think[box] Radio: Recent Episodes
Case Alumni Association
Driven, smart, creative. That’s Franco “Krais” Kraiselburd, a student so atypical, hetypifies today’s Case student. The third-year biomedical engineering major is CEOof his own startup, a guitarist in a rock band, and the founder of a new studentgroup. Hailing from Argentina, he speaks four languages, which is why he canorder his pizza in Italian in Little Italy.For complete show notes and a video version of this podcast, visit:casealumni.org/podcast/season-2-ep-9-krazy-for-case
Anirban Sen Gupta, a professor of biomedical engineering, has spent much of his career seeking a substitute for whole blood, which is always in short supply. Suddenly, his quest looks a lot more attainable. Sen Gupta’s lab will play a key role in a $46 million federally funded effort to develop artificial blood. It’s a project could achieve an historic first as it revolutionizes approaches to emergency care.For extended show notes and a video version of this episode, please visit: casealumni.org/podcast/season-2-ep-8-bold-science-new-blood
Joy Ward is a biologist, a climate scientist, and the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. She’s also a research catalyst who has clearly made her mark since arriving from the University of Kansas three years ago. Her signature program, the Expanding Horizons Initiative, has opened up new research opportunities to faculty and students by funding interdisciplinary student-faculty teams. It also offers a window onto some of the fascinating research taking place at Case.For extended show notes and the video version of this podcast, please visit: casealumni.org/thinkboxradio/
While most popular with students, Sears think[box] is open to all. That includes alumni like Steve Burns ’11, MEM ’11, Brecken Blackburn, PhD ’21, and Matt McPheeters ’12, MS ’13, PhD ’21. The trio tapped the resources of the campus innovation center to launch their company, Lighthanded, and to develop a promising medical device.For additional show notes and the video version of this podcast, please visit: casealumni.org/uncategorized/season-2-ep-6/
Sears think[box] began a decade ago as a basement maker space in anengineering building. Today it’s the largest open-access innovation center on anAmerican college campus. Jim McGuffin-Cawley, PhD ’84, the faculty director ofSears think[box], shares his vision for the future of this uncommon resource asworkers add the finishing touches to the towering Richey-Mixon Building.To lear more please visit: casealumni.org/podcast/season-2-ep-5
You might be surprised to learn that the biggest single source of microplastics in our drinking water is your laundry. The fibers and dies in your clothes teem with specs of plastic, which flow out in the washing machine wastewater. It’s an unseen mess that a trio of young Case engineers aims to clean up. Their startup, CLEANR, is developing a washing machine filter—just as many states and nations are poised to mandate such a device.Tapping campus resourcesMax Pennington ’22, David Dillman and Chip Miller became friends through their fraternity, Sigma Chi. But they became partners because of their shared concern for microplastics in our in our drinking water.Pennington, a chemical engineering major, alerted his classmates to the problem and they resolved to find a solution. They combined their skills and their passions to launch CLEANR, which incorporated in July of 2022. They also tapped the entrepreneurship resources available to students at CWRU. Those include the campus startup consultancy, LaunchNet, the classes and advising offered by the Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship, and the fabrication and prototyping equipment of Sears think[box], where CLEANR is headquartered.Their story illustrates what can happen when drive meets resources—as it often does at Case.Follow the company on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/cleanrh2o/Company website: https://c212.adwatchmedia.com/
Eric Kaler, the first engineer to lead Case Western Reserve University in 20 years, is going to make Case a busy place. He wants to grow enrollment, expand the research enterprise, and build a $300 million science and engineering flagship on Case Quad. Meanwhile, he and his wife, Karen, have introduced a new lord of the manor at Harcourt House, a beloved rescue dog named Adelbert—whom you willmeet in this podcast.For extended show notes and additional episodes, please visit casealumni.org/thinkboxradio/.
