Envirofit Wins Award

Engineering for K-12

Hurricane Wave Study

Student Space Project

Visit Fort Collins this Fall

More Stories of Interest

Greetings from Colorado State!

The summer season on campus is a time for faculty to work individually with students on research and to think about how they might redevelop their classes, while first year students visit campus, register for classes, and learn their way around.

This last academic year was an important year for the college with new research discoveries, new programs for our students, and graduation of over 300 new engineers and atmospheric scientists. The college also experienced another successful fundraising year, thanks to alumni and friends like you. Private support for the year came to $7.6 million (includes grants and contracts), up 30% from last year. This funding will impact the college's ability to achieve the highest level of learning through the recruitment and retention of exceptional faculty, staff and students, modernization of laboratories and equipment, expansion of our research program, and creation of new scholarship opportunities.

Like the fundraising appeals sent to our alumni and friends, our college coordinates an annual faculty/staff drive, asking our college to invest in itself. I am proud to announce that our team of faculty and staff contributed $290,051, which more than doubles last year’s total of $137,335.

With each thank you card I sign and with each donor I meet, I am truly thankful for their support. It is inspirational to see alumni, friends, faculty, and staff contribute to the success of our students, programs, and CSU as a whole.

As always, feel free to contact faculty or staff members to ask questions about college funding needs or to schedule a tour of our facilities.

Thank you,
Dr. Sandra Woods
Dean

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Envirofit Wins International Award

Envirofit International Ltd. has received one of the inaugural awards at the World Clean Energy Awards event in Basel, Switzerland, recognizing its innovative practices and leadership in implementing broad-based energy solutions.

Envirofit won the "Transport and Mobility" award for its project to retrofit thousands of two-stroke motorcycles with fuel-efficient engines that dramatically reduce emissions. Bryan Willson (pictured with fuel-efficient motorcycle), director of the Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory where Envirofit originated and an Envirofit founder, accepted the prestigious award at the June 15 ceremony.

The World Clean Energy Awards is handled by Transatlantic21, a Swiss-based association, and was established to honor innovative projects that move clean energy solutions out of the laboratory into mainstream use. This is the third major international honor recognizing Envirofit in the last several years.

Commonly used on motorcycle taxis throughout Third World countries, carbureted two-stroke engines represent one of the largest sources of vehicular emissions in the world. The pollution from these vehicles kills thousands of people annually in Asia, Africa, and South America.

The prototype of the Envirofit retrofit was developed at Colorado State University's Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory in 2003. Envirofit was formed later when students and faculty at CSU formed a non-profit corporation to further develop and commercialize the product.

"Envirofit has become a major worldwide player in the challenge to produce energy efficiency alternatives," said Ron Bills, chairman of Envirofit. "We are honored by this award that recognizes the technical and business innovations in our work in the Philippines."

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COE Professor Taking Lead on Hurricane Wave Study

A Colorado State University engineering professor is embarking on a first-of-its-kind study. In collaboration with engineers at Oregon State University (OSU) and several students, John van de Lindt, associate professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will soon document the effects of hurricane-strength waves on woodframe residential buildings.

The study will take part in OSU's gymnasium-size tsunami wave tank. This is the world's largest experimental facility specifically designed for tsunami research. Its custom-built wavemaker allows it to recreate scaled hurricane waves, as well.

"This is the first real step toward understanding how hurricane-force waves affect woodframe structures," said van de Lindt, the principal investigator on the study, who is working with Rakesh Gupta, associate professor of Wood Science and Engineering at Oregon State University.

At Colorado State, van de Lindt's team of graduate and undergraduate students is busy building one-sixth scale replicas of a two-story, 2,000-square-foot home (van de Lindt pictured with one replica). Tests will be done to see the effects of hurricane waves of various heights and forces, in the tsunami tank. The team will use the data in order to simulate hurricane-force waves so they can replicate the wave forces and study physical damage to the homes.

"The results of the study, for the first time, will provide information necessary to understanding behavior of residential buildings during storm surge," Gupta said. "This is the first step in making American homes safer during hurricane-induced storm surge in coastal areas."

The first test is expected in August. To learn more, visit the CSU website.

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Student Project will Launch into Space

Several Colorado State University mechanical engineering and engineering science students and faculty are designing an important component of a NASA satellite launch in 2009. Their piece is a key part of a new satellite tether system.

Working in conjunction with JAXA, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, CSU's FAST (FAst Starting Test) Pallet team is currently engineering a payload for a sounding rocket mission to facilitate the collection of electrons on a bare tether.

Mostly made from high strength fibers and conducting wires, space tethers are integral not only in connecting spacecraft to each other or other objects, but are vital to advanced space acceleration and deceleration systems based on electodynamically generated forces. When employed on orbiting satellites, the current collected on a bare tether can be used to decelerate and de-orbit exhausted space stages and other debris, clearing the way for safer space missions in the future.

"Our project is a critical component of this mission," said CSU engineering science student and team leader Meghan Capra. "If we don't work, the mission doesn't work; the experiment cannot be run without this piece [of hardware]."

For more information on CSU's Department of Mechanical Engineering and Space Program, visit the Electric Propulsion and Plasma Engineering Laboratory website.

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Visit Fort Collins this Fall!

The summer is moving fast, bringing behind it students, fall weather, and CSU's annual Homecoming and Family Weekend. In addition to the activities planned by CSU, the College of Engineering will once again host several events for alumni and guests.

Mark your calendars for October 4 - 7, 2007!

Annual 50th and Prior Reunion Dinner
Thursday, October 4 at the Fort Collins Hilton

All College Reunion Breakfast
Friday, October 5 in the Internet Cafe (engineering bldg.)

Academic Village Grand Opening Luncheon
Saturday, October 6 at the Academic Village

Details on these events are available on the COE's events website.

University-wide events scheduled for the weekend include the Homecoming Parade, the Alumni Association Pancake Breakfast, and the Homecoming Football Game (CSU vs. San Diego State). Visit the CSU Homecoming site for more information.

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Other stories of interest...

CSU Grad Important Contributor to NASA Dawn Mission

E-Days 2007 Award Winners

Scholarship to CSU Student Addresses National Shortage of Engineers

Better Engines for Extracting Natural Gas

More College of Engineering stories are available on-line
at Engineering News.