The classical definition of job qualifications for engineers is changing as U.S. economy becomes more global. In addition to technical qualifications, there is a great need for multi-national, interdisciplinary, and multi-cultural competence for engineers. In this project, three U.S. engineering students gained valuable research experiences at Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), a top engineering university in China. China has a fast growing economy and is the largest trading partner with U.S. By combining the expertise of highly qualified faculty members from both University of Houston (UH) and HIT, innovative research related to smart materials, structural health monitoring, and structural control were conducted by using the-state-of-the-art facilities at HIT. One student performed research on the topic of hysteresis characterization of shape memory polymer. The other student performed the novel research of damage detection of a composite wind blade using piezoceramic transducers. The last student conducted research in structural vibration control using MagnetoRheological (MR) fluid dampers. Additionally, the students also visited five other Chinese universities and joint student symposiums were organized during each visit. Through their summer research stay in China, the U.S. students were exposed to a totally different culture and learned the Chinese education and research systems, which will increase their readiness for a job in a global economy. One of the participants was a minority student and this IREE supplementary fund increased the participation from the underrepresented population in engineering. In addition, this IREE project strengthened UH-HIT collaboration in the area of smart materials, composites and structural health monitoring and stimulated innovative interdisciplinary research.

Oliver Rivera is currently pursuing a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Houston, where his graduation is anticipated in December 2009. Ongoing research he is involved with includes discovering new uses for shape memory polymers with the Smart Materials and Structures Laboratory at the University of Houston under the guidance of Dr. G. Song. He was actively involved with the University of Houston 2007 Formula SAE entry and is currently an officer of his student section of the Society of Women Engineers.

Claudio Olmi is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Houston. He is conducting research in structural control using MR dampers and SMA (Shape Memory Alloy) devices, instrumentation, remote experiment, and wireless sensor network at the Smart Materials and Structures Laboratory at UH under the guidance of Dr. G. Song. Claudio obtained his B.S. and M.S. degrees from UH.

Dr. Gangbing Song is now a professor of both Mechanical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering at UH. Dr. Song was an associate professor when the IREE project was applied for and executed. Dr. Song is also the funding director of the Smart Materials and Structures Laboratory at UH. Dr. Song's research interests include smart materials and structures, structural health monitoring, structural control, hysteresis modeling and compensation, and various control methods.

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

G. Song, K. Grigoriadis, O. Rivera, K. Weaver and C. Olmi, "UH-HIT Joint Research in Smart Materials - an IREE Supplement Award to Collaborative Research: Hysteresis Compensation Using Linear Parameter Varying Control Methods", Trip report presented at the NSF IREE 2008 Grantees Conference, May 2008, Washington, D.C.

• (2009), "UH-HIT Joint Research in Smart Materials - an IREE Supplement Award to Collaborative Research: Hysteresis Compensation Using Linear Parameter Varying Control Methods," http://globalhub.org/resources/1922.

  BibTex | EndNote

1. iree2008
2. trip report