Department of Mechanical Engineering

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Department of
Mechanical Engineering

Top 12 – Faculty

top12
Updated August 18, 2020

Check these “quick reference” pages for help on the Top 12 items important to Mechanical Engineering faculty.  Links to websites are blue.

What else would you like to see here?  What questions do you and your colleagues ask often?  Send your ideas to co-webmaster Mike Bernard.

  • 1. WHO'S WHO: Your 'Go To' People

    You can go to these Mechanical Engineering staff members for help!

    Marty Devaney, Administrator
    mdevane2@jhu.edu | 410-516-8542 | Latrobe 223

    • Facilities
    • Budget
    • Liaison to the Whiting School Business Office

    Kimberly Moore, Research Service Analyst
    kmoore76@jhu.edu | 410-516-7132 | Latrobe 223

    Sean LeRoy, Research Service Analyst
    sleroy@jhu.edu | 410-516-6029 | Latrobe 223

    Shawna O’Brien, Research Service Coordinator
    sobrie22@jhu.edu | 410-516-6029 | Latrobe 223

    Alison Wampler, Research Service Manager
    awampler@jhu.edu | 410-516-5253 | Latrobe 223

    • Budget Reconciliation
    • Funding Proposals
    • Electronic Filing and Organization
    • Hiring and Payroll
      • Postdocs
      • Staff
      • Undergraduates
      • Hourly-Paid Students

    Melissa Gibbins, Grants and Contracts Coordinator
    mgibbin1@jhu.edu | 410-516-6782 | Latrobe 223

    • Purchasing of supplies and equipment
    • Travel reimbursements
    • Coordinate shipments and deliveries

    Mike Bernard, Academic Program Manager
    me-academic@jhu.edu
    410-516-7154 | Latrobe 230

    • Graduate Applications and Admissions
    • Student Financial Aid for Salary, Tuition and Health Insurance
    • Academic Advising and Policies
    • Visiting Student Appointments – High School, Undergraduate, Graduate
    • Course Scheduling and Classroom Assignment
    • Department website and social media

    Kevin Adams, Senior Academic Program Coordinator
    me-academic@jhu.edu
    410-516-5930 | Latrobe 223

    • DQE and GBO Scheduling
    • Graduate Student Annual Evaluations
    • Key Distribution
    • Visiting Student Appointments – High School, Undergraduate, Graduate
    • Dissertation Defense Scheduling
    • Dissertation and Master’s Essay Printing Orders
    • Reserving rooms for class, lab, and group meetings
    • Teaching Assistant hiring and payments

    Patrick Caulfield, Laboratory Manager
    pdc.caulfield@jhu.edu | 410-516-1124| Wyman Park 155

    All issues related to the Mechanical Engineering labs:

    • Equipment
    • Facilities
    • Space planning
    • Card swipe access

    Deana Santoni, Administrative Supervisor
    dsantoni@jhu.edu | 410-516-6451 | Latrobe 223

    • Department Chair’s schedule
    • Postdoc and  Visiting Scholar appointments
    • 530.803/804 Mechanical Engineering Graduate Seminar schedules
    • Faculty Search process
    • Department website

  • 2. HELP! Recognizing and Helping Distressed Students

    Visit the “Recognizing and Helping Distressed Students“ page for information on recognizing and helping students in distress, who may have been assaulted, who may be suicidal, or who may be dangerous.  There is help.

  • 3. UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION: Academic Council, Resources, Policies, Computers, Research, Classroom Accommodations, Course Instruction / Blackboard

    Visit the Faculty and Staff Resources page.

