The Fund for LSSU

The Fund for LSSU – Giving You a Reason to Give

The Fund for LSSU uses annual gifts to LSSU to address the university’s areas of greatest need and opportunity. The annual fund campaign allows donors to make a difference at LSSU. Gifts to the Fund for LSSU help underwrite projects that support or enhance education and the student experience.

Through a grant process, students and full-time faculty and staff can apply to use funds from the Fund for LSSU for projects that support or enhance student education and the student experience at LSSU. The projects must fall under one of the four pillars: philanthropy, infrastructure, enrollment, and student professional development.

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LSSU Students and professors at Automate 2019 pictured in front of LSSU’s conference booth. From left to right: Thomas Muir, Rick Miller, Preston Fairchild, Evan Reeves, Brandon Niemi, Alex Elias, Trevor Simons, Nathan Pim, Eden LaTulip, Prof. Jim Devaprasad, and Prof. Edoardo Sarda

Matthew Bell presenting at the GSA North-Central Section Meeting on past river migration patterns from aerial photographs of the Lower Muskegon River in Michigan.

Carolyn Turgeon Visiting Writer presenting to the LSSU Creative Writing Program.

Local Veterans at the Campus Veterans Fair.

Past Grant Recipients

Automate 2019

LSSU Students

School of Engineering & Technology

The LSSU Engineering students that attended Automate 2019 were selected competitively based on academic success and approval from LSSU engineering professors. These students are listed in Table 1 and are shown representing LSSU at our Automate 2019 conference booth in Fig. 1.

Table 1 – LSSU students selected to attend Automate 2019.

Name	Class Standing	Major
Brandon Niemi	Senior	Electrical Engineering
Alex Alias	Senior	Manufacturing Engineering Tech
Rick Miller	Senior	Mechanical Engineering
Preston Fairchild	Junior	Electrical Engineering
Thomas Muir	Freshman	Mechanical Engineering
Josh Schember	Freshman	Computer Engineering
Trevor Simons	Senior	Mechanical Engineering
Evan Reeves	Senior	Mechanical Engineering
Eden LaTulip	Junior	Computer Engineering
Nathan Pim	Senior	Manufacturing Engineering Tech

Fig. 1 – LSSU Students and professors at Automate 2019 pictured in front of LSSU’s conference booth. From left to right: Thomas Muir, Rick Miller, Preston Fairchild, Evan Reeves, Brandon Niemi, Alex Elias, Trevor Simons, Nathan Pim, Eden LaTulip, Prof. Jim Devaprasad, and Prof. Edoardo Sarda

Fig. 2 – Robotics Professionals Watching Demonstrations at LSSU’s Booth

The Automate 2019 conference was held at McCormick Place in downtown Chicago, IL from Monday, April 8, 2019 to Thursday, April 11, 2019. Our group attended events on all the days of the conference. The event was divided into two parts: the trade show, captured in the panoramic photo shown if Fig. 3 below and the conference sessions, which were hosted on the floor beneath the show.

Fig. 3 – Panoramic view of the Automate trade show floor

Attendance of the trade show exhibition was free, however the conference sessions required passes which were purchased using the money provided by the Fund for LSSU grant. Each student was asked to pick two to three conference sessions that he/she wanted to attend based on interest, and the conference passes were purchased accordingly (see Table 2).

Table 2 – Conference Pass Distribution per Attendee.

Name	Conference Dates Attended
Brandon Niemi	April 8^th& 11^th
Preston Fairchild	April 8^th& 11^th
Alex Elias	April 8^th& 9^th
Rick Miller	April 8^th& 9^th
Thomas Muir	April 8^th& 9^th
Josh Schember	April 8^th& 9^th
Trevor Simons	April 10^th& 11^th
Evan Reeves	April 10^th& 11^th
Eden LaTulip	April 10^th& 11^th
Nathan Pim	April 10^th& 11^th

A sample of the sessions that were attended throughout the four days along with a brief description of what each conference session discussed is detailed below:

Monday
- The Growing Importance of Software in Manufacturing

Maxwell Reynolds, Co-founder, CEO Symbio

While Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, and modern networking infrastructure are setting the stage for a revolution in industrial manufacturing, engineers today cannot take full advantage of these technologies because robotics and sensor platforms are dependent on vendor specific proprietary software. Our presentation will provide basic definitions and context to advanced technologies and show how their application on the factory floor will increase robot capabilities and enable flexible workcells.

Tuesday
- Choosing the Right Vision Solution

Instructor: David Dechow, Principal Vision Systems Architect, Integro Technologies

One of the fundamental challenges in implementing machine vision technologies in automation applications is the selection of the right solution. Whether the task is to identify and apply the machine vision components, or to specify and purchase an entire machine vision-based automation cell, there are some basic steps and processes to follow that can help ensure the success of your project. In this presentation we will discuss machine vision application analysis and system specification related to key machine vision technologies. The presentation will also outline typical machine vision components and software along with the applications they enable and the potential limitations to be aware of. The presentation is valuable for all attendees who use, specify or plan to implement machine vision in their automation environment.

Automation: Off-the-Shelf vs. Custom?

Presenter: Paul Santi, General Manager – Automation Systems Group, FANUC America

Standard, off-the-shelf automation may work for some applications. However, as Abraham Maslow said, “If you only have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” We have all witnessed that a hammer does not always work — even for every type of nail. Right Sizing the automation solution and selling the right size is critical to achieving long-term value results. This session will outline methods to Right Size and Value Justify custom automation solutions with and without Collaborative Technologies.

