MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT SPRING 2001 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON

A newsletter for alumni, students, and friends of the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Message From the Chair

Dear Alumni and Friends:

Thank you for all the support you have given us in 2000! It has been a great year, and I am looking forward very much to 2001. As you will see in this newsletter, our students, faculty and alumni have been very successful and are doing many interesting things. Both Bob Sandberg and Professor Bill Beckman retired this summer. We are anticipating a number of retirements in the next few years and we are working hard to hire replacements for irreplaceable members of our department such and Bob and Bill. If you have suggestions or recommendations for us regarding outstanding candidates, please let me know.

"This year we were able to give $184,000 in undergraduate scholarships, support the Formula, Baja, and FutureTruck projects, create a new professorship, and equip a new motion control and mechatronics lab, all thanks in a large part to these gifts. "

Two of our student groups have taken on the large task of organizing conferences for their parent societies. Our Pi Tau Sigma student chapter will be hosting their national convention here in Madison in October 2001. Also, our ASME student chapter will be hosting their regional student convention in Madison in March 2001. Both welcome involvement and help from their alumni as they organize these events.

Gifts from alumni and friends of our department enable much in the way of special assistance to our students and to the faculty dedicated to teaching and mentoring them. This year we were able to give $184,000 in undergraduate scholarships, support the Formula, Baja, and FutureTruck projects, create a new professorship, and equip a new motion control and mechatronics lab, all thanks in a large part to these gifts. Because this is so important, we have included a form with this newsletter that you can conveniently use to make a gift to our department. In addition to the wonderful support we receive from you, we are at this time particularly seeking one-time donations to the ME Building project. As you will see elsewhere in this newsletter, funds must be raised and the project must begin in very short order. Your continued support is greatly appreciated.

SPRING 2001 Contents