Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering News

New Faculty Spotlight: Q&A with Chloe He

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Faculty Q&A: Meet Chloe He, assistant teaching professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Michigan Tech

Chloe He portrait
Chloe He

Dr. Chloe He was a lecturer in the MAE department at Michigan Tech in Spring 2024, and is now an assistant teaching professor started in Fall 2024. She holds a BA in Environmental and Energy Engineering from Beijing University of Technology, a MS in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from New Mexico State University and PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Michigan Technological University. Dr. He is specialized in heat transfer, with a particular focus on leveraging chemical surface treatment techniques to enhance thermal performance in experimental settings.

What drew you to Michigan Tech?
CH: I first came to Michigan Tech as a PhD student. What really drew me in was a combination of academic opportunity and personal passion. When I was a master’s student at New Mexico State, my advisor, Dr. Chunpei Cai, accepted a job at Michigan Tech and invited me to continue my studies under his guidance. I did some research into Michigan Tech and was impressed by the research facilities and academic environment. The bonus? I love snowboarding, and Michigan Tech offered me both professional growth and access to great winter sports.

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Michigan Technological University Spring 2025 MAE Senior Recognition Banquet & Order of the Engineer Ceremony

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Brandon Dilworth

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Brandon Dilworth is the Group Leader of the Mechanical Engineering Group at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, a federally funded research and development center within the Department of Defense. Brandon is a graduate of Michigan Tech, completing a Master’s in ME in 2006, and a PhD in ME in 2009, with Dr. Jason Blough serving as the advisor for both degrees. Brandon has served as a member of the Executive Board for the Society of Experimental Mechanics, and is a current member of the External Advisory Board for Michigan Tech’s Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department. He also completed the Program for Leadership Development with Harvard Business School’s Executive Leadership Program in 2021. Outside of the professional environment, Brandon is the father of two children, Lucy (14) and Jack (11), and attempts to utilize as much “free time” as possible to explore hobbies that blend outdoor activities with spending quality time with his children.

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New Faculty Spotlight: Wei Wei

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Wei Wei
Wei Wei

Wei Wei joined the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering as an associate professor in Fall 2024. She earned her PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at Michigan Tech. Prior to joining the MAE faculty, she was an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Wichita State University.

What drew you to Michigan Tech?

WW: I spent five years at Michigan Tech for my PhD—the first five years after moving to the U.S. During that time, I made some of the best friends of my life and really felt at home here. Ever since, I knew I wanted to make my way back. Plus, Michigan Tech has the right facilities for my research, making it the perfect place to be.

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Michigan Technological University Fall 2024 MAE Senior Recognition Banquet & Order of the Engineer Ceremony

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Keynote Speaker

Eric Little is a professor of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota, and a lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus. He also works as a patent agent at Schwegman Lundberg and Woessner, a law firm based in Minneapolis, and as an engineering and business consultant for several startup companies. With over 20 years of experience in engineering and entrepreneurship, Eric has expertise in the research, development, and commercialization of innovative products and technologies across a range of industries, including automotive, acoustics, mechanical testing/control, and medical devices. His background includes serving as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Earl Bakken Medical Devices Center and co-founding two medical device start-ups focused on cardiac care. Eric has authored several peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers, and he is a passionate advocate for STEM education. Eric earned a bachelor’s degree in business, along with bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD degrees in Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics from Michigan Tech. He also holds a law degree with a focus on Intellectual Property from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota. An enthusiastic advocate of Michigan Tech, Eric is equally dedicated to supporting Upper Peninsula establishments such as the Downtowner, KBC, and Nuitini’s.

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Jung Yun Bae, collaborators develop smart agriculture for small farms

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Jung Yun Bae leads a team of investigators funded by a $423,300 Farm Innovation Grant from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD). The grants are designed to develop and support innovative solutions to real, immediate, and future farm challenges facing Michigan’s food and agricultural industry. Bae and team members are working on the project with The Lucky Clover Farm in Gaylord, MI.

Dr. Jung Yun Bae.

