Mechanical & Materials Engineering News

Using new mixes of metals and state-of-the-art 3D printing in Nebraska's NEAT Labs, Joseph Turner's team developed roller bearings for railcars that tested to be just as robust as those produced with conventional techniques. This, Turner said, could open a pathway to new ways to making these bearings. (Craig Chandler / University Communication and Marketing)
March 29, 2024 - When Nebraska Engineering researchers began cooking up new recipes for manufacturing railcar bearing components, they found new powders and production techniques offer robust alternatives that could change future production techniques.  Full Story

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying an experimental satellite designed by the Big Red Satellite team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln hurtles toward outer space only seconds after launching from Florida on March 21, 2024. (Screen capture from NASA livestream / YouTube)
March 25, 2024 - A NASA SpaceX rocket carrying supplies to the International Space Station launched March 21. Among its payload is an experimental satellite designed and built by a team led by Nebraska Engineering students.  Full Story

A rendering of a stretchable ultrasound device designed by Husker engineers. (Adapted from a figure in Advanced Functional Materials)
March 22, 2024 - A team of Nebraska engineers developed liquid metal droplets with special stretching properties that can be integrated into a wearable ultrasound device prototype.  Full Story

Cesar Leos, doctoral student in mechanical engineering.
March 14, 2024 - Cesar Leos, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering, has been selected to receive the Computational Physics Workshop Fellowship from the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico for summer 2024.  Full Story

Three Nebraska Engineering faculty have been appointed as NSRI fellows. (University Communication and Marketing)
February 29, 2024 - Three College of Engineering faculty are among the 14 from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln who have been appointed as National Strategic Research Initiative (NSRI) fellows.  Full Story

Research teams in the lab of Abdelghani Laraoui, assistant professor of mechanical and materials engineering, are using a quantum sensing technique his lab developed that could lead to big breakthroughs in data transport technologies and in treating diseases. (Craig Chandler / University Communication and Marketing)
February 28, 2024 - Research teams in the lab of Abdelghani Laraoui are using a quantum sensing technique his lab developed that could lead to big breakthroughs in data transport technologies and in treating diseases.  Full Story

Students on the Big Red Satellite Team work on their CubeSat satellite, which will be launched into space this March and later deployed from the International Space Station.
February 22, 2024 - A team of Nebraska Engineering, high school and middle school students is counting down to the scheduled March launch of its CubeSat satellite into space for future deployment from the International Space Station.  Full Story

Nebraska Engineering professor and Virtual Incision co-founder Shane Farritor watches as Dr. Michael Jobst, a colorectal surgery specialist in Lincoln, makes the first surgical robotic cut on the International Space Station. Using controls at the Virtual Incision offices in Lincoln, surgeons cut rubber bands — mimicking surgery inside a payload box on the Space Station. (Craig Chandler / University Communication and Marketing)
February 14, 2024 - In a test that featured half a dozen surgeons from across the United States, a miniature robot created at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln successfully completed a surgical simulation aboard the International Space Station.  Full Story

A 7,000-plus-pound, 2022 Rivian R1T truck tears through a concrete barrier during an October 2023 crash test at the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility's outdoor proving grounds at the Lincoln Airport. (Craig Chandler / University Communication and Marketing)
January 31, 2024 - The Midwest Roadside Safety Facility (MwRSF) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has mobilized to answer the safety and military defense questions raised by the burgeoning number of electric vehicles (EV) on the nation’s roadways.  Full Story

Invented by Nebraska Engineering professor Shane Farritor and others, a miniaturized surgical robot was launched into space Jan. 30 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, headed for the International Space Station where its remote capabilities will be tested. (Craig Chandler / University Communication & Marketing)
January 30, 2024 - Invented by Nebraska Engineering professor Shane Farritor and others, a miniaturized surgical robot was launched into space Jan. 30 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, headed for the International Space Station where its remote capabilities will be tested.  Full Story