Communications
Cin/Optic Communications and Media
Faculty Advisor: Erin Smith
Course Number: ENT 2950 / 3950 / 4950 - Section 27
Don’t wait until graduation to get the professional media and communications experience you’re after—check out the Cin/Optic Enterprise. Operating as a full-scale consulting and development firm, undergraduate students work to provide audio, video, writing, web design, technical documentation, and other communication support services to a variety of real-world clients—from local nonprofit organizations to a regional medical center.
Husky Game Development
Faculty Advisor: Scott Kuhl
Disciplines Needed: Scientific & Technical Communication, Education, Computer Science, Business, Arts & Design; all are welcome
Work hard, play harder. Students involved with the Husky Game Development Enterprise design, develop, build, and market games for the video game industry, educational use, and—of course—for fun. The team competes in a local 24-hour game development challenge, the Houghton Game Jam, and recently co-hosted BonzAI Brawl, an AI coding competition. One of the group’s games, Arcane Brawlers, was recently released on Xbox Marketplace. Game on!
Wireless Communication
Industry Partner: Rockwell Collins, Alwin Manufacturing, John Deere, Samsung, and Guidant
Faculty Advisor: Chris (Kit) Cischke
Course Number: ENT 2950 / 3950 / 4950 - Section 3
Disciplines Needed: All majors!! EE CE ME BA Bio STC CPE, you name it we need it
Whether you’re into vehicle information and controls, robotics, or medical information solutions, the Wireless Communication Enterprise (WCE) has a project for you. The group specializes in a variety of wireless, optical, renewable-energy, and biomedical technologies—from embedding pacemaker data onto Smartphones to designing an autonomous robot utilizing GPS technology. WCE works as an entrepreneurial think tank, generating ideas that yield useful results for industry and consumers alike; new challenges from are always welcome!
Electronics, Computers & Robotics
Aerospace
Enterprise Team: Aerospace Spacecraft Design
Industry Partners: Raytheon, ABSL, SAIC, WindRiver, AGI.
Faculty Advisor: Dr. L. Brad King
Disciplines Needed: MEEM, EE, CS, BA, STC, PH
Who says a university has to offer an aerospace engineering degree to produce out-of-this-world research? The Aerospace Enterprise provides undergraduate students across a variety of majors the opportunity to design and build a real satellite. Small groups take on the challenges of guidance navigation, on-board data and command, power, imaging, structures, telecom, and systems engineering. Their results are nothing short of impressive: the team took first place in the Air Force Research Laboratory's 2011 national University Nanosat Competition, and the Department of Defense will launch their winning satellite into orbit in 2013.
Automotive Computing
Faculty Advisor: John Lukowski
Course Number: ENT 2950 / 3950 / 4950 - Section 28
The Automotive Computing Enterprise (ACE) focuses on human-automobile interaction, developing and integrating hardware and software to change the user interfaces of automobiles for the better. Sponsored by GM, the group is working with a 2007 Chevrolet Suburban to develop an expandable infotainment and instrumentation platform that has the potential to be marketed and sold in industry.
Blue Marble Security
Industry Partner: Oshkosh Trucking, Chrysler, Plexus, Pall Corporation
Faculty Advisor: Glen Archer
Course Number: ENT 1950 / 2950 / 3950 / 4950 - Section 2
Disciplines Needed: All
Prepare for a high-achieving career in technology as an undergraduate with the Blue Marble Security Enterprise. With an aim to improve safety and security through the thoughtful use of technology, Blue Marble works as a student-run business to provide an array of products and industry-sponsored research and development services—computer-controlled security systems; ultrasonic ranging; sensor data fusion; infrared, acoustic, and sonar imaging systems; and more.
FIRST Robotics
Industry Partner: Chrysler LLC and General Motors
Faculty Advisor: Alex Sergeyev
Course Number: ENT 2950 / 3950 / 4950 - Section 15
Disciplines Needed: All welcome, especially need MEEM, EE, CS, BA, STC
The FIRST Robotics Enterprise bridges high school students, college undergraduates, and members of industry in exciting, hands-on robotics projects. Through real industry research and development, engineering, programming, marketing, and some hard work (and serious play), the group—with help from local youth—builds the coolest, most capable robot they can imagine, then tries to steal the gold at the annual FIRST Robotics Competition.
Husky Game Development
Faculty Advisor: Scott Kuhl
Disciplines Needed: Scientific & Technical Communication, Education, Computer Science, Business, Arts & Design; all are welcome
Work hard, play harder. Students involved with the Husky Game Development Enterprise design, develop, build, and market games for the video game industry, educational use, and—of course—for fun. The team competes in a local 24-hour game development challenge, the Houghton Game Jam, and recently co-hosted BonzAI Brawl, an AI coding competition. One of the group’s games, Arcane Brawlers, was recently released on Xbox Marketplace. Game on!
Hybrid Electric Vehicle
Coordinators: Robert Page, John Lukowski
Strip a vehicle down, rebuild it, make it better: that’s the drill for the Hybrid Electric Vehicle Enterprise. Working with a new Chevrolet Cruze (donated by General Motors), teams of students are tackling all components of electric vehicle performance: control system development, CAD design, electric accessory designs, suspension and ride tuning, hybrid powertrain, aerodynamic body components, and more.
ITOxygen
Industry Partner: Various Campus and Industrial Organizations
Faculty Advisor: Bob Maatta
Course Number: ENG 2950 / 3950 / 4950 - Section 10
Disciplines Needed: CS, BA, STC, All Engineering
The ITOxygen Enterprise is a student-run business focusing on developing Information System and Information Technology solutions. With expertise in systems and information analysis, software development, database design, and web-based application development, the group serves a variety of local and regional clients on projects ranging from an open-source donor tracking system to a dashboard website that manages daily operations for a large-scale theater.
Environment
Alternative Fuels Group
Industry Partner: TACOM
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Wenzhen Li
Course Number: ENT 2950 / 3950 / 4950 - Section 23
Disciplines Needed: All welcome especially need CM, ME, EE, BA, STC
Look at energy in a new (solar) light with the Alternative Fuels Group (AFG) Enterprise. The group focuses on investigating and creating a variety of alternative energies—from solar vehicle propulsion and biodiesel-fueled street sweepers to methanol production from natural gas and more. You can build your résumé while working with high-profile sponsors and partners like US Army TACOM.
Forestry and Environmental Resource Management (FERM)
Faculty Advisor: James C. Rivard
Course Number: ENT 2950 / 3950 / 4950 - Section 25
For students seeking careers in forestry and ecology, the Forestry and Environmental Resource Management (FERM) Enterprise is an invaluable, one-of-a-kind opportunity. The residency-style program offers undergraduate students the chance to work and learn in the University’s own 5,500-acre research forest. Projects include trail expansions, timbersales, fish cribs, deer exclosures, habitat research for an endangered species of bird, and a variety of other real-world forest management opportunities.
Green Campus
Faculty Advisor: Chris Wojick
Course Number: ENT 2950 / 3950 / 4950 - Section 30
Are you always thinking of ways to improve sustainability and reduce your carbon footprint? If so, the Green Campus Enterprise is the group for you. The team has one mission: to “green” Michigan Tech through a variety of initiatives. Currently, the group is researching the feasibility of installing a solar thermal panel and a wind turbine, measuring carbon emissions, and assessing energy consumption and waste-reduction strategies for computers.
Supermileage Systems
Industry Partner: Pi-Shurlok
Faculty Advisor: Rick Berkey
Course Number: ENT 2950 / 3950 / 4950 - Section 13
Disciplines Needed: MEEM, EE, CPE, BA, STC, others are welcome.
The result: a super high-mileage vehicle built around a 3.5 HP Briggs & Stratton, 4-stroke single-cylinder engine. To handle the complex job of creating such a vehicle, it takes the work of the Supermileage Systems Enterprise (SSE). Working as a team, students design and develop components based on automotive systems, vehicle functionality, sound engineering, and more. At the end of each year’s project: the chance to compete against other universities for glory (and the gold).
Human Health & Interface
International Business Ventures
Principal Advisors: Robert Warrington, Anne Warrington, and Michael Neuman
An Enterprise with plenty of heart, International Business Ventures (IBV) works to create new products and technologies for people in developing countries. Through innovative research and development, financial analysis, marketability, and international partnerships with universities throughout the world, the group seeks to bring cutting-edge technology to the people who need it most. Case in point: students from IBV travelled to Ghana to test and implement an inexpensive new infant heart rate monitor.
