by Derrick Bean
COE Public Affairs Writer

It’s the return of the 4th Annual Warrior Games, which can only mean one thing: the revenge of the engiNERDS. The team of self-proclaimed engineering nerds will compete April 12 through 16 at the Mort Harris Recreational and Fitness Center among other sites on campus.

There are many events planned for this year’s Warrior Games including Frisbee, volleyball, dodge ball, table tennis, 3-on-3 basketball, a scavenger hunt, video game events and more.

In their third year of competition, the engiNERDS 3.0 will challenge fraternities, sororities, various WSU colleges and student groups. The engiNERDS, representing the College of Engineering, has been the No. 1 college represented at Warrior Games over the past couple of years. The engiNERDS finished ninth in 2008, with only 10 students; and seventh in 2009, with about 20 students, edging out the College of Nursing as the top college.

Gabriela “Gabby” Diaz, team manager and mechanical engineering senior, says she organized the team of engineering students to help improve the college climate in 2008. She knocked on every engineering student organization’s door trying to get students involved, but only a few organizations signed up.

Diaz, who is also the president of the Society of Hispanic and Professional Engineers (SHPE), noticed a change of heart in 2009. “I think they may have been apprehensive (last year) because they were worried about how engineers would do against these big fraternities and sororities,” she says.

Diaz encouraged people to look at Warrior Games for what they are –fun and games. “We don’t want people to be like, ‘Aw, I suck at sports,’ because that’s not what it’s about,” she says.

The engiNERDS team knows there is strength in numbers, stretching far beyond the 30 or so students signed up this year. “We want cheerleaders, soccer moms and soccer dads,” says Diaz. “We need all the support we can get. These fraternities and sororities have 30 or 40 people that will come watch them.”

Diaz says non-engineers and people who just want to help out are welcome to join the team. “Some people don’t play but they volunteer or ‘spectate,’ and those people count too,” says Diaz. “Every event has different people participating, which is kind of our goal because we wanted everyone to get involved. It helps mesh different organizations better.”

By the way, the name engiNERDS is a mix of two suggested names, “The Engineers” and “The Nerds.”

To our graduating students …

Congratulations on your impending graduation.

The College is pleased to announce our special commencement event — the Order of the Engineer and the Professional Order of Engineering Technology ceremony. We will continue the tradition of this event for graduating engineering students, both undergraduate and graduate, this May.

Engineering’s program will be held Friday afternoon, May 7 at the General Lectures Building, immediately after the General Commencement. It will start with a special lunch at approximately 11:30 a.m., with assembly of graduates at 12:30 p.m., and the ceremonies at 1. The ceremonies usually last about an hour.

Newly degreed undergraduates and graduate students (including PhDs) are invited to participate. Friends, relatives and classmates are invited to join the celebration.

Dress is business casual – there is no need for students to dress in regalia.

The cost to undergraduates, graduate students and PhDs is $15, which includes the cost of the engineer ring or pin (in the case of ET students) and a digital photo. Guests are $25 each.

We are encouraging all engineering faculty and alumni to become ringed if they have not already done so.

All graduates will need to register by filling out a reservation form that is linked below, printing out and completing the form, and mailing it along with your check or money order to Public Affairs Office, Rm. 1153, College of Engineering, Detroit, MI, 48202.

Engineering Technology graduates will be receiving separate invitations and instructions. For more info, email Marsherry Jarrett at: [email protected]

Registration deadline is Friday, April 30. Reservations must be received by this date or they will not be accepted.

Watch the College homepage for updates on this event.

All the best to you. And congratulations on your well-deserved achievement.

From the College of Engineering Public Affairs Office

For the registration form, click here

 by Derrick Bean
COE Public Affairs Writer

Hundreds of Ford Engineers eager for training in hybrid vehicle technology should get another opportunity soon to take courses at the College of Engineering, which was inundated last month by candidates determined to sign up for the first set of courses.

“The courses were very well-received by the Ford engineers,” says Chih-Ping Yeh, chair of the Division of Engineering Technology. “Based on the student feedback, Ford is now discussing with us to schedule the next run of training (in May) for those on the waiting list.”

