Category: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The College of Engineering Graduating Class of 2025 Shares a Fond Farewell

A crowd of Michigan Tech graduating students wearing their caps and gowns with the audience in the background.
Over 600 College of Engineering students will participate in this week’s upcoming commencement ceremonies.

More than 600 College of Engineering students will take part in Michigan Technological University commencement ceremonies on Friday and Saturday. While their time on campus is coming to an end, they know they’ll be Huskies forever. 

As they prepare for graduation, engineering students are reflecting on their time at Tech, sharing their dreams for the future, and offering advice to the next generation of Huskies.

Jaclyn Johnson Receives Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year Award

Jaclyn Johnson works on a piece of imaging equipment
Jaclyn Johnson has been teaching in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering since 2014 and was recently named a Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year.

Jaclyn Johnson, teaching professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) is one of three recipients of the 2025 Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year Award. The awards are presented annually by the Michigan Association of State Universities (MASU) to recognize outstanding contributions and dedication to the education of undergraduate students exhibited by the faculty from Michigan’s 15 public universities.

William Endres Selected for Deans’ Teaching Showcase

Headshot of William Endres wearing a tan shirt in a graphic with a photo of Michigan Tech’s campus.
William “Bill” Endres, the Richard and Elizabeth Henes professor of mechanical engineering, has been selected for the Deans’ Teaching Showcase.

College of Engineering Dean Michelle Scherer has selected William “Bill” Endres, professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE), as the featured instructor in this week’s Deans’ Teaching Showcase.

Endres will be recognized at an end-of-term event with other spring showcase members and is a candidate for the CTL Instructional Award Series.

SWE at Michigan Tech Attends WE Local Conference

Twelve members of SWE at Michigan Tech pose together in front of a SWE backdrop.
At WE Local 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, members of SWE at Michigan Tech received scholarships, presented workshops, and networked with other SWE collegiate members. (All images courtesy Michigan Tech SWE)

Michigan Tech’s section of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) attended their WE Local 2025 conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in mid-March. Through the generous support of their corporate sponsors, SWE at Michigan Tech was able to send 12 students to attend professional development sessions, network with industry professionals and members of other SWE sections, and bond with their fellow Michigan Tech Huskies.

Michigan Tech’s Clean Snowmobile Team Takes First Place in SAE International Competition

A Michigan Tech-branded snowmobile is driven by an SAE Clean Snowmobile team member in the annual challenge in Eagle River, Wisconsin.
The SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge team took home first place in the sparked ignition snowmobile challenge. (Images courtesy of Michigan Tech Advanced Motorsports Enterprise)

Michigan Tech’s sparked ignition (SI) team took home first place overall as well as first place in the design phase of competition in the SAE International annual Clean Snowmobile Challenge earlier this month. Michigan Tech’s Clean Snowmobile Challenge team entered two sleds in this year’s competition at the World Championship Derby Complex in Eagle River, Wisconsin: one in the SI category and one in the compression ignition diesel utility snowmobile (CI) competition. 

The Michigan Tech team came in second in the CI category, which is being phased out. This year’s challenge included 14 teams from the United States and Canada. 

Jason R. Blough Named Chair of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department

Jason Blough standing next to the Husky Statue.
Jason R. Blough, distinguished professor and MTU alum, has been named the chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Distinguished Professor Jason R. Blough has officially been named the chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE), effective Jan. 6. Blough has served in the role since July 2022.

Blough is a full professor in the department whose distinguished career includes a thriving research group and many honors in recognition of his work. He was named a distinguished professor at Michigan Tech in 2021.

SWE at Michigan Tech Receives Awards, Honors, and Job Offers at Annual Conference

Gretchen Hein ‘96, Skyler Brawley, and Amanda Smies ‘18 pose with their awards from SWE’s annual WE24 conference.

In the final weekend of October, the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) hosted WE24, the world’s largest conference for women in engineering and technology. SWE at Michigan Tech supported the travel of 19 students to the conference in Chicago, Illinois where they attended sessions, participated in the career fair, and met with Michigan Tech alumnae from the Chicago area and SWE at large.

The WE24 Career Fair is the largest career fair for women in the world. This year, students in attendance had 17 interviews and 4 internship offers just from participating in this event. Most of the students who interviewed will be hearing in the next few weeks regarding internships and full-time offers.

As part of the conference, WE24 held a robust awards ceremony where engineers from Michigan Tech received awards for their achievements and contributions.

College of Engineering Welcomes New Faculty Members

Dean Michelle Scherer in a group with the sixteen new faculty.
Earlier this semester, Dean Michelle Scherer welcomed 16 new faculty members to the College of Engineering.

The Michigan Tech College of Engineering is pleased to welcome 16 new faculty members across eight departments this year. These new faculty members bring a wide range of specializations in robotics, geomechanics, cancer tissue engineering, snow hydrology, and more. These brilliant educators and researchers join us from all over the world, including five Michigan Tech College of Engineering alumni. Welcome Huskies!

Read more about our new faculty:

Spring 2024 REF Awards Announced

The Vice President for Research Office (VPR) announces the Spring 2024 Research Excellence Fund (REF) award recipients. Congratulations to each of the awardees.

The REF team also wishes to thank the individual REF reviewers and review panelists, as well as the deans and department chairs, for their time spent on this important internal research award process.

The principal investigators of the awarded projects include:

Research Seed Grants:

Jiehong Guo
Jiehong Guo
Yixin Liu
Yixin Liu
Bhisham Sharma
Bhisham Sharma

Joint ROTC Commissioning Ceremony April 26, 2024

Cadets and officers on stage for the ceremony.

The Air Force and Army ROTC invite you to the Spring 2024 Commissioning Ceremony on Friday (April 26) at 7 p.m. at the Rozsa Center.

This semester, we have 10 Air Force cadets and four Army cadets commissioning. Those commissioning are from the following programs:

Chemical Engineering | Chemistry | Civil Engineering | Computer Science | Electrical Engineering | Environmental Engineering | Mechanical Engineering | Mining Engineering | Molecular Biology

By Air Force and Army ROTC.