Materials & Manufacturing
Advanced Metalworks
Industry Partner: ArcelorMittal, East Jordan Ironworks, Eastern Alloys, GE Aircraft, Waupaca Foundry
Faculty Advisor: Paul Sanders, Materials Science and Engineering
Course Number: ENT 1960 / 2950 / 2960 / 3950 / 4950 / 4960 / 4961
Disciplines Needed: ME, MET, MSE, EE, EET, Business, STC
Ready to get your hands on high-impact metal-casting projects? Cast a wider net with the Advanced Metalworks Enterprise (AME). Work with high-quality metals and metallic components to fabricate patterns, molds, dies, and other specialized components for industry sponsors—all in our state-of-the-art casting and metallurgy labs. Companies routinely seek our students for summer internships and full-time positions.
BoardSport Technologies
Faculty Advisor: Ibrahim Miskioglu
Course Number: ENT 2950 / 3950 / 4950 - Section 11
Whether you’re into skateboarding, snowboarding, or wakeboarding, the BoardSport Technologies Enterprise has a team—and a project—for you. The group produces new streamlined boards each semester with a focus on refining designs, finding and working with lighter and stronger materials, and researching and incorporating environmentally friendly materials like recycled steel and bamboo.
Consumer Product Manufacturing
Industry Partner: Kimberly-Clark Corporation
Faculty Advisors: Tony Rogers and Sean Clancey
Course Number: ENT 2950 / 3950 / 4950 - Section 8
Disciplines Needed: MEEM, EE, CM, CS, FW, BA, STC
The Consumer Product Manufacturing Enterprise believes that marketing, prototyping, and manufacturing are best left to professionals—and Michigan Tech undergraduate students are the best pros for the job. The group works one-on-one with corporate sponsors and businesses to conceive of and develop game-changing new ideas, from initial idea generation to market research, prototyping, design, and distribution. One recent project: developing an automated can-loading system for a brewing company.
Technology
Efficiency through Engineering and Construction
Advisor: Lynn A. Artman, PE, School of Technology
Courses: Student team-member enrollment - Section 14
Ask most engineers and they’ll tell you that the best projects are about hands-on problem solving to better the lives of others. Enter the Efficiency through Engineering and Construction Enterprise, a group of students working together as a small business to help local low-income and elderly homeowners. The team strategizes methods for making homes more energy efficient—winterizing, sealing air passages, upgrading insulation—and then works with local contractors to put those plans into action.
FIRST Robotics
Industry Partner: Chrysler LLC and General Motors
Faculty Advisor: Alex Sergeyev
Course Number: ENT 2950 / 3950 / 4950 - Section 15
Disciplines Needed: All welcome, especially need MEEM, EE, CS, BA, STC
The FIRST Robotics Enterprise bridges high school students, college undergraduates, and members of industry in exciting, hands-on robotics projects. Through real industry research and development, engineering, programming, marketing, and some hard work (and serious play), the group—with help from local youth—builds the coolest, most capable robot they can imagine, then tries to steal the gold at the annual FIRST Robotics Competition.
Husky Game Development
Faculty Advisor: Scott Kuhl
Disciplines Needed: Scientific & Technical Communication, Education, Computer Science, Business, Arts & Design; all are welcome
Work hard, play harder. Students involved with the Husky Game Development Enterprise design, develop, build, and market games for the video game industry, educational use, and—of course—for fun. The team competes in a local 24-hour game development challenge, the Houghton Game Jam, and recently co-hosted BonzAI Brawl, an AI coding competition. One of the group’s games, Arcane Brawlers, was recently released on Xbox Marketplace. Game on!
International Business Ventures
Principal Advisors: Robert Warrington, Anne Warrington, and Michael Neuman
An Enterprise with plenty of heart, International Business Ventures (IBV) works to create new products and technologies for people in developing countries. Through innovative research and development, financial analysis, marketability, and international partnerships with universities throughout the world, the group seeks to bring cutting-edge technology to the people who need it most. Case in point: students from IBV travelled to Ghana to test and implement an inexpensive new infant heart rate monitor.
Nanotech Innovations
Faculty Advisor: John Jaszczak
Course Number: ENT 2950 / 3950 / 4950 - Section 26
Their motto: “Students creating the future one atom at a time.” The students involved with Michigan Tech’s Nanotech Innovations Enterprise are working to fulfill that credo by researching, developing, and marketing nanotechnology-related products and services, and sharing their knowledge and experiences with high school students and teachers along the way. Projects include an anti-vibration table; a student-run business, Naturally Graphite, that markets and sells graphite crystals; and a LEGO®-based scanning probe microscope.
Unmanned Vehicle Systems
Industry Partner: Continental AG
Faculty Advisor: Jindong Tan
Course Number: ENT 1960 / 2950 / 2960 / 3950 / 3960 / 4950 / 4960 - Section 32
Imagine an unmanned vehicle capable of keeping military men and women safe by performing area surveillance. That vision is a reality, thanks to the students involved with the Unmanned Vehicle Systems Enterprise. Working under sponsorship by the US Air Force, the group utilizes artificial intelligence, communication systems, aerodynamics, structural dynamics, materials science, embedded systems, computer modeling, and more in their quest to create unmanned aerial, ground, surface, and underwater vehicles.
Vehicle Design & Transportation
Advanced Motorsports
The Advanced Motor Sports (AMS) Enterprise oversees the work of Tech’s four vehicle competition Enterprise teams: Blizzard Baja, Clean Snowmobile Challenge, Formula SAE, and Supermileage Systems. While each operates as a separate Enterprise, AMS encourages the teams to share talent, resources, and opportunities. Whether you’re into safety, powertrain controls, emissions, or chassis vehicle systems, you’ll find your fit—and the opportunity to work with industry sponsors like 3M, Chrysler, Ford, Caterpillar, and more—with AMS.
Aerospace
Enterprise Team: Aerospace Spacecraft Design
Industry Partners: Raytheon, ABSL, SAIC, WindRiver, AGI.
Faculty Advisor: Dr. L. Brad King
Disciplines Needed: MEEM, EE, CS, BA, STC, PH
Who says a university has to offer an aerospace engineering degree to produce out-of-this-world research? The Aerospace Enterprise provides undergraduate students across a variety of majors the opportunity to design and build a real satellite. Small groups take on the challenges of guidance navigation, on-board data and command, power, imaging, structures, telecom, and systems engineering. Their results are nothing short of impressive: the team took first place in the Air Force Research Laboratory's 2011 national University Nanosat Competition, and the Department of Defense will launch their winning satellite into orbit in 2013.
Alternative Fuels Group
Industry Partner: TACOM
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Wenzhen Li
Course Number: ENT 2950 / 3950 / 4950 - Section 23
Disciplines Needed: All welcome especially need CM, ME, EE, BA, STC
Look at energy in a new (solar) light with the Alternative Fuels Group (AFG) Enterprise. The group focuses on investigating and creating a variety of alternative energies—from solar vehicle propulsion and biodiesel-fueled street sweepers to methanol production from natural gas and more. You can build your résumé while working with high-profile sponsors and partners like US Army TACOM.
Automotive Computing
Faculty Advisor: John Lukowski
Course Number: ENT 2950 / 3950 / 4950 - Section 28
The Automotive Computing Enterprise (ACE) focuses on human-automobile interaction, developing and integrating hardware and software to change the user interfaces of automobiles for the better. Sponsored by GM, the group is working with a 2007 Chevrolet Suburban to develop an expandable infotainment and instrumentation platform that has the potential to be marketed and sold in industry.
Blizzard Baja SAE
Industry Partners: General Motors, Chrysler LLC, DENSO, 3M, Alcoa, ArcelorMittlal, Cummins, Ford Motor Company
Faculty Advisor: Brett Hamlin
Course Number: ENT 2950 / 3950 / 4950 - Section 6
Disciplines Needed: MEEM, MET, MY, BA, STC
Interested in the Blizzard Baja SAE Enterprise? Buckle up and hold on tight. Each year, the group designs and builds a mini-baja off-road recreational vehicle for competition, focusing on frame, chassis, and suspension improvements. In 2010 alone they placed in the top ten (amongst 89 teams) in Design, Cost, Hill Climb, and Maneuverability categories—and ranked sixteenth overall.
Clean Snowmobile Team
Industry Partners: General Motors, Chrysler LLC, DENSO, 3M, Alcoa, ArcelorMittlal, Cummins, Ford Motor Company, Polaris Industries
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Jason Blough
Course Number: ENT 2950 / 3950 / 4950 - Section 7
The Clean Snowmobile Team Enterprise is about more than just snowmobiles—it’s an answer to the call for greener outdoor recreation. Each year, Michigan Tech’s team modifies a stock snowmobile to achieve 25 percent reduction in CO emissions, 50 percent reduction in HC emissions, and noise-level reduction to 74dB. Students from a variety of disciplines work on engine, chassis, and drive train design, plus handle business matters, communications, and advertising. It’s all in preparation for their big show: competition at the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Clean Snowmobile Challenge.