The first set of short courses was offered March 15 through 26 taught by Wayne State University professors in the Division of Engineering Technology. The classes immediately filled up with 500 registrants within two days, while 600 more students were put on a waiting list.

The signs are clear to move forward on training auto engineers for cleaner propulsion technology, says Yeh. “Ford wants them to have this knowledge. In four hours, we can give them the basic knowledge about hybrid vehicles so they can know about safety, and so they can go talk to other people about hybrid and electric vehicles.”

C.P. Yeh (left), chair of Engineering Technology, and
Assistant Professor Caisheng Wang

The courses varied and addressed different audiences, says Yeh. “The short courses are offered at different levels, targeting different groups of audiences, including non-engineers, general engineers, and EV/HEV and battery engineers of Ford and their suppliers.”

The courses are an outgrowth of ones launched several years ago and taught at Macomb Community College, preceding the launch next fall by the College of Engineering of new degree programs in electric drive vehicle technology.

Encouraged by the overwhelming positive response, Yeh is confident the auto industry is heading down the right road. “The automotive industry is transforming from traditional automotive technologies to advanced technologies such as EV, HEV and PHEV,” he says. “The knowledge in these emerging technologies is important not only for engineers, but also for non-engineer automotive employees, such as those who will be responsible for purchasing.”

Although the initial courses are only for Ford engineers, Yeh wants to use them as a training model for other auto and other companies in the auto industry involved in the design and manufacturing of hybrid and electric drive vehicles. “The overall goal is to help our auto industry. This program will benefit this entire automotive industry. We start with Ford. The next time we get the same type of grant, we’ll do it for GM, Chrysler and anyone else.”

Ford offered the short training courses in Hybrid and Electric Vehicle (HEV) technology taught at the Ford Fairlane Training and Development Center free to its employees. Yeh feels the collaboration is a great opportunity for all parties involved.

“The training is supported by the Community Jobs Training (CBJT) Grant operated by the Southeast Michigan Community College Consortium (SMC3),” says Yeh. “I was contacted by M-TEC of Macomb Community College about the possibility of using part of the CBJT grant to provide HEV and battery-related trainings. The Division of Engineering Technology worked with Ford’s Learning and Development team to modify our existing courses on Hybrid and Electric Vehicle (EV/HEV), Advanced Battery Systems, Electric Machines, and Power Electronics for EV/HEV applications into a set of short courses.”

Yeh says the courses came together very quickly because the program’s grant was about to expire. The course agenda was then quickly developed based on Ford’s internal survey of students’ needs.

The courses were taught by Associate Professor Gene Liao and Assistant Professor Caisheng Wang (Engineering Technology), Research Professor Dennis Corrigan (Alternative Energy Technology), and Le-Yi Wang, professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Engineering Technology is learning from the success of Ford’s short courses as well as the state-initiated Michigan Academy for Green Mobility (MAGM), Yeh says.

The efforts with Ford also pave the way for future collaborations in research, Yeh adds. 

"I feel the College of Engineering can become a center of expertise for hybrid and electric vehicles to do the training for the automotive industry," says Yeh. "WSU has in-house expertise and existing courses on these emerging technologies to cover the industry’s training need, and to help with the transition of the automotive industry.”

A team of 15 engineering students participated in the 2010 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Regional Concrete Canoe Competition Sunday, March 28, finishing fourth overall. Wayne State’s team competed against eight other schools including the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

Bryan Kennedy, project manager, is proud of the team’s performance. “Our paddling team’s performance was simply phenomenal,” he says. “Developed programs like Michigan Technological University and Ohio Northern University pour hundreds, perhaps even thousands of hours into practice paddling — and our team managed to threaten second place with more efficient, but significantly less preparation. We were able to write a solid technical report, which was well-received and placed third in its scoring category.”

The team also came in third place in the paddling category, fourth in oral presentation and fifth in final product.

Devin Partrich, a freshman in civil and environmental engineering, is a paddler for the team. “It sounded like an awesome new fun thing to do,” she says of how she got on board with the team.

Luke Mackewich, a civil and environmental engineering senior and returning member, is the paddling captain in charge of organizing practices as well as helping out with general fabrication.

Partrich says Mackewich taught her and the other paddlers how to steer, turn and keep a low center of gravity. They also learned their roles — the front paddler never switches hand positions, unlike the paddlers in the back. During practice at Ford Field Park in Dearborn, the team prepared by racing regular canoes and using buckets as buoys to resemble the sprint course’s layout, Partrich says. She adds that there weren’t many practices but enough to learn the basics.

Partrich isn’t new to canoeing, though. “I’ve canoed quite a bit, going camping, but never competitively,” she says.

Wayne State’s canoe is about 20 feet long and 31 inches wide. It weighs 225 pounds, down from 300 last year. It was dubbed “Heidtke’s Last Stand” in honor of Thomas Heidtke, associate professor of civil engineering, who is retiring in May. Mackewich says the professor is very well-liked by students. Heidtke came out to support the team at this year’s event.

Of the five total races during finals competition, there were women’s teams, men’s teams and co-ed teams. Mackewich says the co-ed race was shortened due to inclement weather. Wayne State finished fourth in that category.

The men — paddlers Mackewich, Anthony Vitti and Martin “Skip” Brosnan — placed third in sprint and fourth in endurance (both final competition races). During the sprint qualifying race, the team earned a second-place score with a photo-finish comeback by edging out Ohio Northern University, last year’s overall winner.

The women — paddlers Partrich, Nicole Ball and Era Raizada, placed third in sprint and third in endurance during final competition.

The Last Stand and crew had to compete against not only teams from other schools, but also bad weather. “It started raining at the end (of the competition), and we all got soaked from the waist down,” Partrich says.

Partrich says strong currents didn’t help either. The water forcefully disagreed with the paddlers who often needed to readjust and had a hard time keeping their canoe straight.

Mackewich, Vitti, Partrich and Ball competed in every race during their respective events. In the end, Partrich says they were “numb, wet, tired, and exhausted,” but happy with their overall fourth-place finish, which bested last year’s fifth-place.

“I think we could’ve done better,” says Partrich. “We need more practicing so we can get our technique down. We weren’t rowing in sync with each other.”

But the team did just fine elsewhere. “Our turns were really sharp,” says Partrich. “Overall, we did an excellent job. That was really exciting. The weather was a drag, but it was a lot of fun.”

Partrich says there’s room for improvement next year. Her list of changes starts with time management and ends with gaining more team members.

The concrete canoe races were held at Ramona Park in Portage, Mich.

by Derrick Bean
COE Public Affairs Writer

Viacheslav Zingerman, better known simply as Slava, the three-time NCAA men’s epee champion (the second ever to “three-peat” in men’s epee history), with a fourth straight title on the line was a marked man.

The WSU electrical engineering technology senior competed at the 2010 NCAA Fencing Championship at Harvard University March 26 through 28 failed to attain his goal. “I started really good Saturday,” he says. “The second day, I just didn’t do well. It didn’t go as I expected it to. If I could compete the second day again, I would.”

Zingerman’s 14-9 overall record at the Championship earned him a spot on the Second Team All-American.

There was a lot of pressure from his competitors threatening to challenge the king’s throne. “Everybody wants to beat me,” says Zingerman. “It’s harder for me because they have nothing to lose.”

And although he tried not to think about possibly being the first to win four straight men’s epee titles, it was hard to ignore that possibility when asked about it during interview after interview whether conducted by the College of Engineering’s alumni magazine writer or the NCAA.

Zingerman now admits to the pressure weighing down on him more than ever before. “There was more pressure because people start talking about making history for the fourth time,” he says. “I tried to not pay attention to it, but I think there was some pressure.”

But he isn’t pointing his finger. “I don’t want to blame anybody…It was me fencing, and it’s nobody’s fault except mine, I guess,” he says jokingly, heartbroken, but sense of humor still intact. “But, you know, I’m fine. I’m just going to finish this semester.”

