Sven V. Heikkinen Engineering Scholarship established in memory of son's love for LSSU
This scholarship was established by Ken and Kate Heikkinen in memory of their son, Sven. He was a 1982 graduate from Pickford High School. He graduated from Lake Superior State University in 1993 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He was an Engineering Specialist in Vehicle Development working for the Continental-Brimley Development Center. He was also an Adjunct professor with LSSU vehicle test dynamics, a driving instructor, a Junior Achievement mentor, and a Dale Carnegie trainer. His unexpected death on June 3, 2007 at the age of 43 has left an indelible void on his wife, Jodie, his daughters Kirsi and Kinzie, and all who knew Sven. He had a genuine love for LSSU and, in particular, the school of engineering. It is his parents’ wishes to honor his memory with a scholarship to benefit future LSSU engineering students. This merit scholarship is awarded to an engineering student majoring in any engineering field with a GPA of 3.0 or higher based on a recommendation by the LSSU Engineering faculty.
Floyd Starks Memorial Scholarship remembers father's belief in higher education
This scholarship was established by Stan Starks, a 1976 LSSU Engineering graduate in memory of his father, Floyd Starks, who despite his limited education, was a strong believer in higher education and was insistent that his two sons get a college education.
Precision Edge Surgical Products provides funds to underwrite tution and fees for one year
PRECISION SCHOLARSHIP -- Lake Superior State University President Betty Youngblood and David Pelizzon, managing director of Precision Edge Holdings, sign documents to create the Precision Edge Surgical Products Company Engineering Scholarship. The fund underwrites an engineering student’s tuition and fees for one academic year. Looking on from left are Morrie Walworth, Dean of the LSSU’s School of Engineering and Technology; and LSSU alums Larry Hagen (’96), engineer; Chris Swailes (’99), engineer; Katie Pepin (’88), accounting manager; Brian Knowles (’86), engineer; and Duke Pepin (’87), engineering manager, all of Precision Edge. (Photo by John Shibley)
Lake Superior State University has entered into a major scholarship agreement with a Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.-based medical instrument manufacturer. The Precision Edge Surgical Products Company Engineering Scholarship will cover a full year’s tuition and fees at LSSU for one engineering student beginning this fall.
Precision Edge, a subsidiary of Colson Associates, makes orthopedic surgical tools and medical instruments for clients all over the world. The company started 17 years ago in a 1,100-square-foot building. It subsequently expanded into a 14,000 sq. ft. facility in Barbeau, Mich., south of Sault Ste. Marie.
Today Precision Edge’s manufacturing base is back in the Sault, housed in a 37,000 sq. ft. facility adjacent to the city’s municipal airport. The company employs more than 130 skilled workers engaged in the design and development of burs, blades, drills, and other surgical accessories.
Precision Edge has evolved a close relationship with Lake Superior State over the past ten years. The company employs dozens of LSSU students and graduates, mainly from the mechanical engineering and manufacturing engineering technology fields.
Precision Edge also offers LSSU students internship opportunities through co-ops, where a student gets course credit while working on assorted design and manufacturing projects. The company secures LSSU engineering expertise by commissioning student project teams who concentrate on producing a prototype product or service for credit during their senior year.
“There are two reasons why Robert Pritzker, President and CEO of Colson Associates, and I think the scholarship is important,” says David Pelizzon, managing director of the Precision Edge operation. “First, it shows our support to the University, which is a vital institution to the local community. Secondly, we are concerned about the decreasing number of engineering students in the US. The scholarship supports reversing that trend.”
Scholarship candidates must be of at least sophomore standing in any engineering and technology degree program, with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. The fund is for Michigan residents, with preference given to students from Michigan’s Eastern Upper Peninsula. Financial need is a consideration, but not an overriding requirement. Even though this is a non-renewable award, past recipients can reapply if they continue to meet eligibility requirements. Deadline for consideration is the end of each April. Candidates were solicited through LSSU's engineering department for this fall's award.
The scholarship’s selection committee has a rotating membership of two faculty from the School of Engineering and Technology and two employees of Precision Edge Surgical Products Company. Each spring it will recommend a recipient and one alternate to LSSU’s Financial Aid office for final approval. The committee hopes to recommend this fall’s recipient by the end of May.
“This scholarship is a great opportunity for students in the School of Engineering and Technology,” says Morrie Walworth, Dean of the School. “It also shows the great commitment Precision Edge has to higher education, especially to EUP students.”
For more information about this or any one of the more than 100 scholarships and awards available at LSSU, call the LSSU Foundation Office at 906-635-2665 or run a search for “LSSU foundation scholarships” on the Web. Point your Web browser at www.precisionedge.com for more information about the Precision Edge Surgical Products Company.
When Manar Wadi walked across Lake Superior State University’s Commencement stage last May, she almost thought she could hear the cheers of friends and family in New Jersey, Germany, and Tunisia. A few minutes later, she literally heard cheers when her parents called by cell phone from her hometown of East Jerusalem to say that they saw the whole ceremony on LSSU’s Internet telecast.
“That’s when it dawned on me how hard I worked to get to this point,” says Manar. She ceased to be the young high school student who had never been outside of Europe and the Middle East. She was now a full-fledged computer engineer who had mastered a new language (American idiom) and evolved a stronger sense of self-identity, both as a young Palestinian professional and a devout Muslim.
“I could have gone to a larger US school, or one in Europe closer to home, but I chose Lake State for reasons of strength and a challenge,” says Manar.
Strengths included the types of programs LSSU offered for a school its size and the caliber of faculty. Another plus was family: Manar’s sister, a trained biologist who has just finished a Master’s in health management, lives in the Sault as the wife of a local oncologist. Relatively close metro Detroit also offered a rich Arab-American community that included some friends and an extended family in nearby Ann Arbor.
The challenge of coming to LSSU was more personal.
AN ENGINEER’S TOUCH - Newly-minted computer engineer Manar Wadi poses with the controller she adapted to run a plasma cutter in one of Lake Superior State University’s manufacturing technology labs. Her senior project capped four years of hard work at Lake Superior State for Wadi, who plans to start this fall with a telecommunications company in her home town of East Jerusalem. (LSSU photo by John Shibley)
“I really wanted to see if I could successfully bridge two cultures while keeping my own solid identity,” says Manar. “I wanted to help myself, as well as others around me, overcome barriers of culture and prejudgment that separate us. This was one major goal of my college experience, and LSSU offered a perfect environment to do this.”
Manar constantly wears the hijab, a traditional Muslim head covering that represents a devotion to her values. In Islamic scholarship, the hijab holds meanings of modesty, privacy, and morality . . . concepts that Manar feels define her character.
“Deep down there’s something beautiful and dignified about the hijab,” she says. “In Islam, modesty in dress, complemented by internalized modesty, adds a beautiful aspect to one’s life and personality. For women in particular, the hijab secures personal liberty in a world that objectifies women.”
Wearing the hijab also provided Manar with a not-so-modest means to stand out at LSSU and be recognized as a Muslim.
“It granted me an opportunity, and the responsibility, to strive to portray Islam in its true form, especially during a time when misinformation and stereotypes about Islam and Muslims abound,” she says.
Manar never shied away from explaining to her fellow students what it means to be a Muslim.
This past spring, she organized a forum that brought to campus the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. His evening lecture included an extensive follow-on discussion session that involved not only the university community, but people from Sault Michigan and Ontario as well.
One misconception that typically falls after discussion is the notion that women in most Islamic societies are discouraged from entering professions dominated by men, such as engineering, the vocation that Manar has selected. This paucity is still quite common in the U.S., even in contrast to what Manar sees in contemporary Arab countries.
“One thing that surprised me when I came to school here in the States was that there are still very few female students in engineering programs. Back home in the Palestinian universities, you can find a decent number of women engineers,” she notes.
Manar recalls her internship last summer with the United Arab Emirates-based telecommunications company PALTEL as another example. Five out of seven engineers she worked with on a project team were women.
“So, being a woman engineer doesn’t create any obstacles or awkwardness whatsoever to me pursuing a career in Palestine or any of the Arab countries in the Middle East,” she says. “In fact, I just received a job offer by Etisalat in Dubai. This shows that women professionals do have job opportunities in the Middle East.”
PALTEL is where Manar plans to start her career this coming September. Her first task will probably be to design cellular telephone and wireless data networks in her congested hometown of East Jerusalem.
