Dear ME friends, alumnae/i, and students:

Welcome to the second all-digital version of the Mech E Force newsletter. We have an incredible list of activities and accomplishments to report.

Since the last newsletter in fall 2014, our students, faculty, staff, and alumni have continued to excel. Below are just a few highlights of their achievements.

Students: The 34th annual Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Day was held Tuesday, May 5 in Hodson 210. Sixteen teams of Mechanical Engineering Seniors (more than 60 students!) presented the final results of their Senior Design Projects, in the form of presentations, prototypes and posters. Click here to learn more about the history of Senior Design and to view a list of this year’s projects.

On April 12, the Johns Hopkins Baja team competed in the first of two competitions this season in Auburn, Alabama, scoring an 8th place finish out of 97 teams from around the world. The team then moved on to another international competition held in Mechanicsville, MD and placed 9th out of 132 teams. Placing in the top ten for two international competitions is certainly worth noting! Make sure to check out photos from the competitions here.

In December, Mechanical Engineering freshmen competed against each other in the Mousetraps and Rubber Bands Design Competition. This is the culminating assignment for the Freshmen Experience in Mechanical Engineering course and challenges students to use two mousetraps, six rubber bands, and $15 worth of materials to design and build a vehicle that can perform a certain task. Learn more about the contest and view photos by clicking here.

Finally, we have undergraduates who already wow us with their ambition, drive, and passion. A few good examples are Miguel Dias ’17, Samantha (Yu) Wang ’17 and Yadel Okorie ’17, who won the Social Venture Competition at the Clinton Global Initiative University Conference. Interested in seeing more of our undergraduate stories? Click here.

Faculty and Staff: Senior Lecturer Dr. Nathan Scott was awarded the 2015 Johns Hopkins University Alumni Teaching Award at convocation in recognition of his excellence in teaching and inspiring our undergraduates in both our Junior Design Course and our Capstone Senior Design Course. Professor George Nakos has been selected by the Engineering for Professionals Program for its 2015 Award for Exceptional Online Course Design in recognition of his online curriculum for his course Mathematical Methods, and our very own alumnus Professor Andrew Lennon, Ph.D. ’98, received the Program’s 2015 Award for Exceptional Teaching in recognition of your online curriculum for his course Engineering Materials: Properties and Selection.

Professor Jaafar El-Awady will receive the NSF CAREER Award. Professor Vicky Nguyen was selected for the 2015 Thomas J.R. Hughes Young Investigator Award. Professor Andrea Prosperetti honored at International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanic Symposium on Scientific Fundamentals of Bubbly Flows. Last, but certainly not least, Professor K.T. Ramesh will deliver the 2015 William M. Murray Lecture.

Three of our faculty and staff members have been promoted since the last installment, illustrating that we’re hard at work making sure that our department is not only a wonderful place for students, but also for employees as well.

Alumni: Our alumni are using their Mechanical Engineering skills to take them around the globe. Kielan Crow B.S. ’13, M.Eng ’14 is currently an Associate Mechanical Engineer for GoPro. Mike Leddy ’14 served as an intern in the R&D area for Stryker Orthopaedics Trauma this past summer. Additionally, Alex Bodell, MSE ’10 is using the skills and knowledge he learned in his degree’s mechanics of materials and energy engineering coursework as a leader in product development and engineering for Intelligent Light Source (ILS), a startup that produces controlled-environment LED lighting and focuses on commercial agriculture. Have an interesting story to tell? We’d love to hear from you and feature you on our social media channels and alumni page.

Our website is constantly being updated with news and information; I encourage you to visit it often. If you’d prefer a more interactive experience, our Facebook page is a great place to learn about upcoming events, view photos, and interact with other Mechanical Engineering students, alumni/ae, and friends.

Did you notice something that’s missing, or simply want to provide commentary or feedback? Please feel free to email me at mech_eng@jhu.edu, call me at 410-516-6782, or even mail us a letter at Department of Mechanical Engineering, 223 Latrobe Hall, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218. I looking forward to hearing from you and hope you’re doing well.

Best Regards,
Louis L. Whitcomb
Professor and Chair
Department of Mechanical Engineering