Graduate Research Information Sessions
The Graduate Research Information Sessions give prospective graduate students the opportunity to learn about research being conducted by various MAE faculty and gives them the chance to ask research related questions. These research sessions will be held virtually. See below for autumn 2023 session information.
Attendees are eligible to apply to be considered for an application fee waiver. Details on how to apply will be provided at the sessions.
There are no additional sessions scheduled for this term.
Points of Pride
Stockar Research Group - Dr. Stephanie Stockar
Dr. Stockar conducts research is in the areas of modeling and optimization of nonlinear dynamical systems, with focus on automotive systems and the built environment. Her research approach hinges upon the multidisciplinary integration of thermo-fluid sciences with dynamic systems, modeling, optimization and control.
Research Area(s): Advanced Automotive Systems, Energy and Environmental Quality, & Robotics Automation and Autonomy (primary research area)
Accordions
- NSF CAREER: “CAREER: Constrained Optimal Control of Partial Differential Equations for Improving Energy Utilization in Transportation and in the Built Environment”
- ARPA-E —NEXT-Generation Energy Technologies for Connected and Automated On-Road Vehicles (NEXCAR) Phase II
- Ford Alliance Mobile Manufacturing (Factory of the Future)
- CAR Consortium Platinum Project: Behavioral Modeling of Driver-In-The Loop for Energy Analysis of Human-Centric Eco-Driving Assistance System
This project concentrates on developing novel optimal control methods for Partial Differential Equation (PDE) systems with constraints, especially applicable in energy and transportation domains. By leveraging the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation, the research seeks to provide approximate solutions, advancing control theory for PDEs, addressing large-scale system constraints, and devising practical state feedback control techniques.
Figure 1: NSF CAREER – Control of Traffic flow using a PDE approach.
The goal of this project is to enhance vehicle efficiency through the integration of connectivity and automation. The project combines data-driven and model-based control methodologies to enhance an eco-driving algorithm, with the ambitious goal of achieving a 30% energy reduction in Level-4 vehicles. Current work is focusing on the integration of real-time traffic insights into the optimization process though data driven and stochastic methods.
Figure 2: ARPA-E NEXTCAR: Value function approximation using data driven methods for Eco-Driving Problems
Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are pivotal in optimizing manufacturing processes. This work centers on solving task assignment and path planning problems for AMR fleets to select the best possible fleet. In this context, the developed Fleet Composition Optimization (FCO) tool determines the optimal configuration of the fleet and routes. The ongoing work involves developing an real time fleet management algorithm and associated adversarial learning framework to assess AMR fleet capabilities under uncertainties.
Figure 3: Ford Alliance - Factory of the Future: Fleet Composition problem structure and sample solution
This project considers the scenario where an optimized Vehicle Dynamics and Powertrain Control (VD & PT) provides the optimal speed trajectory to a driver through the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). With a focus on human factors, the objective is to develop a real-time estimation algorithm for predicting driver responses to speed advisory systems and associated reference speed. This estimation method is validated using CAR's Driver-In-The-Loop (DIL) simulator. The project aims to enhance driver assistance algorithms by incorporating real-time human responses into route and speed planning algorithms, thereby improving vehicle range and efficiency, along with boosting connectivity and automation features.
Figure 4. CAR Consortium Platinum Project - Stellantis: Behavioral Modeling of Driver-In-The Loop for Energy Analysis of Human-Centric Eco-Driving Assistance System
Multi-functional Design Lab - Dr. Alok Sutradhar
Dr. Sutradhar's lab focuses on mechanics-guided optimized design of multifunctional materials and structures. They aim to create novel computational methods for multi-physics problems and designing metamaterials and structures tailored for additive manufacturing. The application areas of their current research span the automotive/aerospace industry, bone implants, heat dissipators, photonics, femtosecond laser-induced damage mechanics, lightweight multifunctional structures, and biomechanics of trachea stenosis and stent migration. They also work in the mechanics-biomedicine interface to deliver innovative solutions to biomedical problems.
