Faculty Awards and Honors

Professor Wins International Award for Invention

CARBONDALE, Ill. - An engineering professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale has won a top award in an international technology invention contest for his work on an improved brain mapping technique that allows surgeons to more accurately keep track of their location during an operation.

Ajay M. Mahajan, professor of mechanical engineering and energy processes in the College of Engineering at SIUC, won first place in the medical division of Create the Future Contest. His entry was one of about 1,000 high-tech inventions from individuals and institutions surveyed by a panel of judges made up of 40 engineers. The judges selected Mahajan's entry based on its ability to improve the efficiency and quality of health care, as well as its innovation, manufacturability, marketability and cost-effectiveness. Mahajan won the award along with co-inventor Dr. Sumeer Lal, of South Carolina, a practicing neurosurgeon formerly of Carbondale. SolidWorks Corp., a leading 3-D computer-aided design software company, and ABP International, publisher of NASA Tech Briefs magazine, sponsored the contest, along with others. The contest strives to reward the best ideas for new products and celebrate breakthrough thinking that solves problems of all kinds.

Mahajan won for his 3-D Ultrasonic Neuro-Navigation System for Real-time Brain Surgery. The system can help brain surgeons determine the location of their surgical instruments down to 1 millimeter in accuracy. His system uses sensors on the surgeon's probe that transmit ultrasonic signals to an array of receivers, which can pinpoint in near real time exactly where the probe is in relation to the patient's brain. Mahajan sought to enhance existing brain surgery systems, which rely on stereoscopic cameras and electronics to orient the surgeon. Such systems cost up to $750,000 and are subject to failure at crucial moments if a surgery team member, for instance, accidentally bumps the operating table or blocks the vision-based system.

Mahajan's system costs about 10 percent as much as existing systems and is more robust. He is working with the makers of current systems to find ways to interface his technology with the existing ones, improving their reliability and accuracy. His system also might work as a low-cost alternative to existing technologies.

His system also has other applications. Caterpillar Inc., for instance, contacted Mahajan early last year about using the system to improve its ergonomics program, which examines how operators of the heavy equipment it manufactures move about in the driver's seat as they control the powerful machines.

Joe Pramberger, publisher, of NASA Tech Briefs magazine, which runs the contest, said the University can take pride in Mahajan's accomplishments. "We had more than 1, 000 entries so you really have your work go under trial by fire to be selected for such an award," Pramberger said. "The benefit of this technology is clearly there. There is real human benefit to it. Inventions like this can saves lives and that's what it is really all about. It's a practical idea that impacts product design."

To enter the contest, Mahajan said he simply forwarded a 2004 article titled "Navigating the Brain" and written by SIUC Public Information Coordinator K.C. Jaehnig to the judging committee, along with a photo that accompanied the article. The article spelled out how Mahajan's technology worked and its applications.

In a funny twist to the story, Mahajan said he never expected to win and did not tell his wife, Preeti, he had entered. When Pramberger called Mahajan's home to inform him he had won, he was not home. Instead, Pramberger told Preeti to tell her spouse that Pramberger "had some good news" and that he should call him back.

"My wife thought it was telemarketer and didn't even give him my office number," Mahajan said. "She only told me about it as more of a joke than anything."

When Mahajan learned someone from the contest had called, he figured he had won a lesser prize at best, or there was problem with his entry, at worst.

"When I talked to Mr. Pramberger I was amazed that I had won first prize in the medical division," Mahajan said. "The contest is very well known in technical circles and I am excited by the news and the many possibilities it opens up."

As a top prizewinner, Mahajan will receive an invitation to attend the awards ceremony in April in New York City. The Discovery Channel also will feature his work in a segment and NASA Tech Briefs also will write a feature article about it scheduled to appear in April. Mahajan also will receive an HP xw4400 Workstation computer. Mahajan said he and his wife both are excited about attending the award ceremonies, especially because she has never visited New York City.

"I am particularly excited about the news segments on The Discovery Channel and the feature article in the NASA Tech Briefs," Mahajan said. "Both of those reach millions of viewers and that could be good for the University."

Ramanarayanan Viswanathan, Interim Dean of the SIUC College of Engineering, said the award was a great recognition for Mahajan and his collaborators.

"This is true especially considering the fact that this entry has won the first prize among over 1,000 entries in that category," Viswanathan said. "He is applying, in an innovative way, techniques in traditional electrical and mechanical engineering areas to the medical field." Viswanathan said the award would be a boost for the college's newly created interdisciplinary biomedical engineering master's programs, as well.

FACULTY HONORS FOR 2006

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING AND ENERGY PROCESSES

Serge Abrate is a member of the Editorial Board of International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, Elsevier.  In 2006 Dr. Abrate organized a symposium as part of the 8th Biennial Conference on Engi­neering Systems Design and Analysis-ESDA, Torino, Italy and also organized three symposia for the International Conference on Composite Materials (ICCM- 16), to be held in July, 2007 in Kyoto, Japan.  He also reviewed 29 manuscripts for 13 different international journals in the areas of numerical methods, applied mechanics, composites and sandwich structures, sound and vibration, impact, fatigue, vehicle design and system and signal processing.  Dr. Abrate was recognized for his service on the National Research Council review panel in Washington, D.C.

Om P. Agrawal is the Associate editor, ASME Journal of Computational and Nonlinear Dynamics, Member, he is also the Chair of the Publicity Subcommittee and CMSND Committee of ASME, Chair of the Fractional Dynamics Subcommittee of the ASME, Technical Committee on Multibody Systems and Nonlinear Dynamics, a member of the Organizational Committee for the International Conference on Fractional Differentiation and its Applications, held in 2006 in Porto, Portugal, a member of the Organizational Committee for the International Symposium on Mathematical Methods in Engineering held in 2006 in Cankaya, Ankara, Turkey, and
Co-Organizer of the Second Symposium on Fractional Derivatives and Their Applications, ASME DETC-2007, to be held in 2007 in LasVegas, Nevada.  Dr. Agrawal reviewed over 10 manuscripts for technical journals in 2006.

James Blackburn accepted a position on the Editorial Board for Journal of Biobased Material and Bioenergy.

Tsuchin Philip Chu continued his long time service as the Faculty advisor for the SIUC Moonbuggy Club that competes annually in the Spring at NASA Huntsville, AL and was also the Faculty advisor for the SIUC Nepal Student Association.

Asghar Esmaeeli is an  Editorial Board Member of Journal of Fluid-Dynamics and Materials Processing.  In 2006 Dr. Esmaeeli reviewed 12 manuscripts for Physics of Fluids, International Journal of Multiphase Flows, Journal of Computational Physics, and  the Journal of Fluid-Dynamics and Materials Processing.  He also reviewed a proposal for Petroleum Research Fund.

Kambiz Farhang was the Chair of the ASME International Technical Committee on Friction-Induced Vibration, and was on the ASME (National) District Operating Board and the
ASME (International) Global Communities Operating Board in 2006.  Dr. Farhang was also the
District Leader, ASME District C (consisting of 56 universities and 20 sections in 12 US states and 2 Canadian provinces) and a Member of ASME Advisory Board to the Emergency Shelter Design Initiative.

Peter Filip is the Director of the Center for Advanced Friction Studies.  He was the Chair and Program Organizer for the Symposia on Wear and Carbon/Carbon Composites at the 29th International Conference on Advanced  Ceramics & Composites in January of 2006.  He was also the Vice President, Session Chair, and Organizer of U.S. and Czech Universities  at the SVU World Congress at Ceske Budejovice in the Czech Republic in July of 2006.  In addition, he received the Certificate of Excellence, from the Provost and Vice Chancellor, for outstanding service to students living in residence halls on April 27, 2006.  Dr. Filip continues to serves as a member of the steering committee for Automotive Technology Worldwide of this largest meeting on wear of materials in the world and was invited as a speaker representing the U.S. at the Technology Exchange Conference (between the United States, France, and Japan), which will address the non-military applications of carbon-carbon composites.  The meeting for invited participants was organized by Japan and follows the meeting organized by the U.S. in Washington, DC, in 2006.

Rasit Koc was on the Board of Editors for the Journal of American Ceramic Society as associate editor and reviewed many manuscripts for publication in 2006.

Ajay Mahajan was the Chair of the organizing committee for the Intelligent Systems Symposium in the ASME IMECE 2006  and served on ASME’s DSCD Technical Committee on Intelligent Systems and Systems Modeling and SPIE Intelligent Systems in Design and Manufacturing. Dr. Mahajan is also leading the Biomedical Research Initiative, a partnership with physicians from the School of Medicine, Springfield, and gave invited talks on the Biomedical Research Initiative to the SIU Board of Trustees (BOT) member, Bellevue, Illinois and to Cook Medical in Spencer, Indiana.

Kanchan Mondal was the Chair of the “Materials for Hydrogen Storage” session and Co-Chair of the “Hydrogen Production Methods” session at the International Workshop for Hydrogen Energy in Jaipur, India in 2006.  Dr. Mondal was also a reviewer for 9 journal manuscripts for AICHE Journal, Industrial Engineering and Chemistry Research, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Environmental Science & Technology, and Thermochemica Acta.

Emmanuel Nsofor was the Faculty adviser for the SIUC Chapter of the American Society of Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and a member of the , Minority Engineering Mentor Program of the College of Engineering in 2006.  Dr. Nsofor was also a proposal reviewer for the National Science Foundation for the Division of Chemical and Transport Systems (1406 TTTP Panel J: P061567).

Tomasz Wiltowski was the recipient of the two College of Engineering awards: The Dean Kent Tempelmeyer Outstanding Scholar Award, in recognition of research contribution in the College of Engineering; and The Dean Thomas Jefferson Outstanding Teaching Award. In 2006 Dr. Wiltowski received the College level Outstanding Scholar award andwas the Outstanding Teacher in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Energy Processes in 2006.  Also Dr. Wiltowski was nominated as the Chief Guest at the International Workshop for Hydrogen Energy in Jaipur, India.  He was also a member of the Coal Fuel Alliance, State of Illinois Delegation to China on Clean Coal Technologies in 2006.   Dr. Wiltowski was a proposal reviewer for U.S. DOE and European Union Science Commission and a journal reviewer for Thermochimica Acta, the International Journal of  Hydrogen Energy, and Environmental Technology.

Dale Wittmer was selected to be Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Energy Processes in 2006.  He received the Certificate of Excellence, from the Provost and Vice Chancellor, for outstanding service to students living in residence halls on April 27, 2006.  Dr. Wittmer reviewed papers for Journal of Material Science, MPIF and the American Ceramic Society.  He also reviewed proposals for US-EU Technology, and the European Young Investigator Award.  Dr. Wittmer continues to be an active member of the Board of Governors, ChemMatCARS Division of the APS at Argonne National Laboratory representing SIU.