Department of Mechanical Engineering at SD State

Heartiest congratulations to our student team SELENE, who earned the Best in Theme Award at the 2026 NASA 2026 RASC-AL Competition. This marks the fourth consecutive year a team from the our department has reached the RASC-AL finals and received a competition award.

Professor Stephen Gent received the Lohr Outstanding Faculty Award, and Lecturer John VerSteeg was honored with the Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award, both presented by Provost Hedge and Dean Kumar. Congratulations to our outstanding faculty on their well-deserved honors!

I am pleased to share that our Human Powered Vehicle (HPV) team placed 8th in this year’s ASME EFx e-HPVC Competition. Congratulations to our dedicated students and their advisor, Dr. Gregory Michna!

· Congratulations to Dr. Basu on receiving a 3-year grant from ARPA-H. His project will develop a physics-based, multiscale, multiphase computational framework to quantify and optimize nutrient transport and perfusion in liquid media.

I am thrilled to share that a team of our students earned 2nd place in the Remote Control Division at the NASA Human Exploration Rover Competition in Huntsville, Alabama. This marked our students’ first participation in HERC. nasa.gov/centers-and-fa…

Congratulations to our student, Jacob York, who has received the Joseph F. Nelson Award for Undergraduate Research from the Van D. and Barbara B. Fishback Honors College. This award will support Jacob in pursuing impactful research under the guidance of Dr. Solaiman Tarafder.

Congratulations on our team, SELENE, for being selected as a finalist in the 2026 NASA RASC-AL Competition – the 4thconsecutive year a team from our department has reached the finals of this prestigious national challenge! rascal.nianet.org/2026-finalist-…

Three of the eight finalist teams selected for the final stage of this year’s NASA Getaways to Blue Skies Competition come from our department! Hearty congratulations to our students and their advisor, Dr. Todd Letcher! nasa.gov/aeronautics/na…

Congratulations to Dr. Todd Letcher on receiving the prestigious David Fee Memorial Lecture Award and delivering a brilliant lecture at this year’s Celebration of Faculty Excellence!

Congratulations to our PhD student, Khalid Mahmud Labib, on receiving the Top Electronic Materials Award for his poster at the 2025 ASME IMECE Track 19 Poster Competition, sponsored by NSF. Khalid is pursuing his PhD in our department under the guidance of Dr. Shabbir Ahmed.

Today, we had a wonderful time welcoming over 400 high school juniors and their families at the Junior Day event. It was a fantastic opportunity to showcase the outstanding programs and student work within our department.

Congratulations to Dr. Letcher on recently receiving another SBIR Phase I grant from NASA! The NASA funding will support testing of the Auger-Dryer Systems developed by Dr. Letcher’s team at his startup, AeroFly, for regolith excavation and water extraction on the Moon.

Two ME faculty members have received prestigious awards from the Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering. Please join me in congratulating Professor Stephen Gent on receiving the Lohr Outstanding Faculty Award and Lecturer John VerSteeg on receiving the Outstanding Teacher Award.

We had a wonderful time celebrating Adeline Flaskey on her recognition as October’s Civil Service Employee of the Month! Thank you to all colleagues, students, and friends for showing your support and sharing your congratulations with Adeline — we truly have the best community!

A group of ME students participated in Senior Day today (September 27), engaging with 600+ high school seniors and their families. Many thanks to the following students for representing our department so well: Addison Hodgen, Cyrus Bransel, Draco Rivera Sahagun, and Evan Lauters.

Dr. Jay Zhou, former Vice President of Ford Motor Company, visited @ME_SDState on September 9–10 and delivered three seminars. A big thank you to Dr. Zhou for his excellent presentations. We also extend our gratitude to SAE for sponsoring this great event!

Happy #OneDayforState! Don't miss your chance to make a difference - please consider making a gift using the link: lnkd.in/gsbFsKYe Every dollar counts and will directly support our students!

Heartfelt congratulations to Dr. Greg Michna and Lecturer John VerSteeg on being awarded an NSF grant as Co-PIs. This 5-year, $2 million project will provide critical support for our students as they complete their studies and prepare for successful careers in engineering.

#OneDayforSTATE is just One Day away! Be part of this signature event to show your love for SDSU and celebrate the impact of philanthropy. Please use the following link to make a gift : givenow.sdstatefoundation.org/one-day-for-st… Every gift counts!

3 Days to Go! Mark your calendars for September 4. #OneDayforSTATE is 24 hours of giving, celebrating, and showing your SDSU pride. Let's make this the most impactful day of the year for SDSU!