    Visit the University Policies page for most, if not all, policies at Johns Hopkins University

    Select the Digital Measures link for displaying faculty CVs, service, publications, and activities.
    • Visit SIS to get info on your class, including time, day, location, and enrollment.  From there, you can e-mail the entire class using the class e-mail address.
      • Sign in with your JHED ID and password
      • Select the “Faculty” link, which will give you access to your course info.
      • Select the word “View” under the Roster to see more detailed info on your course.
      • In the Actions box in the middle-right of the screen, select the “Faculty & Class Information” link to see your class day, time, and location.
      • This is the screen where you will submit your grades online at the end of the semester. You will receive a notice as to when you can do so.
    • The academic staff can help find a room for make-up lectures and office hours. E-mail me-academic@jhu.edu for help.
    • If you’re new to teaching a course, previous instructors of the course can help you with updating or creating a syllabus, lectures, grading assignments and exams, and setting “audit” participation policy, as well as answer any questions that come up later.
    • To get your Teaching Assistants access to the e-mail list associated with your course, please ask the academic staff to submit a Course Change Form to the Registrar asking them to give access.  They will need the TA’s name(s) and Hopkins e-mail address(es).
    • Here’s information on scheduling classrooms.
    • Check out these tips from the Registrar for course grading.
    • Read the Final Exam policy for information.  If you want/need to modify the schedule, we must get permission from the Vice Dean for Academics in the Whiting School.  There would have to be exceptionally good reasons to allow a modification; instructor convenience is not one of those reasons.

    The Registrar and the Office of Institutional Equity requires documentation of disability when special classroom accommodations are being requested, such as needing a classroom close to your office because you must keep walks short to respect a medical condition, a room without movable chalkboards because it’s hard for you to slide them, allergies to anything in the classroom (like dry erase markers).  Two forms must be completed:

    Both forms will be sent to the Office of Institutional Equity, who will in turn notify the Registrar of necessary accommodations.

    You are welcome to use the computer facilities throughout campus, especially in the Milton S. Eisenhower Library and the Brody Learning Commons.

    Laptops, pads, and software are available at a discount student rate when purchased through Hopkins.

    • HAC Lab – Krieger 160 – offers all kinds of Microsoft, Adobe, math, multimedia and engineering software.
    • MATLAB – free for your computer, courtesy of Johns Hopkins!
      • Visit the Johns Hopkins Software Catalog
      • Log in with your JHED ID and password
      • Click on “Click Here to Browse Catalog”
      • Enter “Matlab” in the search bar and hit enter
      • Select “Matlab” (not Matlab for Students)
      • Follow the instructions that appear, which will send you to instructions on how to download the software.

  • 4. GRANT PROPOSALS: Writing and Submissions

    Visit the Research Administration webpage for tips on proposal writing:

  • 5. SHIPPING and HANDLING: Purchases, Reimbursements, Orders, Deliveries, Shipping, Packing Slips, Sales Tax Exemption, Mail, and Travel Registry

    There are specific rules and guidelines that the University requires for purchases to be made, whether that is for a research project, a club, or any other purchase where University funds are used in either a grant or in department funding.

    Typically, you can send a web link with the item you would like to purchase to:

    If you do not have the link, the following information is necessary to make an order:

    • Company name
    • Item number(s), or link(s) to item(s)
    • Cost
    • Quantity
    • Shipping – the least expensive shipping method will be used.
    • Budget number and approval from advisor.
    • If the item weighs >100 lbs. or will be shipped on a pallet.
    • If purchase exceeds $2,500, provide either three independent quotes or a Sole Source Justification provided by the advisor, so a Purchase Order can be placed in the Johns Hopkins SAP system.

    Submit Reimbursement Requests Before 90 Days have Passed – Reimbursement requests must be submitted for reimbursement to the University within 90-days of the purchase date. Please submit your requests at least several days before this deadline to allow the department to submit the request on time. If they are submitted after 90 days, the expenses will be paid to the purchaser as a payroll supplement instead of reimbursement and will be subject to payroll taxation.

    • All items delivered to the department will be received in Latrobe 217.
    • Items weighing >100 lbs. or are shipped on a pallet must be delivered to the end destination and not to Latrobe 217.  Please contact Melissa for assistance.
    • Items being delivered to the department must be shipped to

    Johns Hopkins University
    3910 Keswick Road
    Latrobe Hall, Room 217 – Attention: (recipient)
    Baltimore, Maryland 21211

    • International Shipping must be arranged through the Mechanical Engineering Administrative Office.
    • Outgoing packages related to University business will be packed by the sender, who will deliver the package to Latrobe 223 Front Office.  Senders must provide a cost center or internal order number.  The package will be sent by FedEx.

