Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics
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MechE news and highlights @LehighU

Fall 2024

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

 

Dear friends and colleagues:

The Fall 2024 issue of our bi-annual newsletter allows us to reflect on the significant accomplishments of the students, faculty, and alums of Lehigh's Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics (MEM) department. It’s been a remarkable year for Lehigh MEM. Our faculty secured exciting new research grants (from the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, National Science Foundation, and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), featured their work in the popular media, and won major awards from professional societies. Our alums won prestigious awards, while our students received prestigious fellowships and travel awards.

Lastly, I am very pleased to announce that Lehigh MEM has set a record for the enrollment of women in the department with a 10-year high as we significantly improve upon the national average. This is due to the dedication of our faculty and staff and, most importantly, the tireless efforts of Professors Christina Haden and Hannah Dailey through their leadership for our undergraduate and graduate programs!

If you appreciate our efforts and the direction the department is heading, please consider making MEM your philanthropic priority this year. Your support is crucial to our continued success.

Arindam Banerjee, Ph.D.
Paul B. Reinhold Professor and Chair, MEM

RESEARCH SPOTLIGHTS

Banerjee secures $12M DOE award to expand marine energy initiatives

The additional funding will propel new research projects, infrastructure, and educational programs through the Atlantic Marine Energy Center (AMEC). Paul B. Reinhold professor and department chair Arindam Banerjee has been co-director of AMEC since 2021, when a $9.7M grant established the center across four universities. The expansion will include developing a series of week-long summer courses, launching new research projects, and improving test facilities. Read more >>

Romero leads group awarded $3.7M DOE grant for hydrogen technology research

 

DOE Fossil Energy and Carbon Management recently awarded six research groups a total of $9.3 million to develop clean hydrogen technologies. The team led by Energy Research Center director and research full professor Carlos Romero is developing a novel measurement/control system for the production of hydrogen from biomass, waste plastics, and legacy coal waste feedstocks in fluidized bed and entrained-flow gasifiers. Read More >>

Romero researches utility waste resource recovery under $2.5M DOE grant

 

Energy Research Center director and research full professor Carlos Romero is part of a multidisciplinary team working to identify rare earth elements and elements of interest in wastewater and solid waste streams to develop the technology that could extract those elements.

Read more >>

Moored investigates floating offshore wind under $1M NSF grant

 

Associate professor Keith Moored is part of a multidisciplinary team working on a three-year project for NSF's Research Advanced by Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Clean Energy Technology (NSF RAISE CET) award. Moored is working to improve the resilience of offshore wind platforms. Read more >>

Banerjee's nuclear fusion research goes viral

Paul B. Reinhold professor and department chair Arindam Banerjee is continuing to use mayonnaise to explore the structural integrity of fusion capsules used in inertial confinement fusion. Following a recent paper, published with former graduate student Aren Boyaci '24 PhD, over 100 outlets, including Popular Mechanics, various science podcasts and YouTube shorts, featured Banerjee's research on the phases of Rayleigh-Taylor instability. Read More >>

Bhattacharya awarded 3-year, $600K NSF grant for aerial robot research

 

Associate professor Subhrajit Bhattacharya is part of a team researching the use of cables, knots, hitches, and often multiple robots to move objects in the air. Bhattacharya will focus on the topological planning required to allow aerial robots to adapt when securing individual items. Read more >>

Vermaak researches AI-enhanced turbomachinery design tool under DARPA METALS Program

 

Associate professor Natasha Vermaak is working with researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, lead), Carnegie Mellon University, and Lehigh University on novel design tools for turbomachinery design. The team is developing methods for the simultaneous optimization of shape and compositional gradients in multi-material structures that complement new high-throughput materials testing techniques. Read more >>

More research news:

DEPARTMENT NEWS

Department reaches 10-year high in overall enrollment while increasing gender diversity

Nationwide, representation of women in mechanical engineering has historically been among the lowest in any engineering field. In 2023, just under 18% of U.S. mechanical engineering bachelor’s degrees were awarded to women and mechanical engineering departments averaged just 16% women in the ranks of tenured and tenure-track faculty. This academic year, Lehigh MEM charged ahead of that curve, with over 21% women undergraduate students in the ME major and 23% women faculty. Read More >>

