Enterprise Teams

The team's main focus this year is to iterate on the 4WD designs of last year and address drawbacks of the original vehicle design. To accomplish this, we have five Senior Design teams consisting of: 4WD, Ergonomics, Rear Hubs Redesign, Power Steering, and Front Suspension Optimization. Upon completion of these five projects, the team will have a functioning 4WD vehicle that is more efficient and better accommodates the driver than the previous 4WD vehicle design.

Shaun Hoffmann and William Rivet, Mechanical Engineering

Kevin Johnson, Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology and Steven Ma, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

GM, Aramco Americas, A&D Technology, Dana, SAE, Milwaukee Tool, Halla Mechatronics, Caterpillar, Meritor, Oshkosh, Ford, John Deere, Mahle, BRP, Team Tech, Diamond House International

The team’s primary goal is to make cleaner burning, quieter snowmobiles that are still fun to ride. This year we are competing with a Yamaha Viper chassis powered by a Yamaha Genesis 1049cc Engine as well as an Ski-Doo Skandic chassis powered by a diesel KDW 993T engine provided by Kohler Engines.

Katy Pioch and Daniel Prada, Mechanical Engineering

Jason Blough and Scott Miers, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

GM (General Motors), Aramco, A&D, Dana, Milwaukee Tool, Caterpillar, Meritor, Oshkosh, Ford, John Deere, BRP (Ski-Doo), Kohler, Mahle, Yamaha, Castle, Gamma Technologies, Quincy Compressor, Shipley Energy, Top Flight Automotive, Superior Graphics

This year we have several projects bringing advanced technology to our car. We are implementing optimized suspension uprights, a new intake and exhaust, and tuning of our CVT transmission. We are also creating a hybrid carbon fiber monocoque chassis for a future car.  We also have a large undertaking as we are converting our previous car, the F-276, into the e-276. This will be the first electric FSAE car that Michigan Tech has ever constructed! This car and its developments will allow the team to explore new technologies that we will be able to implement on our internal combustion engine vehicle.

John Herr and Luke Quilliams, Mechanical Engineering

James DeClerck, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

General Motors, Aramco Americas, A&D Technology, Dana Inc., SAE International, Yamaha, Halla Mechatronics, Meritor, Oshkosh Corporation, Ford Motor Company, John Deere, Caterpillar, Henkel, BRP Inc., RapidHarness, Wetherington Law Firm, Danaher, Watermark, Top Flight Automotive, Shipley Energy, Superior Graphics, TEAMTECH, Gamma Technologies, Enterprise Manufacturing Initiative funded by General Motors

Supermileage Systems’ focus this year has been on competitive benchmarking to inform the design of a completely new car for 2023. A new carbon fiber vehicle body/shell was designed that is nearly half the weight of the current one, while still maintaining aerodynamic efficiency. A lighter steering system was also completed. A new rear subframe is also in development, with final assembly and testing scheduled for next year. For the 2022 competition, our team has implemented a reduced displacement engine with improved tuning, a lightweight roll bar, and vehicle position tracking system. These improvements are expected to reduce fuel consumption and improve competitiveness at the 2022 SAE Supermileage event in June.

Luis Hernandez, Mechanical Engineering and Olivia Zinser, Electrical Engineering

Rick Berkey, Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology

General Motors, Aramco Americas, A&D Technology, Dana Inc., SAE International, Halla Mechatronics, Meritor, Oshkosh Corporation, Ford Motor Company, John Deere, Caterpillar, Henkel, BRP Inc., RapidHarness, Wetherington Law Firm, Danaher, Watermark, Top Flight Automotive, Shipley Energy, TEAMTECH, Gamma Technologies, Velocity USA, Enterprise Manufacturing Initiative funded by General Motors

This year's industry 4.0 team is sponsored by the MMET department. The project seeks to better utilize the MSE pilot-scale metal/steel processing facility by updating the sensors and data collection capabilities to better align with the Industry 4.0. Some of the equipment for steel casting, rolling, forging, stamping, and additive manufacturing already exists and is operational, and this proposal seeks to instrument the equipment for use by a wider range of disciplines on campus. It would also allow for effective data tracking and use for mathematical models.

Deringer-Ney project is an advanced simulation project which seeks to develop a solid solder which has similar properties to today's gold-silver solders but utilizes alloying additions which  are more affordable for manufacturing purposes.

The Miller welding project is a cooperation with ITOxygen students to use an advanced Miller welder to collect welding data which can be utilized with advanced computational models to predict weld quality.

Eli Harma, Materials Science and Engineering; Conor Warwick, Mechanical Engineering Technology

David M. Labyak and Nicholas V. Hendrickson, Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology

Deringer-Ney, Lear Corporation, Miller Electric, Oshkosh Defense, Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Dept.

Auris: The Auris mission is a satellite project based on demonstrating the technical feasibility of a CubeSat’s ability to provide situational data. In collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the objectives of the Auris mission are to enhance Space Domain Awareness (SDA) by providing activity and location knowledge of space-based assets from on-orbit. This is achieved by measuring and characterizing radio frequency (RF) emission patterns of a target satellite, as well as by providing an estimate for the location of that target. The Auris mission is intended to serve as a pathfinder toward increasingly complex space systems that leverage the low cost and small form factor of CubeSats to achieve the performance of traditional, monolithic systems.

Nolan Pickett and Kyle Bruursema, Mechanical Engineering

L. Brad King, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

Auris: Air Force Research Laboratory, Stratus: NASA

The Alternative Energy Enterprise continues to work toward finding sustainable methods for energy production, delivery, and consumption through several interrelated projects. These teams work to develop and implement new technologies that focus on making sustainable development a reality. These teams include the Renewable Energy Mission Module (REMM), Sustainability Demonstration House (SDH), Solar Consulting Team, Biofuels and Pyrolysis Team, and Pumped Hydro Team.

Josh Myers, Electrical Engineering; Gavin Kumpelis, Mechanical Engineering

Joe Azzarello and David Shonnard, Chemical Engineering

Richard and Bonnie Robbins Endowment and DARPA ReSource

BMS Enterprise continues to demonstrate its ability to tackle a diverse set of interdisciplinary projects, with seven projects spanning several industry sectors. The GM Pick Point team is working to develop a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) vision system for unexpected part detection in the manufacturing process. GM also sponsors a project titled "Digital Twin" with the goal of using simulation to emulate the software and mechanical capabilities of a manufacturing line without a physical test bench or hardware. We have two defense-related projects sponsored by SERC, one of which deals with creating a smart towing line to attach a tow boat to a submersible for safety and ease of use, and the other which includes the development of an air quality monitoring and purification system for a Dry Combat Submersible. Members of the Oshkosh team designed and tested a suspension system for the Oshkosh LCTV vehicle. Another team is reverse engineering MTU’s moving bookshelf system to make it safer and easier to use.

Drew Rosales, Computer Engineering; Breanna Gorman, Electrical Engineering

Glen Archer, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Empower 906, GM, U.S. Navy SOCOM, Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC), Oshkosh Defense, MTU Library

BoardSport Technologies (BST) focuses on allowing students to design and manufacture products for recreational use in the boardsport industry. The Enterprise is currently concentrated in three different sports with three Senior Design teams. The three different sports are Snow, Skate, and Wake. The Snow team is currently designing a snow bike conversion kit to be used on any bike and at a more affordable cost. The Skate team is researching and testing a new impact-resistant board design to improve the life of a board. The Wake team is researching methods to make a kneeboard on a budget that future members can follow. One of our Senior Design teams is completing a non-metal CNC router system to improve the manufacturing process for the enterprise. Another Senior Design team is researching and testing different snowboard materials during the layup process to allow for different flex and stiffness characteristics of the boards. The final Senior Design team is designing and manufacturing a 3D printed wakesurf board core, which is a completely new board making process.

