2021-22 DEAN’S REPORT
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CONTENTS 4
Dean’s Message
6
By the Numbers
12
College Leadership
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Embodying the Mission
Department Highlights 20 Aerospace: Flight Simulators Propel Aerospace Research 21 Biosystems: From Biomass to Transportation Fuel 22 Chemical: Getting to the Heart of Engineering 24 Civil and Environmental: Engineering Resilient and Sustainable Structures 26 Computer Science and Software: Improving the Future of AI 27 Electrical and Computer: A Testament to Impactful Research 28 Industrial and Systems: Transforming Distributed Additive Manufacturing 29 Mechanical: Leading the Way in Additive Manufacturing 30 Materials: Prioritizing Patient Care with Protein Research 31 Wireless: A Legacy of Wireless Engineering Innovation
SAMUEL GINN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING DEAN’S REPORT 2021-22
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INDEX Dean Christopher B. Roberts Director, Communications and Marketing Austin Phillips Editor Cassie Montgomery
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Faculty Highlights
35
New Faculty Members
36
Student Highlights
Contributers Jeremy Henderson Joe McAdory Cassie Montgomery Virginia Speirs Alyssa Turner Graphic Design Sarah Rollins Danny Doyle
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Student Support
Web Manager Tyler Patterson
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Research Centers
Photography Marcus Kluttz 2021-22 Dean’s Report The Dean’s Report is published annually by Auburn University’s Office of Engineering Communications and Marketing. Engineering Communications and Marketing c/o Editor 1202 Shelby Center Auburn, AL 36849 eng.editor@auburn.edu 334.844.3447 © 2022 Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, Auburn University. Auburn University is an equal opportunity educational institution/ employer.
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DEAN’S MESSAGE
our vision
To be the best student-centered engineering experience in America To provide leading research that improves the quality of life and fosters economic competitiveness To be a dynamic faculty and staff that exemplifies excellence and innovation
TEN YEARS. It’s been 10 years since I assumed the role of dean of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering and what a decade of growth, of accomplishments, of a renewed commitment to being the best student-centered engineering experience in America. In this report — my last as dean before moving on to become Auburn University’s 21st president — I am excited to share with you the accomplishments of not only the last year, but also to reflect on how far we’ve come in the past decade, together. I am pleased to share that after two years of uncertainty and disruptions from the pandemic, the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering experienced a successful full return to in-person instruction and operations in the fall and spring of 2021-22. Our outstanding faculty and staff paired a commitment to
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the health and well-being of our campus community with a resolve to deliver to our students the top-notch, hands-on, experiential learning they have come to expect. Once again, our college was ranked among the top 30 public engineering schools in the nation by the U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs. This marks our third consecutive top 30 ranking, and continues a trend that started well before my time as dean. I have no doubt this trend will see the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering breaking into the top 25 public engineering schools in the near future. This consistent ranking validates our college as a national leader in engineering education and recognizes our efforts to create an exceptional student-centered engineering experience at Auburn. Over the years the college of engineering has seen tremendous growth. Overall engineering enrollment over the last decade has grown more than 25% and our efforts to significantly expand our faculty, which began in earnest in 2015, has resulted in the hiring of more than 100 tenure-track faculty members during the past seven years. The return on this effort can be found in our record-setting research expenditures for 2021, made possible through the hard work and exceptional grantsmanship of our faculty and research staff. Our list of National Science Foundation Early CAREER and Navy Young Investigator award-winning faculty has continued to grow, testament to the work, hard work of our talented researchers. Auburn Engineering students added to the list of great accomplishments that has earned our student body its high reputation. Our roster of Astronaut Scholars and Department of Defense SMART Scholars grew, several student organizations earned national recognitions for
their achievements, and undergraduate and graduate researchers alike earned significant awards to further their research pursuits. Our Engineering Academic Excellence Program celebrated its 25th anniversary this past year — a quarter century of transformational student support services geared toward underrepresented students in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. In honor of this milestone anniversary, the program has become the Center for Inclusive Engineering Excellence in recognition of the impact it has made on underrepresented engineering students. To date, more than 1,000 African American engineering undergraduates have earned degrees from Auburn, making our college a top 25 university to graduate African American engineers in the country. I am proud of the work we have accomplished together over the past decade and I know that even greater things are yet to come for the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. Sincerely,
Christopher B. Roberts Dean of Engineering
BY THE NUMBERS
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NATIONAL RANKINGS
30
th
37
th
undergraduate program ranking among public universities1
graduate program ranking among public universities1
17
th
graduate online program ranking among all engineering colleges1
1
U.S. News & World Report rankings |
2
39
th
25
th
23
rd
number of bachelor’s degrees awarded among public universities2
civil engineering degrees awarded among public universities2
undergraduate enrollment among public universities2
2019 American Society for Engineering Education data
SAMUEL GINN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING DEAN’S REPORT 2021-22
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ENROLLMENT 1 15 5,
59 1,1
3
21%
9 32 6,
17%
of undergraduate students in the university (24,931)
21%
of graduate students in the university (6,514)
students in the university (31,526)
21.9% 12.8% female students
GRADUATE STUDENTS BY PROGRAM Aerospace
24 15 12
Aerospace
539
Biosystems
Biosystems
186
Chemical
Chemical
479
Civil and Environmental
549
Computer Science and Software 1,194
Electrical and Computer
Industrial and Systems
393
Master of Engineering
Wireless Pre-engineering
1,177
Mechanical
105
Polymer and Fiber
129
20 12 39
77
24 117
Industrial and Systems
14
62 78
Engineering Management
Materials
DOCTORAL
81 64
Cybersecurity
531
33
16
Computer Science and Software
Data
MASTER’S
47
Civil and Environmental
Electrical and Computer
Mechanical
Includes African American, Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students, or students of two or more races, per the National Science Foundation 2
underrepresented2
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS BY PROGRAM
Materials
Auburn University Office of Institutional Research 1
60 10
81
36 55 (2 master’s and 4 doctoral)
94
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FRESHMAN CLASS SNAPSHOT
1,111
28.5
students
4.06
average ACT
average high school GPA
UNDERGRADUATE ENROLLMENT
4,157
4,294
2012
2013
4,968
4,963
2015
2016
4,618
2014
5,282
2017
5,559
2018
5,579
2019
5,386
5,153
2020
2021
1,116
1,159
2020
2021
GRADUATE ENROLLMENT 1,003 853
885
917
2012
2013
2014
851
897
2015
2016
971
936
2017
2018
2019
GRADUATE SNAPSHOT
536 623 17 25% master’s
doctoral
SAMUEL GINN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING DEAN’S REPORT 2021-22
certificate
female students
