Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland

Congratulations to the Center for Risk and Reliability and Associate Professor Katrina Groth (fourth from right)! CRR is part of a $10 million grant awarded to Plug Power and university partners to develop a hydrogen fueling station for cars and trucks. Learn more: go.umd.edu/fuelingstation

A new tool developed by Distinguished University Professor Balakumar Balachandran and postdoctoral researcher Thomas Breunung could help provide ships and offshore platforms with early warning of unusually large and unpredictable waves. go.umd.edu/roguewaves

University of Maryland Mechanical Engineering Alumni, Chioma Onyekwere ’16, is all set to represent Team Nigeria at the 2024 Paris Olympics!

Read more about Chioma and the other Terps participating in the Summer Olympics, Paralympics this year.

14 Terps Say ‘Bonjour’ to Summer Olympics, Paralympics Meet UMD Athletes, Coaches Representing Their Countries in Paris

A new tool developed by researchers in the University of Maryland’s (UMD) Department of Mechanical Engineering could help provide ships and offshore platforms with early warning of unusually large and unpredictable waves, known as rogue waves.

New Tool Predicts Rogue Waves Up to Five Minutes in Advance Workers on offshore platforms and ship crews could gain valuable time to prepare.

Graduate programs at the University of Maryland's (UMD) Department of Mechanical Engineering are ranked in the top 10 among public universities! According to U.S. News & World Report’s 2024–25 rankings, the ME graduate programs are #9.

Overall, for the sixth consecutive year, the A. James Clark School of Engineering at UMD ranks among the country’s top 10 public universities in graduate engineering programs and is 18th among more than 200 public and private engineering schools.

Maryland Engineering: Top 10 Among Public Graduate Programs, Six Years Running For the sixth consecutive year, the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland ranks among the country’s top 10 public universities in graduate engineering programs, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2024–25 rankings.

Congratulations to ME's Capstone Design Expo winners! Pictured with Testudo and Dean Samuel Graham, Jr. are team members Tomas Silberberg, Ethan Hays, Thomas Milne, William Dickstein, Liam Roy, and Odinn Waguespack. Harry Dankowicz, chair of the ME department, is at the right. The team worked with mentor Nehemiah Emaikwu ('17, Ph.D. '22) to build AquatiClaw, a lightweight, underwater manipulator. go.umd.edu/Expo2024

We're excited to welcome Dr. Mary C. Boyce of Columbia University. Dr. Boyce will deliver the George Dieter Distinguished Lecture on Friday, April 26. Learn more at

2024 George Dieter Distinguished Lecture: Mary Boyce | Department of Mechanical Engineering Dr. Mary C. Boyce, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Columbia University, will deliver the 2024 George Dieter Distinguished Lecture at the University of Maryland's A. James Clark School of Engineering on April 26, 2024. We invite you to listen to an audio presentation featuring Dr. Boyce, who s...

A team led by Minta Martin and Distinguished University Professor Balakumar Balachandran won a MURI award that will support a project titled "Disorder-Influenced Collective Dynamics of Nonlinear Oscillator Systems." Learn more:

Balachandran, Cameron, Yu Receive 2024 MURI Award A multidisciplinary team of researchers will study complexity science.

Are you up for the Chairs’ Challenge? This Giving Day (Wednesday, March 6), your generous contribution can be matched up to $4,500 when supporting the Mechanical Engineering Scholarship Fund for Undergraduate Students. Visit go.umd.edu/ChairsChallenge to make your gift!

Keystone Professor Teng Li and his team recently received the prestigious 2023 R&D 100 award for their invention, Aquair.

This invention earned its place among the top 100 innovations worldwide, marking a significant milestone in the field of sustainable water harvesting solutions.

During Black History Month, the Clark School is celebrating our Black engineering trailblazers: past and present engineers whose greatness opens doors, provides inspiration, and improves society by innovating for people who need it the most.

[ID: An outline of a turtle shell surrounded by a green, red, yellow and white patterned design with the text: “Celebrating Black History Month” and the University of Maryland, A. James Clark School of Engineering logo on a black background beneath it]

CRR-ers reconnect: the Center for Risk and Reliability held an alumni reception last week at the 70th Annual Reliability & Maintainability Symposium (RAMS®2024) in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

UMD Mechanical Engineering Professor Jin-Oh Hahn is among six Maryland Engineering faculty members selected for the latest round of Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) grants. Learn more: https://go.umd.edu/24durip

Congratulations to UMD Distinguished University Professor Ashwani Gupta on his induction into the Royal Academy of Engineering! Learn more:

Gupta Inducted into Royal Academy of Engineering UMD professor is honored for his achievements in clean and efficient energy conversion.