Formula SAE
Industry Partners: General Motors, Chrysler LLC, DENSO, Pi Shurlok, 3M, Alcoa, ArcelorMittlal, Cummins, Ford Motor Company, Trijicon, REL, Timet, and L'Anse Manufacturing
Faculty Advisor - Jim De Clerck
Course Number: ENT 2950 / 2960 / 3950 / 3960 / 4950 / 4960 - Section 5
Disciplines Needed: MEEM, MET, MY, BA, STC, EE and EET
Designing and building an Indy-style racecar for competition may sound like a tall order, but for students in the Formula SAE Enterprise, it’s just another day in the shop (and in the lab and on the track). The group focuses on optimization of chassis, frame, wheel, and engine design, plus acceleration, skid pad, endurance, cost, manufacturability, and safety. Their car is then put to the test in the annual Formula SAE Challenge, a competition among more than 100 teams from universities across the nation and around the world.
Hybrid Electric Vehicle
Coordinators: Robert Page, John Lukowski
Strip a vehicle down, rebuild it, make it better: that’s the drill for the Hybrid Electric Vehicle Enterprise. Working with a new Chevrolet Cruze (donated by General Motors), teams of students are tackling all components of electric vehicle performance: control system development, CAD design, electric accessory designs, suspension and ride tuning, hybrid powertrain, aerodynamic body components, and more.
Supermileage Systems
Industry Partner: Pi-Shurlok
Faculty Advisor: Rick Berkey
Course Number: ENT 2950 / 3950 / 4950 - Section 13
Disciplines Needed: MEEM, EE, CPE, BA, STC, others are welcome.
The result: a super high-mileage vehicle built around a 3.5 HP Briggs & Stratton, 4-stroke single-cylinder engine. To handle the complex job of creating such a vehicle, it takes the work of the Supermileage Systems Enterprise (SSE). Working as a team, students design and develop components based on automotive systems, vehicle functionality, sound engineering, and more. At the end of each year’s project: the chance to compete against other universities for glory (and the gold).
Transportation
Industry Partner: Thompson Scholars Program
Faculty Advisor: Dr. George R. Dewey, P.E.
Course Number: ENT 2950 / 3950 / 4950 - Section 12
Disciplines Needed: CEE, GE, MEEM, BA, STC
Electric vehicle-charging infrastructures. Rail lubrication solutions. Downtown transit sustainability models. The Transportation Enterprise tackles some of the area’s most challenging transportation-related projects, working with state and local government agencies and engineering firms to brainstorm and initiate solutions. The group is open to undergraduate civil and environmental engineering students with interests in consulting, construction, engineering, research, and more.
Unmanned Vehicle Systems
Industry Partner: Continental AG
Faculty Advisor: Jindong Tan
Course Number: ENT 1960 / 2950 / 2960 / 3950 / 3960 / 4950 / 4960 - Section 32
Imagine an unmanned vehicle capable of keeping military men and women safe by performing area surveillance. That vision is a reality, thanks to the students involved with the Unmanned Vehicle Systems Enterprise. Working under sponsorship by the US Air Force, the group utilizes artificial intelligence, communication systems, aerodynamics, structural dynamics, materials science, embedded systems, computer modeling, and more in their quest to create unmanned aerial, ground, surface, and underwater vehicles.
Velovations
Industry Partners: Pearl Izumi, SRAM, RockyMounts, Copper Harbor Trails Club
Faculty Advisor: John Gershenson
Course Numbers: ENT 2950 / 3950 / 4950
Disciplines Needed: All welcome, we have projects that suit every major on campus. Undergraduate and graduate students are welcome whether seeking enterprise credit, independent study credit, project credit, or no credit. Riders and non-riders equally welcome.
Avid cyclists, weekend warriors, biking novices… the students involved with the Velovations Enterprise have a common goal: building a better bike. The team collaborates with the bicycle industry to develop new products and services, from the beginning of the process—researching customer needs and identifying current problems—through the final stages of design, testing, marketing, and distribution.