Thank you for taking the time to read our magazine! As chair of the department, I'm excited to announce a big step forward as our name officially changes from the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, ME-EM, to the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, MAE.
The name change, which supports our growing portfolio of aerospace activities and research, includes the future addition of a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering to our program offerings. This is the only undergraduate degree we have added to the department since it was formed, and we're excited to roll it out! The degree, a result of our growing aerospace-related research, answers the very strong demand from our current and future undergraduate students.
In other department-related news, Michigan Tech welcomed a new vice president for research, Andrew Barnard, in July. Barnard was a ME-EM faculty member at Tech before moving to Penn State to lead the graduate acoustics program. We're excited to welcome him back. We also welcome a new dean to the College of Engineering this year: Michelle Scherer comes to us from the University of Iowa. We look forward to working with both Scherer and Barnard as we grow our research footprint and graduate programs.
The department continues to innovate and grow its vast range of research. Ezra Bar-Ziv and Fei Long are leading an effort on plastics recycling (solvent-targeted recovery and precipitation, or STRAP) and using machine learning to identify plastics in the recycle stream. These efforts have made great strides, and a pilot plant is currently under construction to apply the STRAP process on a larger scale. We also see continued expansion of research in projects related to the lunar surface. The University has a new Center for Artificial Intelligence housed in the College of Computing, with MAE faculty member Vinh Nguyen leading its creation and serving as the center director. Bhisham Sharma has started a new research area in the department that is using additive manufacturing to create metamaterials to quiet jet and rocket engines. MTU was also recently awarded the contract to provide test and engineering services at the American Center for Mobility under the leadership of Jeffrey Naber.
Our students continue to be successful in important competitions. The Multiplanetary INnovation Enterprise was invited to compete in the final round of NASA's Watts on the Moon Challenge. They also took third place— the highest of any university—in NASA's Break the Ice Challenge. Other student teams showcased their creativity and energy in SAE Motorsports national and international collegiate events, and in paper and poster competitions that showcased their innovative engineering skills. Their curiosity and achievements are inspiring our incoming student classes, which continue to have very strong enrollment as MTU's overall enrollment increases.
We're grateful that you recognize the value and accomplishments of our faculty, staff, and students as we strive to continue pushing the envelope in many different ways. The support of our industry partners, alumni, and friends allows us to continue to grow and evolve the department, as evidenced by our new BS in Aerospace Engineering degree, our ability to attract and hire leading-edge faculty, and our continued success enrolling top-notch students in all of our graduate and undergraduate programs.
Together, we build on an impressive legacy and look forward to new achievements ahead,
Jason R. Blough, PhD
Department Chair and Distinguished Professor
Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to nearly 7,500 students from more than 60 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.