Jacob Loudermilk and Josh Lamphere, Mechanical Engineering

Ibrahim Miskioglu and Cam Hadden, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

Enterprise Manufacturing Initiative funded by General Motors

The Built World Enterprise participates in both the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) University Design Competition and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Rainworks Challenge, as well as the WERC Design Challenge. The current ACRP team is investigating thermal radar detection for runways. The current EPA teams are working on mitigating stormwater runoff, and the WERC team is investigating copper slag reuse in ceramic tiles. Built World also works with Engineers Without Borders and the Steel Bridge Team to help improve collaboration and feedback.

Mary Ollis and Lucy Toppen, Civil Engineering

Audra Morse, Civil and Environmental Engineering

General Motors

CinOptic students teamed up with Isle Royale National Park to create a series of promotional and safety videos highlighting the National Park itself and educating visitors on how to treat the park. Three CinOptic team members traveled to Isle Royale this past summer and worked with park staff to explore and film as much of the island as possible. Upon returning, the team has been working diligently to assemble these instructional videos.

Matthew Brisson, Communication, Culture, and Media; Julianna Humecke, Scientific and Technical Communication

Erin Smith, Humanities

Isle Royale National Park, NSF CAREER Grant

Consumer Product Manufacturing (CPM) brands itself as the Enterprise that prepares students for industry through 10 commercial-, medical-, and sustainability-focused projects. CPM’s sustainability projects involve both corporate sponsors including (Doll n’ Burgers, GM, Org Chem Group, and Sussex IM) as well as Michigan Tech and seek solutions to alleviate the carbon footprint left behind. The commercial projects within CPM Include Doll n’ Burgers Innovative Condiment Packaging which is developing packaging that allows for condiments to attach directly to Doll n’ Burgers existing containers. Commercially Viable Keg Cleaning Device is an open-source solution for breweries across the state of Michigan. The project aims to develop a keg washing system at a fraction of the cost of available systems. CPM’s newest project Org Chem Group: Alternative Heat Transfer Fluid looks to develop a more stable heat transfer fluid that can be exposed to moisture and open air without losing its characteristics. The medical projects offered by CPM, Affordable, Authentic, Accessible Prosthesis develops a lower limb prosthesis at a fraction of the cost compared to existing products within the industry. Shared Air Filtration by GM looks to increase the safety and well-being of the population by developing an air filtration system that can eliminate airborne pathogens such as Covid-19 to help combat its spread. CPM also offers sustainable projects such as Biogas: Anaerobic Digestion of Dining Hall Food Waste for Methane, and Clean Diesel: Converting University Wastes into Biodesiel, works to develop processes for alternative energy that can be used to power parts of the Michigan Tech campus. Two projects with Sussex IM such as Mr.Lid: Reusable Diningware Program, and OneTumbler: Reusable Drinkware Program work to develop systems within Michigan Tech’s Dining systems to reduce waste and promote reuse. Meanwhile CPM’s Flexible Film Collection and Recycling project integrates collection stations across campus to collect low density polyethylene flex film that can then be recycled which is not available through existing recycling methods. These teams comprise students from all different disciplines to lead them to a future that is more accessible and sustainable for all. 

Brooke Bates and Brandon Earll, Chemical Engineering

Tony Rogers, Chemical Engineering

Sussex IM, GM, Org Chem Group, Doll n' Burgers, University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business

Our project is to design a safer and more efficient means for rescuing injured mountain bikers from trail systems. The current design is an unstable one wheeled design, requiring a team of 4-6 to walk it in. We are working to add stability and reduce rescue times. Our design incorporates a three wheel design with the added ability to bike into the trail system and find the injured rider. The rescue device will then be pushed out to the nearest road by 1-2 operators. 

Morgan Bialek and Jake Abbott, Mechanical Engineering

Brett Hamlin, Engineering Fundamentals

Jacquart Fabric Products, Copper Harbor Bike Patrol, Copper Harbor Trails Club, Stormy Kromer.

This composting project would give Michigan Tech a composting site, facility, and plan in order to divert waste from landfills and take advantage of the resources that are currently literally being thrown away. With a plan in place, a valuable compost product can be produced and distributed in a number of different applications across campus and the community. Currently, we are conducting research to find out as much information as possible on feasible, university-scale compost facilities that we could potentially design come next semester. At this point we have developed a calculator of sorts to determine the exact sizing of site/facility for multiple types of composting, all based on a variable input of pounds of feedstock gathered.

Drew Eaton, Civil Engineering; Maddie Krzciok, Environmental Engineering

Robert Handler, Chemical Engineering

Dan Liebau - MTU Facilities Management & Alan Turnquist - MTU Director of Sustainability and Resilience

Project 1: The goal of this project is to design, construct, and deliver a cost-effective body-weight supported treadmill for use with patients who have balance and mobility impairments (e.g., stroke, osteoarthritis, joint surgery).

Project 2: The goal of this project is to design, construct, and deliver a cost-effective leg extension machine for use after knee surgery (e.g., ACL ligament surgery, total knee replacement).

Tyler Ryynanen, Robotics Engineering; Atlas Rosenburg, Mechanical Engineering

Steven J. Elmer, Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology

Michigan Tech: College of Sciences and Arts, College of Engineering, Health Research Institute, Dept. of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology, Dept. of Cognitive and Learning Sciences, Enterprise Program

This year we are continuing our research on disposable face masks. We have a 3D printer built and we have three different melting techniques for the face masks. The end goal of our project is to be creating practical products and using disposable face masks to create a successful filament for our 3D printer. 

Cassidy Grobbel, Chemical Engineering; Dan Unglenieks, Natural Resources Management

Mark Rudnicki, College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

Michigan Tech - Tech Forward Initiative on Advanced Materials and Manufacturing

The Humane Interface Design Enterprise (HIDE) has nine sub-teams this year. We have selected four to showcase at the Design Expo. The first is GDLS, which is developing tools for web scraping, image labeling, and building data sets of military images. These sets will be used for training, validating, and testing convolutional neural networks for combat material classification. The second project is LB, a web-app to help organize Little Brothers' transportation program. The third is PillowTalk, a research project to build a multi-interface inflatable cushion. The fourth is Health Resource Hub, a site to help UP residents browse/search for helpful resources, such as food, education, health, and housing.

Abby Myers and Ian Lawrie, Software Engineering

Robert Pastel, Computer Science

General Dynamics Land Systems, Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly,  Western UP Health Department, Superior Health Foundation, Mel and Gloria Visser

They say that the mansion on the other side of town is haunted, but is it really? The kids tell stories on how dangerous the house is, but they have never made it through the door. That's when you decided to enter the mansion and see what the fuss was about. You didn't believe those rumors, until you found yourself waking up in a strange room within the mansion after blacking out at the door. Explore the mansion with the mysterious young girl that lives there, solve puzzles to progress and escape the mansion. Will you make it out or will you let your fears get the best of you?

Ethan Fournier, Computer Science; Devin Stewart, Software Engineering

Scott Kuhl, Computer Science

 

The objective of this project is to design, fabricate, and test a low-cost modular infant incubator to bridge the gap in infant health care for developing areas. This project was chosen because infant mortality rates are still shockingly high in many parts of the world, even though modern medical advances should have aided in drastically decreasing these numbers. Currently, the team has completed functional testing on the project’s first fully functional prototype, and has designed a new prototype that reflects improvements based on testing.

Maggie Blevins and Morgan Thomas, Biomedical Engineering

Nathan Manser, Geological and Mining Engineering and Radheshyam Tewari, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

General Motors, Tree Frog Aquagric LLC

The IT Operations team uses enterprise-grade hardware and software to provide the services our teams need to develop their projects. The team also helps its members gain hands-on experience with managing infrastructure (servers, networking, etc.). Operations is dedicated to improving, monitoring, and scaling the IT Oxygen infrastructure. In addition, our Security division manages the cybersecurity aspect of our organization. They maintain a security-focused mindset when implementing, maintaining, and decommissioning infrastructure. The Security division ensures that IT Oxygen follows best practices to maintain data integrity for our clients' project data. This includes periodically conducting penetration testing on our network to find and promptly fix any vulnerabilities that may be present.

Adam Fulton, Computer Network and System Administration; Peter LaMantia, Software Engineering

Nagesh Hatti, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Miller Electric, Ford C3, Michigan Tech Biomedical Engineering Department, Michigan Tech Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering Department

The Multiplanetary INnovation Enterprise is working on four main projects this year: Lunabotics, Lunar Trencher, DIVER and Adaptive Boom Arm. The Lunabotics team is taking part in the NASA Robotic Mining Competition held at the Kennedy Space Center where they are developing and testing a lunar rover according to NASA's requirements and rules of the competition. Lunar Trencher is working on developing a bucket ladder that is capable of operating in a lunar simulated vacuum chamber to obtain data on excavating in lunar conditions. DIVER is working on building a ROV that is capable of descending down into the Quincy mine to map the flooded tunnels and collect water samples. The Adaptive Boom Arm project aims to develop a highly maneuverable arm that can reach areas obstructed by obstacles where traditional boom arms would struggle.

Timothy Hamilton and Brian Geiger, Mechanical Engineering

Paulus Van Susante, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

Enterprise Manufacturing Initiative funded by General Motors, JLG Industries, Huskyworks, Michigan Space Grant Consortium

This year, multiple projects are underway in OSHE. The Growbot, the Camera Quadcopter, Glucose Meter, Recycle Bot, Lasersaur, 3D Printer Automation,  Kewee-Meters, and BREAD projects are all encompassed by the OSHE group. Each project seeks to employ the concepts of open-source development in their process from concept to the final product.

Isaac Fortier, Computer Engineering; Anders Smitterberg, Mechanical Engineering

Shane Oberloier, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Enterprise Manufacturing Initiative funded by General Motors

SAE AutoDrive Challenge II is our enterprise's largest endeavor with the goal of creating a SAE J3016 Level 4 Autonomous Vehicle over the course of a 4-year competition.  In the first year of the new iteration of the challenge, our team divided themselves into 5 subteams that are each responsible for navigating different aspects of the challenge, including Perception, Simulation, Software, Innovation, and Project Management teams.  The year end goal is to outfit a tool chest with autonomous vehicle (AV) sensors to simulate real world perception challenges AVs have in an urban environment before taking delivery of the new vehicle for future competition development.

The GVSC Leader-Follower project is focused on the creation of a partially manned, autonomous, leader-follower convoy using Clearpath Jackals Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) as our robotic platform. By automating convoys, our sponsor, US Army Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC), hopes to reduce the risk to human life.  We have transitioned from a simulated system to physically implementing our code on the UGVs with IMU, GPS, and LiDAR sensors paired with cross-vehicle communication and are working on finishing the demonstration using several different UGVs to demonstrate a pure convoy in a turnkey demo.

The Niryo Ned Arm team aims to use a 6-axis robotic arm to create a demonstration using custom made tools and a computer vision upgrade kit to analyze, move, and transform objects for the ultimate goal of learning about robotic systems and their applications.

The T-Shirt Cannon team is using a Pioneer robot chassis to mount and transport a custom designed pneumatic barrel for the goal of firing T-Shirts at Michigan Tech sporting and promotional events.  The team is resuming work from past semesters and are working on improving the cannon to be reliable and sustainable for regular, safe use.

Ian Mattson, Electrical Engineering; Jay Monique, Mechanical Engineering

Jeremy Bos, Electrical and Computer Engineering and Darrell Robinette, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

US Army Ground Vehicles Systems Center (GVSC), SAE AutoDrive, General Motors

The Marine Energy Collegiate Competition (MECC) is a business/engineering collaboration focused on marine energy research and a worldwide competition to test and design new marine energy devices. 

The Under Ice Acoustic project is sponsored by the Naval Engineering Education Consortium (NEEC). The goal is to test and further develop a machine learning algorithm that tracks noise sources through ice environments.

The Buoyancy team, sponsored by the Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC), is working to develop and design a device that can be used by the US Navy to compensate for buoyancy differences on small underwater vehicles due to changes in salinity.

The Making Experiences with Ford Acoustic Sensor Odysseys (MEFASO) team, sponsored by Ford, is focused on designing and building an acoustic collection system for a vehicle that can be used to explore machine learning applications with large data sets.

The GLRC-sponsored Senior Design team is focused on developing an autonomous surface water vehicle to retrieve and deploy small buoys.

Seth Olson, Mechanical Engineering and Fiona Chow, Management Information Systems

Timothy C. Havens, Computer Science

Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Ford Motor Company, Naval Engineering Education Consortium (NEEC), Michigan Tech Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC)

This year Velovations is working on four bicycle-related projects.

1. The Simple Dropper Post project's goal is to engineer a bike seat dropper post with high reliability and low cost that is easy to install, operate and maintain.
2. The Steel Frame project aims to fabricate a bike out of Cleveland Cliff's advanced high-strength steel to explore the viability of using this exciting new material.
3. The Hot Pawz team is designing rechargeable heated grips and a heated water bottle cage for riding during colder temperatures.
4. Last but not least...the Voodoo Hubs project aims to model and validate Senger Innovations’ revolutionary rear wheel hub freewheel system

Jorge Povich and Eamon McClintock, Mechanical Engineering

Steve Lehmann, Biomedical Engineering

Cleveland Cliffs, Senger Innovations, Enterprise Program

With all WCE projects, the team’s goal is to allow students to work on what they find interesting while developing key engineering skills. Our lab enables students to work on all these projects with the support of 3D printers, PCB printers, microcontrollers, and almost anything else an electronics lab could need. Wireless Communication Enterprise (WCE) is currently supporting four different project groups with both internal and external sponsors. The current sponsored projects include working with Whirlpool to develop a method for predicting the failure of certain components on their washing machines, and working with Stellantis to implement a wireless battery management module that allows for the communication of multiple batteries without wiring them into a central unit. Currently we are internally working on two internal projects that include focusing lasers in order to generate images. The second project involves the development of autonomous control schemes for drones.

Eric Steve and Sierra Derusha, Electrical Engineering

Christopher Cischke, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Stellantis, Whirlpool

The current underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) built by the SOAR team are proof-of-concept prototypes and have outlived their life expectancy. The team has set a course to redesign and replace two classes of team-built ROVs. First, the Isle Royale National Park service ROVs. Improved design features will focus on reduced size, decreased thruster power consumption, and rapid in-field power pack replacement. Second, the demonstration ROVs used by the team during student demonstrations and community festivals. Enhancement features will include a cleaner driver’s station with operator controls fitting for young hands, a bright screen for outdoor viewing, and compact size for operation in the demonstration tank.

Maggie Gaunt and Anthony Datto

Matthew Zimmer, Dollar Bay High School

Dollar Bay Tamarack City Area K12 School, Lake Superior Stewardship

The goal of the combustion analysis system (CAS) for AMS dynamometer labs project is to develop a standalone movable CAS that can interact with engine dynamometer and computer data acquisition systems in each of the AMS dynamometer test cells. The main purpose of the standalone CAS  is to allow AMS enterprise teams to better understand and improve the combustion physics and performance of their respective engine applications. The project is currently in its second phase. In this phase, the team is developing the ergonomics of the standalone cart-based system, a custom quick-disconnect panel for data acquisition I/O, and implementing high-resolution rotary encoders into the AMS dynamometers.

Scott Miers, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

A&D Technology Inc.

Riley Dickert , Physics; Cynthia Wurtz and Ross Richards, Mechanical Engineering; Avery Cassel, Environmental Engineering; Emma Kantola, Electrical Engineering

Nathan Manser, Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences and Radheshyam Tewari, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

Tree Frog Aquagric