Growing up in coastal Saudi Arabia, Fahad Alsaggaf developed a strong personal connection to the sea. So, it was a major change of scenery when he attended college in a landlocked state like Iowa, but he said he has never regretted his decision. Alsaggaf grew up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a port city along the …Continue reading “Sea-loving Saudi finds a loving home at landlocked Iowa State University”
It took a high school internship for one industrial engineering student to realize that engineering involves more than just building roads and bridges. Sarah Longmire, senior in industrial engineering, “loved” her science and math classes growing up in Iowa City. She was a bit apprehensive about the field of engineering, admitting she thought engineers only …Continue reading “Dancing the night away…For The Kids!”
From growing up in a town of fewer than 400 people to working with companies valued in the billions, Fred Dotzler has done a lot in his career but he never forgets about the role that Iowa State University played in shaping him personally and professionally as a young man. Dotzler grew up in Defiance, …Continue reading “How a kid from Defiance, Iowa with an IE degree became a successful venture capitalist”
Mechanical engineering students had an impressive showing during the Research Days 2021 competition, hosted last month by Iowa State University’s Office of the Vice President for Research. Saurabh Aykar, Ph.D. candidate in mechanical engineering (ME), took first place in the People’s Choice category in the iPoster competition — which was hosted through the iPoster platform …Continue reading “MEs take top prizes during campus-wide research poster competition”
Robert “Bob” Walkup, an alum of Iowa State University’s industrial engineering program who had a long and successful career in various sectors, passed away on March 12th at the age of 84. Prior to his death he was diagnosed with a rare genetic form of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, as reported by tucson.com. Bob was born …Continue reading “IE alum, former Tucson mayor Bob Walkup passes away”
As someone who benefited greatly from the encouragement she received to pursue studies in STEM, mechanical engineering senior Olivia Tyrrell wants other girls and women to also be inspired to go into STEM. Tyrrell grew up in Downers Grove, Ill. Though she always had an interest in science as a child, it was a visit …Continue reading “Undergraduate research experience launches ME student to NASA internship”
Industrial engineering alum Linda Schmidt passed away earlier this month at the age of 62. Schmidt served on the faculty in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland at the time of her passing. She held a B.S. and M.S. in industrial engineering (IE) from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. in …Continue reading “A legacy left by late IE alum Linda Schmidt”
It took a pandemic and the inability to do on-campus visits that led one mechanical engineering student to decide he wanted to stay a little closer to home for graduate school. Antonio Alvarez-Valdivia originally wanted to leave the Midwest for graduate school when he completed his B.S. in mechanical engineering (ME) later this spring. However, …Continue reading “Pandemic impacts ME student’s graduate school selection process”
Conducting research within the field of pharmaceuticals might be the last place you’d expect to find a mechanical engineer but Michael Olsen would prove you wrong. Olsen, a professor of mechanical engineering (ME) at Iowa State University, is getting ready to begin his newest research project with his colleague Dennis Vigil, professor of chemical and …Continue reading “Applying mechanical engineering to pharmaceutical research”
Going from a smaller university in an urban area to a larger university in a smaller college town might have been difficult for some, but for mechanical engineering graduate student Murtaza “Murt” Zohair the transition was smooth. Zohair is from Aurora, Ill., part of the greater Chicago area. Growing up he was often reading books …Continue reading “Transfer graduate student finds new home at Iowa State”
It can be challenging to understand technologies that most of us don’t interact with routinely. They can be complex, arcane and hard to access in our time-constricted lives. Yet, as the recent Texas energy debacle demonstrates, it’s important. One Iowa State University alum has made a career of making an important energy technology – nuclear …Continue reading “Engineering and the art of communication”
While some high school students attend summer camp to enjoy the great outdoors, one Iowa State University alum attended a different kind of summer camp to learn about nuclear engineering and it ended up having a profound impact on her professional development. Lora Drenth grew up on a farm in northwest Iowa. As a junior …Continue reading “Summer program opened door to nuclear industry for alum”
Mechanical engineering associate professor Nicole Hashemi has been named a Fellow by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). The status of Fellow is bestowed upon an ASME Member with 10 or more years of active practice and at least 10 years of active corporate membership in the organization. Of the more than 100,000 ASME …Continue reading “Hashemi elected a Fellow of American Society of Mechanical Engineers”