Greetings from the Department Head
Dear Friends,
Welcome to 2023! We hope the new year is starting off well for all of you.
The current academic year has brought both change and opportunity to the department. Professors Mahesh and Aksaray both left for other academic positions. We are currently searching for new faculty and are interviewing many outstanding candidates. On the staff side, our long-time department administrator retired, and our senior accountant left for another job in the college. Although it is sad to see friends and colleagues leave, it has been exciting to have new staff and faculty with new ideas to improve the department. If there is one thing I have learned in my years in academia, it is that change is going to happen (in fact, that’s the whole point of a university), so it is vital to embrace it.
On the research side, it has been exciting to watch Professors Melissa Green and Suraj Ravindran build new experimental facilities for their research. Green is working in both Akerman Hall and the St. Anthony Falls Research Lab (SAFL) to construct experiments to study swimmers and to measure unsteady flow on wings. Ravindran is developing several cool facilities in Akerman that can load materials at very high strain rates. Other faculty highlights include Professor Ryan Caverly receiving a NASA Early Career Award to study control of solar sails using flexible cables. We also showcase Mike Kroells, who was an undergraduate in AEM while competing as a top wrestler for the Gophers. Mike is now finishing his Ph.D. work with Professor Tom Schwartzentruber, where he is working on understanding the physics of entry into the Martian atmosphere.
On the teaching front, we kicked off the year with our first ever Undergraduate open house, organized by Professor & Director of Undergraduate Studies Yohannes Ketema. There was a great turnout and the department is planning to make it an annual event. Our student groups continue to produce outstanding results with their creativity, entrepreneurship, and outreach. The Rocket Team participated in the 2022 Give to Max Day and reached their fundraising goal of $5,000, which was then matched by Collins Aerospace.
Finally, we share a story about AEM alumni, Ethan Och (BAEM ’20), who was featured in a video co-production sponsored by Disability Hub Minnesota, led by Kevin Kling and Beaudry Filmworks. Ethan’s Story has received much attention and others with disabilities who have been seeking career guidance to achieve their own goals continue to reach out to Ethan.
Once more, we want to thank our alumni and friends for your continued support of all we do. Your generosity helps us support all of our students in their education and training which is vital to maintaining our exceptional environment for education and research. We cannot do this without you!
Perry Leo,
Department Head