Incoming Iowa State University faculty member Qiang Zhong grew up in Wenzhou, a small coastal city in southeast China. He remembers spending summers with his grandfather, a well-known diesel mechanic in his hometown, which is what got him interested in the field of engineering. His parents always encouraged him to do hands-on activities like building model airplanes and RC boats.
A team of Iowa State University College of Engineering researchers recently experienced something that few ever will: a zero-gravity environment.
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”
Brian Steward, professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering, is the lead mentor of Team Neutrino, a FIRST Robotics Competition team for high school students. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was founded by Dean Kamen to inspire young people to pursue education and careers in STEM-related fields.
Hans Mueller, sophomore in industrial engineering, has taken his passion for FRIST Robotics worldwide, working with the U.N. to create Robots Without Borders.
Iowa State Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ISU ABE) faculty, staff and students received various awards for their work and contributions to education and research at this year’s Association of Technology, Management and Applied Engineering (ATMAE) Annual Conference. The conference was held in Kansas City, Missouri, from Nov. 7 – 9. The Industrial Technology (ITec) club’s …Continue reading “2018 ATMAE Conference showcases success of Iowa State ABE”
Iowa State University’s Cyclone Space Mining team nabbed two second-place finishes at the 8th annual NASA Robotics Mining Competition last week in Florida. The team took second place in the categories of “Social Media and Public Engagement” and “Project Outreach.” The Social Media and Public Engagement category is “[a]warded to the teams that uses various …Continue reading “Cyclone Space Mining nabs two second-place finishes at NASA Robotic Mining Competition”
For yet another summer, members of the Cyclone Space Mining team will leave behind Iowa’s rolling cornfields for the for palm tree-lined beaches of east central Florida. Iowa State’s Cyclone Space Mining team will compete in the NASA Robotic Mining Competition at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, just west of Orlando. This is the …Continue reading “Cyclone Space Mining team to compete in the NASA Robotic Mining Competition”
Mechanical Engineering senior lecturer Jim Heise was recently featured on The AV Life podcast. Heise appeared on an episode devoted to robotics to discuss his role as faculty advisor for Cyclone Space Mining and his group’s use of robotics. “What we’re trying to do here is design autonomous robots, not quite the same thing as artificial intelligence but …Continue reading “ME’s Heise featured on ‘The AV Life’ podcast”
Structural engineer authors book series highlighting engineering opportunities Bridge building is Stuart Nielsen’s passion and an experience he wants to share. “I was trying to think of how I could help in my little way,” Nielsen said. “I thought of engineering books for little kids, so that they could see what we do.” Nielsen is …Continue reading “Bridging a gap between STEM and fun”
A team of Iowa State researchers has been awarded funding to study the use of robotics in agriculture. The project is led by mechanical engineering assistant professor Sourabh Bhattacharya, with co-PIs Baskar Ganapathysubramanian (associate professor, ME), Soumik Sarkar (assistant professor, ME), Asheesh Singh (assistant professor, Agronomy), and Arti Singh (adjunct assistant professor, Agronomy). The project is …Continue reading “ME, agronomy researchers team up to study robotics in agriculture”
Lie Tang, associate professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering, is working with scientists to improve crop resiliency using robots called PhenoBots. These robots collect data about plants as they grow in specific environments. With this data, the team can learn more about plant genes, environments for crops and ultimately a way to provide food to the world’s …Continue reading “Lie Tang utilizes plant-measuring robots to improve crop health”
Michael Bartlett, assistant professor in materials science and engineering, brings his research on soft, bio-inspired materials to Iowa State. Bartlett completed his Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. From the research he performed as a graduate student, he developed a strong, reusable adhesive inspired by the gecko’s toe. Named Geckskin, this material can hold …Continue reading “Michael Bartlett: Innovating soft materials with unconventional properties”
While he was working in industry, John Haughery’s dream of teaching never quite went away. Before he knew it, he found himself quitting his job, selling his house and heading to Iowa State.
