For the week of Feb. 4, 2011

@COE is published on a weekly basis. The next edition will be sent out on Friday, Feb. 11.

Please send your submissions for @COE to Julie Stansberry in the Engineering Communications Office at [log in to unmask] by noon on Thursdays.

Spring Engineering Fair Announcement

 

Thursday, March 3rd – 4 to 7 p.m.
UC Volunteer Ballroom

 

Students are invited to arrive dressed professionally and prepared to discuss co-op and internship opportunities with engineering employers. Take advantage of this chance to network, as well as the potential to obtain interviews from employers who are filling their own schedules during the fair. Student ID is required at check-in. Appointments to discuss pre-scheduled interviews are underway; the deadline to be added to pre-fair interview schedules is Feb. 18, and openings are filled on a first-come, first-served basis; therefore, interested students are encouraged to call 974-5323 as soon as possible to set an appointment.

The following employers have registered to attend so far:

• Altec Industries, Inc.
• Belden
• BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC
• ConAgra Foods, Inc.
• Denso Manufacturing
• Duke Energy Corp.
• DuPont
• Emerson - Machinery Health    Management (CSI)
• ExxonMobil
• Garmin International
• Kimberly-Clark
• Lexmark International, Inc.
• MAHLE
• NAVSEA
• Nemak
• Sabic Innovative Plastics
• Shaw Industries, Inc.
• Southern Company
• StandardAero
• Turner Universal Co.

Engineering Professional Practice Student Feature

Featured student: Jack Hay

Jack Hay is a chemical engineering major who completed back-to-back co-op rotations with Kimberly-Clark over the Spring and Summer 2010 semesters. During the terms, he had the following to say about his experience:

Spring 2010
“I worked with the LCM team in Global Non-wovens, working with Huggies diapers and Pull-Ups. I worked with the liner and improving the liner. I was able to travel to mills to see the liner being made and being put into diapers. I tested my material with different methods (and) we had safety training, including office ergonomics, electrical, bay training, etc.”

Hay said new technical skills he learned included "lister testing; the measurement of time it takes 5ml of saline to travel through liner.”

One challenge he said he had to overcome during this term was “my fear of speaking in public. I had to hold my own meeting and give presentations; therefore, having to do this caused me to practice and not worry about it.”

Hay said the most valuable benefit he received by accepting the job was “the ability to work by myself and have actual responsibilities … My work assignment went very well due to my very nice and helpful mentor Julie Taing.”

Summer 2010
“I (again) worked with the LCM team in Global Non-wovens. My job this summer was to calibrate the pulse NMR in Lexington Mill, which is a machine that measures liner treatment add-on. This machine is variable so my next task was to implement a performance test called the Lister Strike Through test. I have been testing this machine to see if it operates at the level the mill needs it to … I was also trained on how to use the pulse NMR and how to make to calibration standards for the pulse NMR."

Regarding company meetings, Hay said, “You retrieve a lot of information about things that you don’t know about; things that aren’t happening on your project. You are kept in the loop … My presenting in front of people has always been a weakness. This has improved a lot during this term and I’m proud of that.

“I have enjoyed this work assignment. I have seen machinery at the mills and worked with testing equipment. The safety here is very important, which is important for a co-op. They make sure you know what you are doing, and doing it safely.

“This is a good company. They give you ample work to push yourself but not overwhelm you when you don’t know exactly what is going on. They let you hold some of the meetings and write papers. I have bettered myself in writing, presenting, and working with others with Kimberly-Clark’s help.”

Hay said the most valuable benefit he received by accepting the co-op was: “work experience, the ability to write technical papers, present presentations, and work with others.”

Students may read more about their peers’ co-op/internship experiences by logging into their Engineering Professional Practice profile via www.coop.utk.edu, clicking “Resource Library” (on the left margin) and selecting “Students at Work – In Their Own Words.”

For information on engineering co-op and internships, contact Engineering Professional Practice at [log in to unmask] or 865-974-5323.

Student News

Civil Engineering Ph.D. Student Wins First Prize for Paper

Civil Engineering Ph.D. student Qiao Dong was awarded the first prize in the Eleventh International Contest on Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) Data Analysis for his paper entitled, "Evaluation of Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of Asphalt Pavement Rehabilitation Utilizing LTPP Data," advised by Dr. Baoshan Huang, an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Dong was awarded $1,500 and was recognized at an award ceremony during the 90th Transportation Research Board (TRB) annual conference in Washington, D.C.

