MME Achievements

Thirteen Nebraska Engineering faculty named NSRI Fellows

Thirteen faculty from the College of Engineering were among the 49 researchers from across the University of Nebraska system who were selected to the 2022 National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) Fellows cohort. They join the more than 70 NSRI fellows who were chosen to the inaugural cohort in May 2021.

The 2022 Fellows from the College of Engineering are:

  • Christos Argyropoulos, Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Sina Balkir, Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Mehmet Can Vuran, School of Computing
  • George Gogos, Mechanical and Materials Engineering
  • Andrew Harms, Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Michael Hempel, Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Qing Hui, Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Xu Li, Civil and Environmental Engineering
  • Eric Markvicka, Mechanical and Materials Engineering
  • Carl Nelson, Mechanical and Materials Engineering
  • Angela Pannier, Biological Systems Engineering
  • Yi Qian, Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Byrav Ramamurthy, School of Computing

Alexis Horton earns Patti Grace Smith Fellowship in aerospace

Alexis Horton, a first-year student in mechanical and materials engineering, is one of 39 undergraduate students from colleges and universities across the United States who have been selected as recipients of the Patti Grace Smith Fellowship.

The Patti Grace Smith Fellowship is an award-winning program that connects the nation's leading aerospace companies with talented Black students. Each member of the program's Class of 2022 has earned a challenging summer internship in the aerospace field, in addition to receiving a scholarship worth thousands of dollars, a pair of personalized mentors, and more.

Horton, who is from Omaha, Nebraska, has earned a summer internship with Northrop Grumman.


Jian Wang receives TMS MPMD Distinguished Scientist/Engineer Award

Jian Wang, professor of mechanical and materials engineering, has been selected as the recipient of the 2022 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) MPMD Distinguished Scientist/Engineer Award. The award was presented at the TMS 2022 Annual Meeting & Exhibition, which was held Feb. 27-March 3 in Anaheim, California.

"This is a highly prestigious award which recognizes my efforts in understanding structure-properties relations of structural materials," Wang said. "This award will continuously encourage and inspire me to conduct the cutting-edge research in the field of materials science and engineering, and serve our society."

The Distinguished Scientist/Engineer Award recognizes an individual who has made a long-lasting contribution to the design, syntheses, processing, and performance of engineering materials, with significant industrial applications.

The award citation states that Wang was selected for "Excellent contributions to revealing the defects-microstructures-properties relations of metals using multiscale theoretical, experimental, and numerical approaches, especially for interface science & engineering and deformation twinning."


MME researchers publish paper outlining printing process for liquid metal droplets

The "On Demand Programming of Liquid Metal-Composite Microstructures Through Direct Ink Write 3D Printing" is outlined in a paper co-authored Eric Markvicka, assistant professor of mechanical and materials engineering, and Aaron Haake, senior in mechanical and materials engineering and published in the March 30 edition of the journal Advanced Materials.

Working in Markvicka's Smart Materials & Robotics Lab, the team developed a process of creating soft, elastically deformable composites with liquid metal (LM) droplets that can enable new generations of soft electronics, robotics, and reconfigurable structures. These printed materials are soft, higly deformable, and can be made locally insulating or electrically conductive using a single ink by controlling process conditions.

Markvicka's team demonstrated these capabilities by embedding elongated LM droplets in a soft heat sink, which rapidly dissipates heat from high-power LEDs.

These programmable microstructures can enable new composite paradigms for emerging technologies that demand mechanical compliance with multifunctional response.

Previously, techniques to control local composite microstructure, which ultimately governs material properties and performance, were lacking. Markvicka's team developed a direct ink writing technique to program LM microstructure (i.e., shape, orientation, and connectivity) on demand through elastomer composites. This is in constrast to inks with rigid particles that have fixed shapes and sizes.

The new technique enables filaments, films and 3D structures with unique LM microstructures that are generated on demand and locked in during printing. This includes smooth and discrete transitions from spherical to needle-like droplets, curvilinear microstructures, geometrically complex embedded inclusion patterns, and connected LM pathways.

