Mechanically Incorrect

We sat down with one of our former graduate students, Chase Foster, who is leading the development of a new aerospace program within FSU's InSPIRE.  I learned a lot about working on oil rigs, Navy subs, and the new aerospace program in Panama City, FL.

I hope you enjoy this great conversation with Prof. Eric Taleff from the University of Texas at Austin.  Prof. Taleff specializes in the mechanical behavior and the thermo-mechanical processing of structural materials, with emphasis on processing-microstructure-property relationships.  You can find out more about his research here: https://www.me.utexas.edu/people/faculty-directory/taleff
I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

We had the chance to sit down with Prof. Shreyas Balanchadran, our newest faculty at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering.  He's an expert in the field of superconducting materials and their applications.  He holds a joint appointment in the Mechanical & Aerospace Department and the new Department of Materials Science & Engineering.  I hope you enjoy the conversation.  
You can find out more about Dr. Balachandran's research here: https://nationalmaglab.org/staff/?name=ShreyasBalachandran
https://www.jlab.org/news/releases/mixing-metals-improved-performance
 

This was a great conversation that I unfortunately missed due to travel.  Professor Taylor Higgins, Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering (ME), hosted Prof. and Chair Marcia O'Malley.  She is the Thomas Michael Panos Family Professor in Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Bioengineering in the George R. Brown School of Engineering at Rice University.  Her research is in the areas of haptics and robotic rehabilitation, with a focus on the design and control of wearable robotic devices for training and rehabilitation.
Hannah Klein, an undergraduate in the FAMU-FSU Mechanical Engineering department, and Ash Chase, a graduate student in ME who is studying robotics, also joined Drs. Higgins and O'Malley.
It was a great conversation about a range of topics in engineering, robotics, and navigating academia from undergrad, grad school, junior professor life, and university leadership.  If you are debating on pursuing mechanical engineering at any level of academia, you will enjoy this conversation.

I hope you enjoy my conversation with Prof. Jonathan Clark.  He's an expert in developing some of the fastest legged robotic systems that can navigate various complex terrains including climbing and amphibious terrains.

I had a great conversation with a good friend, Prof. Mark Sheplak, from the University of Florida.  As a Professor in both Electrical & Computer Engineering and Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at the University of Florida, he is an expert in the field of MEMS sensing.  I learned a lot about how he has transitioned research out of the laboratory and into the field of sensing aerodynamic loads and acoustics in high speed environments.

I got to sit down with Daniel Parker, our new undergraduate coordinator, to learn about his background of service and leadership that led him to where he is today. Despite knowing him for many years, I learned a lot about different cultures, writing, and service to our different communities.

We had a great conversation with Jacob Schmitt, recent senior from FAMU-FSU College of Engineering.  We discussed his experience as part of the Senior Design AIAA Rocket Team.

We had a great conversation with our newest faculty member at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering, Prof. Taylor Higgins.  She is an expert in the field of exoskeletons for many applications associated with rehabilitation and novel human-machine interface concepts.  I hope you enjoy our discussion.

We decided to do a debrief on the semester.  I opened up my student evaluations for our graduate Mechanical Engineering seminar.  I thought there were some interesting lessons learned on where leadership may or may not fit into engineering.