UVM Mechanical Engineering Spring 2026 Newsletter

News and Events from UVM's Department of Mechanical Engineering

March 16, 2026 | View in browser

Hello Friends and Colleagues,

I hope you will enjoy learning about the many recent activities and accomplishments of the students, staff, faculty, and alumni of UVM’s Mechanical Engineering Department as featured in this newsletter. It is my great honor to serve as the Department Chair of Mechanical Engineering, a position in which I am privileged to work with and serve a talented and dedicated group of people who daily make lasting impacts on our students, the state, the nation, and the discipline of mechanical engineering.

On a more personal note, I recently came to the University of Vermont from Georgia Tech's School of Mechanical Engineering, where I spent nearly 19 years, the last few of which I served as a Woodruff Endowed Professor and Director of Graduate Studies. However, my roots are primarily here in the Northeast. I grew up just outside of Albany, New York, attended Clarkson University as an undergraduate, and then the University of Michigan for my graduate studies.

My wife, Marcy, a fellow UVM employee, and I greatly appreciate how special an opportunity it is to live in the beautiful state of Vermont, but we also feel an equally great obligation to serve the state and its people through our positions at the university. As Department Chair, I look forward to leading Mechanical Engineering into new areas of education and research; increasing recognition of the many accomplishments of our students, staff, faculty, and alumni; and strengthening our outreach and engagement with the broader community. I also welcome any opportunities to work with you to pursue these goals together.

Warm regards,

Michael J. Leamy

Professor and Chair, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Dorothean Chair of Engineering and Science

Cross-country skier Ben Ogden, a 2022 graduate of our ME programs, made history last month at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, becoming the first U.S. male to medal in the sport since Vermont native Bill Koch won silver at the 1976 Winter Olympics. Eight days later, he and teammate, Gus Schumacher, earned the silver spot in the men's cross-country team sprint, making him the first UVM Catamount to score multiple podium spots at the same Olympic Games.

Learn more about Ogden and all of UVM’s Olympians

Senior ME students, Jimmy Pare and Camden Piper, took top honors as co-winners of The Prime Engineering Prize Competition, sponsored by Burlington-based Prime Engineering, a leading provider of engineering design services for the nuclear industry. The competition provides undergraduate students the opportunity to showcase their skills by solving real-world engineering problems related to next-generation clean nuclear energy.

Learn more

Associate Professor Nic Fiorentino is the latest ME faculty member to receive a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation. The prestigious honor will help fund Fiorentino's ongoing research in the relationship between cartilage microstructure and the risk of a joint developing future musculoskeletal diseases such as osteoarthritis.

This past November, Dr. Fiorentino was also named an ASME Rising Star at the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition—a prestigious event recognizing early-career researchers.

Learn more

When the national radio program Science Friday brought its live “Future of Food” event to Burlington, Mechanical Engineering professor Rachael Floreani was invited to share how her lab is transforming whey protein from Vermont’s dairy industry into scaffolds for lab-grown meat — a step toward sustainable, locally produced proteins.

Listen to the Science Friday episode

K-12 educators from across the state visited campus this past year for a first-of-its-kind weeklong learning retreat providing an in-depth introduction to the field of microelectronics through a series of lessons and workshops aimed at enhancing the science curriculum in Vermont high schools by building stronger awareness of electrical and computer engineering disciplines.

The SPARK (Summer Program Advancing Robotics and Knowledge in Microelectronics for K–12) program was devised and hosted by Professors Dryver Huston and Tian Xia, along with Assistant Professor Jackson Anderson.

Learn more

Local middle school-aged students joined CEMS faculty, staff, and students to participate in our inaugural Engineering & Design Summer Camps. In the MAKERS: Design and Rapid Prototyping Camp, students were introduced to 3D design using CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software and Rapid Prototyping with simple materials and 3D printers. In our Water Warriors Camp, led by CEMS Associate Dean and ME Senior Lecturer Courtney Giles, students explored water and wastewater treatment processes and the science behind them.

Learn more about our summer camps

During Burlington’s annual Tech Jam, Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor Laura Treers helped moderate a discussion with First Robotics teams from across the state about their winning collaborations with local tech industry sponsors. Treers, a FIRST alum herself, shared how participation in the robotics competition helped inspire a lifelong interest in robotics and engineering. Treers continues to be an active participant in the local FIRST Robotics community as a mentor to local FRC Team Green Mountain Robotics 9101.

Learn more

Bookmark our ME News and Events page to stay up to date on all our recent news and upcoming events and programs.

Our Senior Experience in Engineering Design (SEED) lab is bustling with activity as senior engineering students work together in teams on independent design projects sponsored by local tech firms and organizations.

Join us on April 24 at the UVM Davis Center from 5:00-7:00 PM as we celebrate an evening of student-driven engineering design and innovation.

The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) returns to UVM’s Patrick Gymnasium this Spring for a regional qualifier match April 2 through April 4.

Last year's event was a huge success, and we expect this year's spectacle to be even bigger. Join us as we celebrate the next generation of UVM engineering students as they build not only technical know-how but teamwork and leadership skills as well.

Have you signed up for UVM Connect yet? Open to all UVM alumni, students, faculty, and staff, it's the place to reconnect with old classmates, grow your professional network, and act as a mentor to new graduates and current students.