The two-year project, titled “Improving Climate Resiliency and Economic Return of Michigan’s Labor-Intensive Produce Using Low-Cost, Modular Robotic Fleets”, seeks to develop an automated floriculture harvesting system to support small farms. As stated in the team’s proposal, “The project aims to develop a robotic platform by integrating advanced technologies, including mechanical design, artificial intelligence, modern control algorithms, and autonomous navigation, to address the labor shortage and offer cost-effective solutions to farmers.”

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Greg Odegard named a University Professor at Michigan Tech

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The Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering proudly celebrates the distinguished achievement of Dr. Greg Odegard, who has been named one of three University Professors for 2024. This prestigious title, conferred by the Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, honors faculty members with a remarkable record of scholarly contributions to their discipline and the University.

Professor Greg Odegard on the Michigan Tech campus in Houghton, MI.

Odegard, a professor and the John O. Hallquist Endowed Chair in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, stands as a leader in aerospace and computational multiscale mechanics modeling and materials science. His work in materials science is innovative and has earned him numerous accolades — including the NASA Outstanding Public Leadership Medal, which recognizes his significant impact on the NASA mission. Dr. Odegard is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and has been honored with the Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award from the Society of Automotive Engineers.

As an educator and mentor, Odegard has successfully chaired and guided 18 Ph.D. and 40 M.S. students to graduation — and he’s served on over 70 additional graduate committees. His dedication to teaching has been acknowledged with multiple graduate mentoring and teaching awards from Michigan Tech.

Odegard’s success in securing research funding is evidenced by nearly $43 million in research grants, spanning approximately 25 proposals where he served as the Principal Investigator. Notably, he led a $17 million multi-university NASA Space Technologies Research Institute (STRI) involving MIT, Georgia Tech, and others. His prolific research output includes 126 refereed journal papers, eight book chapters, and nine NASA technical reports, with many of these publications co-authored with students. His work has garnered nearly 12,000 citations, reflected in an h-index of 49.

Committed to service, Odegard has served his professional societies as an editorial board member, committee chair and peer reviewer. Within Michigan Tech, he has played a key role on various curricular and search committees, further advancing both the University and department’s missions.

Dr. Greg Odegard’s recognition as a University Professor underscores his exceptional impact on both the scientific community and the next generation of engineers and scientists.

This article has been edited from a previous publication appearing in Tech Today, 4/29/2024 issue.

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Bhisham Sharma Hosts Plenary Session at Noise-Con 2024

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Bhisham Sharma

Associate Professor Bhisham Sharma hosted a plenary session on “Enabling Multifunctionality Acoustical Materials Through Additive Manufacturing” at Noise-Con 2024 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The session involved a summary of current additive methods and exploring the development of novel structures for multifunctional acoustical applications.

Sharma’s research involves acoustic and elastic metamaterials, advanced and additive manufacturing, vibration and modal analysis, and other interests related to making engineering structures safer, quieter, and more efficient.

Noise-Con is specifically focused on all aspects of noise control and acoustics. The theme of Noise-Con 2024 was “Trumpeting Noise Control.” It took place on June 10–12.

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PSTDL Researchers at 2024 Space Resources Roundtable

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Space Resources Roundtable

Michigan Tech’s Planetary Surface Technology Development Lab (PSTDL), led by Assistant Professor Paul van Susante (ME-EM), was represented at the 24th meeting of the Space Resources Roundtable (SRR), held in Golden, Colorado, on June 3–7.

Van Susante presented a poster and chaired a session at the event, and Research Engineer Chuck Carey (ME-EM) and four students presented. The presentations and posters were well received, and Michigan Tech was well represented by the team.

Van Susante chaired the session “Regolith Excavation and Conveyance.” His poster topic was “Lunar and Mars ISRU, Excavation and Construction Test Capabilities and Project Progress at the MTU-PSTDL.”

Carey presented a talk on “Testing a Novel Lunar Regolith Compaction Device for Site Preparation.”

Ph.D. candidate Travis Wavrunek (mechanical engineering) presented a talk on “Development of the TEthered Mechanism for Persistent Energy Storage and Transmission (TEMPEST) System for the Watts on the Moon Challenge.”