Wednesday
- Higher & Faster — New Vision Architectures to Solve Complex Challenges

Presenter: Thomas Karow, Product Market Manager, Basler AG

There is an ongoing trend for higher resolution and faster framerates to steadily increase performance in vision systems. Let’s divide the challenges into the parts of the sensor, camera interface and data processing. The timing is good to think about. Now! Technologies have ripened to cover those needs and give answers to these challenges. The presentation covered all these points, make it clear to the audience how the needs lead to challenges. Moreover, how they can be addressed with solutions.

Intro to Automation & Robotics on the Factory Floor

Presenter: Jason Claggett: Business Solutions, Encompass Solutions

The presentation serves as an introduction to manufacturers who have little-to-intermediate knowledge of how automation and robotics are used in manufacturing settings. This included a brief overview of the history of automation, how we’ve arrived at the current state of manufacturing (industry 4.0) and what types of technology we are seeing emerge.

Thursday
- Collaborative Robot Safety Overview & Risk Assessment

Panel included:

Carole Franklin: Director of Standards Development, Robotics Association for Advancing Automation

Elena Dominguez: Safety Consultant Pilz Automation Safety

Collaborative robot systems are a new robotics technology that allows for robots and humans to work together in ways that were previously impossible. However, with this new capability comes new hazards and risks that must be evaluated for every application. This session introduced key concepts in collaborative robot system safety, including introduction to relevant safety standards, and how to evaluate and mitigate these new hazards related to collaborative robot applications.

Ms. Franklin opened the session with an introduction to robot safety standards and concepts, and how collaborative robotics has changed the safety paradigm.

Ms. Dominguez discussed the collaborative robot Risk Assessment process in detail and gave a worked example.

The conference sessions provided a refreshing real-world angle on concepts that the students had studied in their coursework at LSSU. In addition to providing an enlightening supplement to coursework, the conference sessions gave the students a chance to meet and interact with industry professionals. It was opportunities like the events at Automate 2019 that made attending the conference sessions worthwhile for more than just professional training.

When not attending conference sessions, members of the group took turns representing LSSU at LSSU’s conference booth and exploring the trade show floor, which was full of engaging demonstrations of the newest technology in the industry.

Even though LSSU’s robotics program is notable, the students and faculty would not have been exposed to this type of emerging technology without attending Automate 2019. Furthermore, LSSU was the only university that had a booth in the conference. This drew special attention from many of the industry professionals that allowed interaction between LSSU students and faculty resulting in great conversations that showed well on behalf of both the students and LSSU altogether.

Overall, Automate 2019 was an unforgettable experience that allowed LSSU students and faculty to explore the latest trends and technology in the industry.

In close, the students and faculty from the School of Engineering and Technology are very appreciative of getting the opportunity to represent LSSU at the Automate 2019 conference and are very thankful to the “Fund for LSSU” for supporting this trip by funding the travel to and from Automate along with the conference registrations.

Campus Veterans Fair

LSSU Students

Nursing 432

The Veteran Resource Open House was held on March 20, 2019 in the Superior Room of
the Cisler Center. Upon entering the event, the veterans were presented with a name tag that was
color coded for the branch of the military in which they served but had their name and
country/area(s) where they had served written on them. The name tags were purchased with
grant funding. Several exhibitors were invited to set up booths at the event such as admissions,
Community Action, Veterans Affairs, etc. Our class put together a few poster boards on tips to
communicate with your physician and the differing health risks and exposures that resulted from
various battle sites. The poster supplies were purchased by grant funding. Our class also
provided a booth of health screenings; blood pressure and blood glucose. The grant funding
purchased gloves and cotton balls for blood glucose supplies while the school of nursing
provided glucometers, test strips, alcohol pads, etc. The class had also gathered donations from
businesses around the Soo and we purchased raffle tickets and paper bags to create drawings for
the prizes. The grant funding also gave the NURS 432 students the opportunity to purchase two
$75 Meijer gift cards and one $100 VISA card to raffle off as grand prize awards. A cake was
purchased with grant funding that had “Thank you for your service” in script on it that was
enjoyed by veterans and the NURS 432 students.

Thank you again for awarding the NURS 432 class with the Enrichment Grant as this had
provided us with funding for our Community Health project. The products and prizes that were
purchased using the funding from this grant contributed to the events success and helped entice
veterans to come gain education regarding their health and learn about resources on campus and
in the community that are available to them.

Carolyn Turgeon Visiting Writer project experience

Mary McMyne

Associate Professor, School of Arts and Letters

The LSSU Creative Writing Program is grateful to the LSSU Foundation for the $1,000 speaker fee/honorarium which was mailed to Carolyn immediately upon her visit. Her visit was a resounding success with a number of students and community members attending her various talks and lectures, and a crowd at the library for her reading. Books were sold and copies were signed as well. Thank you for your support of the LSSU Creative Writing Program and its students

GSA North-Central Sectional Meeting

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Tri-regional Geological Society of America(GSA) meeting

Matthew Bell

Student, College of Science and the Environment

With the help of the LSSU Foundation, I attended the Tri-regional Geological Society of America(GSA) meeting held in Manhattan, KS from March 24th-26th. My objective of attending was to present the results of my research to the scientific community and make a valid contribution to the technical program; and learn from (and network with) professionals who are experts in their fields. I was able to represent LSSU on a nearly national level and gain exposure to the geopolitical aspect of my field. This was an extremely beneficial experience (personally, professionally, and academically) and I am grateful to have lived it.

Additional Past Grant Recipients