Manar acknowledges that not all countries offer women a fair shot at pursuing a career. Still, she chalks that up to societal, rather than religious, preferences.
“In Islam, women are encouraged and obliged to learn and seek knowledge, and their education is considered to be as important and valuable as that of men,” she says.
Even in the West, it is still a driving and pertinent goal to encourage women to go into typically male-dominated vocations. Lake Superior State still offers a popular engineering science camp dedicated to girls, funded by state and federal grants.
Manar credits her family for steering her towards an engineering career.
“My parents have always valued education and encouraged us to travel and earn high educational levels, whatever that takes,” says Manar. “My interests in mathematics and electronics, as well as in traveling and exploring cultures, led me to major in computer engineering in the States.”
So, what is the biggest hurdle in clearing the barriers between cultures?
“The key is mutual understanding, and rejecting this theory of ‘clash of civilizations’,” says Manar. “Islam is great, it’s just that sometimes Muslims, being human, are not always great. As with any other faith or culture, Muslims and non-Muslims need to build the foundations for understanding each other.”
In her own personal way, over the past three years, Manar Wadi has engineered a foundation that spans the globe and bridges beliefs, right here at Lake Superior State. Who knows what bridges she will continue to raise in the coming years.
Electrical engineering alumnus lives robonauts and rovers
FINAL MILESTONE CLEARED – The Space Shuttle Discovery clears smoke and steam as it heads into orbit on a Space Station assembly mission last December. A satellite-deployment tool on board that LSSU alum Tom Waligora helped build will later work flawlessly during the mission. Waligora graduated from LSSU four years ago with a degree in electrical engineering. (NASA)
Tom Waligora’s creativity has launched satellites into Earth orbit and may someday help humans explore the Moon and Mars. If that is not cool enough, the 2003 Lake Superior State University electrical engineering graduate has even mingled with the likes of Steven W. Hawking, the famous physicist. However, Waligora knows when it’s time to wipe the stars from his eyes and return to a world that runs on deadlines.
“Right now I am working on a next-generation 5,800-pound rover through NASA’s R&D robotics group,” says Waligora. “The plan is to build three vehicles, the last of which must be ready for desert tests this November at Meteor Crater, Arizona.”
The prototype rover shakes out the technology required for remotely controlled or completely autonomous rovers that will follow astronauts around on walks around other words, like loyal pack animals carrying gear and essential supplies.
“The first rover is approximately 90% complete and is a simplified version that will be used as a test bed for subsystems such as motor drivers and active suspension,” says Waligora. “The second rover is a more complete vehicle for verifying that the systems can work together.”
It’s the latest in a series of projects that Waligora has thrown himself into since being hired two years ago by the space systems division (OSS) of Oceaneering Advanced Technologies. The Houston-based company designs everything from hardware for Shuttle and Space Station astronauts to use on EVAs, to intricate mechanisms that eject satellites into orbit from the Space Shuttle or other rockets.
Other OSS specialties include thermal protection systems for rockets, and robotic systems for military, space, and biological research The company supports astronaut training in NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory and Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at NASA’s Johnson Spaceflight Center in Clear Lake, Texas.
His first company project was a microsatellite deployment system for the Department of Defense’s Space Test Program, designed to fly in the Space Shuttle’s cargo bay. It use was successfully tested during a flight that Shuttle Discovery made to the Space Station last December.
“In a stunning display of grace, fluidity and agility, the system deployed two satellites simultaneously,” says Waligora. “My project responsibilities ranged from proposal development and schematic/circuit design, to final testing and product delivery. It’s very exciting to have something that I helped design get launched into space aboard the Shuttle.”
AN ENGINEER’S STUDIO – Tom Waligora works on “Terabot” at his workbench. The robotic arm clips onto a variety of stationary or mobile platforms for investigating and manipulating explosives without endangering an operator. Waligora graduated from LSSU four years ago with a degree in electrical engineering. (Oceaneering Advanced Technologies.)
Waligora was also recently involved in a more down-to-Earth endeavor: the company’s “Terabot” creation, a robotic arm that clips onto a variety of stationary or mobile platforms, depending on how it is going to be used. Its dexterity is ideal for investigating and manipulating explosives without endangering an operator.
