Author: Daniel Wysling

TENURE TRACK POSITION IN AEROSPACE STRUCTURES AND ADVANCED MATERIALS
Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics
University of Minnesota Twin Cities

The Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics (AEM) seeks to fill one tenure-track faculty position in Aerospace Structures and Advanced Materials (ASAM). Researchers engaged in the development of innovative experimental methods are particularly encouraged to apply, but applications are invited in all areas of the mechanics of solids. Current research in the AEM department includes the development of nanoscale mechanics (molecular dynamics, lattice statics, quasicontinuum method, applied quantum mechanics) and continuum mechanics (phase transformations, phase field models, micromagnetics, stability and bifurcation) for the understanding and discovery of advanced materials and structures. The AEM department has close ties with on-campus multidisciplinary centers, and convenient access to outstanding shared experimental and computational facilities, such as the Minnesota Nano Center, the Characterization Facility, the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, and the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute. Information about the department is available at http://www.aem.umn.edu/

Applicants must have an earned doctorate in a related field by the date of appointment. The successful candidate is expected to have the potential to conduct vigorous and significant research programs and the ability to collaborate with researchers with a wide range of viewpoints from around the world. This candidate will participate in all aspects of the Department’s mission, including (I) teaching undergraduate and graduate courses to a diverse group of students in aerospace engineering and mechanics; (II) participating in service activities for the department, university, broader scientific community, and society; and (III) supervising undergraduate and graduate students and developing an independent, externally-funded, research program.

The intent is to hire at the assistant professor rank. However, exceptional applicants may be considered for higher rank and tenure depending upon experience and qualifications. It is anticipated that the appointment will begin fall 2019.

The AEM department is committed to the goal of achieving a diverse faculty as a way to maximize the impact of its teaching and research mission. The University of Minnesota provides equal access to and opportunity in its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. To learn more about equity & diversity at UMN, visit diversity.umn.edu.

To be considered for this position, candidates must apply on-line at: https://humanresources.umn.edu/jobs and search for Job ID No. 326059; OR Visit: https://z.umn.edu/3odn

Application Deadline: The initial screening of applications will begin on December 1, 2018; applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.[gview file=”https://wordpress.umd.edu/grad/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2018/09/UMN-AEM-StructuresAndMaterials-2018.pdf”]

The University of Maryland’s entry into a competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy that challenges collegiate teams from around the world to design and build energy-efficient, solar-powered houses took second place overall and was the top design from the United States.

UMD’s entry into the 2017 Solar Decathlon, resilient Adaptive Climate Technology (reACT), seeks to improve sustainability in four ways and includes a hydroponic garden, “living walls” within its courtyard, modular living elements, predictive automation, and design elements that simplify future upgrades to the house. Designed by an interdisciplinary team of students, the prototype house beat nine other collegiate teams from around the globe. UMD has placed in the top two each time it has competed in this international competition in the last 10 years (2007, 2011, 2017), with a first place win for its WaterShed house in 2011.

The two-year process—which spans from concept drawings to the construction of a physical house—culminates in a 10-contest competition lasting nine days, this year in Denver. Competitions included evaluations of each home’s performance, design, sustainability, and market appeal. This is the first year that teams are eligible for cash prizes; UMD will bring home $225,000.

“This prestigious competition engages students from across the country and internationally to develop the skills and knowledge to become the next generation of energy experts,” said Linda Silverman, director of Solar Decathlon.

reACT intertwines Indigenous knowledge systems with western scientific thinking to create a structure that represents both thought processes. Team Maryland worked closely with the Nanticoke Indian Tribe, who, for millennia, have harvested the resources of the Delmarva Peninsula while minimizing waste and impact. With the goal of creating a space for First Americans to be self-sustaining and revive their traditional ways, reACT incorporates modern advances to provide the best atmosphere for growth.

“From the crops grown to the herbs and spices used as medicines in the hydroponics system, this will allow natives to live away from their traditional lands and still be able to utilize the knowledge passed down from generation to generation. To be able to utilize every drop of water collected and not waste this sacred resource is a huge plus for our people,” said Kyle Harmon, Nanticoke Councilman and reACT mentor.

reACT went beyond the solar-powered requirements of Solar Decathlon, capitalizing on the talents of UMD students to devise innovative features:

Modular construction: kit-of-parts allows endless design configuration in size, climate, and budget.
A mechanical core: high-performance, interactive, and environmentally sensitive automated system.
A GreenCourt: a marriage of a greenhouse and a courtyard; the social heart of the house.
Gardens and food production: plants support each other creating food webs.
A solar attic: uses the sun to heat water, dry clothes, and even cook food.

