News & Events
Posner’s NSF Career Award will broaden nanotechnology and fluid dynamics research and education
Innovation in research and education in nanotechnology and fluid dynamics at Arizona State University is being recognized through a National Science Foundation (NSF) Career Award to Jonathan Posner, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in ASU’s Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering. The award will provide more than $400,000 over five years to help fund Posner’s research on colloidal crystal films as well as education and outreach programs in science and engineering related to his research. The NSF Career Award is among the most prestigious for scientists and engineers early in their careers. It recognizes researchers and educators for their potential to be leaders in their areas of expertise. Posner joins several other ASU engineering faculty who have received such awards in recent years. Colloidal crystal films are made of stacks of nanospheres. Nanospheres are spherical particles with a diameter in nanometers – one-billionth of a... Read more »
Front-page news: ASU engineers at work on problem-solving for major nuclear power plant
The front page of the Arizona Republic features an article about research led by Harindra "Joe" Fernando, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, to help Arizona Public Service Co. ensure safe and efficient operation of the its Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station. As part of the project, Fernando and his colleagues in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering at Arizona State University are building a scale model of a nuclear reactor. Read the article at Can ASU fix Palo Verde?... Read more »
New York Times spotlights Fernando’s ocean wave motion lab
In a New York Times interview, Harindra Joseph Fernando, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, talks about how a wave tank in his laboratory that can mimic oceanic motions may help countries predict and prepare for potentially destructive tsunamis, such as the such as the 2004 tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean, killing thousands in Thailand, Indonesia and Fernando’s native Sri Lanka. See On the Ground and in the Water, Tracing a Giant Wave's Path The interview has also been published in the International Herald Tribune and in the Sri Lanka Daily News.... Read more »
Backpack power: 'Energy harvesting' made easy
In dance and stage choreography they call it economy of movement – getting the optimal theatrical value out of whatever energy you expend. The goal: No wasted motion. Henry Sodano’s work involves a kind of mechanical engineering application of that pursuit of kinesthetic efficiency. The assistant professor in the Department Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering is advancing technologies for “energy harvesting.” One of his forays into the field demonstrates a particularly economical and practical way to generate small but useful amounts of electrical power. He has designed a backpack using material capable of producing an electrical charge through the force of the motion of its wearer. Through the conductive capability of the material, friction caused by the movement of the backpack wearer is converted into electrical energy, enough to charge small batteries or power small electronics devices such as cell phones, digital music players or flashlights. The... Read more »
Squires to lead Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Kyle Squires has been named chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in ASU’s Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering. The department has 31 faculty members, and more than 1,000 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate research and education programs. “I have developed great respect for the dedication of the faculty and staff to fulfilling our mission in teaching, research and service,” Squires says. “It’s truly an honor to lead the department through this period of exciting growth.” Squires joined the engineering faculty at ASU as an associate professor in 1997 and was appointed to full professor in 2003. He served as the department’s vice chair of graduate programs, and was interim department chair since August 2006. After receiving his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, Squires was a post-doctoral research associate at the Center for Turbulence Research at Stanford University from 1990-91. He was... Read more »