WVU Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering

Congratulations to Emily Calandrelli! Officially 100th woman in space, astronaut, and proud WVU Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering alumna!! So amazing to watch and a big moment for West Virginia! Congratulations!! (Photo with Emily from a summer 2022 WV STEM outreach event that in which she was the keynote)

Friends and Colleagues, Please check out out Fall 2024 Department Newsletter. Link: https://lnkd.in/ehT_Rg26 Chair’s message: As the weather has finally turned in Morgantown and the leaves are showing color, I hope you are enjoying the season. This Fall semester, we are proud to report that our externally funded research expenditures of the department’s faculty have doubled over the past four year period. In 2024, the department’s total externally funded research exceeded $14 million as compared to about $7 million in 2020. Meanwhile, student enrollment in our undergraduate programs for this fall is up about 10% as compared to last year. In this newsletter, you will learn about how we are fortunate to have secured $1 million funding from NASA to help strengthen our robotics laboratory spaces and bolster outreach materials in order to support the launch of the new degree program in robotics engineering. This news came on the heels of our University Challenge Team earning 2nd place from a field of 108 teams at this year’s robotics competition following their 1st place victory in 2023. Our students continue to take on new challenges and impress us. Robotics doctoral student Clarus Goldsmith earned recognition at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation for their research by winning a workshop demo. This past summer, a group of students participated in the University Nanosat Program in New Mexico to develop a mission concept. From our faculty, Dr. Piyush Mehta has been named to 2025 class of AIAA Associate Fellows, Dr. Rhodes has been selected as a Dean’s leadership fellow to help develop new educational programming in the college, and Dr. Rieth has been selected as a Dean’s leadership fellow to strengthen college research ties to the WVU Health Sciences Center. We are excited that our alumna Emily Calandrelli is slated to become West Virginia’s first female astronaut with a planned flight on Blue Origin’s New Shepard. She recently held a Q&A video session for WVU and K-12 students at the start of the semester. Lastly, our Academy of Distinguished Alumni is seeking nominations. Please use the following form: Submit Nomination or email Statler-MAE@mail.wvu.edu with any questions. Let’s go!

Attention all Robotics Undergraduate Students, Faculty Colleagues, and Anyone who knows students interested in Robotics, The application for our Summer 2025 #wvurobotics National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site on Robotics for Rural Appalachian Environments that is hosted in WVU Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering in the WVU Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources is now open through March (it is a rolling application so apply soon)! Please help spread the word! Students from underrepresented groups (e.g., women, minorities, first generation college students) are especially encouraged to apply; Students from the Appalachian region of the United States are especially encouraged to apply. This is a 10-week paid summer research experiences within one of WVU's Robotics Research Labs. WVU Robotics REU overview website with project theme descriptions: https://lnkd.in/esW2Qd69 NSF ETAP application to our REU site: https://lnkd.in/e6-4iiRh Youtube Channel to look at some of last year's project: https://lnkd.in/gTwXh5S7 Picture is of our 2024 participant co-hort during just after our summer research symposium.

Come join our excellent faculty! The WVU Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources invites applications for a teaching faculty position at the rank of Teaching Assistant Professor or Teaching Associate Professor in the general area of Mechanical Engineering anticipated to start August 2025. The appointment shall be in the WVU Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering. Applicants whose interests and expertise align with departmental most critical teaching needs including solid mechanics, dynamics and control, energy systems, and mechatronics are specifically encouraged to apply. Review will start on January 1, 2025!! position posting: https://lnkd.in/ez9paqX9 department: https://lnkd.in/eQUykgZx The department annual research expenditures exceeded $14 million in the last fiscal year. Our educational programs place a strong emphasis on experiential learning in its undergraduate programs boasting numerous top 10 placements in national or international student competitions in recent years. For example, our Experimental Rocketry and EcoCAR teams have secured numerous top placements. Likewise, the WVU Robotics program has a strong track record of success winning 9 national or international robotics competitions since 2011 and $900K in prize from NASA Centennial Challenges. The Department houses undergraduate and graduate programs in Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering, graduate programs in Materials Science Engineering, and starting in Fall 2024, the department launched Bachelor of Science Robotics Engineering in partnership with the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering in the Statler College. The image is an example of one of our several successful student design teams led out of the department ( a past EcoCAR team )

We were so excited to host Matthew Johnson-Roberson , Director of the Robotics Institute and Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, for his research seminar “Underwater Robotic Survey” in the WVU Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering at the WVU Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources. We were able to showcase our #wvurobotics research labs and successful student competition teams, and we had some excellent discussions on how to foster more robotics collaboration in the region for the benefit of us all.

