ME team wins one of the top prizes in business competition
Avello Bioenergy, a business composed of ME graduate students, won $5,000 at the statewide Pappajohn New Venture Business Plan competition held on March 6, 2009. Read more at www.public.iastate.edu/~nscentral/news/2009/mar/bizplan.shtml.

Jared Brown, Cody Ellens, Randy Kasparbauer, and Anthony Pollard, the four members of Avello Bioenergy, have also been invited to compete at the 2009 Rice Business Plan Competition this April. The team is one of 36 selected from a pool of 350 applicants.

Iowa State’s Pappajohn New Venture Business Plan Competition finalists with their judge (from L to R): Randy Kasparbauer (Avello), Shane Mairet (Mairet’s Garden Center), Matt Kinley (judge; vice president, Equity Dynamics), Jared Brown (Avello), Cody Ellens (Avello), and Corey Kliewer (Hired Hands). Photo by Judi Eyles.

ME grad students receive departmental research awards
On March 12, 2009, four graduate students were recognized for their research in the Department of Mechanical Engineering’s design and manufacturing innovation research program. The following students received Excellence of Graduate Research in Design and Manufacturing awards:

• Kyung Ho Kang, 1st Place ($500), “Novel Differential Surface Stress Sensor for Detection of Biological Molecules: DNA Hybridization and Cocaine Detection”
• Reuben Flesner, 2nd Place ($300), “An Integrated Macro/Micro Model for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell”
• Sobieslaw Gacek, 3rd Place ($100), “Development of High-Efficiency and Cost-Effective Micro Wind Turbines”
• Yufeng Wu, 3rd Place ($100), “Experimental Study on Viscosity and Phase Segregation of Al-Si Powders during Micro-Semisolid Powder Forming”

Upcoming events

• Undergraduate students who want to learn more about research opportunities should attend the Undergraduate Research Information Session on March 27, 2009, from 4 to 5 p.m. in 2004 Black Engineering. The event is hosted by the Women in Mechanical Engineering program.
• On April 3, 2009, the Mechanical Engineering Industry Advisory Council will be meeting in 2004 Black Engineering. The day will include discussions about how the department has implemented the strategic plan, diversity initiatives, engineering in an international context, undergraduate design and research projects, computer-aided engineering, and the coursework-based master’s degree.
• At 1:30 p.m. on April 8, 2009, the Department of Mechanical Engineering will be dedicating the Kiewit Undergraduate Student Services Center.

Miranda elected to P&S council
Janelle Miranda, program assistant for undergraduate education, is among ten new members elected to the P&S Council. Seven incumbents were returned for a second term in elections conducted online in March.

The newly elected representatives will officially become members of the council at its meeting in June and will join 20 carryover members whose terms did not expire this year. Council terms are for three years, except where resignations have occurred and shorter terms are required to balance the number of openings in each representation area each year.

Sundararajan and Carver part of team to strengthen relationship with Monterrey Tec
A team from the College of Engineering recently traveled to Mexico to participate in the annual Monterrey Tec (Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey) International Programs Fair. Participants included Sriram Sundararajan, ME associate professor and director of graduate education; Nancy Knight, director of graduate enrollment management and team leader for the visit; Amy Carver, ME graduate program assistant; and Brenda Carrillo-Conde, CBE PhD student and BioMaP (Biological Materials and Processes) Research Experience for Undergraduates program alum. Nancy Guthrie, Iowa State University Study Abroad Center and Monterrey Tec University level program coordinator, joined the group to represent the university.

Read about their visit at www.engineering.iastate.edu/news/news- article/article/2413/2403/1237996239.html.

Funding award
Eliot Winer received a $65,042 award for “Improvement of Postsecondary Education—Comprehensive Program” from Florida International University.

Beck participates in study abroad adviser tour
On March 1, 2009, Doug Beck, Kiewit Undergraduate Student Services director and mechanical engineering adviser; Denise Hix, academic adviser for biology; and Maureen Deisinger, program coordinator at the Study Abroad Center, headed to Australia to visit two universities with which Iowa State has exchange programs.

The visit was supported by a grant that Iowa State University’s Study Abroad office received to send an adviser from engineering and biology to the University of Tasmania and University of Newcastle for an adviser impact tour. During the visit, Beck and Hix toured the campuses, attended meetings with relevant faculty and staff, reviewed and compared curriculums, and collected information to bring back to students interested in studying abroad in Australia.

Beck made important contacts that will help him maintain relationships with the universities. He also got to see firsthand what students who study abroad will experience.

Doug Beck and Denise Hix check out a map to determine where their meeting is while visiting two campuses in Australia.