Zingerman’s collegiate career may have come to an end, but fencing goes on. He will take some time off to cool off and focus on school, and then he will get back to practicing regularly in preparation for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Most would agree that Zingerman has done pretty well for someone who wasn’t even aware of the NCAA when he came to America and Wayne State as a freshman in 2007. He knows that he has left his mark at the university and NCAA men’s epee fencing. “It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed being a part of Wayne State athletics,” he says. “When I first started here, I never thought it would be like this. I never expected this gift.”

Fellow Wayne State fencers Jakub Gibczynski (junior) and Olivia Dobbs (freshman) placed 19th in the men’s sabre and ninth in women’s foil, respectively, at the fencing championship competition.

by Derrick Bean
COE Public Affairs Writer

A team of 15 undergraduate engineering students is hoping that a little more preparation and experience will go a long way at the 2010 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Regional Concrete Canoe Competition. Western Michigan University will host the competition Friday through Sunday, March 26-28.

Wayne State’s team placed 5th overall last year. It was the first time a WSU team had competed in a concrete canoe competition in nearly a decade. This year, there will be nine schools competing from Michigan and Ohio, including the University of Michigan and Ohio Northern University.

The team is down in numbers from 21 last year, but spirits are high as half of this year’s team participated last year, says Luke Mackewich, a civil and environmental engineering senior, and returning member. He is the paddling captain in charge of organizing practices as well as helping out with general fabrication.

“We had no idea as far as what we were doing and how we’re supposed to do it last year,” he says. “Now, we have more experience because we have returning team members. And we were able to talk to other schools and learn what kinds of techniques they used.”

There are plenty of differences in this year’s canoe. The Warrior One is now called “Heidtke’s Last Stand” in honor of Thomas Heidtke, associate professor of civil engineering, who is retiring in May. Mackewich says the professor is very well-liked by students.

In preparing Heidtke’s Last Stand, students decided to use a female mold instead of a male mold in order to control thickness for dimension requirements. The female mold allows the canoe to be formed within a set of foam as opposed to outside of it. “We managed to cut the weight of the canoe by reducing thickness from one-and-a-half inches to three-quarters of an inch,” says Mackewich. “This should make us more competitive.”

Some of the major concrete canoe requirements include: four people must be able to fit in the canoe; the canoe must be able to float even when full of water; 50 percent of the mix must contain recycled materials, and more detailed restrictions on dimensions and materials.

The competition’s rules and requirements were sent at the beginning of the school year, and after a few months of planning, fabrication began in January. Some of the major concrete canoe requirements include: four people must be able to fit in the canoe; the canoe must be able to float even when full of water; 50 percent of the mix must contain recycled materials, and more detailed restrictions on dimensions and materials.

The Last Stand is about 20 feet long and 2.5 feet wide. Small recycled glass beads help meet the recycled material requirement while keeping the canoe lightweight and strong, much like last year’s model.

“We had difficulty meeting the requirements of having two different recycled aggregates with each composing of 25 percent of the mix by weight,” Mackewich says. “We also encountered some problems in the curing process. We ended up getting some cracking along the sides due to the walls not being completely saturated for the full 28 days of the curing process.”

Another issue was raising money, which Mackewich says was “more challenging because of the recession.” Companies that donated before weren’t able to do as much this year. Some were only able to give discounts. But the team was persistent as they asked for donations from faculty and sent out mailers to alumni members who graduated in the last 10 years or so.

There will be five races at this year’s competition designed to test speed (during sprint events), and strength (during endurance events). Races will be held at Ramona Park in Portage, Mich. Wayne State’s concrete canoe team has been practicing by racing regular canoes at Ford Field Park in Dearborn.

———

Team #280 pushes their robot by playing field at WSU Matthaei
Athletic Complex Friday during FIRST Robotics’ 2010 Detroit
District Competition. (photo by Amanda Rodriguez)

Detroit Free Press story

Engineering graduate Mark Nasr speaks at the 2007 groundbreaking ceremony for the Marvin I. Danto Engineering Development Center

by Derrick Bean
COE Public Affairs Writer

Introducing, in this corner, from Detroit, Michigan, standing 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighing 141 pounds, the challenger, Wayne State University freshman, “Lightning” Brad Chaiken.

