Category: News

In a field of 60 teams at the NASA Student Launch competition on April 23, UF’s competitive rocket design team, Swamp Launch, blasted its way to 4th place overall in the launch category and 3rd place for the payload design award. The event, hosted at the Marshall Space Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is an annual […]

When NASA establishes the first ever long-term human presence on the Moon, and eventually uses that base as a springboard to Mars, this seminal achievement will undoubtedly go down as one of the most significant events in the history of our species. And humanity’s upcoming return to the magnificent desolation, as Buzz Aldrin described the […]

UF’s Formula SAE team zoomed to the second best result in its 31-year history at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Out of 100 teams representing universities from six countries, Gator Motorsports finished third place overall. The team’s only higher finish was second place in 2015. For FSAE competitions, students spend a year designing […]

The atrium of the Herbert Wertheim Laboratory for Engineering Excellence was transformed into a modern Colosseum on April 9, when mechanical gladiators from all over the state descended on UF for the Scuffle in the Swamp. The first open battlebots event ever to take place at UF, the tournament was hosted by Gator Robotics, a […]

Dr. Umesh Persad is coming from the Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship Unit at the University of Trinidad and Tobago where he was an Associate Professor of Engineering Design, Head of Department, and leader of the Design and Innovation research group. Dr. Persad brings multidisciplinary design thinking to bear on complex problems with interests in […]

While most of us were spending our quarantine time picking up new hobbies or exploring the hidden depths of Netflix, Professor Matthew Hale was writing proposals that would eventually earn him both a Young Investigator Program (YIP) award and a Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) grant this year. The YIP will be for $510,000 […]

The Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department welcomes Dr. Alicia Petersen! Dr. Alicia Petersen is coming from the Space Vehicles Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory, where she has been a Space Physics Research Fellow for the National Research Council. Through data analysis, instrumentation and modeling, Dr. Petersen researches the kinetic physics, magnetism and dynamics […]

The Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department welcomes Dr. Christopher Petersen! Dr. Christopher “Chrispy” Petersen is excited to join the University of Florida from the Air Force Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles Directorate (AFRL/RV) and the United States Space Force (USSF).  His research looks at four pillars:  1) exploring and exploiting spacecraft dynamics, 2) advanced guidance, navigation, […]

The Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department welcomes Dr. Jingjing Shi! Dr. Jingjing Shi’s research focuses on understanding energy transport and conversion to solve thermal challenges in different systems, with an emphasis on wide and ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor devices for future power and radio-frequency applications. Her work utilizes multiscale modeling and experimental methods to understand effects […]

The Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department welcomes Dr. Jessica Allen to AI Biomechanics. Dr. Allen’s research focuses on identifying biomechanical targets that can guide interventional decisions in rehabilitation and device design for individuals with ambulatory impairments. This work leverages musculoskeletal modeling and machine learning techniques to identify deficits in lower-extremity biomechanics and to predict how […]

The Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department welcomes Dr. Kerry Costello to AI Biomechanics. Dr. Costello’s research focuses on understanding the role of movement biomechanics and physical activity in musculoskeletal health, with an emphasis on knee osteoarthritis. This work utilizes motion capture, wearable sensors and machine learning to examine how time-varying, multidimensional joint loads experienced during […]

What brought you back to UF MAE to serve as a member of the External Advisory Board? Mary Church visited Denver on a trip to reconnect with alumni in Colorado. I really enjoyed getting to know her and the MAE mission for industry outreach. I do serve on two other university boards but Florida is […]

What brought you back to UF MAE to serve as a member of the External Advisory Board? As I have advanced and matured in business, I find that doing work that is impactful is my goal.  Joining the UF MAE has been a significant way for me to invest my time and energy. What has […]

What brought you back to UF MAE to serve as a member of the External Advisory Board? I graduated eight years ago with my PhD from UF MAE, and since then I’ve been lucky to lead an exciting and fulfilling career. I work at Draper – a Not for Profit institution that has a mission […]

As Women’s History Month comes to a close, three extraordinary women of the department’s External Advisory Board (EAB) share what it’s like to be a woman in a male-dominated field. The board serves as a sounding board for all things MAE to ensure the department is doing three main things for students. Those three areas […]