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STRATEGIC RESEARCH AREAS Advanced Manufacturing and Materials
RESEARCH EXPENDITURES (IN MILLIONS)
Infrastructure and Transportation
2012 $60.1
Cybersecurity and Intelligent Systems
2013 $61.3
Energy and Environment
2014 $60.0
Biomedical and Health Systems
2015 $58.3
RESEARCH SNAPSHOT
$78.2
MILLION
in research expenditures
2016
$61.7
2017
$62.6
2018
$64.3
2019
$65.6
2020 2021
$72.9 $78.2
FACULTY SNAPSHOT
190
tenured/tenure track faculty
47
non-tenure track teaching/research faculty
15
postdoctoral researchers/fellows
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HIGH PROFILE RESEARCH AREAS FUNDING AWARDED IN 2021 Transportation Engineering: $21,770,000 Advanced Manufacturing Systems: $10,025,000 Additive Manufacturing: $9,315,650 Biomedical and Health Systems: $3,444,000 Autonomy and Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing: $2,670,200
RESEARCH AWARD HIGHLIGHTS – 2021
$1,500,000 $1,000,000 Federal Aviation Administration – “Surface Integrity of Additively Manufactured Ti-6al-4v Parts” – Nima Shamsaei (Mechanical Engineering)
$750,000
US Department of Energy – “Hip Cladding & Joining to Manufacture Large Dissimilar Metal Structures for Modular & Gen IV Reactors” – Xiaoyuan Lou (Mechanical Engineering)
$750,000
BASF Corporation – “Evaluation of Mixture Performance and Structural Capacity of B2Last-Modified Asphalt” – Nam Tran (National Center for Asphalt Technology) | David Timm (Civil and Environmental Engineering)
US Polyco Inc – “Evaluation Of Mixture Performance and Structural Capacity Of Pavements Using Us Polyco New Binder Formulation” – Maria Rodezno, Buzz Powell (National Center for Asphalt Technology)
$620,035
$576,389
Advanced Technology International – “Pb Free Solder Performance and Reliability” – Sa’d Hamasha (Industrial and Systems Engineering)
National Advanced Mobility Consortium – “Systematic Evaluation of Lower Extremity Motor Adaptations to Joint Actuation” – Michael Zabala, David Bevly, Howard Chen (Mechanical Engineering) | Mark Schall (Industrial and Systems Engineering)
SAMUEL GINN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING DEAN’S REPORT 2021-22
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ACADEMIC DEPARTMENTS AND DEGREES AEROSPACE ENGINEERING Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering
ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING
Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering
Bachelor of Electrical Engineering
Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering
Bachelor of Computer Engineering Master of Science in Electrical Engineering
BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING Bachelor of Biosystems Engineering Bachelor of Biosystems Engineering- Ecological Engineering Option Bachelor of Biosystems Engineering – Forest Engineering Option Bachelor of Biosystems Engineering – Bioprocess Engineering Option
Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering
INDUSTRIAL AND SYSTEMS ENGINEERING Bachelor of Industrial and Systems Engineering Master of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering Master of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Master of Science in Biosystems Engineering
Master of Engineering Management
Ph.D. in Biosystems Engineering
Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
MATERIALS ENGINEERING
Bachelor of Chemical Engineering
Bachelor of Materials Engineering
Master of Science in Chemical Engineering
Master of Science in Materials Engineering
Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering
Ph.D. in Materials Engineering
CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering
Bachelor of Civil Engineering
Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering
Master of Science in Civil Engineering
Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering
Master of Civil Engineering Ph.D. in Civil Engineering
COMPUTER SCIENCE AND SOFTWARE ENGINEERING Bachelor of Computer Science Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
WIRELESS ENGINEERING Bachelor of Wireless Engineering
INTERDEPARTMENTAL PROGRAMS Master of Engineering
Bachelor of Software Engineering
Master of Science in Polymer and Fiber Engineering
Master of Science in Computer Science and Software Engineering
Master of Science in Data Science and Engineering – Interdisciplinary
Master of Science in Cybersecurity Engineering
Ph.D. in Polymer and Fiber Engineering
Ph.D. in Computer Science and Software Engineering
Ph.D. in Earth System Science – Interdisciplinary
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COLLEGE LEADERSHIP
To be a dynamic faculty and staff that exemplifies excellence and innovation
Christopher B. Roberts Dean
Steve Taylor
Maria Auad
Jeffrey Fergus
Janet Moore
Associate Dean for Research
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Program Assessment SAMUEL GINN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING DEAN’S REPORT 2021-22
Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Faculty Development
Assistant Dean for Student Services
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AUBURN ALUMNI ENGINEERING COUNCIL 2021 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Kenneth Kelly Chair Brad Christopher Vice Chair Brian Thurow
Aerospace Engineering Chair
Oladiran Fasina
Biosystems Engineering Head
Jim Cooper At Large Nicole Faulk Second Past Chair Maury Gaston Nominating Committee Carol Godfrey At Large Melissa Herkt At Large
Mario Eden
Chemical Engineering Chair
Andrzej Nowak
Civil and Environmental Engineering Chair
Anne Cleary Public Relations Committee Zeke Smith Government Affairs Larry Monroe At Large Olivia Owen At Large Gerald Pouncey Advancement
Hari Narayanan
Computer Science and Software Engineering Chair
Mark Nelms
Electrical and Computer Engineering Chair
Ashley Robinett Young Alumni Council Liaison Ken Smith Academics and Student Experience Committee Jeff Stone Capital Campaign Committee Jack Waddey Research
John Evans
Industrial and Systems Engineering Chair
Jeff Suhling
Mechanical Engineering Chair
Walt Woltosz Immediate Past Chair
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FELLOWS IN THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
John Cochran | Fellow, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
Robert Barnes | Fellow, American Concrete Institute (ACI)
Roy Hartfield | Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
Xing Fang | Fellow, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE); Fellow, Environmental and Water Resources Institute
BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING Andrzej Nowak | Fellow, ASCE; Fellow, ACI, Fellow, William Batchelor | Fellow, American Society
International Association for Bridge and Structural
of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE)
Engineering
Oladiran Fasina | Fellow, ASABE
Anton Schindler | Fellow, ACI; Fellow, ASCE
Steven Taylor | Fellow, ASABE
Huaguo Zhou | Fellow, Institute of Transportation Engineers
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING Harry Cullinan | Fellow, Technical Association
COMPUTER SCIENCE AND SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
of the Pulp and Paper Industry Daniela Marghitu | Fellow, Society for Design Thomas Hanley | Fellow, American Institute
and Process Science
of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Levent Yilmaz | Fellow, Society for Modeling and Joseph Shaeiwitz | Fellow, AIChE; Fellow, American
Simulation International
Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Bruce Tatarchuk | Fellow, National Academy of Inventors (NAI)
ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING Prathima Agrawal | Fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
SAMUEL GINN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING DEAN’S REPORT 2021-22
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Vishwani Agrawal | Fellow, IEEE
Alice Smith | Fellow, IISE; Fellow, IEEE; Fellow, Institute for Operations Research and Management Science
Fa Foster Dai | Fellow, IEEE; Fellow, NAI Rob Thomas | Fellow, AIHA Charlie Gross | Fellow, IEEE Mark Halpin | Fellow, IEEE John Hung | Fellow, IEEE
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Bryan A. Chin | Fellow, ASM International; Fellow, American Nuclear Society; Fellow, American Welding
Dave Irwin | Fellow, IEEE; Fellow, NAI
Society; Fellow, Electrochemical Society