Chaiken, a mechanical engineering major, has to be light and fast. He has a wife and four children. He works part-time as a student assistant for the Dean’s Office at the college. He trains on his own and with other boxers. And he volunteers with the youth.

After fighting through life’s challenges, the orthodox right-hand boxer has found a way to remain positive in a world full of naysayers and those who think they know better.

Chaiken, 30, started boxing seriously at a relatively late age, but has always been intrigued by the sport since a young boy. “I started dipping and dabbling in boxing when I was in my early teens, but I didn’t start taking it serious until the end of 2004,” he says. “My grandfather took me down to the Kronk Boxing Gym once or twice when I was very young. Around the time that Tommy Hearns and Hilmer Kenty were coming up. I met Hearns there and I had a curiosity for the sport from then on.”

Chaiken may not look like your typical fighter. He’s tall for his weight class. “I’m the tallest light welterweight (132-141 lbs) in the Midwest,” he says. “Nobody on record in the Midwest has my measurements.”

He’s also a skinny white guy who came up in Detroit. “It’ll make you or break you,” says Chaiken. “I don’t train in suburban gyms. I’ve been in every gym south of Eight Mile — in places where there’s not a white kid for miles. I have nothing against the gyms in the suburbs. But if you want to be the king of the jungle, you have to fight with the lions.”

Chaiken says he has never faced any racial issues in any of the gyms across the city. However, “Getting accepted is another thing,” he says.

A significant event for Chaiken took place in 2005 as a contestant in the Metropolitan Detroit Golden Gloves Tournament. Let’s set the scene. The bell rings. The first round begins. The first exchange of punches are thrown. Bam. Chaiken takes a good shot to the nose. He’s shaken, but not stirred. The match continues. Round Two. A doctor stops the fight momentarily to check on Chaiken’s nose…says he’s clear to go. The fight continues. Chaiken dominates going into the third round without taking further damage. He’s well on his way to victory. Only 30 seconds left on the clock in this three-round bout. The referee calls the fight. The crowd erupts in boos. Later, one of the judges whispers, “the ref robbed you…you were winning on all three score cards.”

Although he won respect from others that night, Chaiken took an ‘L’ that hurt much worse than his nose (which was broken in two places). But he bounced back to win the 2005 Flint Tough Gloves title the following year. Then, he returned to the Detroit Golden Gloves with a vengeance in 2006. “I came back,” he says. “I knocked out everyone they put in front of me. I got a lot of good reviews after getting my nose broken and coming back to win championships.”

Chaiken won the 2007 state title in Michigan. He took home the bronze medal at a 2007 world championship tournament, and a silver medal at the 2008 James Toney National Championships in Ann Arbor. Overall, Chaiken has amassed an impressive 20-6 record.

A long time ago, Chaiken earned the nickname, “Lightning,” from his trainer because of his fast jab and right hand. “The jab is the key to my success in the ring,” he says. “I’ve beaten opponents literally with just my left hand (jabs and hooks). Right hands are used to ‘close the show.’”

His biggest boxing inspirations are Detroit staples Thomas “Hitman” Hearns and James “Lights Out” Toney. “My style is ‘smart’ boxing,” says Chaiken. “Boxing is about hitting and not getting hit. It’s a chess match. Everyone is essentially taught the same basics. Our styles differ, however, when we use what works for us individually. In my case, my brain is my weapon. I ‘think’ in the ring, not just fight. I am a defensive fighter. I model myself after James Toney and Thomas Hearns. James is one of the best defensive fighters in the history of the sport. And of course, Tommy was one of the best offensive ones.”

Chaiken was always competitive and never a fan of losing. “Growing up, I played a lot of different sports: football, hockey… but I got tired of losing because of other people,” he says. “I got tired of relying on other people to win… relying on the quarterback…relying on the goalie. To me, boxing is the ultimate form of competition. I don’t have to worry about a pitcher. It’s one-on-one. Either you win, or you lose. But you don’t have to rely on other people.”

Chaiken comes from a family of people who did not go to college, but managed to run their own business. At 16, he was doing demolition work. After high school, he went to a trade school to learn heating and cooling from 2003 to 2004. Chaiken says he ran his own heating and cooling business until the economy tanked. But he always thought about going back to school.

One day, he told a friend his master plan to attend Wayne State, become a mechanical engineer and return to the heating and cooling industry. “They told me I couldn’t do it,” Chaiken says of the pessimist. “He said, ‘You’re too old. You can’t do this.’ It really took those words to drive me here. You can’t tell a great fighter ‘no.’”

He’s on a roll. “The more that I hear ‘you can’t do this,’ and the more that I actually do, the more my kids pick up on it and they see what personal drive can do. They said I was too old to go to college, and now I’m here. They said I was too small-framed to box, and now I give people fits in the ring. I’ve won some titles that they said I wouldn’t. They said my marriage wouldn’t last six months. Today, we’ve been married almost 10 years.”

Chaiken says young people are not taking advantage of the opportunity to get an education. “It’s hard to go back to school after so much time off,” he says. “I’m 30 years old. I have a wife and four kids. If I can do it, there’s no reason you can’t.”

Chaiken trains other fighters, both amateur and professional. That’s not to say his glory days are behind him, but a detached retina from a fight in 2009 has slowed him down. He also volunteers his time with disadvantaged youth as a way of giving back to the community that raised him to become the strong fighter that he is.

“I had a hard life coming up,” he says. “Ninety percent of the time boxers come from not the best situations…gangs, correctional facilities. I grew up rough. Pops left early and mom could only do so much. I started working odd jobs before I could legally work to help (mostly in construction). I had a lot of negative influences in my life due to the areas where we lived, schools that I went to, etc. My cousin was murdered in a drive-by shooting when I was 14 (his cousin was 16). My mom caught wind that I could be wrapped up with that situation, so she sent me to live in Texas for a year. I was really on my own, and completely moved out when I was 17.”

Chaiken says he wasn’t the best kid back then. He adds that some of his actions were “reckless” as a youth and it took him a while to mature. “I really didn’t start appreciating life until I created it,” he says. “Until I had my son, I had no respect for myself or anyone else. I didn’t know how to live for anyone else except myself. That all changed with my children.”

Being a mentor also brings great satisfaction, says Chaiken. He managed to get some underprivileged kids hooked on boxing. “You really see them light up…and the enthusiasm in them when you put them in the ring,” he says.

Chaiken has several people in his corner, keeping him focused. Outside of his family, there is Gerald Thompkins, associate dean of student affairs, who helped him land his on-campus job. “He has gone out of his way to help me adjust to Wayne State,” says Chaiken.

Thompkins says his investment in Chaiken paid off. “He had some personal challenges in his life, and I really wanted to help him as much as I could,” says Thompkins. “Plus, he seemed like a very sincere and genuine person, and he has turned out to be that kind of individual in terms of his work ethic.”

Other supporters include: his coaching team, Ferdell Pitts and Keith Jackson; and his sparring partner, Darryl “The People’s Choice” Cunningham, a middleweight fighter who Chaiken says “opened up a whole new world to me and made me a better person for it.” He adds that they keep him humble by reminding him that “there is always someone better.”

Chaiken hopes to take his career to the next level this year. “If all goes well, I will be making my pro debut by the end of the summer,” he says. “At 30, my body is still young. And since starting college at Wayne State, my mind is sharper than ever.”

Thompkins wants Chaiken to recognize all the opportunities in front of him. “There is life after boxing,” he recalls saying to Chaiken. “At this point in your life and in your career, your direction should be focused on academics and finding a professional career that’s not as painful.”

For now, Chaiken is planning to become a member of the Formula SAE team at Wayne State. He also takes on heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) work on the side when the opportunity presents itself.