In the Energy Lab on Case Quad, Burcu Gurkan is leading a team trying to solve some of society’s biggest challenges—including climate change. The U.S. Department of Energy is backing her efforts to filter carbon dioxide from the air with new techniques, because if her science succeeds, the world will be a cleaner, greener place.More…A scientist for her timesBurcu Gurkan is a chemical engineer and the Nord Distinguished Associate Professor in the Case School of Engineering. In less than six years, she has gained a national profile as a highly cited scientist who attains coveted research grants. In 2021, the National Science Foundation awarded her an Early Career Development grant, its most distinguished award to junior faculty at research universities.Much of her work addresses challenges of growing importance to humanity, which attracts top graduate students to her lab, the Energy Lab in the A.W. Smith Building, home to the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Her team’s primary focus is “carbon capture”—finding new and better ways to filter excess carbon dioxide from the air—on Earth and on space ships, which has NASA intrigued. She’s also at the vanguard of battery research and the quest to find a renewable source of energy.Meanwhile, she’s a busy mom with two young children. She’s truly a scientist for her times.Read more here: https://casealumni.org/stories/faculty/a-scientist-for-her-times/
Young alumni Matt Canel and Ben Kaufman think they have an idea that can open up the music industry to a whole new world of young players. Their 3D printed violins are cheaper, sturdier and more fun than classic wooden violins--and they sound pretty close to the real McCoy. Take a listen, and see why your child or grandchild may be getting started on a 3D Music violin.
YouTube personality and NASA engineer Alex Schepelmann ’09, MS ’10, would like nothing better than to show you how to Super Make Something!
Launched by a pair of mechanical engineering degrees from Case, Alex is the new robotics expert at the NASA Glenn Research Center, where he’ll be helping design the Mars’ rover. But he’s better known as the creator of Super Make Something, a high-energy YouTube show that teaches makers and hobbyist how to apply artificial intelligence and machine learning to their projects. Some 40,000 people subscribe to his show. After listening to our conversation, we think you’ll see why.
Episode Links: Super Make Something: https://www.youtube.com/user/SuperMakeSomething
As Covid-19 spread, Professors Yanfang “Fanny” Ye and Ken Loparo, PhD ’77, knew we still needed to live a semblance of normal life. They used data science to help people identify the grocery stores, parks and neighborhoods offering the least chance of infection. Thanks to AI—and rapid-response funding from the National Science Foundation—their Alpha Satellite is only getting better. Listen in and learn how best to use it—now and next time.
Link to use Alpha Satellite: https://covid-19.yes-lab.org/
Biomedical engineer Dustin Tyler, PhD ’99, is at the cutting edge of neural engineering—what some call “human fusion”—bringing new hope and sensations to people with paralysis.
Dustin Tyler not only foresees a day when paraplegics will be able to get up and walk, he expects to help make that happen. Tyler and his colleagues in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Case School of Engineering are bringing new sensations and capabilities to people with paralysis. They do it by designing brain-computer connections they call “human fusion.” Their life-changing research inspired the recent documentary, I Am Human. Tyler, director of the new Human Fusion Institute at CWRU, envisions an encore. He’s just getting started.
Propelled by a physics degree and a childhood dream, alumnus Don Thomas, PhD, succeeded at becoming a NASA astronaut. He conducted scientific experiments on four Space Shuttle missions and gained a new perspective on the beauty and fragility of planet Earth. Now he works to attract a new generation, the “Mars generation,” into STEM fields so that they might power the next great age of space flight. His only regret is that he cannot join them.
Episode Links: E-Week Photos: http://bit.ly/eweek2020pics Don Thomas, NASA astronaut: https://don-thomas-dasg.squarespace.com/
At CES 2020, Ricky Graham, PhD, was looking for music fans and found plenty. To beckon people toward his startup, Delta Sound Labs, he had set up a motion-capture simulator. Moving bodies made the colors shift and swirl on an imposing display screen, and reshaped the electronic music firing from a tabletop speaker.
Graham, the program director at Sears think[box], was promoting his music production software, a plug-in he calls “Stream.” But with his doctorate degree in music technology, he’s conversant in the array of hi-tech tools available to musicians and music producers. Listen as he explains why “immersive sound” is the future.
Episode Links: CES Photos: bit.ly/CESPhotos Delta Sound Labs: http://deltasoundlabs.com Sears think[box]: https://engineering.case.edu/sears-thinkbox
You soon might feel better about bellying up to the buffet. Bingying “Judy” Feng ’16 and her company, AntX Technologies, is developing a "smart scale" that can weigh the nutritional value of your meal.
In addition to the weight and price of food, its scale is designed to calculate calories and nutritional values. They tested it at a university in China and found that people were piling less on their plates and choosing more wisely. Now the young company is marketing its product in America to school cafeterias, company dining halls, and anyone else who wants to help their diners eat better and smarter.
Listen and learn why her’s was one of the most popular exhibits in the Case display area at CES 2020.