Dick Jaeger | Fellow, IEEE
Malcolm Crocker | Fellow, Acoustical Society of India; Fellow, Acoustical Society of America
Hulya Kirkici | Fellow, IEEE Jeffrey Fergus | Fellow, Electrochemical Society; Fellow, Shiwen Mao | Fellow, IEEE
ABET
Mark Nelms | Fellow, IEEE
George Flowers | Fellow, ASME
Adit Singh | Fellow, IEEE
Rob Jackson | Fellow, ASME
Jitendra Tugnait | Fellow, IEEE
Jay Khodadadi | Associate Fellow, AIAA; Fellow, ASME
Dan Wilamowski | Fellow, IEEE
Pradeep Lall | Fellow, Alabama Academy of Sciences; Fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers;
John Wu | Fellow, IEEE
Fellow, ASME; Fellow, NextFlex P. K. Raju | Fellow, ASME; Fellow, American Society of
INDUSTRIAL AND SYSTEMS ENGINEERING John Evans | Luminary, Surface Mount Technology
Engineering Education; Fellow, Acoustical Society of India; Fellow, The Institution of Engineers, India Subhash Sinha | Fellow, ASME; Associate Fellow, AIAA
Association (SMTA) Jeffrey Suhling | Fellow, ASME Sean Gallagher | Fellow, American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA); Fellow, Human Factors and
Hareesh Tippur | Fellow, Society of Experimental
Ergonomics Society
Mechanics; Fellow, ASME
Chan Park | Fellow, Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) Jeff Smith | Fellow, IISE
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EMBODYING THE MISSION
Research TAKING RESEARCH TO THE NEXT LEVEL
Dongye Zhao, the Auburn Alumni Engineering Council Professor of civil and environmental engineering, received the Creative Research and Scholarship Award at Auburn University’s 2021 Faculty Awards. The award recognizes the research achievements and contributions of Auburn University faculty. In his 20 years at Auburn’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, Zhao has led, co-led or participated in more than 40 projects with external funding totaling nearly $9 million. He also has served as a major professor for more than 25 doctoral students and more than 25 Master of Science students, landed editorships for two major international journals — “Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering” and “Water Environment Research” — and delivered 124 invited seminars and keynote presentations across the globe. In addition to putting him among the top 1% of
SAMUEL GINN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING DEAN’S REPORT 2021-22
the world’s highly cited researchers, according to Clarivate and the Stanford List of World’s Top Scientists, Zhao’s innovative work in the field of environmental remediation has earned him seven U.S. patents, including several for nanotechnologies developed for the treatment and decontamination of soil and groundwater. He was the first to develop polysaccharide-stabilized nanoparticles for in situ degradation of chlorinated solvents in soil and groundwater, as well as the first to conceptualize insitu immobilization of metals/metalloids/radionuclides in soil and groundwater using stabilized nanoparticles. “Don is not an average professor,” said Andy Nowak, the Elton and Lois G. Huff Eminent Scholar Chair for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “He’s a very intelligent individual, but the reason he is so productive is because he’s such a hard worker.”
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Outreach TEACHING BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
Adit Singh, a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers whose Auburn career began in 1991, has trained and educated thousands of engineers from leading semiconductor companies worldwide in cutting-edge technologies associated with the design and testing of integrated circuit chips. For his contributions to industry and enhancing careers of countless engineers worldwide, Singh was presented the prestigious Auburn University 2021 Award for Excellence in Faculty Outreach. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Chair Mark Nelms considers Singh, “the embodiment of outreach and impact” and an “ambassador for Auburn University.” Singh has taken great pride in being instrumental in building successful engineering careers. He pointed out that the many industry professionals he educates
help spark his own creativity and research that makes a meaningful impact. When a pupil leaves Singh’s classroom and walks into industry, what educational tools are most important? “That’s very simple,” Singh said. “The fundamentals. The basic concepts of technology. Things have changed a lot in the past 30 years. Technology is rapidly advancing. The professional who is trained well is the one who can understand the basic, fundamental engineering concepts that he or she has learned. Specifics of the technology change, but the fundamentals do not.”
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Teaching
A COMMITMENT TO INSTRUCTIONAL EXCELLENCE
Jonathan Davis, biosystems engineering lecturer and undergraduate program coordinator, was awarded the college’s highest teaching award — the 2021 Walker Teaching Award. Representing the highest honor for instruction in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering and presented to only one faculty member annually, the superior level of recognition of the Walker Teaching Award stands as a prestigious testament to an educator that can produce well-rounded students. “My goal is always that students walk away from a class feeling like they have learned something,” said Davis. “I also want to provide students with the practical tools and knowledge that will help them land that first job or help them in their early career stages.” Winning the award is no easy task. To qualify, one must receive a letter of support from the department
SAMUEL GINN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING DEAN’S REPORT 2021-22
chair, obtain three additional letters of support, provide current curriculum vita, summarize courses’ relevance to engineering advancements, participate in a thorough lecturing evaluation and be evaluated by student perceptions from the past three to five years. Davis describes his teaching style as suitable and adaptable. Not ascribing to a particular philosophy, he utilizes multiple teaching methods to maximize classroom learning. “The most satisfying part of teaching is seeing the recognition on a student’s face when he or she has figured something out and realized they are learning,” he said.
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AEROSPACE FLIGHT SIMULATORS PROPEL AEROSPACE RESEARCH | BY JOE MCADORY
Umberto Saetti Assistant Professor 334.844.6825 uzs0005@auburn.edu aub.ie/USaetti
Umberto Saetti, assistant professor in aerospace engineering, was granted a $510,000 Young Investigator Award from the Office of Naval Research for his study, “Linearized High-Fidelity Aeromechanics for Extended Reality Simulation and Control of Shipboard Interactions.” The purpose of the project is to find solutions that will preserve human life and prevent millions of dollars in aircraft from being destroyed. The problem: heavy rotor downwash which, when interacting with the ship deck, hull or water surface, recirculates into the rotor, causing increased power demands and adverse handling effects.
SAMUEL GINN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING DEAN’S REPORT 2021-22
“The ability to replicate these interactions in realtime flight simulations could help supplement the creation of Launch and Recovery Envelopes (LREs) aboard naval vessels. This virtual approach to LRE certification could be used to replace potentially unsafe live simulations during a dynamic interface period,” said Saetti. Saetti offered three components to the proposal: modeling, control of the downwash interactions and pilot simulations in full-body haptic feedback suits. “Once we know the interactions that occur, you will basically use a procedure called linearization. We’re making these complicated relationships between the rotorcraft and ship deck much easier, mathematically speaking, so that they’re constituted by simple algebraic relationships,” he said. Saetti is no stranger to helicopter research for the U.S. military. His study, “State-Variable Implementation and Linearization of Simulations with Multi-Disciplinary Aeromechanics,” with the Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence, earned a five-year, $571,000 contract last summer.
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BIOSYSTEMS FROM BIOMASS TO TRANSPORTATION FUEL | BY VIRGINIA SPEIRS
Sushil Adhikari Professor Director, Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts 334.844.3543 sza0016@auburn.edu aub.ie/SAdhikari
Sushil Adhikari, professor of biosystems engineering and director of the Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts, was awarded more than $700,000 by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs for the project “Advanced Liquid Transportation Fuels from Co-Liquefaction of Forest Biomass and Waste Plastics.” The money was awarded out of the $4.8 million Alabama Research and Development Enhancement Fund, and five universities across the state of Alabama were awarded a portion. The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering received $1.6 million for various projects. Adhikari’s project focuses on converting forest biomass and plastic waste into transportation
fuels. This will utilize both the natural abundance of forest resources the South has to offer and the environmental nuisance of plastic waste, in order to convert it into an environmentally-friendly liquid fuel alternative, according to Adhikari. Most of the award will be used to recruit graduate students and postdocs who will work on the project, and the rest will be used to purchase critical research equipment to build Auburn’s research infrastructure for biomass and plastic pyrolysis. The project team will leverage existing infrastructure and expertise at the Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts at Auburn. “We have been working on converting biomass into energy for a long time, and receiving funding from ADECA to advance the process shows the importance of this research for our state,” Adhikari said.
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CHEMICAL GETTING TO THE HEART OF ENGINEERING | BY VIRGINIA SPEIRS
Elizabeth Lipke Mary and John H. Sanders Professor 334.844.2003 eal0003@auburn.edu aub.ie/ELipke
Selen Cremaschi Redd Endowed Eminent Scholar Chair Professor 334.844.4970 szc0113@auburn.edu aub.ie/SCremaschi
For Auburn professors Elizabeth Lipke, the Mary and John H. Sanders Professor of chemical engineering, and Selen Cremaschi, the B. Redd and Susan W. Redd Endowed Eminent Scholar Chair Professor of chemical engineering, cardiomyocyte research is at the heart of their work.
SAMUEL GINN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING DEAN’S REPORT 2021-22
The duo has brought together a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional team to apply engineering and development biology knowledge and toolsets to advance heart cell production. The National Science Foundation awarded $1.5 million, of which $924,660 is directed to Auburn Engineering, for the project “RECODE: Directing and Controlling Cardiac Differentiation Through Cellular and Microenvironmental Manipulation and Application of Machine-Learning.” The project is a collaboration between Auburn University, Stanford University and Alabama State University. The goal of the project is to improve the ability to produce heart cells, specifically heart cells called cardiomyocytes, the contracting heart cells that do the work of pumping blood throughout the body. “Unbeknownst to most people, there are over twenty unique types of cardiomyocytes in your heart, but the current state-of-the-art 2D methods for making these cells almost exclusively produce one of these types,” Lipke said. “So we’re working to better understand the developmental biology processes involved and leverage that knowledge to produce different types in 3D tissue engineered systems.”
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It is a costly, multi-dimensional process to experiment, test and produce the cardiomyocytes, according to Cremaschi. Closely integrating modeling and computational studies with the experimental work uniquely positions this research team to determine the best conditions for scalable heart cell production in a faster and more efficient way.
cardiovascular disease modeling and regeneration.
“As you can imagine, each experiment takes a long time to actually go from stem cells all the way to the cardiomyocytes, or the heart cells,” Cremaschi said. “They are costly, both in terms of time as well as resources. So, it’s not possible to test all possible combinations of producing these heart cells. What we’re trying to do is combine experimental studies with modeling studies to be able to rapidly identify what are some of the best conditions for getting different types of heart cells produced.”
Unfortunately, heart issues are the most common cause of death in the United States and, although numbers had been going down since 2000, in the past few years they have been gradually increasing again with numbers during 2020 exceeding those in 2002, according to Lipke.
Each professor on the project brings a unique skillset to the overall research. Komal Vig, professor of biological sciences at Alabama State University, specializes in the nanomaterials necessary for drug delivery. Sean Wu, associate professor of medicine at Stanford University, is a cardiologist and specializes in cardiovascular developmental biology and
“At Auburn we have expertise in data-driven model development and using computational models, which is Dr. Cremaschi’s expertise,” Lipke said. “My expertise is in tissue engineering and building 3D methodologies for producing cells in scalable systems.”
Because of the immediate need, it is essential to have researchers that are willing to learn both the experimental and modeling terminology to be able to communicate, be willing to share their expertise and data, and be able to build meaningful models that actually help move the process forward, according to Cremaschi. There are also a lot of challenges in this field, but the reward is great, she said.
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CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING RESILIENT AND SUSTAINABLE STRUCTURES | BY VIRGINIA SPEIRS
Kadir Sener Assistant Professor 334.844.6268 kcs0047@auburn.edu aub.ie/KSener
Kadir Sener, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, had a busy year. With two projects totaling more than $1 million in federal grant funding, the structural engineering researcher is working to keep infrastructure safe from external hazards using sustainable and resilient solutions. The first project, led by Sener and Jack Montgomery, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, received $499,999 from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to develop a soil-structureinteraction framework to enhance the regulatory oversight of new generation nuclear power plant designs known as Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). “Most SMR designs that are currently under
SAMUEL GINN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING DEAN’S REPORT 2021-22
development place the critical compartments like the reactor containment or the entire structure below ground level,” Sener said. “This structural layout is advantageous in protecting compartments with critical equipment from external hazards and also mitigating the environmental exposure of contaminants in an accident event. However, partially or fully burying these structures causes potential uncertainties related to the performance against earthquakes, where soil-structure-interaction and interface behavior are expected to have a significant impact on the structural response.” The research team will conduct experimental and numerical studies to develop a modeling framework for improved safety of SMRs. “Nearly all studies on interface behavior between soil and structures have focused on small-scale tests or surface footings, which makes it difficult to know if the results are valid for large, buried structures,” Montgomery said. “The geotechnical chamber built into Auburn’s recently opened Advanced Structural Engineering Laboratory will give us the unique testing capability to test large-scale specimens that
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realistically simulate the interface behavior.” Montgomery said the experimental data generated during the project will be seminal in guiding vendors and researchers to conduct further investigations on specific structure designs and soil conditions. Additionally, Sener is the principal investigator on a multi-disciplinary project that received nearly $500,000 in federal and industry funds, including $237,000 from the USDA Forest Service Wood Innovations Grant program. The project includes four Auburn Engineering professors from three different disciplines who will research the best way to design a sustainable, economically feasible building structure using timber and steel. The goal of the project is not only to provide an environmentally friendly construction option but also a structurally efficient and widely applicable building method. Co-principal investigator David Roueche, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and specialist in cross-laminated timber, says that
southern pine, one of the most abundant trees in Alabama, is one of the best species of wood to use in this project. The current construction practice for mid-rise steel frame buildings uses 60-70% of the overall material in the floor alone. Additionally, most of the material used is concrete — an inexpensive, yet environmentally detrimental material with a substantial carbon footprint. For this reason, cross-laminated timber panels will replace the concrete in this new design. According to Sener, steel and timber are ideal structural partners. The combination of steel and timber have a degree of structural performance that the individual materials could never reach, he said. “In order to open the market for mass timber, we wanted to use it with steel structures, since timber alone is not economically feasible for high-rise buildings,” Sener said. “We ended up designing a very sustainable construction system, too.”
