Fall 1998 Seminar Series
Professor Chris Rogers has been selected Carnegie Foundation Massachusetts Professor of the Year. Congratulations!


1997-98 Annual Report

Ben Erwin, curriculum coordinator, Regina Cadillac, and Merredith Portsmore, members of the Center for Engineering Educational Outreach, ran a two-week LEGO Engineering workshop for twenty teachers in Pleasanton, CA in August. It was the first-ever workshop in the world using the RCX, the programmable LEGO brick, and ROBOLAB, the software that was designed by the Tufts Mechanical Engineering department, National Instruments, and LEGO Dacta. The workshop is documented at http://ldaps.ivv.nasa.gov/Workshop/VintageHills/.

Brick by Brick, Innovative Partnership Builds Future Engineers: LEGO, National Instruments, and Tufts University Create High-Tech System that Teaches Engineering Concepts in K-12 Classrooms. Read the press release.

Students can now get announcements of department seminars, thesis defenses, and other happenings delivered straight to their e-mailboxes with our new student e-mail lists. If you're a current graduate student or undergraduate major and we know your e-mail address, you're already on the appropriate list; if not, e-mail astein01@tufts.edu to be added.

Summer 1998 Department Calendar

Professor Chris Rogers and graduate students Jill Thompson, Jim Bickford, Dan Groszmann, and Tim Fallon visited the "Vomit Comet" at the NASA/Lewis Research Center to conduct fluid mechanics research on particle dispersion in zero-gravity. Check back as more photos arrive.

Professor Martha Cyr just returned from the WEPAN (Women in Engineering Programs & Advocacy Networks) Conference. This group of professional women engineers from both industry and academia works to develop and support programs that foster learning and work environments which support women and ethnic minorities.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering is very happy to welcome its two newest arrivals, Michaela Paige Belle Zimmerman and Constantine Doumanidis. Michaela (pictured at right) was born to Wendy and Professor Michael Zimmerman on February 22nd weighing 2 lbs 7 oz. She graduated Tufts NEMC on March 30th and arrived home on April 10th. Constantine was born to Eleni Skordeli and Professor Haris Doumanidis on April 26th weighing 9.5+ lbs. His father describes him as "a big baby."

We would also like to congratulate Department Assistant Jim Gilsenan, who wed Julie Huck on May 23rd. Greeting guests at the rehearsal dinner was Ned the Dinosaur, a ten-inch plastic Godzilla who has also paid occasional visits to the department office.

To all alumni and friends of the Department of Mechanical Engineering: It is my pleasure to invite you to the tenth annual Mechanical Engineering Alumni Dinner which will take place in Mugar Hall on the Tufts campus on Saturday, May 9th 1998. We hope that you will be able to return to the campus for this rite of Spring to see old friends, make some new friends, and catch up on what has been happening at Tufts.
At the dinner, this year's Career Achievement Award will be presented to John (Jack) Stewart E'54 and the Achievement in Mechanical Engineering Practice Award will be presented to Daniel Byrne E'76. In addition to these awards, we will recognize outstanding undergraduate and graduate students including this year's winner of the Lloyd MacGregor Trefethen Award for undergraduate research.

Spring 1998 Department Calendar
1996-97 Annual Report

Engineers Reach Beyond Tufts: Joining Forces with LEGO and Steinway on New Technology
Tufts Daily article, 1/28/98

Engineers Reach Beyond Tufts: Outreach Programs Encouraging Study of Science in Middle School
Tufts Daily article, 1/28/98