🚀 Arc Space Innovation is thrilled to announce a strategic partnership with the WVU Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at West Virginia University! Together, we are embracing innovation and accelerating the development of rapid prototypes to support vital United States Department of Defense initiatives while driving economic growth and job creation in the great state of West Virginia. Our collaboration not only strengthens our commitment to technical excellence but also aligns with important initiatives like the Keystone Space Collaborative and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), amplifying opportunities for the region and advancing national defense capabilities. At Arc Space Innovation, we pride ourselves on stepping outside of the norm—delivering cutting-edge, cost-effective solutions to the DoD, challenging the status quo often held by large-tier primes. This partnership with WVU reflects our shared vision of embracing innovation, pushing boundaries, and taking responsibility for shaping the future of defense technology. Stepping out of our comfort zone is never easy—but it's necessary. And we’re proud to take this strategic step forward alongside WVU Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering. Thank you Jason Gross, Andrew Rhodes, and Patrick Browning. Together, we will continue to lead and create real impact. Let’s Go... Mountaineers! 💙💛 #Innovation #Defense #StrategicPartnership #WestVirginia #WVU #ArcSpaceInnovation #DoD #Aerospace #Prototyping #EconomicGrowth #KeystoneSpace #AppalachianRegionalCommission

This month, alumnus John Mazzone shares advice and insights from his 33 years in the electrical power industry. Read about his incredible career and how he got started here at Statler: https://lnkd.in/eqi8XJbs

I love the opportunity each semester to share all of the positive momentum we have in the WVU Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering with our dedicated Visiting Committee!! We are excited to share about our significant undergraduate enrollment growth, improved retention rates, substantial growth in externally funded research, and new degree programs. Thanks Victor Mucino for sharing our ABET roadmap, status update, process, and program educational objectives review for our next accreditation cycle. Thanks Konstantinos Sierros for sharing plans for enhancing our graduate programs and Greg Thompson for sharing student feedback and program insights. Thank you Dean Pedro Mago for sharing a college update and answering questions. We took the opportunity to spotlight two of our rockstar #wvurobotics PhD students Clarus Goldsmith and Trevor Smith who shared about their research that has led to recent recognitions at competitive international conferences. Christine Cropp Christina Wildfire Wesley Hardin Scott Jones Matthew Jarvis Marvin Woodie Alberto Ayala Gary Fleming Tracy Baker Pam Tanck Kerri Phillips, Ph.D. Michael Campanelli Bill Fourney David Doman Jeff Lime Neil Jubeck Nick Morris Stephen Naylor

Happy Halloween, Mountaineers! 🎃 Last week we held our 35th Annual Pumpkin Drop! 👻 Thank you so much to all of the teams that participated and to the WVU Chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for helping to coordinate the event. Congratulations to our winner and runner-ups! 🕸️🎃 First place - Team 3 Connellsville High School Second place - Team 102 Taylor County Middle School For the first time in Pumpkin Drop history, two teams tied for third place - Team 15 Tyler Consolidated Middle School and Team 154 Covenant Christian School We hope to see you all again next year! 💛💙

Come join our excellent faculty! We are hiring a new faculty member in aerospace engineering. Our department is well positioned and has positive momentum toward realizing our vision of being recognized as a leading engineering department that offers world-class experiential learning opportunities and engages in high-profile research. The WVU Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering in the WVU Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position at the rank of Assistant Professor or Associate Professor in the general area of Aerospace Engineering anticipated to start August 2025. Applicants whose interests and expertise align with departmental focus areas including aerial and space robotics, unmanned aerial systems (UAS), advanced aerial mobility (AAM), and/or Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) of aerospace systems are specifically encouraged to apply. posting: https://lnkd.in/ew4TwXXw dept: https://lnkd.in/eQUykgZx Please like and share this ad to help spread the word. We plan to start review on December 1, 2024. Photo is of our recent award winning student-led experimental rocketry team.