Faculty Research
Professor Winncy Du with pipe-inspecting robot. Developing a reliable way to inspect utility pipes transporting water, fuel, waste, or cables for damage is critical.
Scaled model of parabolic trough used for solar energy concentration, installed in
wind tunnel. A force balance (not shown) is used to measure wind drag forces on the
concentrator and supporting structures.
Rack-and-pinion mechanism in SU-8 polymer by ultrathick photolithography. The rack
moves linearly in guided channels to turn the pinion. The moving parts were released
by dissolving a thinner layer of lift-of-resist underneath the structural SU-8 layer.
Although San Jose State University's primary mission is teaching and education, research in mechanical and aerospace engineering is a vital part of keeping our programs current and engaging. Our research objective is multifold: to engage in applied research with industry and government collaborators; to involve and educate undergraduate and graduate students in the frontiers of mechanical and aerospace engineering; and to satisfy the needs of Silicon Valley businesses and industries in this era of rapid technological advances. Potential research sponsors should contact faculty with the relevant expertise directly, or the department chair.
The areas of research undertaken by our faculty are diverse and ever-changing. For the latest information, please go directly to the websites of individual faculty members.
Recent publications
Sensors
Du, Winncy; 2012. Resistive, Capacitive and Inductive Based Sensing Technologies, Taylor & Francis Group (ISBN-13: 978-1439812440)
Du, Winncy, Jose, Winston "Design of a Modular Signal Conditioning Circuit for Biopotential Sensors," Sensor & Transducers Journal, Vol. 120, Issue 9, September 2010, pp. 1-12.
Du, Winncy, Nguyen, Hai; Scallion, Kevin; and Dutt, Amitesh, "Design of a GMR Sensor Array System for Robotic Pipe Inspection." Proceedings of the 2010 IEEE Sensor Conference, Nov. 1-4, 2010, Kona, Hawaii, pp. 2551-2554
Microsystems Engineering
N. Oruganti, M. Goedert, S. J. Lee, "Process variability in surface
roughening of SU-8 by oxygen plasma", Microsystem Technologies, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00542-012-1680-0.
S. J. Lee and N. Sundararajan, Microfabrication for Microfluidics, Boston, MA: Artech House, 2010. ISBN 978-1-59693-471-9.
S. J. Lee, "MEMS for Passenger Comfort in Vehicles", in MEMS for Automotive and Aerospace Applications, M. Kraft and N. M. White, editors, Cambridge, UK: Woodhead Publishing, 2013. ISBN 978-0857091185.
N. Oruganti, M. Goedert, S. J. Lee, "Process variability in surface roughening of SU-8 by oxygen plasma", accepted for publication in Microsystem Technologies, 2012.
Solar Engineering
Devore, N., Yip, H., and Rhee, J., 2012, "Domestic Hot Water Storage Tank: Design and Analysis for Improving Thermal Stratification," proceedings of the ASME 2012 International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, Nov. 9-15, Houston, TX
Rhee, J., Nguyen, C., Grace, M., and Thu, A., 2011, "An effective, low-cost mechanism for direct drag force measurement on solar concentrators," J. of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, Vol. 99, pp. 665-669
Rhee, J., Campbell, A., Mariadass, A., and Morhous, B., 2010, "Temperature Stratification from Thermal Diodes in Solar Hot Water Storage Tank," Solar Energy, Vol. 84, pp. 507-511
Engineering Education
Rhee, J., Parent, D., Oyamot, C., 2012, "Influence of personality on a senior project combining innovation and entrepreneurship," Int. J. of Eng. Ed., Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 302-309.
Mourtos, N.J., 2012, "Defining, Teaching, and Assessing Engineering Design Skills," Invited Paper, International Journal for Quality Assurance in Engineering and Technology Education, Special Issue, Vol.2, No.1, January-June 2012, pp.14-30.
Lee, J., Okamoto, N., Chung, R., and Anagnos, T., 2011, "Introducing Sustainability Concepts in Lower Division Engineering Core Courses," Accepted for the Proceedings of the 41st ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference