2017 Year in Review: Kettering University Faculty and Research News

Two Kettering faculty members received National Science Foundation grants totaling $548,525 for their research. Kettering has won more NSF grants than any university in Michigan since 2012.

Here’s a summary of the work faculty and students have done in 2017:

Dr. Susan Farhat, Chemical Engineering faculty member at Kettering University, and a team of faculty members received a $152,550 grant from the National Science Foundation’s Major Research Instrumentation program that will allow Kettering to acquire a spectroscopic ellipsometer. Read more.

Dr. Gillian Lynn Ryan, Physics faculty member, and a team of collaborators from Kettering have been awarded a NSF - Major Research Instrumentation grant for $395,975. They will acquire a centralized High Performance Computing resource to facilitate both computation- and data-intensive research on campus. Read more.

Dr. Susan Farhat, Chemical Engineering faculty member at Kettering University, and a multidisciplinary team of faculty have received a $152,550 grant from the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Diane Peters, Mechanical Engineering, earned the “Outstanding Faculty Advisor” award at the Society of Women Engineers annual awards program. She mentors engineers in the Kettering chapter of SWE for both A- and B-sections. Read more.

Dean Laura Vosejpka writes to her students ahead of the March for Science, encouraging them to stand on the shoulders of giants and be a force for change. Read more.

Dr. Laura Sullivan, professor of Mechanical Engineering, partnered with the Flint Institute of Music to launch “Kennedy’s Breath” — a program designed to introduce Flint children to the power of music for the purpose of healing. It started when she wanted to help a young girl who has asthma. Read more.

Dr. Jennifer Bastiaan ‘97, assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering, at Kettering University always knew she wanted to make a difference for the younger generation. In March, she became a leader for the Society of Women Engineers’ Girl's Engineering Exploration. Read more.

Dr. Jungme Park, Electrical and Computer Engineering faculty member, is working with Kettering graduate and undergraduate students to research environmental perception and localization and mapping for autonomous vehicles. Read more.

Kettering University faculty members and graduate students have found ways to make electric vehicle battery chargers more compact, efficient and cost effective as part of research with PowerAmerica, a public-private partnership between industry, the U.S. Department of Energy and 11 university partners. Read more.

Dr. Juan Pimentel led a tutorial on vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications using wireless technologies at the IEEE 15th annual International Conference of Industrial Informatics in Emden, Germany. He believes autonomous vehicle technology will become common in all vehicles within the next five years. Read more.

Dr. Jim Cohen, Applied Biology faculty member, is showcasing Flint’s rich and diverse urban flora on a podcast called “Flint Flora.” He discusses the origin, location and characteristics of area plants to show local students what’s growing in the city. Read more.

Cohen also had an exhibit demonstrating the complexity and nuance of plant communications on display at the fifth annual Free City Festival at Chevy Commons in Flint. Read more.

Kettering faculty and students at a conference.

Dr. Bassem Ramadan, department head of Mechanical Engineering at Kettering University, is sharing his knowledge of fluid mechanics worldwide as his book, “Mechanics of Fluids” has been translated into Spanish, Mandarin and Korean. Read more.

Kettering University faculty and students are working with Michigan-based company Eaton to improve vehicle fuel efficiency through waste heat recovery. Read more.

Kettering faculty and students presented their research at the Michigan Academy of Science and Letters conferences at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. Read more.

Undergraduate students at Kettering are conducting research with the aid of faculty members, an opportunity that allows them to get a learning experience few undergrads receive. Read more.

Members of Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s Traffic Safety Advisory Committee Occupant Protection Action Team visited Kettering’s Crash Safety Center this summer. Two faculty members, Dr. Janet Fornari and Dr. Theresa Atkinson, serve on the committee and provide statewide guidance for occupant protection measures. Read more.