    In order to comply with federal and JHU auditing policies we are required to collect and file all packing slips from items purchased by our department. The packing slip is our proof the item was received.

    When receiving a package in Latrobe 217, everyone must take these steps:

    1. Open the package and verify the contents are what were ordered.
    2. Place the Packing Slip into the bin on the wall adjacent to the receiving table that corresponds to the faculty member who authorized the purchase.
    3. Sign the Shipping and Receiving book before leaving the room.

    At the end of each week the packing slips will be collected, scanned, and matched with the order in accordance with audit policies. Failure to properly retain and submit packing slips will result in the loss of ordering privileges.

    Please contact Administrative Coordinator Melissa Gibbins or Administrator Marty Devaney in Latrobe 223 for help.

    The University is generally exempt from sales tax.  All purchases qualifying for sales tax exemption that are arranged through the University (e.g. Melissa in the Mechanical Engineering Administrative Office) will automatically be charged without sales tax.

    While personal purchases are discouraged for University business, they are occasionally necessary.  Please remember to use the Tax Exempt Sales Certificate before purchasing items with personal funds so you are not charged Sales Tax.  Johns Hopkins does not reimburse Sales Tax.

    Interoffice and postal mail are delivered daily, usually in the early afternoon.  The front office staff will distribute the mail to mailboxes the same day or early the next morning.

    Packages larger than the mailboxes will be stored and registered in Latrobe 217 and recipients will be notified.  They should not be picked up until the packages are logged in.

    The International Travel Registry provides an easy-to-use way for those traveling internationally on university-related business to register their travel plans.

    In partnership with International SOS, registered travelers will receive assistance with pre-travel preparations, including notifications about the destination country, risks, and prevention measures. Be sure to create your own Travel Profile so staff can contact and support you in the event that there is a natural disaster, political unrest or other emergency situation in locations where you travel.

  • 6. FACILITIES: Labs, Printers, Get Facilities Help, Office Space for Students and Others, Reserving Latrobe Conference Rooms

    The Mechanical Engineering department has laboratories in six buildings on the Homewood campus, managed by the department’s Lab Manager.

    Canon Printer iR_ADV 6265 – Latrobe 217

    • Services include printing, scanning, faxing, file storage, copying
    • Driver Access and Operations Guide
    • IP Address:  10.160.48.40
    • Fax number is +1-410-516-4316.
      • Fax using individual sheets or multiple documents through the document feeder.
      • Dial “9” to get an outside line, then…
        • For local numbers, dial the area code and telephone number.
        • For long-distance numbers, dial “1” then the area code and telephone number.

    Large Format Printer – Latrobe Hall, 3rd Floor

    • Print posters and large-scale documents
    • IP Address: 10.160.48.244
    • USB Drive accessible
    • Contact Mechanical Engineering’s Administrator Marty Devaney with questions and to request access.

    The printer in the back of the administrative office is only for use by staff and faculty. Please do not connect to or use that printer.

    Canon Printer iR_ADV C2225 (in the Latrobe 223 MechE office by the staff desks)

    • For staff and faculty use only – please do not give students this printer information (to students reading this page, do not connect to this machine).
    • Printing, scanning, faxing, file storage, copying
    • Driver Access and Operations Guide
    • IP Address: 10.160.48.27
    • Service:  888-273-6989
    • Serial Number LYD07358 (that’s “zero,” not “O”)

    Get help for your labs or office!

    The Mechanical Engineering department has laboratories throughout the Homewood campus.  With the depth and breadth of our research, labs can be as simple as a laptop on an office desk to as complex as a full laboratory with elaborate equipment and potentially dangerous situations and substances that need vigilant maintenance.

    Inevitably, there will be problems with offices, facilities, and equipment that need attention beyond our department’s ability to address them.  There is a central reporting tool that the department uses to vet, record, and refer such problems to get the appropriate help.

