Dan Armentrout Email and Phone Number

I oversaw the management of the MME department including teaching, research, and service. I approved teaching loads, course assignments and curriculum changes in consultation with the faculty. The tactical and strategic leadership responsibilities related to MME programs were under my direction. In addition I did all the duties of an associate chair. I advised and mentored students staff and faculty, tracked student progress and performance, performed graduation checks, scheduleed courses, proposed program changes, nominated people for honors and awards, managed a number of programs (Internship, Study Abroad, and dual degree program), reviewed booklets and bulletins, and assisted with recruitment and retention. I wrote multiple Visual Basic macros (~3000 lines of code) to manipulate data to highlight exceptions and items of concern.

As a lecturer I taught Economics and Ethics for Engineers, Engineering Applications III, Engineering Concepts & Practice II, Engineering Connections I, II & III, Engineering Economics, First-Year Seminar, Graduate Seminar, Instrumentation, Machine Design, Making of an Engineer, Mechanical Engineering Lab I & II, Senior Design I, II & III, Technology 21 and Thermodynamics I & II with better than department average scores from student evaluations for most of these classes.

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and Western Area Power Administration Research focused on possible failure modes of a new composite core conductor. The composite cores (carbon and glass fibers in a high temperature epoxy) are being tested for potential problems which could affect the anticipated 50 year life span of the conductors. I developed experiments to determine the effects of galvanic corrosion on the carbon fibers and composite crushing due to bending. Electrical Power Research InstituteFor nine years, I investigated factors that contribute to the stress corrosion cracking of composite materials used for making non-ceramic composite high-voltage insulators. These insulators were subjected to extreme factors like high voltage, mechanical/fatigue loads, chemical attack, moisture absorption, and impact damage (gun shots). Research and testing resulted in the selection of special low-seed corrosion resistant fibers which eliminated stress corrosion cracking. NASA/AFOSRHigh temperature composites for use in space vehicles and aircraft were investigated to improve their performance. I investigated various mechanical properties and acoustic emission generated by these high temperature composites over a wide range of temperatures with aging and explored failure mechanism of these materials. ITN Energy/DARPAUsing a Marx oscillator, I measured the Young's and shear moduli of thin coatings applied to stainless steel tubes. The coatings are used to make power fibers - a fiber with a thin film battery applied as a coating.

Rocky Flats was a part of the DOE nuclear weapons complex. While at Rocky Flats, I performed a wide variety of metallurgical research on exotic materials using very sophisticated equipment. I regularly used several scanning electron microscopes (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical microscopes, acoustic emission (AE), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS or ESCA). I also became adept at the maintenance of these intricate pieces of equipment. As emphasis changed at this site to clean up, I conducted many treatability studies using various encapsulation techniques to allow disposal of radioactive and/or RCRA wastes. (DOE Q security clearance from 1990-2000)