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COMPUTER SCIENCE AND SOFTWARE IMPROVING THE FUTURE OF AI | BY JOE MCADORY
Anh Nguyen Assistant Professor 334.844.6318 azn0044@auburn.edu aub.ie/ANguyen
The future of artificial intelligence includes autonomous vehicles, doctors and surgeons, and even helping authorities identify criminals. Though AI is transforming disciplines from transportation to policing to healthcare, AI-based systems often make mistakes when facing scenarios that they have never seen before. Assistant professor Anh Nguyen earned a $460,736 Faculty Early Career Development Award by the National Science Foundation for his five-year project, “Harnessing external knowledge to improve computer vision robustness, explainability, and user accuracy.” Funds allow his project to create the first K-6 artificial intelligence club in Alabama, explore creative ways
SAMUEL GINN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING DEAN’S REPORT 2021-22
to implement AI research into a new course at Auburn University, establish collaborative efforts with industry partners and educate external audiences by publishing reproducible code, public-oriented videos and explore new ways AI can reach better decisions, and ultimately provide better outcomes. Poor AI decision-making can have disastrous consequences. The solution? Build AI-based systems that harness external sources of knowledge to make more informed and accurate decisions. How? Utilize large text and image datasets, including Wikipedia and Google, for image classifiers to leverage and make better decisions. Humans often rationalize data before making decisions. Why not AI? The research goal is to shift the paradigm, where AI-based systems make deliberate decisions via critical thinking. Nguyen will also explore means to design AI systems that users can better understand, learn thought processes and determine how and why conclusions are made. Then they can debug, assess them and improve them in human-in-the-loop applications.
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ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER A TESTAMENT TO IMPACTFUL RESEARCH | BY JOE MCADORY
Masoud Mahjouri-Samani Assistant Professor 334.844.1826 mzm0185@auburn.edu aub.ie/MMahjouri-Samani
Masoud Mahjouri-Samani, assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering, had a big 2021. One project was awarded $499,940 by the National Science Foundation (NSF), while another revealed instant test results for the COVID-19 virus. Mahjouri-Samani’s study, “Multi-Material Manufacturing of Eco-Friendly and Biodegradable Paper-Based Flexible Hybrid Electronics,” demonstrates a transformative dry additive nanomanufacturing approach that enables the printing of eco-friendly papertronics. Currently, substrates in use are made of polymers, which never decompose. A team of researchers created the world’s first machine that can print on any substrate.
He is joined on the project by a team of Auburn Engineering co-principal investigators from the departments of mechanical engineering and electrical and computer engineering. Aside from eco-friendly creations, Mahjouri-Samani’s study, “Two-Dimensional-Material-Based Field-Effect Transistor Biosensor for Detecting the COVID-19 Virus,” provides an alternative to detecting specific viruses. The team developed the tiny electronic device based on 2D materials that are modified with antibodies so that it can immediately detect the virus spike protein. When the virus spike protein interacts with the antibody within the device, it impacts the electronic properties of the atomically thin monolayer 2D material. Once the lab technician puts the sample drop on the transistor surface, the result is evident. Collaborators include Michael Hamilton, professor and director of the Alabama Micro-Nano Science and Technology Center, Marcelo A. Kuroda, associate professor in physics and Sahar Hasim, assistant professor in biology at Mercer University.
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INDUSTRIAL AND SYSTEMS TRANSFORMING DISTRIBUTED ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING | BY ALYSSA TURNER mechanical engineering is a co-PI.
Jia (Peter) Liu Assistant Professor 334.844.1428 lzj0040@auburn.edu aub.ie/JLiu
Jia (Peter) Liu, assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering, is the principal investigator of a multi-disciplinary team of scientists that was awarded a $498,762 grant by the National Science Foundation for their project, “Federated Deep Learning for Future Ubiquitous Distributed Additive Manufacturing.” This Future Manufacturing Seed Grant project introduces developing a unified algorithmic and training framework, Federated Modular Deep Learning (FedMDL), for future distributed additive manufacturing (AM). FedMDL will ensure reliable production, consistent qualification and privacypreserving information sharing at two levels: algorithmic and cyber-infrastructural. Nima Shamsaei, Philpott-Westpoint Stevens Distinguished Professor of
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According to Liu, the potential benefits of distributed AM in the supply chain are driving research efforts in the U.S. and across the globe. “The 3D printing COVID-19 rapid response initiative in the U.S. provided nearly one million pieces of safe personal protective equipment for local medical providers,” said Liu. “But the unexpected debut of nationwide AM production revealed outstanding challenges FedMDL is targeting to fix.” By addressing the challenges of unreliable, consistent product quality and the inability to share information and insights without compromising privacy, FedMDL is charting a new course to achieve reliable and reconfigurable nationwide mass customization capabilities by distributed AM. “Once the FedMDL framework is developed and validated, it will be open-sourced for the AM community and other manufacturing communities to expand their research to a distributed manufacturing paradigm,” said Liu.
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MECHANICAL LEADING THE WAY IN ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING | BY JEREMY HENDERSON Nima Shamsaei Philpott-WestPoint Stevens Distinguished Professor Director, National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence 334.844.4839 nzs0058@auburn.edu aub.ie/NShamsaei
In five years, the National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence (NCAME) has turned Auburn University into a premiere destination for additive manufacturing research. Founded in 2017 through a public-private partnership with NASA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NCAME is housed within the Gavin Engineering Research Laboratory, which is specifically dedicated to additive manufacturing of metals, polymers and composites. “NCAME conducts research on improving the performance of parts created using AM and shares research results with industry and government collaborators,” said NCAME Director Nima Shamsaei,
the Philpott-WestPoint Stevens Distinguished Professor of mechanical engineering. A founding partner of the ASTM International’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence, NCAME currently has more than 100 industry, government and academic collaborators, including Aerojet Rocketdyne, Boeing, GE Additive, GE Aviation, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Rolls-Royce and Carpenter. About 30 faculty members are involved in NCAME’s research activities, focused on five core strategic areas: structural integrity of AM materials; lasermaterial interactions and thermal aspects of AM; data analytics; digital manufacturing and AM cyber and physical security; and applications. During 2020 and 2021, NCAME established new partnerships with the Federal Aviation Administration, as well as the U.S. Army DEVCOM Ground Vehicle Systems Center and DEVCOM Aviation & Missile Center, which seek to investigate matters related to AM qualification and certification — one of the main challenges for widespread adoption of AM in safety critical applications.
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MATERIALS PRIORITIZING PATIENT CARE WITH PROTEIN RESEARCH | BY JEREMY HENDERSON
Pengyu Chen Associate Professor Ginn Faculty Achievement Fellow 334.844.4913 pzc0026@auburn.edu aub.ie/PChen
ill patient after receiving an experimental therapy for cancer. That was good enough for a $1.9 million National Institutes of Health Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award for Early Stage Investigators. More recently, his group developed novel labelfree gold-nanoparticle barcode imaging techniques for point-of-care COVID testing and rapid immune analysis in severe COVID patients.
The ongoing revolution in fundamental biology, immunology and clinical discovery critically hinges on the availability of diagnostic tools capable of decentralized point-of-care measurements to provide immediate quantitative information of protein levels at the bedside or in the clinic. Enter Pengyu Chen.
Chen is also using a 2020 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award for research into aptamer induced self-assembly of nano-plasmonic structures for imaging cytokine secretion from single immune cells.
