Mechanical Engineering Department celebrates student, research accomplishments in 2022-23
As Binghamton University prepares for the fall semester, the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering is looking back on a productive 2022-23 academic year.
Student news
An increasing number of women are breaking down barriers and making significant contributions to the field of mechanical engineering, including students at Binghamton. A recent story talked to just a few of them, along with Associate Professor Shahrzad “Sherry” Towfighian.
The Watson College Scholars Program had its first two graduates in May. One of them, Mason Gilbert ’23, studied mechanical engineering after finding inspiration from Formula One racing. He was part of the Binghamton Motorsports team through the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).
The Watson Review magazine featured a roundup of great senior capstone projects from 2022-23. Among the six Watson teams that worked on escape-room projects, one group from mechanical engineering contributed to a new Egyptian-themed room at Xcapes in Binghamton. Xcapes supports and is located at the Southern Tier Independence Center, which assists people with disabilities.
Corporate and government sponsors often help with funding and advising for senior projects. Here’s a story talking about how those relationships work — and how they’re beneficial to students and mentors.
Lucas Grabowski ’23 spent last summer in Iceland — and when he returned to Binghamton for his senior year, he brought with him a new understanding of renewable energy technology. The intensive 9-credit course was jam-packed with traveling, sightseeing and traditional class time.
Carrie Hathaway ’22, MS ’23, wanted to be a doctor while growing up in Geneseo, N.Y., but instead found a way to combine all of her interests — art, STEM and helping people — into one focus: product design and automation.
Faculty news
A new faculty member joined the department in fall 2022: Assistant Professor Cosan “Joe-Sean” Daskiran, who received his BS in mechanical engineering from Istanbul Technical University (ITU), and his MS and PhD degrees in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University. His research interests include computational fluid dynamics, renewable energy and transport phenomena.
Research news
More than 30 Binghamton University researchers were honored for their work by a Stanford University study that looks at the impact of scientists worldwide. The ranking identified 31 current faculty who are among the top 2% of all researchers in the world in their fields in 2021. Among them is Assistant Professor Pu Zhang, who won a National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2022 for his research into better soft electronics. Zhang also received a $294,992 NSF grant to develop a new artificial intelligence technique tothat will generate analytical material laws from raw data.
Professor Guangwen Zhou received a $470,700 grant from the National Science Foundation to study the chemical processes behind “green steel” production. The steel industry is experimenting with projects that reduce greenhouse emissions by using hydrogen instead of traditional carbon-intensive manufacturing. However, fundamental understanding of how the processes transform iron oxide into iron is required before green steel technology can advance. Zhou recently published two studies about viewing oxide-to-metal transformations at the atomic level. Both studies were collaborations with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Lab.
Associate Professor Xin Yong received a $297,217 NSF grant to research the biomechanics underlying the fluid transport of flagella and cilia, which are are thin, hair-like cellular structures that play an essential role in many basic life processes on a cellular level.
Associate Professor Scott Schiffres, Distinguished Professor Bahgat Sammakia (vice president of research at Binghamton) and Research Professor Srikanth Rangarajan will partner with Purdue University and Seguente Inc. for a project from the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E). The COOLERCHIPS program will develop transformational, highly efficient and reliable cooling technologies for data centers. The team will be researching directly additively manufactured cooling devices for thermal performance and system reliability. The goal is a cooling system that can cool chips efficiently to help them operate more efficiently per unit computation, shrink heatsink volume and lower energy consumed on cooling.
Alumni news
Brandon Sheiner ’14 was honored this spring with a BOLD (Bearcats of the Last Decade) 10 Under 10 Award, which honors alumni who have graduated within the past 10 years, demonstrated a very high level of career achievement since leaving campus and show great potential for future leadership. Sheiner is a licensed professional engineer, inventor, entrepreneur and real estate investor.
Robert Ioanna ’00 credits an HVAC elective and a later internship during his junior year at Watson College for inspiring his career. He works as the chief technical officer for Syska Hennessy Group in New York, a global leader in designing mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. He also serves as co-chair of the college’s Metro New York Advisory Board, providing guidance to students and supporting fundraising initiatives.