News

MAE tribologist helps explain wear biomechanics in hadrosaurid dinosaur teeth

Tribology involves the science of friction and wear, and MAE Prof. Greg Sawyer has tackled problems ranging from space materials to contact lenses. In a recent Science paper (Erickson et al., 338, p.98, 2012), Sawyer and his colleagues used a combination of wear and hardness measurements on fossilized teeth to create three-dimensional tribological wear models, which reveal how the hadrosaurid’s unique six-tissue dental structure evolved for grinding and ecological specialization.

MAE researchers use autonomous aerial vehicles as sensor platforms

UF MAV

CNN recently visited the UF campus and spoke with Prof. Kamran Mohseni about development of aerial and underwater hurricane drones, while Prof. Peter Ifju’s UAVs buzzed around in the background. Dr. Mohseni envisions using autonomous vehicles, or drones, as sensor platforms to create a new way of collecting hurricane data.

UF Preeminence campaign strengthens MAE's Space Systems Group

When the small satellite SwampSat blasted into space on November 19, 2013 aboard a Minotaur I rocket, it marked a milestone for MAE’s Space Systems Group. The CubeSat was designed and built by undergraduate and graduate students from our Small Satellite Design Club under the direction of Prof. Norman Fitz-Coy.  Fitz-Coy is among a group of prominent MAE faculty members working on many aspects of aerospace engineering and space science, including small satellites, navigation and control of autonomous space vehicles, space instrumentation and orbital mechanics.

Seniors test products in Crystal River Preserve for capstone design course

The goal of capstone design, or Senior Design, is to provide engineering students a culminating course bringing together the many aspects of engineering design. Reverse engineering, in which students examine in detail the structure and functionality of an existing product, can be a key part of the design experience. Senior design faculty instructor Prof. Greg Sawyer brought MAE seniors to a local spring to test and evaluate several commercial diving scooters as part of a reverse engineering project in support of their capstone design projects.

Tommy Angelini studies tissue cell assemblies with NSF CAREER award

Research leverages the basic physics of instability, topology and symmetry to study tissue cell dynamics. Cell assemblies are 3D printed by the direct extrusion of structures into volumes of yield stress material. The combination of cells and yield-stress materials provides unprecedented control of variables like size, shape, symmetry, and topology in multicellular structures.

Dr. Subrata Roy has been awarded Distinguished Visiting Fellow Award

Dr. Subrata Roy has been awarded the Royal Academy of Engineering's 2013 Distinguished Visiting Fellow Award for his pioneering work on novel plasma actuators. The Distinguished Visiting Fellowship enables an academic engineering department in a United Kingdom (UK) university to share expertise and harness world-class research capability by collaborating with international experts.

Dr. Henry Sodano awarded 2012 Young Composites Researcher Award

Dr. Henry Sodano

Dr. Henry Sodano has been awarded the American Society for Composites 2012 Young Composites Researcher Award. The Young Composites Researcher Award is given to a member of the composites community who early in their career has made a significant impact on the science and technology of composite materials through a sustained research effort. His efforts have focused on the development of ceramic nanowires grown on reinforcing fibers and high energy density nanocomposite capacitors.

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