UNM Mechanical Engineering Advisory Council.

Minutes – February 10, 2000

  1. Introductions and welcome of council members
    2.
  2. Marc Ingber briefed the council on the current status of the Department.
  1. Facility – Very difficult to hire at UNM
    1. 13 Full time faculty members

      2. A. Great young facility on staff today.

    2. 5 open slots in ME department
    1. 2 to be filled this year.
    1. Solids
    2. Materials
    1. Chair position to be filled this year.
    1. 32 candidates submitted applications (should have been about 60 candidates)
    2. Plan on ½ hour meeting with candidates in March/April timeframe.
  1. 40-50% of the undergraduates at taught by adjunct professors. This is a concern of Marc’s because the Department is transitioning from a teaching institution to a teaching/research institution and there are not enough facility members teaching undergraduate courses.
  1. FSAE Design Team Presentation – see handouts.
  1. 7 Students, Dr John Russell, Advisor
  2. 110 teams globally
  3. 21 sponsors
    1. Funding - The UNM team needs additional $5,000 by March 31st.
    2. They need a sponsor to help with the cost of tire replacement.
  1. This is the first class were everything gets integrated
    1. Teamwork
    2. Single design decision
    3. "real world" experience
  1. Provide list of items the team needs – tools, etc for in-kind donations.
  2. Maximum of 6 Credit hours for Labs.
    1. Promotes design experience supported by theory
    2. Great learning class
  1. Graduate student comments
  1. Victor Soria, Dr. Truman, Advisor.
    1. Decided to pursue graduate degree after discussions with Dr. Truman in senior year.
    2. Focus is in the graduate computer lab.
    3. His goal is to finish by December 2000.
    4. Issues and comments
    1. Easy access to professors
    2. Ph.D. candidates need to have more financial incentives due to increased personal expenses.
    3. UNM is not recruiting nationally for graduate programs, most come from undergraduate program.
    4. Career services and expo would be helpful
    5. Late registration for graduate school compared to other institutions.
    6. Provide more exposure to UNM research activities – "FAR" grants.

B. Robert Hampton, Dr. Mammoli, Dr. Ingber, Advisors

    1. Decided on UNM over UC Davis due to professor, access to DOE labs
    2. Focus is in multi-phase flow
    3. His goal is a Ph.D. in 3-4 years
    4. Interested in teaching/research.
    5. Issues and comments
    1. Lab equipment and computer resources very poor.
    2. Master’s thesis a must – a critical part of learning.
    3. Market what is already here – robotics, computational research, etc.

 

  1. ME Department Professor comments
    1. Yu Lin Shen, Assistant Professor, Material Science, Solid Mechanics
    1. At UNM since 1996
    2. Teaches: Eng. Matl, Adv. Matl, Continuum Mech. Elasticity, Mech, Behavior
    3. Research: Microelectronics, Composite matl, Computational Analysis
    1. Peter Vorobieff, Assistant Professor, Heat Transfer
    1. At UNM since 1998
    2. Teaches: Heat transfer
    3. Research: Soap film wakes
    1. Question and Answer session
    1. small department helps with cooperation
    2. concerns with limited facility members
    3. Cast vision to undergraduates and graduates about research opportunities
    4. Deploy / maintain web page
    5. Market the ME department
    1. Ranked by US News and Report
    1. Recruit graduate students by spending time with undergraduates in Q& A sessions.
    2. Posting of research positions.
  1. Advisory Council Discussions
    1. Grad Students requirements
    1. Separate computer lab
    2. More lab equipment
    3. Stipends – TA pool increase
    4. Attracted by professor
    5. Make the application due date the same as other universities.
    6. DOE Lab scholarships – link to web page
    7. Market to undergraduates – better jobs, more earning potential, more interesting work
    1. Undergraduate Student requirements
    1. More curriculum flexibility
    2. More hands on (projects) for credit
    3. Approach early for MS/Ph.D. studies
    4. Project sponsorship
    1. Marketing
    1. Advertise UNM recent success through local professional societies – ASME, SME, AIAA, SAE, etc.
    2. Press Releases – Dion McKinney
    3. Web page promotion
    4. World class public awareness
    5. Develop a loaned industrial equipment program
    6. Stress research cooperation
    7. Develop on-going industrial partnerships
    8. Sell current skills – Robotics, Computation.
    9. Highlight UNM ME strengths – groups versus projects
    10. What companies recruit here?
    11. Lab access?
    12. Friendly, small
    13. Publicize minority school status
    14. Publish MS/PH.D research opportunities in topics A, B C.
    15. Access statistics for Alumni – companies, salaries, etc.
    1. Administration / facility
    1. Streamline hiring process – start this spring
    2. Provide access to surplus equipment
    3. Streamline course offerings
    4. Lab 1 – OK
    5. Lab 2 & 3 combine and use facility and TAs
    6. Provide adequate staff to implement marketing infrastructure
    7. Alumni access

 

7. Action Items

    1. Thank you letters to:
    1. FSAE students – George
    2. Grad students - Steve
    1. FSAE project sponsors – Marc
    2. FSAE project needs list - Marc
    3. Post web site on minutes – Don

www.unmme.edu

  1. Next Meeting
    1. September 7, 2000
    2. Review Curriculum
  1. Attendees:

UNM – Marc Ingber, IBM – Don Hossink, Intel – Mark, Sandia – Bob Poole, Fiore – Bill Miera, Sandia – John Hohimer, LMCO- George Frieberg, Sandia –Steve Girrense