    Visit the Mechanical Engineering Department Facilities Concerns site to report your problem, no matter what type or size.

    The department administration is responsible to keep inventory of desk space in the Latrobe Hall offices it controls.

    • The department will inform faculty and students what desks are available. Senior Academic Program Coordinator Kevin Adams will provide this information.
    • A faculty member can request a desk for a student, postdoc, and others under the faculty member’s supervision.  Kevin will issue keys and charge the usual deposit for an available desk.
    • The department head, Prof. Gretar Tryggvason will moderate disputes over desk allocation.

    Contact Administrative Coordinator Melissa Gibbins to reserve Latrobe 106, Latrobe 313, or Latrobe 320.

  • 7. ACADEMIC ADVISING - Undergraduate, Graduate, Visiting Students

    Visit the Mechanical Engineering Academic Advising for Faculty page for answers to almost every question about academic advising for undergraduate, graduate, and visiting students!

  • 8. GRADUATE STUDENTS - DQE, GBO, and Dissertation Defenses

    View the Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. Graduate Student manual for information.

    Section 3.3 describes Departmental Qualifying Examinations (DQEs)

    • Students are asked to work with their advisors to become familiar with suggested courses to prepare for the exam.
    • Sr. Academic Program Coordinator Kevin Adams will arrange DQE schedules beginning in summer, and will contact students and professors directly.  Advisors will complete the DQE Scheduling Request Form as part of the scheduling process.
    • The DQEs usually take place in September, with occasional exceptions.
    • Students usually take the DQE after the completion of the second semester.
    • Please contact Kevin to explain unusual circumstances or to schedule the DQE at a time other than the usual September period.

    Section 3.4 describes Graduate Board Oral examinations (GBOs)

    • Students usually take the GBO about one year after taking the DQE, usually around the sixth semester.  The GBO is a two-hour oral exam.
    • Examiners include two Mechanical Engineering professors, two from outside the Department, and one from either Mechanical
      Engineering or another Department. One of the outside professors, who will serve as the examination chair must be tenured.
    • One more MechE professor and one more professor from another department must be available as alternate examiners.  All seven examiners/alternate examiners must be available at the same day and time.
    • The University has GBO process policies, including that advisors (not students) will select the examiners and alternates, with the Department Head’s approval.
    • To schedule a GBO, please complete the GBO Exam Request form and send or deliver it to the academic staff. We ask for at least eight weeks’ notice before the first date of the requested exam period.
    • When scheduling a GBO, please give the academic staff at least one month or more of potential dates. We have found that the further into the future we can seek availability, the better chance that all examiners and alternates will be available on a common date and time.

    Visit the Mechanical Engineering “Preparing for Graduation” page for details on the arranging the dissertation defense, submission deadlines, administrative actions, notifying the department to end student salary or begin postdoc appointments, and graduation.

    Section 3.5 describes Dissertation Defenses

    • Faculty advisors will determine when their students are ready for the dissertation defense.
    • Visit the “PhD – Before the Defense” and “PhD – After the Defense” tabs of the “Preparing for Graduation” page for step-by-step information to prepare for the defense.
    • The student and advisor will select the date and time of the defense and find the dissertation readers, who besides the advisor are another Johns Hopkins professor (from any department) and one other reader of the advisor’s choice.
    • Sr. Academic Program Coordinator Kevin Adams will reserve a room for the defense.
    • The advisor will prepare the Readers’ Letter and have it ready for the readers’ signatures at the defense.
    • When received, the Sr. Academic Program Coordinator will send the signed Readers’ Letter to the University’s Graduate Board, who will certify the degree at the next available conferral – usually in April, December, and August.

  • 9. STUDENT EMPLOYMENT: Hourly Employees / Time Cards, Graduate Student Leave Policies

    Most undergraduate students, a few graduate students, and occasionally, staff are paid hourly and record their time with time cards.