Research Area(s): Design, Materials and Manufacturing (primary research area)
Accordions
- Thrust I: Novel Topology Optimization Methods for Meta-materials and Multi-physics System
- Designer Metamaterials and Structures
- Geometric Control in Feature-based Topology Optimized Structures
- Tunable 4D Shape-shifting Architected Materials.
- Thrust II: Femtosecond laser-induced damage in extremes:
- Thrust III: Novel Biomechanical Design and Biomedical Problem
- Biomechanics of Trachea and Tracheal Stent Migration
- AI-Enabled Design of Hierarchical Porous 3D printed Cranial implants with embedded Sensors
Materials at Extremes - Dr. Calvin Stewart
Materials at Extremes (MATX) focuses on the advanced manufacturing, testing, and theoretical mechanics of materials subject to extreme environments.
Research Area(s): Design, Materials and Manufacturing (primary research area), Advanced Aerospace Systems, & Nuclear Science and Engineering
Accordions
- Multi-Metal Additive Manufacturing
- Rapid, Parallelized, and Miniatured Test of Materials
- Probabilistic Modeling of Material Behavior
- Machine Learning for New Equation Discovery
Zhai Research Group - Dr. Shang Zhai
Zhai Group designs, develops, and investigates game-changing materials and systems for scalable and sustainable thermochemistry that helps achieve net zero emissions economy.
Research Area(s): Energy and Environmental Quality (primary research area), Design, Materials and Manufacturing, & Micro and Nanotechnology
Accordions
- They work on materials for dry reforming of methane to convert two major greenhouse gases, CO2 and methane, into industrial feedstock syngas (hydrogen and carbon monoxide) that can produce useful fuels and chemicals.
- They develop material and process to generate two valuable products from methane: carbon fiber and hydrogen. Specifically they focus on separation of carbon nanotube from the catalyst, regeneration of the catalyst, and utilization of carbon fiber.
- Ammonia is an excellent hydrogen carrier for its high storage density and ease of transportation. They're developing materials to convert ammonia to hydrogen so that clean hydrogen can be accessible in areas far from clean hydrogen production sites.
- They also develop CO2 mineralization process to capture and permanently store CO2, the most important greenhouse gas today.
Cyberbotics Lab - Dr. Ayonga Hereid
The research at the Cyberbotics lab focuses on the foundations of the feedback control design for legged robotic locomotion through the study of dynamic walking of bipedal robots with a specific focus on applications to lower-limb exoskeletons. They strive to generate theoretical and computational advances in feedback control design and motion planning for a variety of robotic, cyber-physical, and autonomous systems that exhibit complex dynamical behaviors.
Research Area(s): Robotics, Automation and Autonomy (primary research area)
Accordions
- Real Time Robotic Motion Planning
- Adaptive Feedback Control Design for Legged Robots
- Fully Autonomous Humanoid Robots
- Assistive and Rehabilitation Medical Robots
The Microsystems and Nanosystems Laboratory - Dr. Shaurya Prakash
The Microsystems and Nanosystems Laboratory uses the unique transport properties at the micro- and nanolength scales to design and engineer new devices for applications in healthcare, water treatment, and renewable energy.
Research Area(s): Bioengineering, Energy and Environmental Quality, Micro and Nanotechnology(primary research)
Accordions
- Continuous flow colloidal assembly for metastructures
- Electroceutical dressings for chronic wound healing
- On-chip analysis for rapid cancer screening
- Blood vessel on chip for studying cardiovascular dysfunction in infectious disease
Points of Pride
Accordions
- Center for Automotive Research - Dr. Matilde D'Arpino
- Cyberbotics Lab - Dr. Ayonga Hereid
- Design Innovation and Simulation Lab (DISL) - Dr. Haijun Su
- Gear and Power Transmission Research Lab - Dr. Ahmet Kahraman/Dr. Talbot
- Goswami Research Lab - Dr. Debdipta Goswami
- Materials at Extremes - Dr. Calvin Stewart
- Matrix n Microscopy - Dr. Gunjan Agarwal
- Multi-functional Design Lab - Dr. Alok Sutradhar
- The Wolff Lab - Dr. Sarah Wolff
- Zhai Research Group - Dr. Shang Zhai