“The system has five degrees of freedom, a 25-pound lift capacity with a dust and water seal,” says Waligora. “It’s been used by law enforcement and military inspection vehicles, as well by astronauts as a training tool during NASA Mars exploration exercises in Arizona.”
However, these days Waligora’s pride and joy is his current assignment, the big rover and its milestone test this fall.
“Most of the people I am working with have advanced degrees from Purdue, MIT, and Carnegie,” Waligora says. “I feel very fortunate that I was asked to join the team on this build.”
Waligora’s new teammates formed the core group that developed Robonaut, a humanoid robot that functions as a virtual EVA astronaut. A human operator’s hands and eyes, even his sense of touch, networks through Robonaut via a telepresence control system.
Waligora had a famous visitor to the Robonaut lab not long after he joined the crew. “Steven W. Hawking came to check out Robonaut, and I helped set up his demo,” he beams.
Visiting relativistic physicists, plug-and-play robots, giant robomules . . . all the stuff of dreams. “I have the ultimate job for an engineer,” says Waligora. “On top of all this my wife and I just welcomed Ally, the world’s cutest baby, into our lives.” Call it proof-positive that dream jobs aren’t the only source of all fun and joy, at least in Tom Waligora’s case. He has a wonderful personal life as well.
Laker Racing recently completed its first entry in the SAE Mini Baja competition held in Rochester, NY from June 7-10. The team ranked 76th overall out of a field of 138 entries at the RIT (Midwest) location. Click here for the full story.
School of Engineering and Technology loses a friend, mentor and avid supporter
The School recently learned of the unexpected death of alumnus Sven V. Heikkinen on Sunday, June 3, 2007. A 1991 graduate of the Mechanical Engineering Technology program, Sven had become an integral part of the Sault area community. He has worked for the Brimley location of Continental Automotive, providing opportunities for LSSU engineering and technology students, graduates, faculty and staff.
During the 2006-2007 academic year, Sven assisted the senior projects teams involved with the development and fabrication of a mini baja vehicle as an adjunct for special topics courses. The combined project group, Laker Racing, has dedicated its vehicle in memory of Sven. The team competed at the 2007 SAE racing event in Rochester, N.Y.
Members of VDM Racing, Dan Goodrich, left; Sven Heikkinen, seated; Ryan Greene, right; prepare for Snocross races held at Kewadin Casino in December 2002.
He was heavily involved outside the classroom participating in Snocross events with LSSU alums Ryan Greene, also of Continental Automotive in Brimley, and Dan Goodrich of Bosch Corporation in Farmington Hills. Their snowmobile sported the number "906" in honor of the Upper Peninsula and had LSSU's URL emblazoned on the side. Sven's daughters, Kirsi and Kinzie, have become a snowmobile racers in their own right as "Suomi GIrls Racing," following in their Dad's footsteps.
Sven was a soft-spoken gentleman who was full of energy, enthusiasm and support - both on campus and within the community. He leaves behind his wife, Jodie, and daughters Kirsi and Kinzie. Sven touched a great many lives who will feel his loss for a long time to come.
Funeral arrangements were handled by C.S. Mulder Funeral Home of Sault Ste. Marie. To offer online condolences to the family, visit www.csmulder.com. Visitation was on June 7 and the funeral on June 8. Memorials may be made to a scholarship for Kirsi and Kinzie that has been set up at the Soo Co-op Bank.
Senior Project Team Meets Success at International Competitions
Mobile Robotic Workcell
The 2005-06 Senior Project
team Automated Promotional Engineering Systems (APES)
recently took honors in two international design competitions.
A paper and poster were prepared for the design presentations.
The team developed a mobile robotic workcell capable
of solving a Rubik's cube and assembling an automotive
distributor as it showcases various automation technologies
including the use of vision sensors. Team members included
John Benjamin, Brad Bertels, Greg Johnson, Kate Kuuskman,
Ben Mitchell and Leith Nader. Through the encouragement
of the team's faculty advisor, Jim Devaprasad, Kuuskman
and Bertels did the preparations and represented LSSU
at the competitions.
Kate Kuuskman, a senior in mechanical engineering
with a robotics and automation option from Sault
Ste. Marie, Ont., attended the UPADI Pan American
Convention for Engineers, which was held September
19-22 in Atlanta, Ga. LSSU was one of five universities
invited to attend. Other participating schools
were Cornell University, Michigan Tech, Air Force
Academy and University of Puerto Rico. The LSSU
paper entitled "Mobile Robotics Workcell
- Using Robotics to Lure Young Minds to Manufacturing
Engineering," received an honorable mention
and plaque.