The associate professor of materials engineering is developing innovative nanomaterial based optofluidic biosensing devices for rapid, accurate and sensitive detection of multiple secretory immune proteins.
“Such an approach will establish a new paradigm that permits, for the first time, direct visualization of the dynamic intercellular communication process in the immune system,” Chen said.
An assay developed by Chen’s Advanced Nanomaterials Engineering Laboratory was successfully used under the FDA’s emergency use program to direct anti-cytokine therapy in a critically
Through a $2.6 million NIH grant, this imaging technique has been applied to mapping the cytokine secretion signatures in CAR-T cell immune therapy to provide a better and safer treatment for leukemia.
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WIRELESS A LEGACY OF WIRELESS ENGINEERING INNOVATION | BY JOE MCADORY
Xiaowen Gong Assistant Professor 334.844.1851 xzg0017@auburn.edu aub.ie/XGong
Shiwen Mao Earle C. Williams Eminent Scholar Chair Professor 334.844.1845 smao@auburn.edu aub.ie/SMao
Samuel Ginn’s $25 million gift to the college in 2001 not only helped fund a wireless engineering degree program — but it continues to pay dividends. Wireless engineering faculty Shiwen Mao and Xiaowen Gong’s research combined to generate $540,000 in grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Mao, professor and director of the Wireless Engineering Research and Education Center, was awarded $320,000 by the NSF for “Data Augmentation and Adaptive Learning for Next Generation Wireless Spectrum Systems.” Through the research, Mao will devise innovative approaches through machine learning that enable wireless researchers and practitioners to acquire data more efficiently and at a reduced cost. Gong, assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering, was awarded $220,000 by the NSF for his study, “Quality-Aware Distributed Computation for Wireless Federated Learning: Channel-Aware User Selection, Mini-Batch Size Adaptation, and Scheduling.” The study explores innovative, crossdisciplinary research at the intersection of wireless networking and machine learning, studying wireless federated learning in order to achieve collaborative intelligence within wireless networks. The project is expected to inspire further research and stimulate more insights to support various and emerging machine learning/artificial intelligence applications over wireless networks.
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INNOVATIVE INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
The interdisciplinary team evaluating multilayer plastics includes faculty from Auburn Engineering, the Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences and College of Agriculture, as well as Tuskegee University and Southern Union State Community College.
EXPANDING RECYCLING OPTIONS When it comes to recycling, not all plastics are treated equally. Multilayer plastics, which make up the majority of food-packaging material, fall into an “other” category of plastics due to their composition. The same process that keeps food products, including meats, juices, cheeses, prepared foods and others safe during transportation and storage makes recycling “quite difficult,” said Edward Davis, Auburn University associate professor of materials engineering. “The issue with multilayer structures is, quite often, they’re adhered together. In traditional thermal plastic recycling systems, there’s not a good way to separate those materials and so what happens to multilayer packaging, in general, is it just gets sent to a landfill. There’s nothing that you can really do with it to recycle it,” Davis said. Faculty from Auburn’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, College of Forestry and Wildlife
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Sciences and College of Agriculture, along with faculty from Tuskegee University and Southern Union State Community College, are teaming up in an interdisciplinary effort to research the issue of recycling multilayer plastics with their project “Supercritical Extraction for the Elimination of End-ofLife Plastics.” With the $1.9 million award, funded by the National Science Foundation, researchers will use the unique properties of supercritical carbon dioxide mixtures to enable the separation of the materials used in typical multilayer food packaging. If successful, the project will result in new technology that increases the recyclability of plastic waste, reduces the amount of plastic waste entering landfills and limits the environmental impact of food packaging.
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The interdisciplinary team to develop composite materials from waste resources for additive manufacturing includes Maria Auad and Sushil Adhikari of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, and Brian Via and Maria Soledad Peresin of the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING THROUGH 3D PRINTING An interdisciplinary project connecting several Auburn University faculty and fellow scientists will address the hard-hitting reality that affordable housing is out of reach for many Americans living in rural areas.
3D printing, which will be done at Idaho. This process will include conversion of biomass into chemicals and nanomaterials to help improve the sustainability of the resin.
But the path of this research may lead to viable solutions that would have seemed futuristic mere years ago: planning advanced manufacturing that helps utilize waste biomaterials, which can then be produced through additive manufacturing — more commonly known as 3D printing — to create housing or building components.
The proposed interdisciplinary project, “Developing a Circular Bio-Based Framework For Architecture, Engineering and Construction Through Additive Manufacturing,” targets what is called the Advanced Manufacturing Industry of the Future.
The interdisciplinary study, which spans engineering, chemistry, forest resources and architecture, includes faculty experts from Auburn’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, College of Agriculture and College of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, in collaboration with the University of Idaho. The Auburn-led portion of this interdisciplinary project will focus on bio-resin development as a feedstock for
“The thematic basis of our proposal is to develop innovative materials that will be environment-friendly, less dependent on depleting petroleum resources and will use natural sources or waste products with the realization of the impact on the environment that the current generation of composite materials have at the end of their life,” said Maria Auad, the Charles Gavin Distinguished Professor in Auburn’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering and director of the Center for Polymer and Advanced Composites at Auburn.
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FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS Sushil Adhikari, professor of biosystems engineering, was awarded more than $700,000 from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs for the project “Advanced Liquid Transportation Fuels from Co-Liquefaction of Forest Biomass and Waste Plastics.” Majid Beidaghi, associate professor of mechanical engineering, is the principal investigator on a nearly $1 million grant to improve the academic success of undergraduate mechanical engineering and materials engineering transfer students. Benjamin Bowers, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, will lead an interdisciplinary team on a $1.539 million project from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to address increasingly critical needs necessary for resilient infrastructure. Collaborators from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering include Jose Vasconcelos, associate professor; Frances O’Donnell, assistant professor; and Brian Anderson, associate professor. Fa Foster Dai, the Godbold Endowed Chair Professor in electrical and computer engineering, was named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. Robert Jackson, the Albert Smith Jr. Professor of mechanical engineering, was named a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Jay Khodadadi, professor of mechanical engineering, was named a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Nima Shamsaei, Philpott-WestPoint Stevens Distinguished Professor of mechanical engineering and director of the National Center for Additive Manufacturing, is the principal investigator on a $4.3 million Army grant to investigate materials, parts and process qualification. Co-principal investigators include Masoud Mahjouri-Samani, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering; Shuai Shao, associate professor of mechanical engineering; and Elham Mirkoohi, assistant professor of mechanical engineering. Alice Smith, the Joe W. Forehand/Accenture professor of industrial and systems engineering, was named a fellow of the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science. Jose Vasconcelos, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, has been recognized with the 2022 Outstanding Associate Editor Award by the ASCE Environmental and Water Resources Institute. Vasconcelos is also the principal investigator on a nearly $800,000 National Science Foundation to study Adverse Multiphase Flow Interactions. Jin Wang, the Walt and Virginia Woltosz Professor of chemical engineering, was named a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors. Shiqiang (Nick) Zou, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, is the principal investigator on a $533,000 subcontract from the Department of Energy - National Alliance for Water Innovation.