UMD’s winning team includes students from the A. James Clark School of Engineering, School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, College of Education, and programs in several other disciplines campus-wide.

The only Solar Decathlon entry in the D.C.–Maryland–Virginia region, reACT is the university’s fifth entry in the history of the Solar Decathlon competition. reACT will return to UMD where it will continue to be used as a research and education center, showcasing projects with regional industry and professional stakeholders.

Source: A. James Clark School of Engineering, News story.

College Park, Md. — Engineers at the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering have created a novel technological solution to the pressing global challenge of water scarcity by creating a suite of solar steam generation devices that are at once efficient, easily accessible, environmentally friendly, biodegradable, and extremely low cost.

Inspired by the process by which water is carried through trees from roots to small pores on the underside of leaves, the UMD research team created several new ways in which water can be transported through wood, purifying it for safe use. Energy from the sun and a block of wood smaller than an adult’s hand are the only components needed to heat water to its steaming point in these devices.

The global crisis of water scarcity is a pressing global challenge, and the situation is far worse in developing countries, where safe water is difficult to secure for 1 billion people.

“Cost and manufacturing are key challenges in using the solar-steam technology for seawater desalination and for the first time, wood-based structures can potentially provide solutions,” said Liangbing Hu, UMD associate professor of materials science and engineering and the leader of the projects. Hu is interested in scaling up these devices for commercial use, which includes designing ways to easily manufacture the devices and bring down their cost. The team is racing other research groups to invent a successful solar steam generation device that is cost efficient and easy to use.  He is also a member of the University of Maryland Energy Research Center and the Maryland NanoCenter, where the devices were studied closely.

The team is trying out a few twists on the basic idea of using a darkened surface on the wood to heat the water, then pulling it through the wood’s natural porous structures.

Picture a bowl of unpurified water sitting in a sunny spot. On top of it floats a small block of wood about two inches by two inches. The side of the block facing up is darkened, to catch the sun’s rays. As the sun heats the wood, the water below is drawn up through the wood’s natural channels. The hot dark surface evaporates the water, which can be condensed and distilled off. The salt or other contaminants are too heavy to evaporate, so they stay below.

One design, as published in the journal Advanced Materials, uses carbon nanotubes — tiny, naturally dark structures grown in a lab — to coat one side of the wood and heat the water inside.  Another, described in the journal Advanced Energy Materials, uses metal nanoparticles to achieve the same results. Both of these designs are very efficient, but come with a higher cost to produce.

Another innovative design involves carbonizing — essentially, burning — the top layer of wood to create a dark surface. The team tried this with the natural wood’s channels oriented up-and-down, just as they would be inside the tree (described in another paper, published today in Advanced Materials).

By the same measure used to test solar cells’ efficiency, the team measured how efficient the solar steam generation devices are. The most efficient device was the burned-top wood, with 87% efficiency at ten suns of light. It was also the least expensive to produce, coming in at only $1 per square meter.

Professor Siddhartha Das of UMD’s mechanical engineering department and his team studied the flow of water through the wood. Prof. Bao Yang, also of UMD’s mechanical engineering department, and his team contributed on thermal related measurement. A team from University of Wisconsin-Madison, headed by professor Zongfu Yu of the Electrical and Computer Engineering department, studied the light trapping in treated wood.

Though they may not best the efficiency or cost lists, the other devices also have their advantages. The carbon nanotube-topped version is also flexible, because the component that makes wood stiff, lignin, was removed. It could be rolled into a tube. The device coated with metal nanoparticles showed a self-cleaning aspect when it was placed in salt water. During the day, the salt was too heavy to evaporate and was left behind. During the simulated night (12 hours without sunlight) the salt dissolved off the wet surface.

Photos of the wood’s surface before and after any darkening agent was added were produced in the Advanced Imging and Microscopy (AIM) Lab, part of the Maryland Nanocenter, which is headquartered in College Park.

 

“Highly Flexible and Efficient Solar Steam Generation Device”

Advanced Materials

June 12, 2017

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adma.201701756

 

“Plasmonic Wood for High-Efficiency Solar Steam Generation”

Advanced Energy Materials

September 28, 2017

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201701028

 

“Artificial Tree for High-Efficiency Water Extraction”

Advanced Materials

October 10, 2017

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adma.201704107R1

Source: A. James Clark School of Engineering, News Story