Dear MAE Friends and Colleagues,
Firstly, let me wish every one of you a Happy New Year. I hope that you were able to rest and recharge over the holiday break. I also hope that 2023 finds you ready to tackle new challenges and accomplish exciting, impactful work and studies.
As we look to the New Year, I am pleased that the UC and the unions representing our graduate students, postdocs, and career academic researchers were able to reach agreements that allow these key contributors to resume their work. This was an unprecedented challenge for everyone involved, and I want to thank the MAE Community for working together and emerging on the other side fully re-engaged in our work together.
As I write, a number of major improvements to the department's operations and facilities are being completed. First off, using some of its internally generated funds, MAE is completing a major reworking of our instructional laboratory facilities and spaces that will allow our students to learn key hands-on lessons in support of all of the fundamental engineering science disciplines that make-up our majors. Also of note is the completion of a major expansion of our design studio spaces for both the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering majors. When coupled with the earlier investments in our machining and fabrication facilities that students can use in support of their work, our students now have access to first-rate experimental, design studio, fabrication, and prototyping facilities as a part of their design class work, student organizations, and academic research. Finally, as is apparent to anyone who has ventured into EBU II in the new year, the renovated and re-enlivened courtyard is being completed, and will begin to be equipped with its new outdoor furnishings in the coming weeks. This space should provide a comfortable outdoor area in which to work, brainstorm with colleagues, and socialize, and I look forward to breaking it in with many of you in the coming months.
Finally, as always, our faculty and students continue to do amazing things. Within the newsletter below you will find some of these highlights, including research wins by our faculty, recognitions for excellence among the faculty and students, recently granted Ph.D. degrees, and other tidbits about the department.
Let me close by again wishing you all a Happy New Year and every success as we move through winter and look towards spring. It is an honor and privilege to serve the department as Chair, and I look forward to seeing you all on campus in the coming weeks.
All the Best,
George R. Tynan
Professor & Chair Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
|
|
|
MAE Courtyard Renovation Project
|
The Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Courtyard Renovation project is set to finish in January. This dynamic space will foster the collaboration of our campus community. During the renovation process, we aimed to preserve as much of the existing elements as possible, while also providing a functional space that caters to lectures and small events.
We look forward to sharing this energetic area with our community of faculty, students, and staff.
|
|
|
MAE Laboratory Facility Upgrades
|
The Experimental Techniques Laboratories in EBU II 330 and 335 are complete with upgraded workstations. In addition to the existing electronics analysis and measurement equipment, the new mobile desks allow for more flexible classroom layouts, and come equipped with combination monitor/keyboard mounting arms.
The renovation creates more desk and classroom space for students to obtain hands-on experience with the electromechanical experiments they build, perform, and analyze in classes such as MAE 170.
|
|
|
Oliver Schmidt Receives 3-Year Grant from AFOSR
|
|
|
Associate Professor Oliver Schmidt recently won a 3-year grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) for his work titled, “Bispectral Mode Decomposition for Discovery and Modeling of Nonlinear Flow Physics in Open Cavity Flows”.
This work is motivated by the broader need for the capability to systematically identify and model nonlinear flow phenomena. At the forefront of data analysis for scientific discovery of flow physics are modal decomposition techniques. Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) and Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) are routinely employed to extract the important flow features and analyze the flow dynamics. Bispectral Mode Decomposition (BMD) augments POD and DMD in that it specifically extracts flow structures associated with triadic nonlinear interactions–the fundamental mechanism of energy transfer in turbulent flows.
The turbulent flow over an open cavity is chosen as an example with many engineering applications, including aircraft wheel wells, hydraulic gates, car windows, and bays of tactical aircraft. While advancing the discovery of nonlinear flow physics, the control aspect of this project directly aims at enabling real-world engineering solutions for structural vibrations or noise generation in open cavity flows.
|
|
|
BMD identifies frequency triads as local maxima in the mode bispectrum, shown in (a), and identifies the corresponding flow structures, shown in (b). The cascade of nonlinear interactions in cylinder flow is (partially) reconstructed to illustrate the method's capabilities.
|
|
|
Tania Morimoto Awarded R01 Grant from NIH
|
Assistant Professor Tania Morimoto was awarded an R01 grant through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for her work titled, “VINE Catheter: Soft, Tip-extending, Robotic Catheters with Shape Control for Endovascular Surgery”.
Endovascular surgeries are procedures commonly performed to treat brain, liver, heart, and vascular diseases. Despite the many benefits of such procedures, vascular anatomy, particularly for elderly patients who represent a large portion of those undergoing such procedures, can demonstrate excessive tortuosity and severe angulation, leading to high-risk, time-intensive procedures that can only be performed by a select number of expertly trained specialists. We propose to develop new soft, tip-extending robotic catheters that, when pressurized with fluid, navigate via extension at their tip in a manner analogous to how plants grow, creating shapes with complex curvatures. This approach represents a fundamentally different method of movement through the vasculature compared to typical manual and robotic methods that rely on axial loading of semi-rigid catheters, and our approach has the potential to improve safety and effectiveness of endovascular surgical procedures.
|
|
|
Olivia Graeve Wins $5 Million NSF Grant for Transfer Students
|
|
|
Professor Olivia Graeve received a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support low-income engineering transfer students.
The program, titled EMPOWER, seeks to improve opportunities for transfer students by providing supportive programming, scholarships, and community-based engagement. It targets students from nearby community colleges including Southwestern College and Imperial Valley College who are pursuing a degree in engineering. One of the major goals of EMPOWER is to improve both the learning experience and outcomes for the students involved, while analyzing the approaches that lead to the greatest success. The holistic approach of the program will bridge the financial and opportunity gaps for low-income transfer students while gearing them up for success.
|
|
|
Patricia Hidalgo-Gonzalez Receives Multiple Grants for the Grid
|
Assistant Professor Patricia Hidalgo-Gonzalez was recently awarded a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for her work as a Co-PI titled, “Model Intercomparison for a Decarbonized U.S. Electric Grid” in collaboration with the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the Environmental Defense Fund, Princeton University, Carnegie Mellon University, and Tufts University.
The work focuses on a new generation of models that have been created to design power systems served by high levels of renewable energy to decarbonize the U.S. grid. However, these models take different approaches, potentially resulting in different findings and creating uncertainty among users and policymakers. This project will use a set of open-source cutting-edge power system planning models to conduct a rigorous intercomparison between them, identifying areas where they agree or disagree about key planning questions. In areas where they disagree, the teams will work together to understand why they disagree. This will provide valuable guidance for potential users of these models about which questions are best addressed with each model, and will also provide insight to policymakers about areas of strong consensus or uncertainty about the future design of a decarbonized U.S. power system.
|
Similarly, Hidalgo-Gonzalez received a grant from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) for her work titled "Interregional Model Comparison for COP 28" in collaboration with teams from China, India, Thailand, Bangladesh, Chile, and Colombia.
This project connects modelers/researchers who have developed the Switch model, EnergyRT, and PyPSA (open-source capacity expansion models to decarbonize grids) with modelers/researchers from different countries who want to recalibrate the models for their electricity grid and contribute with decarbonization scenarios to the public domain. Moreover, the project will leverage the decarbonization analysis to carry out a study of unified comparable scenarios for broader public review, discussion, dissemination, and further research.
Hidalgo-Gonzalez received two other grants, including one from GridLab for her work titled "Clean Energy Future for New Mexico and Western North American" and another from UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering (seed grant) titled "RL2: Reliable and Local Reinforcement Learning for Microgrid Control" in collaboration with Assistant Professor Yuanyuan Shi (ECE).
|
Professor Miroslav Krstic received the Bode Lecture Prize for 2023 at the IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Conference on Decision and Control in Cancún in December of 2022. This award is the highest accolade given by the IEEE Control Systems Society.
The Hendrik W. Bode Lecture Prize acknowledges significant contributions to control systems science or engineering. Created in 1989, the award was named after pioneer Hendrik Bode to recognize his accomplishments during his time at Bell Labs and Harvard University.
|
|
|
Huihui Qi received the 2021-2022 JSOE Best Teacher Award, which recognizes faculty who obtained the highest student ratings for their teaching abilities.
|
Assistant Professor Boris Kramer was invited to be the plenary speaker at the "Model Reduction and Surrogate Modeling (MORe) 2022" conference in Berlin, Germany. This bi-annual conference represents a significant gathering of the model reduction community.
|
|
|
MAE Graduate Student Council Events
|
|
|
The MAE Graduate Student Council (GSC) hosts bi-weekly "Tea Times" for students, faculty, and staff.
Please check the MAE Graduate Student Council website for more information.
|
|
|
The MAE Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Committee exists to increase advising support for MAE graduate students in a peer mentorship capacity, to improve communication between graduate students and the MAE department, and to collaborate on pathways for improvement.
Use the open feedback form to share your thoughts or suggestions for the committee or the MAE department.
Learn more on the P2P website or contact us via email.
|
|
|
Fall 2022 Doctoral Defenses
|
Emily Lathrop (PI: Michael Tolley, Co-PI: Nicholas Gravish)
"Enhanced Robot-Environment Interfaces to Improve Locomotion on Natural Terrain"
Gurbinder Chauhan (PI: Miroslav Krstic)
"Hybrid Power System: Grid Stability Through Spinning Reserve"
Future Plans: Establish non-profit organization to help students develop network in industry and succeed as entrepreneurs
Di Wu (PI: Aaron Rosengren)
"New Dynamical Connections Between Circumterrestrial Space Objects and Small Solar-System Bodies"
Future Plans: Postdoctoral position in ARClab at MIT AeroAstro with the intention of eventually serving in academia
Sven Brüggemann (PI: Robert Bitmead)
"Control-Oriented Modeling and Model-Based Control of Gas Processing Facilities"
Future Plans: System Engineer at autonomous driving company Zoox
Phuong Truong (PI: James Friend)
"Neonatal Non Nutritive Suckling Waveform Extraction, Characterization, and Classification"
Michael Ishida (PI: Michael Tolley)
"Locomotion of Bioinspired Underwater Soft Robots with Structural Compliance"
Future Plans: Postdoctoral Position at the University of Cambridge with Professor Fumiya Lida
|
|
|
Xueying Quinn (PI: Shirley Meng)
"Investigate Materials in Solar Cells and Batteries with Synchrotron Techniques to Mitigate Degradation"
Future Plans: Electrochemist at Powerit-Air2Energy
Zichen Zhang (PI: Prabhakar Bandaru)
"A Study on Gate Oxide and Extension Region of Carbon Nanotube Field Effect Transistor"
Future Plans: R&D Process Engineer at Applied Materials
William Connacher (PI: James Friend)
"Acoustofluidic Droplet Generation: Physical Understanding and Applications of Jetting and Atomization"
Yongliang Dong (PI: Prabhakar Bandaru)
"Optoelectronic and Bioelectrochemical Characteristics of Graphene Integrated Devices"
Future Plans: Product Engineer at Lam Research
Benjamin Lazarus (PI: Marc Meyers)
"Impact Resistance in Biological Materials as a Source of Inspiration for Engineered Designs"
Yang Wang (PI: Shengqiang Cai)
"Soft Materials for Soft Robots"
Yuxuan Xiao (PI: Eric Fullerton)
"Spintronics and Electronic Transport in Epitaxial Thin Films"
Future Plans: Integration Engineer at TDK Corporation
Suryansh Saxena (PI: Anne Pommier)
"Electrical Properties of Sulfide-Bearing Mantle Rocks and Implications for Electromagnetic Anomalies in Cratonic Environments"
|
|
|
Hussain Ashour- Research and Development Engineer II
|
|
|
|
Hussain joins MAE after working in an oil and gas engineering design committee as a Mechanical Design Engineer for five years at the Ministry of Oil in Iraq. He also worked in the sheet metal design industry as a Mechanical Design Engineer and NC Programmer in San Diego. One of his notable accomplishments is the "BLVD" sign located in North Park, which is made of aluminum panels. Hussain is currently responsible for providing engineering support to the MAE engineering labs.
Hussain is a musician who plays both rock and classical guitar and he’s an avid concert-goer. Other passions include cooking, gaming, skateboarding, street photography, and staying active. His name is pronounced “who-sane”.
Fun Fact: Hussain is half Arab half Kurd and is fluent in Arabic and English, but he does not listen to Arabic or Kurdish music. He prefers 80s rock/metal and classical music!
|
|
|
Brittany Norris- Graduate Financial Support and PhD Admissions Coordinator
|
|
|
|
Brittany recently joined the MAE team after serving as a Graduate Program Coordinator in Theatre and Dance at UC San Diego. She developed an interest in student affairs during her undergraduate years at UC Santa Barbara, where she participated in community service organizations and club sports. Brittany worked in the Office of Student Conduct at UC San Diego as a graduate assistant while pursuing her Master’s degree from San Diego State University. Since then, she has worked in residence life at UC San Diego's Revelle College and she also spent a year in Saipan as an academic advisor.
Brittany will be responsible for coordinating graduate student financial support, graduate student admissions, recruitment, and student affairs event planning.
In her free time, Brittany enjoys watching reality competition shows (especially Survivor & Amazing Race), traveling, and practicing hot yoga. Fun Fact: Brittany has her TESOL certification from teaching English in Barcelona, Spain as an undergraduate.
|
|
|
Jason Endres- Research Administrator II
|
|
|
|
Jason joins MAE from the School of Biological Sciences where he provided pre- and post-award financial services as a Research Administrator for the last two years. He started his career with UC as a housing coordinator in residential life at UC Santa Cruz in 2009, and eventually moved to UC Davis where he worked as an Executive Assistant to the Chair for the Department of Chemistry.
Jason will be responsible for providing fiscal support to a limited number of PIs and administrative support to the team of fund managers.
In his free time, Jason enjoys cycling along the coast, trying new food in San Diego, and gaming.
Fun Fact: One of Jason's hobbies is building PCs for personal use. He was a computer engineering major in college before changing over to biology.
|
|
|
|
Did you know that Vitamin D builds your immunity?
Your body naturally creates Vitamin D (or the "sunshine vitamin") when your skin is exposed to natural sunlight. To gain the most benefit, try to head outdoors at midday and allow about 10-15 minutes of sunlight exposure on your skin. That's all it takes!
|
|
|
1/11/2023
Late registration fee payment deadline (to avoid being dropped from enrolled classes or wait listed courses)
1/20/2023
Deadline for Graduate students to file for leave of absence, in absentia or to apply for half-time study for current quarter
1/27/2023
Deadline to file for Advancement to Candidacy for Master's degrees
2/3/2023
Deadline for all students to drop classes without "W" grade
|
|
|
Manage your preferences | Opt Out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails. View this email online.
|
9500 Gilman Drive | La Jolla, CA 92093 US
|
|
|
This email was sent to .
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.
| |
|
|