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Jay Meldrum's Profile

Biography

Jay S. Meldrum is the Executive Director of the Michigan Tech Traverse City Research Center. Jay was appointed as Michigan Tech’s point of contact and official liaison to northern lower Michigan’s Grand Traverse area to help expand the developing regional relationship. Meldrum's current research is in Electrification of Vehicle including Electric Boats and Snowmobiles. Prior to being the Executive Director of the Michigan Tech Traverse City Research Center, Jay was the Executive Director of Michigan Tech's Keweenaw Research Center (KRC) and Executive Director of Sustainability for the Michigan Tech. Meldrum is an active member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and has served on several committees and boards including the The Board of Directors (2014-2016). Meldrum was also the lead organizer for the SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge, a Collegiate Design Series Competition that promotes the redesign of snowmobiles for lower emissions, lower noise output, and better fuel economy. Jay earned a MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from General Motors Institute (now Kettering University).


Jay's research projects

Greener and Cleaner: Building a Better Snowmobile

Help tomorrow's engineers design cutting-edge snowmobile technology today. The Clean Snowmobile Challenge pits teams of students from different schools against one another to design the best environmentally friendly snowmobile—presenting concepts for quieter, cleaner, and more efficient vehicles to industry.


Projects that Jay has supported

More Than a Snail's Pace: Monitoring Glacial Melt

Alaska's Bering Glacier, the largest glacier in North America, has been experiencing extensive ablation, or melt. Since 1900, the terminus—the glacier's endpoint—has retreated more than seven miles. In order to provide data for scientists and policy makers to act on, we must continue to monitor the Bering Glacier, and the health of other glaciers.

Baby Tears: Assessing Nutrition in Infants

Imagine if we could recognize nutritional deficiencies in infants and children before they cause serious medical damage. With only a single teardrop, we think it is possible to detect someone's vitamin levels in the same way blood plasma tests currently do, but through a quick—and completely painless—process.

Can a Good Night's Sleep Prevent Heart Disease? Exploring Sleep Apnea

Sleep disorders affect nearly one in three adults. Since chronic sleep deprivation leads to cardiovascular disease—the number one killer in the United States for almost 100 years—this is a critical health issue. We will investigate sleep disorders in great depth to better understand the connection between sleep apnea and cardiovascular disease.

Gifts to projects listed on SUPERIORIDEAS.ORG are received and processed by Michigan Tech Fund. Michigan Tech Fund is a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code acting on behalf of Michigan Technological University. It is the policy of Michigan Tech Fund that a portion of the gifts and/or income therefrom may be used to defray the costs of raising and administering the funds.