Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics
Apply / Inquire
IN MOTION
MechE news and highlights @LehighU

Spring

2024

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

 

Dear friends and colleagues:

 

This Spring 2024 issue of our bi-annual newsletter allows us to reflect on the significant accomplishments of our faculty, students, and alumni of Lehigh's Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics (MEM) department this academic year. The last year has been a very productive one for MEM. Our faculty secured exciting new research grants from the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, and National Science Foundation. You can read some of those successes in this newsletter. 

 

Earlier this spring, we welcomed a new faculty member, Prof. A. Emrah Bayrak, who joined MEM as a tenure-track Assistant Professor. His research bridges computational methods and human cognition to develop human-computer collaboration architectures for designing and controlling smart products and systems. Prof. Bayark was awarded the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program for his proposal to allocate portions of complex design problems to human and AI teams based on their capabilities and preferences. 

 

We greatly value our alumni and friends' contributions to the success of MEM at Lehigh. Your insights, ideas, and news about work or potential collaborations are always welcome. Leading MEM in this post-pandemic period has been a source of great excitement for me and I am proud to see our students, faculty, and staff reaching even greater heights. 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 NEWS

Coulter leads $6M NSF Award to address the gap between academic research and practical solutions

Professor John Coulter leads an interdisciplinary, university-wide team that will create and operate a comprehensive, inclusive, and accessible research translation ecosystem. Lehigh University is one of only 18 academic institutions across the nation to be awarded Accelerating Research Translation (ART) funding. Read More >>

Bayrak earns NSF CAREER award for human-AI design collaboration

 

The prestigious NSF CAREER award is given annually to junior faculty members who exemplify outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research. Assistant professor A. Emrah Bayrak's new CAREER Award focuses on bridging computational methods and human cognition to develop human-computer collaboration architectures for the design and control of smart products and systems. Read more >>

Bhattacharya leads AFOSR project to develop network security tools

 

Assistant professor Subhrajit Bhattacharya leads an interdisciplinary team funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research to develop practical tools for security enhancements and privacy safeguards within complex networks. This research focuses on developing theoretical foundations and algorithmic tools to control signal flow across networks and has applications in the communications, energy, and healthcare sectors. Read more >>

Schuster receives $1.6M DOE grant to advance innovative fusion technology

 

Professor Eugenio Schuster will conduct experiments on the DIII-D National Fusion Facility in San Diego. The three-year grant is part of a $16 million DOE initiative to fund projects focused on advancing innovative fusion technology and collaborative research on small-scale experiments. Read more >>
More research news:

DEPARTMENT NEWS

Banerjee named to Paul B. Reinhold Professorship

 

The appointment recognizes department chair and professor Arindam Banerjee's research contributions to the Lehigh Engineering community, including his leadership on the DOE-funded Atlantic Marine Energy Center and NSF-funded Stakeholder Engaged Energy Decarbonization (SEED) for Energy Futures Program. The Reinhold professorships were established in memory of Paul B. Reinhold (Class of 1913), a distinguished Pittsburgh civic leader and industrialist. Read more >>

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM NEWS

MEM enhances advising capacity with new Associate Chair and Director of Undergraduate Advising

Teaching associate professor Murat Ozturk will take on the newly created role of Director of Undergraduate Advising. Teaching associate professor Christina V. Haden will succeed Oztruk as MEM Associate Chair. In these roles, Haden and Oztruk will provide and enhance support to undergraduate students as MEM enrollment continues growing. Read More >>

MEM, Lehigh's Energy Research Center, and Solarflux Energy Technologies collaborate install a solar thermal concentrator on campus

The new equipment was installed on Lehigh's Mountaintop campus and is already lined up for research at the Energy Research Center (ERC). Students enrolled in Renewable Energy (ME 364/464), taught by in ERC director and research full professor Carlos Romero, recently had the opportunity to see the new installation up close. The concentrator is equipped with a precise two-axis tracking system that automatically follows the sun's path throughout the day to maximize the solar energy collected. Read More >>

ALUMNI & STUDENT NEWS

Hands-on learning opportunities lead MEM alum and undergraduate to SpaceX

Through Lehigh's Design Labs, alum Bryce Cavey ’20 and Conner Larocque '25 gained experience that ultimately led them to roles at SpaceX. Cavey transitioned from leading chassis construction for Lehigh's Formula SAE team to contributing to SpaceX's Starship rocket development after graduation. The skills Larocque developed using equipment like CNC machines in Wilbur Powerhouse directly supported the work he later did as an intern at SpaceX's Texas facilities. Read more >>

Graduate students participate in Technical Entrepreneurship Week with students from Technische Universität Dortmund

The academic immersion week brought together Lehigh graduate students pursuing an M.Eng. or Graduate Certificate in Technical Entrepreneurship and students from Dortmund. Interdisciplinary student teams developed commercialization plans for inventions available to license through Lehigh's Office of Technology Transfer or NASA's Technology Transfer Program. Read more >>
More alumni and student news:
 
Attention MEM alumni: If you have news to share for a future issue of our newsletter, email us today!
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.