Episode Links: CES Photos: http://bit.ly/CESPhotos AntX Technologies: https://www.ant-x.com/
Everykey may have the solution to the problem virtually everyone has today: How do we remember all those changing passwords?
The company’s nifty little device, which can hook to your key ring, unlocks your password-protected computers, phones, websites—even your car—whenever you’re standing in Bluetooth range. It’s a universal smart key that’s used five million times a day.
The young company just moved to attractive new offices in Little Italy, next door to the CWRU campus where it began. But founder and CEO Chris Wentz ’13 remembers the humble beginnings and frequent setbacks. He shows no sign of slowing down as he strives to bring Everykey to what he sees as its next big market—the corporate world.
We sat down with Chris at CES 2020, where he was displaying Everykey from a booth at the Case Hub. He talked about how a “crazy idea” from an entrepreneurship class became a startup and a quest.
Episode links: http://www.everykey.com http://bit.ly/CESPhotos
You’ve heard of getting social with media. How about with robots? Kiju Lee sees that day coming—fast. She’s the Nord Distinguished Assistant Professor in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the Case School of Engineering. Cooler than that, she’s a robotics expert who is expanding the state of the art. Kiju imbues robots with remarkable capabilities—like flexibility, artificial intelligence, even empathy.
Her latest creation, Woody, is a plywood and software “social robot” that knows how you’re feeling. Kiju and her team have trained Woody to recognize about 3,500 facial expressions. That’s less than the 10,000 expressions you’re capable of making, but more than your average couch potato is going to notice. In other words, if you’re feeling blue, it’s Woody who likely has a clue. She sees implications for elderly care. Inspired by origami, she has designed miniature robots that are flexible and strong and that maybe could perform precision surgery, as well as big robots that pack up small and light enough to be stowed on space voyages.
She tests her robots at a novel testing center—a senior community in the Cleveland suburbs—where the interaction is both helpful to researchers and heartening to residents.
Join us as we talk with Kiju about building robots that will be our tools, our helpers and maybe our companions.
Host: Robert Smith Producer: Alex Zinni Guest: Kiju Lee, professor, robotics expert
Not long ago, the robotics team at the Case School of Engineering was a modest club struggling to compete. Suddenly, it’s a national high achiever and one of the largest student groups on campus. What happened?
Leadership helps. So does winning at exciting competitions. Robotics enthusiasm has swept the country and robotics clubs are booming at many high schools and colleges. But the robotics team headquartered at Sears think[box]—CWRUbotix--has soared faster and higher than most.
Last year, the team finished fourth at the national NASA Robotic Mining Competition, after placing 5 th the year before. At the metal-busting national Combat Robot Tournament, the team from Case placed first—for the second straight year.
When it comes to collegiate robotics, CWRUbotix ranks among the elite. Much of the credit goes to Rhys Hamlet and Andrea Norris, two engineering students who lead the club. They keep more than 70 members busy designing, building and perfecting robots that can move, dig, attack and defend.
“We’ve been really trying to push the envelope to see what’s possible” and that attracts science and engineering students, said Rhys, the club president.
“When you build something and it actually works and goes on to do well in competition, that’s kind of addictive,” said Norris, the club treasurer. Join us as we talk with Andrea and Rhys about how to build a team that can build great robots in an age of robotics.
Host: Robert Smith
Producer: Alex Zinni
Guest: Rhys Hamlet and Andrea Norris, leaders of CWRUbotix
Tags: think[box], case school of engineering, cwrubotix, robotics
Some of us are old enough to remember the rap on the screen door, the gruff voice announcing “Gas man!” and how readily mom told him to come on in. He was already halfway down the basement stairs, flashlight in hand, heading for the gas meter. Just as quickly, he was back out the door and on to the next house.
It was a painfully inefficient means of calculating gas and water usage by thousands of customers and the energy industry had long sought a solution.
Larry Sears found it circa 1982. By designing a system of dedicated radio channels, long before cell phones or WIFI, he made it possible for utility meters to be read remotely. Today his technology dominates the market, but this is not a story of overnight success.
The 1969 graduate of Case Institute of Technology endured an entrepreneur’s odyssey after launching his electronics startup in Cleveland’s Little Italy, next door to campus. He still shudders to pass a Holiday Inn, he says, having spent so much time at trade shows trying to sell his invention.