ME student Ryan Phillip and his UMBC teammate Zavier Howard took first place at the Johns Hopkins Hackathon with their game, "Majestic Signs."

To play, players use specific hand motions, offering a fun way to ease discomfort and promote hand flexibility for arthritis patients!

Extreme heat poses risks to humans—and it’s no boon to electric car batteries either. Dr. Michael Pecht, UMD Distinguished University Professor and Director of CALCE, recently joined KJZZ’s The Show to explain why.

Arizona's extreme heat could be a problem for electric car batteries Electric vehicles are gaining popularity here and across the country. But, as we watch the extreme heat in Arizona continue to break records — what does it do to the lithium-ion batteries that make them go? Michael Pecht is a mechanical engineering professor at the University of Maryland and he jo...

Congratulations to Harry Dankowicz, who will be the new department chair of starting January 1, 2024.

He is a Ph.D. graduate of and currently a professor at .

Read more: https://go.umd.edu/dankowicz

CEEE Alumnus Nehemiah Emaikwu, Ph.D. who is a Future Technical Leader at Northrop Grumman, has won the prestigious 2022 USNC/IIR Outstanding Young Researcher Paper Award Competition!

Congratulations, Nehemiah!

READ MORE: http://go.umd.edu/USNC

Congrats to doctoral student and Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland Tubaldi Lab research assistant Michael Bonthron on being selected for the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship Program!

Read more: https://go.umd.edu/bonthron

Congratulations to Dr. Tubaldi! With support from an NSF CAREER grant, she will be conducting novel research on metamaterials in combination with fluids—research that could, among other applications, lead to improved cardiovascular implants.

UMD’s Tubaldi Wins NSF CAREER Award Improved cardiovascular implants could be one result of an ME faculty member’s groundbreaking research.

UMD doctoral student Samantha Wismer has been awarded a fellowship under the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP), becoming the second student in UMD’s reliability engineering program to receive the prestigious award.

READ MORE: go.umd.edu/wismer

Join us for our Spring 2023 Design Day on May 9, 2023!

What's holding back manufacturing from the adoption of industrial AI at scale? Clark Distinguished Professor Jay Lee discusses this and more in a new interview with The Innovator.

Interview Of The Week: Jay Lee, Industrial AI Expert - The Innovator Industrial AI expert Jay Lee talks to The Innovator about how manufacturers can scale up their use of artificial intelligence.

Two current Ph.D. students and one former ME student have been selected for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program - one of the highest honors available to U.S. doctoral students!

Congratulations!

READ MORE: go.umd.edu/GFRP

Associate Professor Ryan Sochol has been honored as an inaugural “Rising Star” in the latest issue of Advanced Materials Technologies!

Congratulations!

Join us 3/16/2023 to learn about the career path of ME alum Brad Gratton, the Project Manager, CMTA Energy Solutions!!!

FREE LUNCH PROVIDED!

REGISTER NOW: http://go.umd.edu/CP-Gratton

is almost here! 🐢 On March 8, DOUBLE the impact of your gift by donating to the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Fellowship Fund. For one day only, select faculty will match gifts to this fund, dollar for dollar, up to $7,000! Join the challenge! Learn more at go.umd.edu/givingdayME

Join us 3/2/2023 to learn about the career path of ME alum Anil Tailor, the Senior Vice President of Leidos. Leidos is an American defense, aviation, information technology, and biomedical research company headquartered in Reston, Virginia.

FREE LUNCH PROVIDED!

REGISTER NOW: go.umd.edu/CP-Tailor

ME Alum Jeffrey Gair, Jr. and his company Modular Matter, Inc. have designed a prosthetic socket that uses mechanical metamaterials - human-engineered building blocks that can be manipulated and reconfigured with ease!

This socket can change along with the user, making for a more comfortable wearing experience!

UMD ME Professor Ryan Sochol was the inaugural speaker at the University of Toledo’s new Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering Distinguished Lecture Series, established in honor of Distinguished University Professor Emeritus, Theo Keith.

Congratulations!