College of Engineering News • Iowa State University

Mechanical engineering graduate students receive Excellence Awards

One Teaching Excellence Award and three Research Excellence Awards were given to Ph.D. candidates in the Department of Mechanical Engineering for their outstanding achievements.

Teaching Excellence Award Winner

Fynn Reinbacher

Reinbacher is a mechanical engineering doctoral candidate with extensive teaching experience that spans seven semesters, six different courses, 14 different sections, and more than 500 students.

As a TA for the lab section of his most recent course, ME 449 Internal Combustion Engines, he worked with teaching lab technicians John Howell and Jim Dautremont, as well as the main course instructor, professor Steve Zoz, to improve the learning outcomes with a reformatted approach to the course. “We wanted to bridge what was taught in class with the technology available in the lab, and what we wanted the students to take away,” Reinbacher says.

Reinbacher said it’s nice to get recognition for the time he has spent learning about what makes an effective teacher. “It’s also a recognition to the faculty members and teaching lab staff members who have mentored me, and the great teachers I had participating in PFF and several CIRTL courses.”

Research Excellence Award Winners

Robert (Gage) Hjort

Robert (Gage) Hjort is a doctoral candidate in mechanical engineering whose research focuses on developing carbon-based biosensors for rapid point-of-care diagnostics devices in food/agricultural and human health applications.

His major professor, Carmen Gomez commends Hjort on his hard work and dedication to his research. “Among his achievements is the number of peer-reviewed publications he has produced,” said Gomes. “He has already published six peer-reviewed articles in high impact journals, one book chapter, two patents, and one news article, and he is currently working on two first-author manuscripts, all of which are products of his dissertation work.”

Hjort also notes, “Receiving this award is an honor for me and motivates me to continue my work and pursue my research further.”

Nick Hunter

Nick Hunter is a doctoral candidate with research interests in understanding interfacial energy transport in 2D semiconducting nanomaterials.

Hunter has worked closely with his major professor, Dr. Xinwei Wang, to develop experimental methods to measure interfacial thermal conductance in 2D materials while considering various phenomena that impede precise characterization such as radiative recombination and thermal nonequilibrium between energy carriers.

“Nick is a hard working student and has done very innovative research on distinguishing and characterizing electron-hole radiative recombination as well as distinguishing optical and acoustic phonon temperatures,” says Dr. Wang. “These represent some of the most advanced work on energy transport in 2D materials under photon excitation.”

Hunter says he’s honored to receive this award and “feels very grateful to Dr. Wang and other colleagues who have supported me throughout my PhD experience and helped make this recognition possible.”

Adam Thelen

Adam Thelen is a mechanical engineering doctoral candidate whose research focuses on machine learning-based modeling methods for diagnosing Li-ion battery cell health and predicting future cell degradation.

His major professors include mechanical engineering professor Chao Hu and civil, construction and environmental engineering professor Simon Laflamme, and he credits them for “creating ample opportunities for me to work with other research teams at ISU and beyond, ultimately leading to the publications and the research I am being recognized for now.”

“Adam is a detail-oriented student with impressive critical thinking and intellectual curiosity,” said Drs. Hu and Laflamme. “In addition to his research accomplishments, Adam is a great team player and student mentor. He was instrumental in facilitating many collaborations within our groups and developing top-quality, high-impact research ideas.”

“Receiving this award is a tremendous honor for me,” says Thelen. “It is a testament to the support and encouragement of my colleagues and mentors and the hard work and dedication I have put into my research.”

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