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Keith Berube and Kate Wheeler

Student Engineers Making Connections

Development and implementation of a sensor-based systems monitoring network for the Penobscot Narrows Bridge involved University of Maine mechanical engineering Ph.D. student Keith Berube and undergraduate mechanical engineering major Kate Wheeler. They worked with engineering students Anthony Fessenden and Maurizio Chiaramonte under the guidance of civil engineering professor Roberto Lopez-Anido.

Berube and Wheeler were instrumental in making the bridge’s sensor system operational, putting in long days to ensure that the project was completed on time.

Berube, who also earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees at UMaine, and worked for five years as a research engineer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, says the Penobscot Narrows Bridge has been one of the most demanding and rewarding projects in which he has been involved.

In addition to attaching load cells and soldering hundreds of connections, Berube also designed a specialized egress box to allow the Maine Department of Transportation to perform any required maintenance at the support cable anchorage locations, without compromising the corrosion protection or the sensor systems.