MechE Continues Facility Updates T


he Department of Mechanical Engineering recently added innovative new equipment to its Student Machine Shop. These latest updates reflect one phase of MechE’s ongoing efforts to offer its students firsthand engineering experience—using resources that are truly world-class. “It’s an exciting time in the MechE facilities, with many upgrades recently completed or planned for the near future,” says Jim Dillinger, Machine Shop Supervisor. The Depart- ment maintains a number of labs and facilities, including the Student Machine Shop, where students use state-of-the-art


equipment under the supervision of faculty and experienced staff.


“With the Department including more ‘hands on’ proj- ects in many courses, our new equipment makes modern technology in cutting and modeling available to our students to use in building their project prototypes,” says Dillinger. “Students can use this equipment to assemble durable prototypes that can become end-use parts—or simply test their ideas before committing to costly metal parts. They can learn to work confidently with the same equipment found in industry today.”•


A new 60 watt Epilog laser cutting/engraving machine cuts diverse non-ferrous materials, as well as engraving images and text.


This Dimension Elite FDM (fused deposition mod- eling) printer extrudes melted plastic in layers to replicate virtual models created with software.


A newly acquired Hass 4 axis machining center gives MechE students the ability to cut 3D shapes from any machinable material.


In Memoriam: Remembering William Hughes


Former Professor William “Bill” F. Hughes passed away peacefully on April 23, follow- ing a long illness. He was 80 years old. In addition to being a long-time faculty member, Professor Hughes was an alumnus of the Mechanical Engineering Department, having earned all his degrees from Carnegie


Mellon—a B.S. in 1952, an M.S. in 1953, and a Ph.D. in 1955. During his long tenure at Carnegie Mellon, Hughes


authored or co-authored numerous publications, including six books which have been translated into multiple lan- guages and are still being used as textbooks at universities throughout the world. Much of Hughes’ professional focus was in magnetohydrodynamics and fluid dynamics, subjects in which he was considered one of the world’s preeminent authorities. It was primarily in this capacity that he consulted regularly for the Rand Corporation, Westinghouse, and NASA, which included work on the space shuttle program


and various military projects. Hughes was awarded the George Tallman Ladd Professorship in 1989 and retired from Carnegie Mellon in 1993. Professor Hughes’ incredible range of interests included hiking, fly fishing, canoeing, carpentry, woodworking, gardening, beekeeping, reading, travel, and classical music. Hughes and his wife Sue, who passed away in 2002, began spending vacations in the Rangeley Lakes region of Maine in 1985 and eventually moved there permanently in 1995. Both were active in the community and were passionate about preserving the natural beauty of that region. Hughes is survived by son Christopher and his wife


Pam, son Eric and his wife Sue, sister Peggy Ruslander, and niece Lee Ann Freeman. Professor Hughes will be tremendously missed by the MechE family, and particularly by the generations of students he taught over the years. The Department extends its sincere condolences to his family.•


CARNEGIE MECH 19


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