The LTPP contest is a prestigious worldwide contest organized and sponsored by the Transportation & Development Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation. It was initiated in August 1998 and is designed to encourage students, professors, State Highway Officials, and consultants around the world to get involved in using the LTPP data over the past 17 years.

---

Study Abroad Opportunity

Click here to learn about the Japan Mini Term 2011 -- Japanese Architecture, Landscape, and Interiors study abroad experience. Engineering students are welcome!

---

Mini-Term Trip Opportunity

There is still time to apply to embark on a trip (3 hours credit) beginning in Amsterdam and ending on the French Riviera in Nice. There is a written assignment required, which you could easily focus on your passion for engineering. While the focus of this trip will be on gardens and landscape architecture, it is guaranteed to have something for everyone! This mini-term adventure will allow you to finish this semester and be back in time for summer classes or internships. The deadline to apply is fast approaching (Feb. 18). For more information, click here.

---

Nuclear Energy University Programs Scholarship Information

Applications for the Nuclear Energy University Programs scholarship and fellowship programs are due Feb. 16, 2011, at 5 p.m. MST.

Students planning on applying should refer to the FY 2011 Request for Applications, which can be found on the NEUP web site: www.neup.gov. For more information, e-mail [log in to unmask].

Faculty News

Governor's Chair Professor Asked to Serve on Committee

Dr. Howard Hall, Governor's Chair Professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering, has been asked to serve on a National Academy committee. The project title is "Assuring a Future US-based Nuclear Chemistry Expertise," and will examine supply and demand for nuclear chemistry expertise in the U.S. compared with the production of experts with these skills. The project will last 18 months.

Seminar Announcement

Materials Graduate Seminar
Department of Materials Science & Engineering

Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2011
1:25 p.m.
Dougherty 612

Speaker:
S. J. Pennycook
Corporate Fellow, Electron Microscopy Group Leader, Materials Science and Technology
Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Insights into Energy Materials through Aberration-Corrected STEM

The recent introduction of next-generation aberration correctors has propelled the capabilities of the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) to even higher levels. Several case studies of complex oxides for energy applications will be presented, showing how microscopy data can be compared to the results of density functional calculations to provide microscopic insights into functionality.

Nanometer thick layers of Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) in YSZ/strontium titanate (STO) epitaxial heterostructures have been shown to posess ionic conductivities up to eight orders of magnitude higher than that of bulk YSZ near room temperature [1]. Density functional simulations predict O to be in a disordered form in the strained YSZ, with a greatly reduced migration energy barrier consistent with experiment [2]. Spectroscopic imaging directly confirms the theoretical predictions [3].

ADF images of LiFePO4 are able to resolve Li columns. Many of these columns show anomalous intensities, suggesting occupation by Fe. Spectroscopic analysis of such sites confirms the presence of Fe, and shows it to be in a +2 configuration instead of the expected +1 for Li. Theoretical simulations indicate the origin of the effect and explain the anisotropic Li diffusivity in the plane.

Insights into solid oxide fuel cell cathodes include the imaging of O vacancy ordering, the formation of an amorphous phase on bias cycling, as well as the generation of voids and cracks. In the case of multiferroics, the influence of interfaces on local properties will be shown, mediated by the suppression of octahedral rotations that cause local changes in lattice parameters and electronic structure [4].

References:
[1] J. Garcia-Barriocanal et al., Science 321 (2008) 676-680.
[2] T. J. Pennycook et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 104 (2010) 115901.
[3] T. J. Pennycook et al., Euro. Phys. J. (in press).
[4] A. Y. Borisevich et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, (2010) 087204.
[5] Acknowledgement: Research sponsored by the Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy (SJP, MV, AYB, JL, HJC, DNL), DE-FG02-09ER46554 (TJP, STP, MPO), by the Shared Research Equipment (SHaRE) User Facility, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy (JCI, AYB), by NSF DMR-093830 (JCI, WZ) and by the McMinn Endowment (STP) at Vanderbilt University. Computations were supported by the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center.

Contact: Dr. Ramki Kalyanaraman, [log in to unmask], 974-5539

Advising Announcements

Please click here to find the application for Engineering Ambassadors. Applications are due in the Engineering Advising Office on Feb. 14 by 4 p.m.  Representatives are needed for Biosystems, Industrial, Electrical and Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering majors.  Engineering Ambassadors Web site is http://web.utk.edu/~coeamb/.

