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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 ON THE COVER ING NEER ENGI TIONS U L O S SU MM 14 ER 20 BL A PU IC AT AN TH E FR IO N OF CI S EG CO LL EN GI E OF and ip ation Innov preneursh e icate n Entr s Fabr re reneur r Child Entrepial Limbs fo Artific PAGE NE ER IN G 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. 2 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.” 10 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. ■ www.uml.edu/engineering NONPROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT 69 LOWELL, MA 01854 Francis College of Engineering University of Massachusetts Lowell One University Ave. Lowell, MA 01854