Robert Pantazes, assistant professor of chemical engineering, is a collaborator on a $6 million project funded by the National Science Foundation to develop sensors to promote quality control in the biomanufacturing sector. Vrishank Raghav, assistant professor of aerospace engineering, received a $500,000 National Science Foundation CAREER award for his project “FluidStructure Interactions in Pulsatile Flow.”
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Listen to our podcasts with Sushil Adhikari, Benjamin Bowers, Rob Jackson and Frances O’Donnell at eng.auburn.edu/ginning.
NEW FACULTY MEMBERS Brendon Allen | Ph.D. University of Florida Assistant Professor Mechanical Engineering My research focuses on the design of controllers for nonlinear dynamical systems. To address control design and analysis problems, my research is focused on the development of a Lyapunov control methodology. Specifically, my efforts are focused on adaptive, robust and learning control development for uncertain nonlinear systems. Applications of interest include rehabilitation robotics, hybrid exoskeletons and autonomous systems.
Vahid Azimi | Ph.D. Georgia Institute of Technology Assistant Professor Mechanical Engineering My research focuses on the development of rigorous approaches that integrate learning and optimization techniques, and control theory towards providing safe and robust control methodologies for uncertain dynamical cyber-physical systems operating in complex environments. My areas of interest are robotics, autonomous systems, learning, nonlinear control and optimization.
Jean-Francois Louf | Ph.D. Aix-Marseille University Assistant Professor Chemical Engineering In the Nature Inspired Fluids and Elasticity (NIFE) lab, we investigate problems at the crossroad of physics, engineering and plant biology, to uncover fundamental principles that govern the behavior of soft materials and biological systems. We address these questions using tools like microfluidics, microscopy imaging, polymer synthesis and concepts like fluid mechanics, poroelasticity and polymer physics.
Elham Mirkoohi | Ph.D. Georgia Institute of Technology Assistant Professor Mechanical Engineering The focus of our research is on modeling, monitoring, control and optimization of advanced manufacturing technologies including additive manufacturing, subtractive manufacturing, metamorphic manufacturing and hybrid manufacturing using state-of-the-art Data-Driven approaches. Moreover, we perform basic research on understanding the process-structure-property linkages by developing predictive tools, including multi-physics software and machine learning.
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AEROSPACE JUNIOR RECEIVES ASTRONAUT SCHOLAR AWARD
Margaret “Maggie” Nelson, junior in aerospace engineering, reaches for the stars. Literally and figuratively. As an aerospace engineering student, Nelson has always loved the idea of being an astronaut. She has another passion, however: sustainability. At Auburn, she has found a way to combine the two. When she’s not in class, Nelson is in the Gavin Research Laboratory for at least 35 hours a week, pursuing research on the recyclability of shape memory polymers using polystyrene from old CD cases. “I was the ‘space kid’ growing up,” Nelson recalled. “I’ve always felt that this was the one thing I was really interested in. My big sister, who is also an Auburn engineer, first introduced me to sustainability. I figured I would be able to incorporate sustainability into aerospace, and I knew that was what I wanted to do moving forward.” Nelson’s hope is that, if her research is successful, recycled polystyrene will be a sustainable option for aerospace applications such as low-volume injection molds and integrated actuators that assist in the
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transport and deployment of satellites, she wrote in her personal statement. Nelson was recently selected for the Astronaut Scholar Award by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. The award includes a paid trip to Orlando, Florida for the Innovators Gala; an opportunity to present her research at the Scholar Technical Conference; personal mentoring by a scholar alumni, C-suite executive or an astronaut; an opportunity to participate in the Michael Collins Family Professional Development Program; and membership in the Astronaut Scholar Honor Society. Additionally, Nelson will have the opportunity to receive a scholarship of up to $15,000. “Receiving the award was definitely reaffirming,” Nelson said. “Engineering can be hard and it’s easy to get caught up in the little details and not see the big picture, so it definitely reaffirmed that I was on the right path.” Nelson has been conducting her research under the guidance of Russell Mailen, assistant professor of aerospace engineering.
STUDENT HIGHLIGHTS Two aerospace engineering students were named Department of Defense SMART Scholars: doctoral student Roberto Perera Aguiar and junior Lila Saunders. Mousumi Akter, a third-year doctoral student in computer science and software engineering, was awarded a student scholarship to attend the Virtual Grace Hopper Celebration Conference and was selected for the Google CS Research Mentorship Program. Auburn University Robotic Mining Challenge Team placed 12th out of 50 teams in the NASA RMC LUNABOTICS Challenge, an annual competition offering students practical experience in the full engineering lifecycle. Auburn University Rocketry Association placed 12th out of 76 teams in the 2021 Spaceport America Cup, the world’s largest intercollegiate rocketry engineering contest. In January 2022, the GAVLab and the Autonomous Tiger Racing Team competed at the Indy Autonomous Challenge at CES in Las Vegas. ATR was the only USbased team that qualified to compete in the race. Auburn civil engineering graduate students Fernando Cordero and Mitch Fisher were both selected for the 2021 Graduate Research Award Program sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration. Abbishek Gururaj, a doctoral student in aerospace engineering, won first place in the student poster competition at the American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics annual conference in November 2021. Mohammadjafar Hashemi, chemical engineering doctoral candidate, was awarded a two-year predoctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association to continue his research into cardiovascular disease.
Luca Kim, doctoral student in the Department of Chemical Engineering, received the Best Poster Award from the North American Membrane Society. Three civil engineering graduate students conducting research at the National Center for Asphalt Technology Test Track received competitive scholarships from the Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists. Tiana Lynn was awarded the Ward K. Parr Scholarship with Megan Foshee selected as runner-up, and Faustina Keuliyan won the Rebecca S. McDaniel Memorial Scholarship. Aerospace engineering student Ryota Nakano received a Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) award to further his research on the evolution of binary asteroids. Nicholas Rush, a senior double-majoring in electrical engineering and aerospace engineering, is one of eight students nationally to receive the 2021 Sigma Gamma Tau National Aerospace Honor Society’s Outstanding Senior Award. Vinita Shinde, chemical engineering graduate student, received the Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering Division Award from the American Chemical Society. Emily Wilson, aerospace engineering junior, is one of two 2021 recipients of the Air Force Research Laboratory Munitions Directorate Outstanding Scholar Award.
Listen to our podcasts with Maggie Nelson, Vinita Shinde and Mohammadjafar Hashemi at eng.auburn.edu/ginning.
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The best student-centered experience in America. 2,963
students supported by scholarships in 2021-22
$29
MILLION
scholarship support awarded to engineering students in 2021-22
40+
engineering student organizations
The Brown-Kopel Student Achievement Center serves as a central gathering space for engineering students.
SAMUEL GINN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING DEAN’S REPORT 2021-22
ENSURING ENGINEERING’S FUTURE The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering is committed to providing the best student-centered engineering experience in America. Our Keystone Society donors are a strategic part of this vision, providing much-needed annual funds to the college. In fiscal year 2021, members of the Keystone Society collectively contributed more than $2 million to all areas of Auburn Engineering. These funds enhance engineering education and allow the college to remain nimble and tackle any unexpected challenges.