UTSI News

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Recognizes UTSI Professor

Dr. Joe Majdalani, Arnold Chair of Excellence at the University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI), was honored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) for his consistent contributions to the aerospace engineering profession since 1991.  He is one of several aerospace propulsion experts who were elevated to the Associate Fellow rank in a special ceremony conducted this year at the 49th Aerospace Sciences Meeting held in Orlando, Fla., on Jan. 4, 2011. Majdalani was nominated by Dr. Trevor Moeller, MABE Assistant Professor at UTSI.  The nomination was based on several distinct factors, especially his substantial contributions to the modeling of injection and swirl driven combustion chambers, acoustic instability, and high speed flow analysis.

Career Services Announcements

Summer Job and Internship Fair
Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2-6 p.m., UC Ballroom

If you are looking for a summer job and/or internship, this is the perfect venue. Keep in mind that internships are available year-round...not just during the summer. Sample employers include:

• Amazon
• Bechtel Corporation
• Belden
• Burlington Northern Santa Fe
• C-E Minerals
• Frito-Lay
• General Dynamics Bath Iron Works
• Johnson & Johnson
• Johnson Controls, Inc.
• Mahle, Inc.
• Nissan North America
• Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU)
• Reckitt Benckiser
• Rock-Tenn Company
• Rockwell Automation
• Royal Mouldings
• Siemens Corporation
• TVA
• Unilever
• Williams-Sonoma, Inc.
• Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc.
• And More!

For a complete list of registered employers, please log onto www.career.utk.edu and click on the link to the Summer Job and Internship Fair under Upcoming Events.

---

Upcoming Employer Information Sessions

Visit with these employers to learn more about full-time or summer job opportunities:

Walt Disney World College Program
Feb. 9, 6:30 p.m., University Center Crest Room (2nd Floor)
Feb. 10, 6:30 p.m., University Center Crest Room (2nd Floor)

ConAgra Foods
March 2, 7 p.m., University Center Room 225
Come learn about the ConAgra Foods Management Development Program for Engineers
Co-sponsored by ASME and Theta Tau.

National Instruments
March 2, 7:30 p.m., University Center Suite 220
Learn about full-time opportunities for MEs, EEs, Computer Science, AEs, Computer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Engineering Physics graduates.

Schlumberger
March 2, 6:30 p.m., University Center Suite 220
Learn about full-time opportunities for Field Engineers.

Kimberly-Clark
March 23, 6:30 p.m., Career Services Office, 100 Dunford Hall
Find out about opportunities for Mechanical Engineers, Electrical Engineers and Industrial Engineers.

---

Internship Opportunity for Mechanical or Electrical Engineers
TVA/UT Career Services Engineering Student Intern/Ambassador Program

The UT Office of Career Services and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) are partnering in a joint venture to employ a UT Engineering student for a TVA internship during the summer of 2012 and for seven to 10 hours per week in the UT Office of Career Services during the 2011-2012 academic year.

The person chosen for this position will receive a paid internship for the summer of 2012, working directly for TVA.  Additionally, the student will serve as an Ambassador for TVA during the Fall/Spring semesters of 2011-2012. The person chosen for the position will also work in the UT Office of Career Services (100 Dunford Hall) for seven to 10 hours per week for 14 weeks for both Fall and Spring semesters 2011-2012. 

If interested, please submit your resume through HIRE-A-VOL by March 4, 2011. 

Qualifications: Freshman/Sophomore standing in mechanical or electrical engineering.  MUST HAVE COMPLETED 30 HOURS BY MAY 2011. At least a 2.75 GPA.  Membership(s) in engineering clubs and/or organizations highly desired.   Ability to intern with TVA in the summer of 2012 mandatory.  Skills in event planning, presentations, electronic communication and familiarity with Facebook, Twitter and/or other social networking media desired.  

For more information, see the job posting in HIRE-A-VOL or contact April Gonzalez at [log in to unmask].

---

Students who need an appointment to review their resume, discuss their job search or who have any career-related questions are encouraged to contact the College of Engineering Career Consultant, April Gonzalez at 865-974-5435 or via e-mail at [log in to unmask].

---

For more information, visit the Career Services Web site.

---

If you have submissions for @COE, the college's electronic newsletter, please send them to Julie Stansberry at [log in to unmask] by noon on Thursdays.