Brad Bertels of Ironwood, a spring 2007 graduate
in manufacturing engineering technology, participated
in the Student Design Competition at the International
Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference
sponsored by ASME. The event was held October 9 in Ypsilanti, Mich. The
LSSU entry was one of five finalists to present at the
conference. LSSU received second place, which included
a $750 prize. Other competitors were: University of
Florida-Gainesville (first) University of Michigan (third),
Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute and the University
of New Hampshire.
LSSU Engineering and Technology Receives 21st Century
Jobs Grant
A 21st Century Jobs Fund Grant proposal submitted by
Jim Devaprasad and Morrie Walworth was recently approved.
The grant will provide funding for the establishment
of a prototype development center. The grant, valued
at $580,000 was reviewed by the Michigan Economic Development
Corporation (MEDC), American Association for the Advancement
of Science (AAAS) and the Strategic Economic Investment
and Commercialization (SEIC) Board. It will be a collaboration
between LSSU and the Michigan Small Business and Technology
Development Center (MI-SBTDC).
This year's banquet held both moments of fun and solemnity. In between bouts of flying silly string, the Big Resistor was passed from Dr. Taskin Padir back to Prof. Paul Duesing. Dean Morrie Walworth passed the little screw (a whopping screw weighing at least 10 pounds) to Dr. Robert Hildebrand, while Jon Coullard received the most votes for the Big Nut & Tool. Squirtgun tactics were used during the presentation of cartoon-themed certificates to the faculty and staff by the Dean's Student Presidents Council members.
Honored outstanding seniors were:
Christopher Winkler
Manufacturing Engineering Technology and Engineering Student Athlete
Tyler Skowronek and Price McAllister
Mechanical Engineering
Victor Grzeda and Gregory Robertson
Computer Engineering
Natalie Buffone
Electrical Engineering
A number of students who provided their time and talents as volunteers, mentors and assistants this past year were presented with Service Awards.
MACHINE COMPETITION This year's challenge was to take a whole orange, juice it, and pour the juice from a pitcher into a cup.
Once again, the creativity, teamwork and problem solving put forth by the competition participants was amazing.
Senior team winners: 1st Place: Petoskey's "007"
2nd Place: Petoskey's "Under the Sea"
3rd Place: East Jordan's "Monster Mash"
4th Place: Mackinaw City's "7-11"
Junior team winner: Newberry's "Lumberjack Breakfast"
MOUSE TRAP CAR RACES Distance Category 1st Place: Miracle at 63 ft 3 in.
2nd Place: Redwings at 60 ft. 11 in.
3rd Place:
Trapstar 1 at 51 ft. 3 in.
Speed Category (at a distance of 25 feet)
1st Place: Hoffman in 2.3 seconds
2nd Place: Trapstar 2 in 3.08 seconds
3rd Place: Trapstar 1 in 8.07 seconds
Overall Winner: Trapstar (combined)
For more information and downloadable registration forms,
click here to visit the 2007
Engineering Day site.
Please note:The Rube Goldberg organization
has introduced a $300 per team fee, of which we are able
to waive $200. We held our 2007 event as an "independent" at no cost to our participants.
However, we will did use the challenge and rules devised by
Rube Goldberg, Inc. in order to continue the consistency
of past competitions. We welcome your comments concerning the importance of being part of the national competition and the associated fees to help us determine the future nature of our machine competition. Please pass on your opinion regarding national participation to Jeanne Shibley.
The class of 2007 installed 13 new members on Thursday, April 19. Our thanks to ringwearers David Strickland, P.E. of the City of Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan; Bob Ackert, P.Eng. formerly of Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.; and Jeremy Wilhelm of Caughill Consulting, also of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. for officiating.
If you are interested in receiving a ring, please
contact Jeanne Shibley for information. Candidacy is open to those graduating
from an accredited engineering program in Fall 2007,
Spring 2008 or Summer 2008. We are awaiting a decision by EAC of ABET regarding our computer engineering program's accreditation visit. We hope to recieve ABET's decision by the end of August 2007.