68%
LARGEST AREAS OF SUPPORT: Scholarships: The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering provided more than $4 million in engineering scholarships in the academic year 2021-22 through a total of 1,546 scholarships.
of all funds raised were endowed
55.8% of funds received went to scholarships – a total of $14.2 million raised toward the total endowment
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP TEAM
Programmatic:
The Strategic Leadership Team exists to help move the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s highestlevel strategic priorities forward. Since it was established, the team has contributed more than $188 million to propel these priorities.
The college raised $9.7 million for programmatic support. These funds are mostly unrestricted Funds for Excellence, which allow the deans and department chairs to meet priority goals for the college.
WHO ARE AUBURN ENGINEERING’S DONORS?
3,516 DONORS
3000 2500
2,465
have given
2000
7,258 GIFTS
1500
in fiscal year 2020
1000 516
500
160
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s nd
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$25 MILLION
funds raised in fiscal year 2021
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25 Years
OF ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
After a record fundraising year, the Auburn Engineering Academic Excellence Program enters a new era as the Auburn University Center for Inclusive Engineering Excellence.
The Auburn Engineering Academic Excellence Program was founded in 1996 as the Minority Engineering Program. Dedicated to promoting diversity within engineering, the program serves to recruit, retain and reward underrepresented students within all engineering fields. For 25 years, the Academic Excellence Program has played a vital role in promoting diversity among the Auburn University student body while serving students through academic and professional development, mentorship and peer learning. Now serving more than 400 students each year, the Academic Excellence Program offers those same opportunities as well as collaborative study groups, workshops, programs for career readiness and financial awards. In recognition of the impact on student success that the program has made in its first quarter century, the program will be known as the Auburn University Center for Inclusive Engineering Excellence going forward. More representative of the broader support and expanded mission of the program, the Center for Inclusive Engineering Excellence elevates the standing of this program on the Auburn Engineering campus.
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FROM PRE-COLLEGE TO GRADUATION AND BEYOND The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering has many avenues for students to find academic and professional support and guidance on their path to graduation. From K-12 outreach through student support and postgraduate guidance, the comprehensive Auburn Engineering experience makes the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering the best student-centered engineering experience in the country.
FUTURE ENGINEERS The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s vision is committed to exposing K-12 students to the field of engineering. In partnership with faculty, staff and campus partners, the College of Engineering engages K-12 students through hands-on and interactive engineering programs while empowering and encouraging students to develop the necessary skills and confidence to pursue a career in a STEM field.
100+ WOMEN STRONG Fostering the success of female engineering students is the guiding principle of 100+ Women Strong, an organization to recruit, retain and reward Auburn women in engineering. Alumni and friends of Auburn Engineering offer their time to encourage female engineering students through mentoring, sharing professional experiences and unique networking opportunities.
ENGINEERING TUTORING CENTER Students are encouraged to participate in individual and group tutoring services that cover nearly 75 subjects in math, science and high-demand engineering courses.
MENTORING AND ADVISING The academic advisors and faculty in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering are engaged and ready to help students achieve their academic goals. Additional peer advising and mentoring programs serve to further highlight the Auburn Engineering experience as one that centers student academic achievement.
CAREER DEVELOPMENT The college’s Office of Career Development and Corporate Relations aims to equip students to discover, develop and launch purposeful careers. By providing customized, student-centered career coaching and resources and cultivating industryfocused partnerships, Auburn engineers can feel confident in their search for a co-op, internship or full-time position.
How do Auburn engineers gain experience?
Co-op Internship Research
79%
of students experienced positive career outcomes within six months of graduation
89%
positive outcome rate for students who completed an internship and/or co-op
Latest data available is from 2020-21 academic year.
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RESEARCH CENTERS
Auburn University Research and Innovation Campus
State-of-the-Art Auburn University is expanding its footprint in the Huntsville area with the acquisition of a new research facility located in the Cummings Research Park. The university reached an agreement with LogiCore Corp. to purchase two buildings with more than 40,000 square feet of space situated on a nine-acre parcel of land at 345 Voyager Way NW.
Designed to foster a new era of interagency and interdisciplinary collaboration necessary to secure the nation into the next century, the facility will serve as a state-of-the-art research space, collaboration engine and conference center that will focus Auburn’s expertise and next-generation resources on the defense, aerospace and law enforcement agencies that call Redstone Arsenal home.
Located within minutes of Redstone Arsenal’s Gate 9 entrance and near many of Auburn’s research partners in defense, aerospace, law enforcement, cybersecurity and biotech sectors, the facility will significantly expand Auburn University’s presence in the fastestgrowing tech hub in the country, establishing a permanent foundation from which Auburn can leverage its regional reputation and thriving publicprivate partnerships into unprecedented national prestige and influence.
“We are excited about the opportunities to expand our research capability in Huntsville, which is home to many members of the Auburn Family and our valued research partners,” said former Auburn University President Jay Gogue. “We hope this facility will quickly become the primary connection for the Huntsville community to Auburn University and will be the goto destination for government and industry entities around Redstone looking to meet in an unbiased, trusted location for technical interfacing.”
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Advanced Structural Engineering Laboratory
Game-changing In June 2021, Auburn Engineering officially dedicated the $22 million Advanced Structural Engineering Laboratory (ASEL). The ceremony took place in front of an audience that included former Auburn University President Jay Gogue, several members of the Auburn University Board of Trustees and nearly 200 guests of the college. The ASEL is a state-of-the-art 42,000-square-foot facility that includes a high bay laboratory with a strong wall and strong floor specially engineered to handle extreme structural testing loads. Inside the building, there is a geotechnical chamber within the floor, a materials research and testing laboratory, hurricane-level wind testing capabilities and spaces for faculty and graduate student research. The lab houses the only test chamber in the nation that is included in a university laboratory and will allow the conduction of geotechnical research on foundations, anchorages and towers previously only possible in the field. “This is a world-class lab that in my opinion is second to none,” said Auburn University Trustee Charles McCrary, ’73 mechanical engineering and retired president and chief executive officer of Alabama Power Company. “We can make this world a safer place because of this facility. It’s an engineer’s dream.”
Autonomous Vehicle Research Facility
Committed The National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) at Auburn University debuted its new $800,000 autonomous vehicle research facility in February 2021. Located at 560 DeVall Drive, the facility, which is attached to the NCAT test track, will aid researchers in the GPS and Vehicle Dynamics Laboratory (GAVLAB), led by David Bevley, the Bill and Lana McNair Distinguished Professor of mechanical engineering and Scott Martin, assistant professor of mechanical engineering. The facility includes a garage with multiple bays and lifts for commercial trucks and passenger vehicles, office space for researchers, a conference room and an observation area overlooking NCAT’s 1.7-mile oval test track. The GAVLab focuses on the robust control of autonomous vehicles using GPS and Inertial Navigation System sensors using three main thrusts: sensor fusion/integration, on-line system identification and adaptive control techniques. “The GAVLAB and our other transportation engineering researchers have brought in nearly $50 million in sponsored research awards over the past three years,” said Steve Taylor, associate dean for research. “This new facility is an exciting development for Auburn and there will be much more to come.”
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