Getting the Edge in Man vs. Fish Better Rods through Software Modeling

Maryland engineers are helping develop better fly-fishing rods using software simulation tools. The above figure shows the deformation, or bending, of a fly rod during a casting. Illustration by Gang Wang.

"Fly-fishing is a lot like chess," says Steve Forrer, founder of the Beaverkill Rod Co. It's man against fish in a timeless game of maneuvering and strategy.

Chess might be easier to win, though. The variables a fly-fisherman must consider while dancing a fake fly across a stream and making it look like a real one range from the length, weight and action of a rod to the weight, length and taper of a particular fishing line.

That's not to mention the hundreds of synthetic flies that are commercially available, along with the varied environmental conditions under which a person could use them. Perhaps that's why an estimated 6.5 million fly-fishermen in the United States own an average of 6.4 rods each, while spending $575 per year on new ones.

This desire for a sundry collection to fit every fishing need has led Beaverkill to team up with the University of Maryland to develop a sophisticated software simulation system for the design of new, better and more affordable fly rods. The research is partially funded through a Maryland Industrial Partnerships grant, designed to encourage collaboration between university scientists and the private sector.

"The end goal is to improve design from both the manufacturing and performance perspectives," says Norman Wereley, an associate professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering who along with research associate Gang Wang is working with Beaverkill on the new software system. "So instead of prototyping 15 to 20 rods before settling on a design, as many manufacturers do, we'll do it by making five rods instead. We'll be ahead because we've already seen how the rods behave online."

Fly rods vary in length from 7 to 10 feet, and have a 3- to 12-ounce weight differential. They range in action from slow to extra fast. Action is considered the most important aspect in rod design. Faster rods are generally stiffer--for longer casting in wide rivers--while slower rods are useful for short casting in smaller streams.

The new software system will take nearly every possible variation into account--including a rod's materials, its stiffness, and the length and number of its sections and tapers--and predict how the rod will behave when cast. The system will even simulate the variables and action of different fishing lines.

"When you present the fly to the fish, you want it to land on the water and look like a fly," says Wereley. "You don't want a bunch of line to flop on the water because it will scare the fish away. They'll say 'that's not a fly, it's spaghetti!'"

For more information on Beaverkill, visit the company's Web site at www.bkrod.com.
--Eric Schurr

RTKL Teams with Maryland Scientist on Tower of Cool

Photo courtesy of RTKL.

A University of Maryland scientist has teamed up with one of the world's largest design and engineering firms, RTKL, to develop energy-saving ways to cool large computer systems.

Mechanical engineering professor Reinhard Radermacher is helping to design and build testing equipment for RTKL's patented Tower of Cool technology. The innovation is an improvement on traditional cooling methods, which involved cooling entire rooms where computer server cabinets are stored. Under the new technology, RTKL hopes to cool the towers themselves rather than the larger space around them.

"Tower of Cool can result in an energy savings of 6 percent and a first-cost savings of 5 percent for companies who use this technology in their data centers," says Stephen Sinazzola, an RTKL vice president. The company received a patent on the technology last summer and has nine related patents pending both domestically and internationally.

Radermacher, who is also director of the university's Center for Environmental Energy Engineering, is an expert on advanced energy conversion systems, cooling, heating and power (CHP) systems, and optimization of thermal systems.
--Daniel Cusick

TEDCO Funds New Innovations

The Maryland Technology Development Corporation recently awarded two grants totaling $100,000 to researchers at the University of Maryland for further development and commercialization of their emerging technologies.

J. Norman Hansen, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry, received $50,000 to research and develop enhancements to his lantibody technology. The technology, which demonstrates antimicrobial properties, can be used to more rapidly produce new versions of antibiotics that can fight new strains of bacteria.

In the fiber optics field, Balakumar Balachandran, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, also received a $50,000 grant. Balachandran is building an optical microphone that can be used in micro-electromechanical systems.

The Office of Technology Commercialization has filed patent applications for both Hansen's and Balachandran's technology.
--Megan Michael

UM Carotenoid Discoveries Move from Lab to Market

Kemin Foods, an Iowa-based manufacturer of vitamin and dietary supplements for human nutrition, recently licensed worldwide rights to market the University of Maryland's method for the production of rare carotenoids from the Office of Technology Commercialization, or OTC. The method was developed by Frederick Khachik, an adjunct professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and a senior research scientist at the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, or JIFSAN.

Carotenoids--the yellow to red plant pigments that are found in many plants, fruits, and vegetables--express anti-cancer, anti-oxidant and other health-protecting properties. Because of these valuable properties, researchers from around the world have been searching for ways to increase the presence of carotenoids in the human body. Promoting consumption of fruits and vegetables that have these compounds and encouraging the use of nutritional supplements containing carotenoids are two solutions.

Several dietary carotenoids, such as beta-carotene, lutein and lycopene, are already commercially available in various formulations. "However, anhydrolutein, alpha-cryptoxanthin, beta-cryptoxanthin, and zeaxanthin--four of the 12 major dietary carotenoids found in human tissues, serum, milk, and major organs--are rare," says Khachik.

Khachik's one-step method converts commercially available lutein, which is isolated from extracts of marigold flowers, into a mixture of alpha-cryptoxanthin, beta-cryptoxanthin, and minor quantities of anhydrolutein. His discoveries make these carotenoids available for possible use as nutritional supplements and as drug therapies for diseases like cancer, age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, and neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases.

OTC has filed a patent application that covers this method along with an extraction and purification method for zeaxanthin, which was exclusively licensed to New Jersey-based H. Reisman Corp. Meanwhile, Khachik is conducting further research into the use of lutein and zeaxanthin to prevent AMD through a $1.2 million grant from the National Eye Institute.
--Megan Michael

New Company Employs Plants for Soil Remediation

Photo by Scott Bauer/USDA.

The affordable, efficient, and environmentally friendly clean-up of cadmium-contaminated sites around the world may soon be possible thanks to a new University of Maryland startup company. Phytoextraction Associates, LLC, of Baltimore, recently exclusively licensed the university's patent-pending phytoextraction technology from the Office of Technology Commercialization.

Phytoextraction is an environmental remediation process that uses plants to remove contaminants from polluted soil by taking up the pollutants through their root systems and accumulating them in their foliage. "Maryland's phytoextraction technology uses a plant called Thlaspi caerulescens, which is capable of accumulating vast amounts of cadmium in its leaves and stems" says J. Scott Angle, a professor in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and co-founder of Phytoextraction Associates.

"Traditional soil remediation methods involve digging up the soil at the site and transporting it to a landfill, which is a costly process," explains Angle. Phytoextraction Associates plans to grow plants on contaminated soil and periodically harvest the above-ground portions in order to gradually reduce cadmium concentrations to safe levels.

Cadmium contamination, which is second only to lead as the most serious soil contamination problem, is prevalent in the United States and other countries throughout the world. "In Japan, more than 1.25 million acres of land that is used for cultivating rice is contaminated and in need of remediation," says Angle. Eastern European countries and Thailand are also facing serious contamination problems and would greatly benefit from the company's low-cost remediation method.
--Megan Michael

CALCE Seeks Answer on the Use of Lead-Free Alternatives

One concern with the use of lead-free alternatives is the formation of "tin whiskers." Above is an enlarged image of an iron armature that is plated with a tin coating. Note the "whiskers" that can cause a short circuit if they come in contact with other electronic components. Photo courtesy of NASA.

A comprehensive study by the university's CALCE Electronic Products and Systems Center has identified several potential substitutes for toxic lead solders and lead-plated electronic components widely used in consumer products.

Worldwide, the electronics industry is responsible for almost a million metric tons of lead contamination per year, with the primary source being the disposal of used products like camcorders, mobile phones, pagers and PCs that use lead solders to attach individual components to circuit boards.

Legislation pending in Europe will ban the use of lead in all European-manufactured electronics by 2006, and American manufacturers--while not legally bound by these new overseas environmental laws--are under increasing pressure to eliminate lead from their products as well. "U.S. companies will ultimately [have to] integrate the lead-free components made in Europe, and also have to compete in the marketplace with Japanese manufacturers already producing lead-free products," says Michael Pecht, the director of CALCE.

One major concern with eliminating lead in electronics, Pecht says, is the possible loss of durability and established reliability of lead-free replacements. CALCE researchers have conducted rigorous qualification testing of various lead-free substitutes to verify the in-service durability of these so-called "green" electronics. "We assessed problems that may occur in the manufacturing process, and also did accelerated testing to provide data on what may fail after a [lead-free] product has been in the field for two or three years," he says.

One potential problem that the Maryland engineers are closely looking at involves a phenomenon known as "tin whiskers." These "whiskers" occur when tin--or a combination of tin, silver and copper--is used as a lead substitute in the plating of an electronic component. The tin coating may react with other metals, Pecht says, or may change shape over time due to temperature cycling or vibrations. The plating then shoots out a "whisker" that looks very much like a human hair and can cause electrical shorts in circuit boards. Maryland engineers are testing different mixtures of tin, copper and silver to try to solve this problem.
--Tom Ventsias