university’s six
colleges participated in the event.
■ Zarif Farhana Mohd Aris, Vishal Bavishi, Michael
Magaletta and Timothy Ponrathnam in plastics
engineering won “Honorable Mention” in Phase II
of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s P3
National Student Design Competition held in April
in Washington, D.C., for their work on developing
biodegradable plastic film packaging.
Faculty Successes
4
■ Mechanical engineering Prof. Sammy Shina
was recognized as the “Academic Champion
of Toxics Use Reduction” at the Massachusetts
State House in Boston in June for his research on
lead-free solders and for founding the New England Lead-Free Electronics Consortium. The event
was hosted by TURI, the Toxics Use Reduction
Institute. (Photo 4)
■ Civil and environmental engineering Prof.
Pradeep Kurup has been named UMass Lowell
Distinguished University Professor for the
period 2014–17. (Photo 5)
■ Mechanical engineering Asst. Prof. Christopher
Hansen won a NASA Early Career Faculty Award
from the Space Technology Research Grants
Program for his proposal “Design and Fabrication
of Aerospace-grade Digital Composite Materials.”
■ Distinguished University Prof. Stephen
McCarthy of plastics engineering won the
Fred E. Schwab Education Award from the
Society of Plastics Engineers in Las Vegas in April.
Mechanical engineering Prof. Peter Avitabile
has been elected vice president of the Executive
Board of the Society for Experimental Mechanics.
The position carries a one-year term of a six-year
progression (VP, president-elect, president and
three years as past president).
■
Civil engineering major Viet Le won a 2014
American Society for Nondestructive Testing
Engineering Undergraduate Award, one of
three given out this year. The award comes
with a $3,000 cash prize. He is advised by
Assoc. Prof. Tzuyang Yu. (Photo 3)
■
12
ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS SUMMER 2014
5
New Research Awards
■ UMass Lowell was awarded one of 19
advanced manufacturing technology planning
grants by the National Institute of Standards
and Technology through its Advanced
Manufacturing Technology Consortia.
College Highlights
The university-led initiative—called “Facilitating
Industry by Engineering, Roadmapping and
Science (FIBERS) to Advance U.S. Manufacturing
of Composites”—has commitments from
44 companies, five universities and eight
other organizations. Mechanical engineering
Prof. James Sherwood, the college’s associate
dean of graduate studies, is leading the efforts
for UMass Lowell. (Photo 6)
6
Profs. David Kazmer and Carol Barry (plastics
engineering), Prof. Alkim Akyurtlu (electrical and
computer engineering) and Asst. Prof. Christopher
Hansen (mechanical engineering) were awarded a
planning grant from the UMass President’s Science
and Technology (S&T) Initiatives Fund for their
proposal “Next-Generation Materials and
Processes for 3-D Printing.”
■
■ Mechanical engineering Assoc. Prof.
Emmanuelle Reynaud and plastics engineering
Assoc. Prof. Daniel Schmidt were awarded a
grant from the S&T Initiatives Fund with their
UMass Dartmouth collaborators for their proposal
entitled “UMass Center for Advanced Coatings.”
■ Electrical and computer engineering Assoc.
Prof. Vinod Vokkarane was awarded funding
by the U.S. Department of Energy for his
project “PROPER: Parallel Resource-Optimized
Provisioning of End-to-End Requests.”
■ The National Science Foundation has approved
an Industry/University Cooperative Research
Center for Wind Energy, Science, Technology and
Research (WindSTAR). Mechanical engineering
Prof. Christopher Niezrecki is the project’s
principal investigator. (Photo 7)
■ The U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research,
Development & Engineering Center has signed
a cooperative agreement with the university for
a variety of projects, including analysis and design
of new materials and combat helmets. Plastics
engineering Assoc. Prof. Ramaswamy Nagarajan
led the effort.
■ Mechanical engineering Asst. Prof. Alireza
Amirkhizi received grants from the Office of
Naval Research for his proposal “Understanding
Damage Development in Compliant Coatings
Under Cavitation” and the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency for “Materials with
Controlled Microstructural Architecture.”
University and College Notes
■ The Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center, a joint initiative of UMass Lowell
and UMass Medical School established and
directed by plastics engineering Prof. Stephen
McCarthy, will double in size and capacity as
part of the new UMass Lowell Innovation Hub
expansion in downtown Lowell (see page 2).
■ Wayne Johnson has been named executive
director of the UMass Innovation Institute at
UMass Lowell. He previously served as assistant
vice president for institute corporate relations
at Caltech and vice president of university
relations worldwide for Hewlett-Packard Co.
■ The Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering and the Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering are celebrating their 45th
and 60th anniversaries, respectively, this year.
(Photos 8 and 9)
8
■ Electrical and computer engineering Assoc.
Prof. Dalila Megherbi was awarded a grant by the
Air Force Research Laboratory for “Performance
Characteristics Analysis for MWIR Single Detector/Focal Point Plane Array Detector Design for
Efficient Imaging and Threat Detection.”
9
7
The Francis College of Engineering graduated
334 students with bachelor’s degrees in the
2013–14 year (fall, spring and summer). This is an
increase of 44 graduates over the previous year.
The college has more than doubled the number
of graduates in five years, as 154 received
diplomas in 2009, for an annual growth rate
of 16.9 percent in that time frame.
■
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