    Hourly Pay
    Undergraduate Assistant or Graduate Assistant

    • Freshmen – $12
    • Sophomores – $13
    • Juniors – $14
    • Seniors – $15
    • Graduate Students – $16

    Hiring
    To hire a student for Undergraduate Assistant or Graduate Assistant positions, contact Research Service Manager Alison Wampler.  Provide the date of hire, the position hired, and student year to determine hourly pay.

    Student Eligibility

    The following students are eligible to work on the Homewood Campus, including teaching assistant and hourly-paid positions:

    NOTE: American students who are part-time are not eligible for student work.

    Time Cards
    Time Cards must be used to record hours worked.  Please use either:

    How to Submit Hours

    1. Complete all sections of the time card.
      • Name: the employee’s full name
      • “Pernr”: the SAP personnel number
      • Principal Investigator for Grant/CC: supervisor name
      • Cost Center/Internal Order: the account number to charge salary
      • Signature:  employee signature and date. Both can be typed.
      • PI/Supervisor Signature: supervisor’s signature and date. Both can be typed.
      • Hours Submitted by…: leave blank, as the MechE staff will complete this.
    2. Have the Principal Investigator (PI) or designee sign the card to confirm and authorize the hours.
    3. Send the card by e-mail to meadmin@jhu.edu
      • Subject line must read:  “Time Card”
      • Attach the completed time card.
    4. Designated staff will record the time in the CATS system in SAP and file the submitted time cards.

    Deadlines
    Time cards must be submitted by e-mail to meet the submission deadline of 2:00 p.m. one week before payday.

    Visit the Hourly Payroll Submission Deadline Schedule for the deadline in the “Time Entry Cutoff 2:00 p.m.” column.

    Hours submitted after the deadline will be paid at the next available pay period.

    View the Whiting School’s Graduate Student Assistant Leave Guidelines for information on paid vacation, illness, and holidays.

  • 10. APPOINTMENTS: Visiting Scholars, Visiting Students, and Postdocs

    To start the process to appoint visitors or postdocs, please contact…

    • Deana Santoni for postdocs and visiting scholars (post-graduates doing research)
    • The academic staff for visiting high school students, visiting undergraduate students, and visiting graduate students.

    Information

    Only faculty members and PIs can initiate these requests.

    • A minimum of 90 days’ notice before the intended appointment date is required for international visitors. 120 days’ notice is preferred.
    • 4-6 weeks’ notice before the intended appointment date is required for American visitors.
    • Do not create and send a separate appointment letter, as the department is required to send it and the letter has to have specific language in it.  Sending a separate letter creates confusion.

    To begin the visiting student appointment process, please provide the following information to me-academic@jhu.edu:

    • Visiting student’s name, postal address, e-mail address
    • University or school
    • If the student is American or international
    • Student’s level (high school, undergraduate, graduate)
    • Appointment start and end dates
    • The visiting student’s “planned contribution” to the work or research.
    • Whether or not the student will be paid
    • For international students, if the student does not have a TOEFL with a minimum score of 100 or IELTS with a minimum score of 7.0, provide a completed “J1 English Proficiency” form.  The form is used to record a live conversation with the student in which the supervising professor confirms the student’s English language proficiency. The answers to interview questions in the English Proficiency form must be written in English, third-person or the Office of International Services will return the form for correction.

    IMPORTANT:  Do not invite any visitor or postdoc (“appointee”) before ensuring pre-notification to Deana, Kevin, or Mike, as appropriate.  If an visitor arrives on campus without an approved appointment, there are consequences:

    • International appointees will likely be sent back to their home country and possibly will suffer visa consequences and re-entry restrictions. You may be requested to pay for their return transportation.
    • Before the appointment, the appointee cannot work in your laboratory (and would first need to complete any necessary lab safety training) and will have no access to campus services, including receiving keys to buildings or labs.

  • 11. SERVICE: Faculty Committees / ABET

    Visit the ABET Accreditation Process page for information.

    • Calendar, Events, Submissions, and Deadlines
    • Objectives and Outcomes
    • Partial Grade Assessments – every two years
    • Course Samples – only in review year

  • 12. And one more thing...

    Go have some fun!

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