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| Dr. Charles Reinholtz Alumni Distinguished Professor Virginia Tech Dr. Al Wicks |
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| Recorded: 10/12/05 | |
| Dr. Charles Reinholtz is the co-author of Mechanisms and Dynamics of Machinery, published by John Wiley. At Virginia Tech, more than 90 students, or about one-third of the senior class in mechanical engineering, are enrolled in one of his autonomous-vehicle-related senior design projects. Under Dr. Reinholtz's guidance, teams from Virginia Tech swept the 2005 Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition and took first place in the 2005 International Aerial Robotics Competition. Dr. Reinholtz is also leading a team that is working with the National Federation of the Blind to develop the inaugural Blind Driver Challenge. Dr. Reinholtz also advises the senior project teams that qualified two robotic vehicles in the finals of the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge. Dr. Al Wicks, who has expertise in experimental modal analysis, digital signal processing, and testing of transducers, is the Director of Virginia Tech's Modal Analysis Laboratory (MAL), housed in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Dr. Al Wicks, who has expertise in experimental modal analysis, digital signal processing, and testing of transducers, is the Director of Virginia Tech's Modal Analysis Laboratory (MAL), housed in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The MAL specializes in research relating to the characterization of dynamic properties of structures. Dr. Wicks is also associated with the School of Biomedical Engineering and Science, a joint venture between Virginia Tech and the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Most recently, Dr. Wicks and the graduate students in his Advanced Instrumentation class developed a design for a new device to reduce x-ray exposure during surgery to repair broken bones. The result is a new low-cost, hand-held magnetic surgical tool called a Magnetic Targeting Device. |
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