Recent graduate Ellie Zimmermann ’24 (B.S. Mechanical Engineering) presented a talk on “Cryogenic Vacuum Testing of a Heated Cone Penetrometer for Thermal Detection and Quantification of Water in Icy Lunar Regolith Simulant.” Zimmermann is an incoming PSTDL Ph.D. student.

Undergraduate student Robin Austerberry (mechanical engineering) presented a poster on “Durability Testing of a Lunar Surface Excavation Rover.”

Recent graduate Christi LeCaptain ’24 (B.S. Mechanical Engineering), the outgoing team lead for MTU Lunabotics, participated with the rest of Michigan Tech’s representatives in a site visit with Lunar Outpost, one of our research project partners. LeCaptain is also an incoming PSTDL Ph.D. student.

The SRR promotes knowledge, advances education, and provides information on availability, applicability and status of development of the resources of space beyond the atmosphere of the Earth.

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Michigan Tech’s PSTDL Competing in Break the Ice Challenge Finals

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Rover at the challenge.

Paul van Susante (ME-EM) and 16 student researchers from Michigan Tech’s Planetary Surface Technology Development Lab (PSTDL) are in Huntsville, Alabama, this week competing in the final round of NASA’s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge, being held June 8–15, 2024, at Alabama A&M University.

Begun in 2020, the Break the Ice Lunar Challenge asked competitors to propose robotic systems that can use resources found on the lunar surface in regolith (icy moon dust) to aid astronauts living on the moon. The PSTDL is one of six teams competing in the finals—three led by universities and three led by industry companies.

Yesterday and today (June 11–12), the PSTDL is participating in Phase 2, Level 3 of the challenge—its final round, and the culmination of more than three years of work and four rounds of the competition. The finals are being livestreamed on NASA’s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge website.

The PSTDL took part in the excavation portion of the challenge yesterday. If the schedule remains accurate, the team will compete in the transportation portion today (June 12) at 4 p.m. ET.

Watch for the results to be announced by NASA on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Break the Ice’s news page and main page.

How We Got Here

  • December 2022: The PSTDL is one of 15 teams selected to advance to the semifinals after competing in the Phase 2 qualifying round.
  • December 2023: NASA narrows the field to six finalists — including the PSTDL.
  • February 2024: Alabama A&M is selected to host the challenge’s final round.

Update

NASA mentioned Michigan Tech’s Planetary Surface Technology Development Lab as one of three teams that “performed exceptionally well” in the excavation portion of the final round of the Break the Ice Lunar Challenge. Along with the two prize-winning teams, NASA invited the PSTDL to use the thermal vacuum chambers at its Marshall Space Flight Center to continue testing and development.

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Ana Dyreson Presents at 2024 Power Systems and Photovoltaic Events

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Group of five people standing outside near a solar panel array.
Graduate Students: Ayush Chutani, Jonathan Aurand, Shelbie Wickett, Adnan Hilal, Jacob Chizek, David Wallis, Keith Holliday. Some of the students are shown, with Ana Dyreson on the right.

Ana Dyreson (ME-EM) attended the Power Systems Engineering Consortium (PSERC) Industry Advisory Board meeting at Cornell University, held May 29–30.

Dyreson presented on the PSERC project “Incorporating climate impacts into electricity system planning models: review and case study.”

She also attended and presented at the Photovoltaic Performance Modeling Consortium (PVPMC) Workshop in Salt Lake City, Utah, held May 7–9.

Dyreson presented on the panel “Modeling Snow Effects on PV Systems.” The presentation topic was “Snow shedding from single-axis tracking PV systems: observations from the Michigan Regional Test Center and implications for modeling widespread snow events.” The presentation was co-authored by Ph.D. students Shelbie Wickett and Ayush Chutani (both mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics).

Ana Dyreson is an assistant professor in ME-EM. She leads the Great Lakes Energy Group, where she uses energy analysis and grid-scale modeling to study the performance of renewable technologies and the operation of future electric power systems, with a focus on the impacts of climate change on those systems in the U.S. Great Lakes region.

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