The other co-authors on the paper were Michael Bartlett, Gwyneth Schloer and Ravi Tutika from the Soft Materials and Structures Lab at Virginia Tech.


Two MME students, one alum receive NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

Aaron Haake, a senior in mechanical and materials engineering, and Mark Nail, a mechanical and materials engineering alum, were among the seven current or former University of Nebraska-Lincoln students chosen to receive National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) awards. MME alum Cole Dempsey was chosen as one of two from UNL to receive honorable mention recognition.

Haake will graduate in May 2022 and is working in the Smart Materials & Robotics Lab with advisor Eric Markvicka, assistant professor of mechanical and materials engineering. Nail is a graduate student at the University of Michigan, and Dempsey is a graduate student at Vanderbilt University.

The GRFP awards are one of the most prestigious graduate fellowships awarded in the United States. The award provides a three-year annual stipend of $34,000 and a $12,000 cost-of-education allowance for tuition and fees that is paid to the university. Additionally, the GRFP provides opportunities for international research and professional development and the freedom to conduct their research at any accredited U.S. institution of graduate education.

The GRFP is the oldest American fellowship program that directly supports students in various STEM fields. Since 1952, a year after President Truman signed legislation establishing the NSF, the GRFP awarded its first fellowships. It has since funded more than 50,000 fellowships out of more than 500,000 applicants.


Bai Cui receives ACerS Global Star Award

Bai Cui, associate professor of mechanical and materials engineering, received the Global Star Award from the American Ceramic Society. Cui has served as co-lead organizer of the "Ultra-High Temperature Ceramics" symposium at ICACC since 2021.

The Global Star Award recognizes active volunteers for their contributions to the Engineering Ceramics Division (ECD) of American Ceramic Society and to the technical program of the International Conference & Exposition on Advanced Ceramics & Composites (ICACC) meeting. Award recipients are selected by the ICACC Program Chair with agreement from the ECD Executive Committee. The awardees receive a certificate of achievement at the ICACC meeting's Plenary Session.


Nebraska Engineering takes five awards at Grad Student Symposium

Nebraska Engineering took home five awards from the recent 2022 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Graduate Student Symposium.

  • Dianna Morris, doctoral candidate in chemical and biomolecular engineering, took first place in the 3in5 Pitch.
  • Jiating Li, graduate student in biological systems engineering, and Akbota Aitbayeva, graduate student in civil and environmental engineering, tied for second in the 3in5 Pitch.
  • Bahareh Tajvidi Safa, doctoral student in biomedical engineering, earned first place in the Poster competition.
  • Diaz Chowdhury, graduate research assistant in chemical and biomolecular engineering, was second in the Poster competition.

Four engineering faculty chosen to Next Research Leaders Program cohort

Four College of Engineering faculty - Brittany Duncan, associate professor, School of Computing; Santosh Pitla, associate professor, Biological Systems Engineering; Jian Wang, professor, Mechanical and Materials Engineering; and Hongfeng Yu, associate professor, School of Computing - are among 15 University of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty members who have been selected to participate in the second cohort of the Office of Research and Economic Development's Research Leaders Program. This initiative to identify and develop Nebraska's next generation of research leaders is in partnership with the Center for Professional and Executive Development in the College of Business.


Six engineering faculty named to second NGTC cohort of fellows

Six faculty from the College of Engineering have been selected to be included among the Nebraska Governance and Technology Center's second cohort of faculty fellows:

  • Srivatsan Kidambi, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering
  • Francisco Munoz-Arriola, associate professor of biological systems engineering
  • Michael Sealy, assistant professor of mechanical and materials engineering
  • Bonita Sharif, associate professor of computer science and engineering
  • Cody Stolle, Midwest Roadside Safety Facility and research assistant professor of mechanical and materials engineering
  • Li Zhao, postdoctoral research associate at Mid-America Transportation Center

Four engineering faculty chosen to university Grand Challenges steering committee

Four faculty from the College of Engineering have been chosen to the steering committee that has been assembled to guide the next steps of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Grand Challenges process, the Office of Research and Economic Development announced. Representing Nebraska Engineering on the committee will be: