Masters Work
Kristina began her graduate career at Michigan Technological University (MTU) in the fall of 2008. She was awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Sustainable Futures Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) Fellowship through MTU's Sustainable Futures Institute (SFI) that would provide her funding until January 2010. Kristina earned the SFI's Graduate Certificate in Sustainability in May 2010 by earning 15 credit hours in specific courses that demonstrated the interconnectedness of the 3 pillars of sustainability. These courses were:
PhD Work
Since Kristina began at MTU she has worked with Dr. Jeff Naber as part of the Advanced IC Engines Laboratory (AICE). Her research with this group, which stems directly from her experience with the Rose-Hulman ChallengeX team (see the Engineer section of this website for more information), initially included modeling hybrid vehicle components using MATLAB's Simulink, but now focuses on the use of higher alcohols (C3 - C8) in GDI engines. Kristina conducted experiments on engine dynamometer at Argonne National Lab in Lemont, Ill. for her PhD dissertation.
In addition to doing research while at MTU, Kristina was involved in the design of a mobile hybrid vehicle lab that is used to teach students the basics of hybrid vehicle design. More information about this project can be found on MTU's website.
Courses that Kristina has taken that relate to her PhD work include:
ENG5510 - Sustainable Futures I
ENG5520 - sustainable Futures II
SS3800 - Energy Technology & Policy
EC5620 - Energy Economics
SS3630 - Environmental Policy/Politics
Continuing the sustainable engineering theme, Kristina was chosen to work on another NSF-funded project in January 2010. This project aimed to assess the effect of service learning experiences (such as the Peace Corp. or Engineers Without Borders) on an engineer's understanding of sustainable practices. Kristina worked with Mary McCormick, graduate student at Tufts University, and Jonathan Wiggins, graduate student at University of Colorado-Boulder, on collecting the data (through surveys) that was analyzed to show this effect. For more information on this project please refer to the team's paper from the 2010 American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) conference, here.
MEEM5990 - Fuel Cell Technology
MY5760 - Vehicle Battery Cells and Systems
MEEM5990 - Advanced Propulsion for Hybrid Vehicles
MEEM4220 - Internal Combustion Engines I