He persevered. Today, he looks proudly upon Larry Sears and Sally Zlotnick Sears think[box], the innovation center that he and his wife helped build with a $10 million gift. He shares his belief in hands-on engineering as an adjunct professor at the Case School of Engineering, and he’s a familiar sight on campus in his exquisitely restored classic sports car.
Listen as we chat with Larry Sears about engineering, entrepreneurship, and coming out a winner.
Think[box] Radio. Episode 6. Larry Sears: The man who vanquished the meter reader
Host: Robert Smith Producer: Alex Zinni Guest: Larry Sears
Not many people discover a comet, let alone a galaxy. For stargazer Chris Carr, it’s one of the rewards of a childhood passion he’s been able to nurture at CWRU.
He’s hoping to encourage more students to see what he sees.
Carr, a senior with a double major in physics and astronomy, has been fascinated with the stars since childhood. At Case, he gained access to tools that allow him to peer far beyond his imagination--like the Burrell Schmidt Telescope, a venerable spyglass to the planets that Case keeps pointed skyward at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona.
During a summer research project in 2017, Carr was studying some of the telescope’s deep sky image when he came upon a peculiar smudge. On closer examination with his advisor, Astronomy Professor Chris Mihos, it was determined he had detected an unknown galaxy—37 million light years away.
Carr and Mihos co-authored a paper describing the discovery for the Astrophysical Journal, inscribing both of their names in space history.
Carr wants to bring the stars closer to everyone. He hosts a show on campus radio station WRUW-FM 91.1, Enter Galactic, which explores space mysteries. One of his pieces of advice for amateur astronomers is to start cheap. You don’t need a fancy telescope to scan the heavens, Carr says. A decent set of binoculars will work just fine.
Join us as we chat with one of the nation’s rising young astronomers and how he is honing his craft. To see more from the Case School of Engineering, follow us on twitter @CaseAlumniAssoc, and check out our monthly newsletter on our website, Casealum.org.
Thinkbox Radio. Episode 5 Host: Robert Smith Guest: Chris Carr Producer: Alex Zinni
Chris Carr in the news:
5 questions with galaxy spotter, science radio show host and undergraduate student Chris Carr—The Daily https://thedaily.case.edu/5questions-chris-carr/
CWRU at CES 2019. What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay there.
So why do we trek to Las Vegas every January to set up exhibits and display our innovations in the basement of a crowded convention hall at one of the world’s largest trade shows? Bob Sopko knows.
As director of CWRU LaunchNet, he’s the pied piper of startup founders at Case Western Reserve. Recently, he led a dozen teams of students, staff and recent alumni to CES 2019, then brought them home emboldened. It was his sixth straight trip to the consumer electronics show, where Case stages the largest university presence.
In this special edition of Thinkbox Radio, we talk with Bob about the CES experience, why we do it, and what we learned this go ‘round. He tells us we’re seizing more than the opportunity to show off inventions. CES offers students a chance to make connections, woo investors, and learn the very public side of entrepreneurship.
Take Robert Steward, a junior biomedical engineering major who designed an exoskeleton to help people with physical disabilities. A robotics exec from Google stopped by his booth, Enabled Robotics, and now he’s mulling an internship.
We talked to Robert, too.
Join us as we reprise the Case experience at CES 2019.
More stories on CWRU at CES:
“CWRU represents CLE at CES 2019”--WKYC-TV https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/education/cwru-represents-the-cle-at-ces2019/95-fcd34016- 675b-4de4-95e3-c51de92cc00f
“CWRU storms CES 2019”—The Daily https://thedaily.case.edu/cwru-storms-ces-2019/
“CWRU students rock CES”—Case Alumnus https://www.casealum.org/cwru-students-rock-ces
Mr. Startup
Prince Ghosh represents a new kind of student and a new generation--the startup generation.
Midway through his 4th year at the Case School of Engineering, Prince Ghosh has already packed more into college than some people do in a career. He invented promising wind technology, launched a company, applied for patents and represented his university at prestigious startup competitions. All on the road to a degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering.
Prince is a great example of what some call the “startup generation”—students who come to college expecting to create something really cool, like, soon. They’re drawn to Case for resources like Sears think[box], the IP Venture Clinic and LaunchNet, the campus startup incubator.
“I tell incoming high school seniors that if you come to college and all you do is school, you’re wasting your money,” Ghosh said. “There’s so much more that a collegiate experience has to offer, particularly at a research university like Case.”
