Graduate Students
Assistant Professor Robert MacCurdy and fourth-year PhD student Charles Wade have created an open-source design system software package that uses functions and code to map not just shapes, but where different materials belong in a 3D object. The project, called OpenVCAD, has the potential to transform 3D printing by enabling engineers to design multi-material objects smarter and more efficiently.
Associate Professor Nathalie Vriend is leading a research effort exploring how sand dunes evolve over time, shifting and surging across the landscape. Her team ultimately wants to answer a pressing question: Can humans efficiently shift or even halt the flow of the planet’s largest dunes?
Caroline Frischmon is a graduate student leading a critical study documenting industrial pollution near the Cherokee Forest subdivision in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Her findings show that industrial activities are leading to negative impacts on human health and the residents of the neighborhood are looking to take action.
PhD students Marissa Dauner and Elijah Miller have been selected by the Graduate School to receive the Graduate Peer Mentoring Impact Recognition, an honor awarded to those who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to supporting their peers through mentorship. These outstanding mentors were nominated by their mentees for providing not only practical guidance, but also meaningful personal support and connection.
Assistant Professor Carson Bruns is leading the charge on an NSF-funded project that he and his team like to call "robochemistry." Their goal is to create robotic sidekicks that can assist chemists with burdensome or unsafe tasks that they may routinely encounter in a wet lab. But that's not all: this unique blend of bots and beakers can also inspire youth interest in science.
Assistant Professor Longji Cui and his team in the Cui Research Group have developed a new technique that allows them to measure phonon interference inside of a tiny molecule. They believe one day, this discovery can revolutionize how heat dissipation is managed in future electronics and materials.
Jafar Makrani is an graduate student in mechanical engineering. He interned at Samuel Engineering during spring 2025.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has recognized five students and affiliates in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering with Graduate Research Fellowships. These top awards honor and support outstanding graduate students from across the country in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees.
¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä Engineering has named the inaugural recipients of its Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fellows program, which supports faculty, postdoctoral researchers and graduate students in bringing research to market. The fellows, selected for their work in fields like robotics, biomedical devices and advanced materials, receive funding, mentorship and entrepreneurial support to accelerate commercialization.
First-year PhD student Nick Rovito has been named the winner of the Young Engineer Paper Competition at this year's International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition (IMECE) held by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. His novel research aims to answer two questions: why do stroke treatments fail, and how can we increase their efficacy in the future?