Romero & Webb recognized in 2024 Rossin Awards

Energy Research Center director and research full professor Carlos Romero received the Interdisciplinary Research Excellence award. Associate professor Edmund Webb III received the Richard P. Vinci Award for Educational Excellence. The annual College-wide awards event celebrates the achievements and dedication of Rossin College faculty and staff. Read More >>

Banerjee honored as an Associate Editor of the Year by the Journal of Fluids Engineering

 

The journal is an American Society of Mechanical Engineers publication. Paul B. Reinhold professor and department chair Arindam Banerjee was recognized for his "distinguished service to [the] community and to [his] colleagues in the Society and for outstanding contributions to ensuring the quality and the societal impact of the Journal of Fluids Engineering."

Read More >>

ALUMNI NEWS

MEM alum recognized for leadership in reducing plastic waste

 

Ann Tracy '85 '86 '91G is Colgate-Palmolive's chief sustainability officer and has been a driving force behind the company’s push to address the problem of plastic waste and make toothpaste tubes recyclable by using high-density polyethylene plastic.

Read More >>

MEM alum named 2024 Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers role model

 

Dustin Nguyen '18 is a general engineer at Pepco Holdings, a division of energy giant Exelon. He is an active volunteer with the Society of Asian Scientists, including serving as a mentor for college students. Read More >>

MEM alum reflects on five-decade career and Lehigh education

 

Demetrios Papacostas '77 '77G has 50 years of professional experience in defense, energy, oil and gas, petrochemical, industrial, and construction sectors. He most recently worked as CEO of Hellenic Aerospace Industry.

Read More >>

 

 
 
Attention MEM alumni: If you have news to share for a future issue of our newsletter, email us today!

STUDENT NEWS

MEM alum and Lehigh PhD student earns NSF fellowship

The fellowship recognizes promising graduate students in STEM fields and will support Kylie Frew '24 in implementing a three-year research plan to create “digital twins,” or image-based models, of bones. Read More >>

MEM PhD student heads to San Diego for highly selective DOE research award

 

While in San Diego, Brian Leard ’21 will spend nine months developing faster, more accurate simulation models to drive nuclear fusion forward. DOE selected just 62 students from 24 states to pursue their research at the agency’s national laboratories. The program is through DOE's prestigious Office of Science Graduate Student Research.

Read more >>

MEM graduate student wins 'Excellence in R&D' award

 

The Fossil Energy & Carbon Management/National Energy Technology Lab Spring R&D Project Review Meeting is a public platform for sharing the outcomes of over 90 research initiatives backed by the Department of Energy. Gabriel Bonsall ’23 is pursuing a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. Read more >>

MEM student selected for prestigious internship

 

Lexy Guazzone ’26 was one of only 12 students chosen for the highly competitive Ruhr Fellowship Program in Germany. The program enables undergraduates from a select group of 11 high-ranking U.S. colleges and universities to build professional skills during an eight-week cultural immersion and internship experience. Read more >>

MEM students attend 50th Annual National Society of Black Engineers Convention

While at the convention, Courtney Baker ’27, Zemichael Gebeyehu ‘24, and Mika Asfaw ’24 took top honors and an $800 prize in the team Presentation and Design category in the Boeing Flight Competition. Read more >>

MEM student champions Hispanic representation in STEM

 

Stephanie Moreno-Rivera ’26 took part in the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers' Hill Day in Washington, D.C. The inaugural event drew nearly 70 members to Capitol Hill to advocate for Hispanics in STEM.

Read more >>

MEM student participates in American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Design/Build/Fly Flyoff

 

Hayden Kasberger ’25 is a member of Lehigh's aerospace engineering club. LU Aero was one of 107 teams to design, fabricate, and demonstrate the flight capabilities of an unmanned, electric powered, radio controlled aircraft.

Read more >>
GET INVOLVED!

We are always seeking new ways to connect with alumni and friends of Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics at Lehigh. If you have news to share, or ideas for creative educational programs or research collaborations, we would love to hear from you.

Your support is crucial to our continued success.

Please consider making MEM your philanthropic priority this year.