His bright idea was to apply plasma technology to wind turbines to make then spin faster. That idea, which he and classmates tested in an obscure campus wind tunnel, led to Boundary Labs and the finals of the 2018 CleanTech University Prize competition.
The New Jersey native has since pivoted toward improving wind turbine gear boxes with big data and sensor technology. He hopes to display his new ideas at CES 2019--January 8-11 in Las Vegas. Ghosh is one of several CWRU students will showcase their work in the University Innovations section of the world’ largest consumer electronics show.
We talked with Prince about what a young innovator can do with university resources, hutzpah, and an Amazon Prime account.
“People often think entrepreneurship is kind of straight line and there’s one right way to do it,” he said. “But that’s probably the furthest thing from the truth. You have to be nimble…willing to adapt…and pivot to what the market really needs.”
Rocket Woman
Sarah Ryan is taking the Case Rocket Team to new heights The Case Rocket Team has been making an impression at national competitions with rockets that soar high, land softly and deliver creative payloads. That means team members have been achieving in the maker space, where the competition rockets come together. And that’s why we were excited to meet with Sarah Ryan, an engineering student who is taking the Case Rocket Team to a new altitude.
Sarah is pursuing a double major in mechanical and aerospace engineering and a minor in astronomy. She began on the rocket team her freshman year working on rocket payloads. She rose to become treasurer, design lead and is now president.
For Sarah, building rockets helps to fulfill a childhood dream. “Aerospace engineering has been a goal of mine for a very long time,” she said. “When I was really young, I started wanting to be an astronaut.”
Under her leadership, the rocket team is taking on bigger challenges. Normally, the team builds a rocket required to reach 1,000 feet in altitude for the Battle of the Rockets competition in Culpeper, Virginia. This year, the team will be aiming for 10,000 feet, a ten-fold increase, for the Friends of Amateur Rocketry 1030 competition near Mojave, California.
With higher altitudes comes higher thrust and new challenges. The students need to worry about vibrations. Every piece of the rocket must be reinforced to deal with the higher forces. They are also working to build a lighter rocket entirely from fiberglass, which requires new methods of fastening and machining.
The club commands a busy workshop on the fifth floor of Sears think[box]. That’s where we met with Sarah to talk about the designing and tooling that goes into creating a top collegiate rocket and the strategies the team uses to enhance innovation and teamwork.
Think[box] Radio. Episode 2. “Rocket Women”
Host: Robert Smith Producer: Alex Zinni Guest: Sarah Ryan
Case Rocket team in the news: “Sarah Ryan leads an award-winning Case Rocket Team as it aims higher” https://www.casealum.org/2016-responsive/pages/students/sarah-ryan
Ian Charnas: Cleveland’s maestro of the makers
We launched Think[box] Radio to share and celebrate the innovation happening at the Case School of Engineering and at Sears think[box], the acclaimed innovation center on the campus of Case Western Reserve University. We can think of no better person to launch this series than the quietly audacious Ian Charnas.
He’s director of innovation and Technology at think[box], a well-known catalyst in Cleveland’s maker scene, and the kind of engineer who can draw a crowd. How? Well, he’s founder and conductor of the Tesla Orchestra. And you should hear it—just to see it—as he evokes sound and lightning bolts from twin giant Tesla Coils.
He also gave the world the waterfall swing, again proving that engineering can be performance art. You get the idea. By blending art and technology, Ian tries to connect cool and smart in new ways. At think[]box], he’s able to offer every imaginable tool to help aspiring makers and inventors join him in his crusade. We talk with Ian about his vision for think[box], the essential ingredients to innovation, and why it’s OK to get started making a 30-cent shower curtain ring on a $100,000 3D printer.
To see more from the Case School of Engineering, follow us on twitter @CaseAlumniAssoc, and check out our monthly newsletter on our website, Casealum.org.
Think[box] Radio. Episode 1 Host: Robert Smith Guest: Ian Charnas Tags: thinkbox, case school of engineering, tesla orchestra, waterfall swing
Ian Charnas in the news: “Tesla Orchestra Fuses Music and Science” – Cleveland.com https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2018/09/the_two_nicks_podc ast_clevelan.html “Out of the (in)box: This Clevelander wants to cure your email woes” – FreshWater Cleveland “The Maker Movement Goes to College—Chronicle of Higher Education https://www.chronicle.com/article/The-Maker-Movement-Goes/229473