Prof. David Pierce has been elected as a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), one of the highest honors awarded by the organization. This prestigious recognition celebrates Dr. Pierce’s significant contributions to the field of mechanical engineering, acknowledging years of dedicated research, innovative teaching, and impactful advancements within the discipline. As a Fellow, Prof. Pierce joins an elite group of professionals who have demonstrated exceptional achievements and leadership in mechanical engineering, further enhancing the visibility and impact of their work on a global scale.
News
New Master’s For Digital Design and Manufacturing Innovators
by Claire Tremont
Students can earn this degree remotely from anywhere in the world, offering an accessible path to advanced engineering education

As academia works overtime to meet the needs of a rapidly expanding and evolving industry, one UConn Engineering graduate program is embracing the challenge to educate engineers to innovate with the latest digital design and manufacturing technologies.
The Master of Engineering (MENG) in Digital Design and Manufacturing is a 30-credit online graduate degree for engineers wishing to advance their knowledge in digital tools and models used in modern industries.
Students will learn and master the tools shaping the future of engineering, from digital twins and 3D design software to machine learning and data science, in a part-time program designed for their success.
Together with faculty from the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Manufacturing Engineering, students will benefit from world-class research and teaching capabilities backed by significant funding from the likes of the National Science Foundation and various Departments of Defense, Energy, and Education funding agencies.
Prof. Norato Elected Fellow of the ASME
Prof. Julián Norato has been honored as a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). The Fellow grade of membership recognizes exceptional engineering achievements and contributions to the engineering profession and to ASME. The recognition was announced at the ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences held in Washington D.C. in August, 2024.
Prof. Nguyen receives multiple large grants from the NIH and the Gates Foundation
by Matt Engelhardt
Through millions in coveted grants, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are recognizing how impactful Thanh Nguyen’s research is to the field of biomedical engineering.
Nguyen, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering, has already established himself as one of the top-funded researchers at UConn. The NIH is adding to that success by awarding Nguyen four R01 grants totaling more than $9.5 million, with $7.5 million going to UConn researchers.
Fourth Annual Women in STEM Conference Gains Traction
Xu Receives the ASME Young Investigator Award
Dr. Xu received the 2024 ASME Design Automation Young Investigator Award in recognition of his research at the intersection of Microstructure Material Design, design for Additive Manufacturing, Design of Mixed Stochasticity Structural Systems, and Uncertainty Quantification.
This award is presented annually to honor an exceptional young investigator making significant contributions in design automation, with a focus on areas such as design representation, optimization, evaluation, and integration. The award was given at the ASME Design Automation Conference, held from August 25-28, 2024, in Washington, DC. The conference gathers international experts in the field of design automation each year.
Driven to Succeed: UConn Formula SAE Makes History with 4th Place Win
The annual competition, organized by SAE International, challenges students to conceive, design, fabricate, develop, and compete with high performance “formula” vehicles.
The UConn Formula SAE team is revved up after earning a record-breaking ranking. During a three-day competition at Michigan International Speedway May 8-11, UConn competed against 118 other national and international teams and placed 4th overall, the highest in UConn’s history.
UConn Formula SAE has 80 members, of which 67 attended the competition at the Michigan International Speedway. This was the most of any team present. (Photo courtesy of Milton Levin)
“The team was totally ecstatic,” explains UConn Formula SAE (FSAE) President and mechanical engineering major Abhiemanyu Sukumaran ’24 (ENG). “As they were announcing the overall places, we heard 8,7,6, etc. Then they called our name, and everyone started jumping and screaming for joy! We celebrated like we won the national championship. It was bliss to have broken the record for our highest placement ever.”
Read more on the UConn Today website.
Prof. Thanh Nguyen Named to the National Academy of Inventors List
Two UConn professors ventured on an unfamiliar journey that took them from the depths of their science labs to the complexities of technology entrepreneurship. One of these professors was Thanh D. Nguyen!
In March, they learned their perseverance paid off: Raman Bahal, Pharmaceutical Sciences associate Professor, and Thanh D. Nguyen, Mechanical and Biomedical engineering associate professor, were among 124 emerging academic entrepreneurs in the U.S. named as 2024 Senior Members National Academy of Inventors (NAI).
They also fit the NAI’s category of underrepresented academic inventors.
“The underrepresented category includes all of our Senior Members that identify as non-white, female, and/or disabled,” says Rebekah Rittenhouse, assistant director of communications at NAI.
Read more in the UConn Today article.