News

UConn ME selected by NASA to Develop Moon to Mars Mission Design Ideas

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UCONN has been selected as one of six universities to participate in NASA’s 2022 Moon to Mars eXploration Systems and Habitation (M2M X-Hab) Challenge. NASA’s selection, in partnership with the National Space Grant Foundation, will develop innovative design ideas that will help NASA advance and execute its Moon to Mars exploration objectives. 

This year’s winning M2M X-Hab Challenge teams will design, manufacture, assemble, test, and demonstrate functional prototype subsystems and innovations that enable increased functionality for human space exploration missions.

Profs. Vito Moreno and Jason Lee are leading the charge at UCONN in collaboration with Jorge Paricio Garcia and Ed Weingart, the Co-Directors of the UCONN Krenicki Arts and Engineering Institute, Patrick Kumavor (Biomedical Engineering), and Christopher Sancomb (Art/Industrial Design). The multidisciplinary concepts that they submitted will be developed into proof of concept 1/6-G suited prototypes to be applied in field environments. The first design will use weather balloons and drones and associated control and feedback software with a wearable harness. The weather balloon will offset the analog astronaut’s weight, while the drone and sensors will fine-tune responses to movements, produce a lifting force needed to simulate reduced gravity, and keep the balloon hovering above the astronaut. The second design, using the NASA ARGOS concept as a base, will incorporate a mobile platform that moves with the individual, and a counterweight system to simulate reduced gravity. Both projects will be an important element of the Senior Design projects for the departments of Mechanical Engineering as well as Biomedical Engineering in collaboration with the Industrial Design and Fine Arts programs. A diverse student team will also work with Aquiline Drones (Hartford) and Wallingford K-12 Public School’s Center for Innovation and Design: An Aerospace Experience to Mars.

Prof. Pierce joins the Editorial Board of the ASME Journal of Biomechanical Engineering

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Dr. David M. Pierce, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, has been named Associate Editor of the ASME Journal of Biomechanical Engineering. This archival journal reports research results involving the application of mechanical engineering principles to the improvement of human health. The scope of relevant topics ranges from basic biology to biomedical applications and includes theoretical, computational, experimental, and clinical studies.

The driving interest of his research is to understand and predict the mechanics of soft tissues and engineering materials. His current work employs theoretical, computational, and experimental tools to explore the interplay of form and function in cartilage, specifically the multiscale and multi-phase mechanics and how these evolve in health, damage, and disease. Dr. Pierce is a 2017 NSF CAREER awardee and a United Technologies Corporation Professor in Engineering Innovation in the School of Engineering. He also serves as a Journal Referee for over 50 peer-reviewed, academic journals.

Tianfeng Lu elected as a Combustion Institute (CI) Fellow

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We are proud to announce that Mechanical Engineering Professor Tianfeng Lu has been recognized as one of the 2021 Class of Fellows for The Combustion Institute.

Prof. Lu joins a class of 32 accomplished international scholars from industry, academia, and the public sector, and was recognized for “the development of computationally efficient and accurate methods for the systematic, efficient and massive reduction of large reaction mechanisms.”

Dr. Lu received his B.S. and MS degrees in 1994 and 1997 respectively, both in Engineering Mechanics and both from Tsinghua University, followed by his Ph.D. degree in 2004 from Princeton University in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He joined UConn as an Assistant Professor in August 2008 after spending 4 years in research positions at Princeton. His research focuses on computational combustion with special interests in reduced chemical kinetics, stiff chemistry solvers, and computational diagnostics of laminar and turbulent flames.

Prof. George Matheou recognized with a University Level Teaching Excellence Award

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“I Hear and I Forget, I See and I Remember, I Do and I Understand”
(attributed to Confucius, 551 BC to 479 BC)

In addition to his ability to solve significant societal and environmental problems using computational science, Prof. George Matheou is no stranger to educational innovations that explore new ways to involve students in the learning process. In fact his pedagogical innovations have been formally recognized by the University Teaching Innovation Award from the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Connecticut. See also his innovative exhibit @ the Benton Museum of Art that blends art and science with innovative pedagogical activities.

Congratulations, Prof. Matheou!

SeungYeon Kang joins the ME department

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We’re thrilled to welcome Dr. SeungYeon Kang  as a new Assistant Professor in our Department of Mechanical Engineering. Prof. Kang obtained her PhD in Applied Physics from Harvard University.

Her current research interests include nanofabrication with ultrafast lasers, fundamental principles and application of light-matter interaction, 3D printing, additive manufacturing and energy harvesting through unconventional phenomenon such as piezoelectrochemistry.

New ARPA-E grant received by Prof. Julian Norato

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Prof. Julian Norato has received a new ARPA-E grant to study Topology Optimization and Additive Manufacturing for Performance Enhancement of High Temperature and High Pressure Heat Exchangers.

High-temperature, high-pressure heat exchangers can substantially increase heat transfer efficiency and reduce the size and weight of the heat exchangers. In this project, the group will consider counterflow plate heat exchangers, in which the cold and hot fluids flow in between alternate parallel plates and in opposite directions. The plates have flow structures (such as fins) that increase turbulence in the flow and improve mixing, which in turn improves the heat transfer rate.

The computational topology optimization techniques that will be advanced by this project will find highly optimal designs of these fin structures to maximize the heat transfer efficiency while guaranteeing the structural integrity of the plates at the high operating temperatures. The designs obtained by this project will be additively manufactured and tested by Michigan State University’s (MSU) Scalable and Expeditious Additive Manufacturing (SEAM) process, which can efficiently 3D-print parts that are fully dense and free of residual stresses. These characteristics substantially increase the strength of the 3D-printed metal plates at high temperatures.

The topology optimization framework will be coupled with the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEA) solvers by Altair Engineering, the leading vendor in topology optimization software and one of the leading makers of simulation tools.

Dr. Farhad Imani joins the ME Department

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Proposal on the Space Needle

We are happy to welcome Dr. Farhad Imani as a new Assistant Professor in our Department of Mechanical Engineering. Prof. Imani obtained his PhD from Penn State in 2020 and brings to UConn his expertise in advanced manufacturing, and specifically in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research.

His research interests focus on data analytics, machine learning, statistical learning, and decision theory for process monitoring and control, system diagnostics and prognostics, quality and reliability improvement with applications in advanced manufacturing

Prof. Norato joins the Editorial Board of the ASME Journal of Mechanical Design

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Dr. Julián Norato, associate professor of Mechanical Engineering, has been named Associate Editor of the ASME Journal of Mechanical Design. This archival journal publishes papers on and embraces broad, interdisciplinary aspects of engineering design research.

His current research interests lie in incorporating failure, geometric, manufacturing and cost requirements in computational topology and shape optimization techniques for the design exploration of novel and highly efficient structures and architected materials. Dr. Norato is a 2020 Air Force Research Lab Summer Fellow, the recipient of the 2019 ASME Design Automation Young Investigator Award, a 2018 NSF CAREER awardee and a recipient of the 2017 Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program award. He also serves as Review Editor for the Journal of Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization.