Dear Colleagues and Friends,

I'm glad to say that another academic year in the Padnos College of Engineering and Computing is off to an excellent start! With the return of our student population to campus, there's a sense of excitement in the air, and we have many exciting updates to share with you as well.

Over the summer, we held our annual Engineering Design Conference, which was a testament to experiential learning being at the core of our School of Engineering since it was founded. The events highlighted our students’ course projects, cooperative learning (co-op) capstone projects, and Industry Sponsored Graduate Fellowships. It was wonderful to connect with so many of you at the various conference events. Thank you for celebrating the significant achievements of our newest graduates!

Our students were busy over the summer, too, participating in student organization activities, finishing up student projects, and completing internships and co-ops with our industry partners. Our faculty members stayed engaged with research and I’m thrilled to be able to highlight a few exciting projects in this newsletter.

If you have questions or comments, follow this link to Connect with the Dean.

Best,

- Dean Paul Plotkowsi 

Paul Plotkowski, dean of the Padnos College of Engineering and Computing, has an office in Kennedy Hall, but it's more likely that he can be found in the community, meeting with industry leaders.

It's the unique makeup of the West Michigan community that helped establish PCEC and has contributed, financially and through a vast number of partnerships, to its success. 

The college was established in 2004 as part of the university's academic reorganization. At that time, there were fewer than 50 faculty members, today, 95 faculty teach undergraduate and graduate engineering, computing, occupational health and safety courses and coordinate the Professional Science Masters program. There are 2,500 students enrolled in PCEC programs.

Plotkowski plans to retire at the end of the upcoming academic year. 

To view full article please click here

Grand Valley State University will host their first GenCyber Teacher Program through a $136,476, two-year award sponsored by the National Security Agency (NSA).

Dr. Sara Sutton, assistant professor of computing, is the principal investigator of the NSA grant and the program director for the GenCyber Teacher Program taking place on GVSU’s campus in the summer of 2024. Dr. Sutton will lead the camp along with PCEC faculty members Dr. Xinli Wang, Dr.  Andrew Kalafut, Dr. Vijay Bhuse, Dr. Samah Mansour, Dr. Ira Woodring, and  Dr. Amanda Buday.

"The GenCyber award will enable us to provide a free cybersecurity camp experience for high school teachers with diverse backgrounds, allowing them to incorporate cybersecurity concepts into their courses," Dr. Sutton said. "The topics of the GenCyber teacher camp will include fundamental security knowledge, network scanning, as well as other subjects such as cryptography, email phishing, password management, and cyber ethics."

As cybersecurity professors in the school of computing, Dr. Sutton and other computing faculty members have directed their efforts towards advancing cybersecurity education and research. The NSA grant provides an opportunity for the computing faculty to broaden their scope and work with high schools and the local community to make an impact at Grand Valley State University and the local community.

While this is the first GenCyber camp for teachers, GVSU has offered a GenCyber camp for students in the summer of 2023.

The program consists of face-to-face sessions along with synchronous online pre-camp and post-camp activities. Teachers will learn how to develop lesson plans to teach cybersecurity and help their students navigate today’s cybersecurity risks. Prior knowledge of computers and cybersecurity is not required to attend the camp. If you are an educator interested in the free GenCyber Teacher Program, please contact Dr. Sutton at suttosar@gvsu.edu.

Unintentional falls are a significant cause of injury and hospitalization, especially among the elderly and disabled. Stairlifts and ceiling-mounted gait systems are standard solutions, but they can be expensive and difficult to install.

The Windsor Gait Assist (WGA) is 2innovate’s new, low-cost, wall-mounted gait assist system that could revolutionize how we prevent falls. The WGA is a patented, traveling "seat belt" that attaches to the user via an elastic-type tether. As the user ambulates, the trolley moves along a rail, providing support and preventing them from falling. In the event of a fall, the trolley temporarily brakes, preventing the user from hitting the floor.

Abishek Balsamy-Kamaraj, Assistant Professor of Product Design & Manufacturing Engineering at GVSU, will contribute to the next development phase, funded by a National Science Foundation Small Business Technology Transfer award. Further development will focus on testing and refinement of the WGA. The team is also developing alternative trolley bearings and braking system designs.

To read the full article please click here.

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