UTK MAE

Sophomore Benjamin Atkins started building model rockets at age 15, using paper towel rolls and 3D printed parts. This childhood passion led him to UT, where he's pursuing his dream of working on rockets or lunar landers. 🚀 Read more of his story ⬇️ 🔗 bit.ly/4vFNybP

OAK RIDGE IS BECOMING AMERICA'S NUCLEAR CAPITAL Via @ETEC_tn / Tennessee Nuclear Network: • TVA generates 42% of its power from nuclear across a 7-state grid, the deepest nuclear dependency of any U.S. utility • Tennessee hosts the nation's first nuclear engineering program (UT, Top 5) and a growing technician pipeline through state colleges • The Oak Ridge Corridor clusters ORNL, Y-12, TVA, Kairos Power, TRISO-X, Orano, Oklo, and Radiant in one geography • Orano USA is building one of North America's largest uranium enrichment facilities in Oak Ridge • $Oklo is developing HALEU fuel recycling and conversion for advanced reactors in the same corridor • TVA's Clinch River Site is prepping to host multiple BWRX-300 SMRs, the first utility-scale SMR deployment in U.S. history • Tennessee state government has committed $152.6M toward nuclear company recruitment, workforce development, and fission/fusion R&D No other state combines legacy federal infrastructure, an emerging advanced fuel cycle, AND multiple construction-stage reactor projects under one corridor. $CCJ $UUUU $NXE $LEU

We are thrilled to announce that for the second straight year, NE is number 2 among public institutions in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Graduate Schools rankings! 👏 Get more info at the link below: 🔗 bit.ly/4tybImI

Reaching new heights—together. 🚀✨ The @AstrordinaryDF & @josh_dobbs1 are honored to take a select group of @UTK_TCE @UTKMAE students to witness history in the making at the @NASAKennedy for the highly anticipated @NASAArtemis II Launch. #EngineeringVols 🚀

.@UTKnoxville and IACMI The Composites Institute® hosted a Demo Day at the Innovation South facility at Cherokee Farms to showcase advanced manufacturing technologies, workforce development initiatives, and research that is shaping the future of the U.S.

Christian Isaacs, a fourth-year PhD #EngineeringVol in mechanical engineering, has been selected for a prestigious internship at NASA Ames Research Center! Learn more about Issacs and his work at the link below! ⬇️ 🔗 bit.ly/47qv5W9

MAE is proud to congratulate Assistant Professor Tayfun Efe Ertop and his student, Daniel Ritchie, for receiving the Spring Award at the Laboratory Safety Culture Awards Dinner last month!

Congratulations to Research Assistant Professor Preetam Sharma, who has been awarded a 2025 UTRF Technology Maturation Grant to support his project, “Scalable Aluminum-Air Battery Architecture Featuring Engineered Electrolyte Flow." #TeamTCE

What's Homecoming without a parade, and our #EngineeringVols? 🧡 🤍 #HappyHomecoming!

Assistant Professor Sagar Kanhere has won a DSC 300 Caliris Classic in a raffle held by NETZSCH Instruments North America L.L.C. The state-of-the-art thermal analysis tool is designed to accelerate innovation in polymer and composite research. 🔗 bit.ly/4qn0XCS

Assistant Professor Xiangyu Li and PhD student Shaodong Zhang are researching machine learning to help predict the thermal and mechanical properties of next-generation materials. This opens the door for large-scale molecular dynamics simulations. 🔗 bit.ly/4mW1Jnw

Damiano Baccarella, Asst. Prof. of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, has been elected an AIAA Associate Fellow (Class of 2026) for his pioneering hypersonic, scramjet & arcjet research and service to aerospace testing. Click the link below for more! 🔗 bit.ly/3IKYu4i

#EngineeringVFL Mitchell Trotsky has been selected for a prestigious internship at the NASA Ames Research Center, where he will help develop novel laser diagnostics for arc jet tunnels! Learn more at the link below! 🔗 bit.ly/3IvWKfb

The MSCS is the largest online master’s program at TCE, with 187 students, and is ranked fifth overall at the university. The program helps fulfill UT’s land-grant mission of increasing access to the state’s flagship land-grant and research university. 🔗 bit.ly/4n60ra4

Six new faculty members have joined the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering starting in the fall 2025 semester, bringing with them a range of expertise in various areas.  Click the link below to meet the newest members of #TeamTCE! bit.ly/4m6WUrf

Congratulations to Stewart McCorkle (’76) for receiving an Accomplished Alumni Award from the University of Tennessee! The award is for alumni who have made significant strides in their professional work, volunteer roles, or civic involvement. bit.ly/41WD0Yq

After 25 years with NASA, #VFL Butch Wilmore has officially announced his retirement. Congratulations, Butch, on an inspirational career! Read more about Wilmore's legacy at the link below. go.nasa.gov/46HYxHL

Assistant Professor Devina Sanjaya led a group of #EngineeringVols in the 2025 #IREAAMU #NSF-#REU & Collaborative REU site to transform a hobby drone into a delivery drone capable of transporting snacks and toys, designed to mimic the use of drones for an emergency response.

James Weber (BS/AE ’87), a Tennessee native and lifelong Vol, has been honored with induction into the UT Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering's Hall of Fame. Click the link to learn more about Weber's career and legacy. 🔗 bit.ly/43LJcCI

Through the Spark Scholar Program, MABE #EngineeringVols Zach Healey and Kaitlyn Campbell are gaining paid, hands-on experience with Elemental Composites, founded by Tickle College of Engineering alumnus Vinit Chaudhary (BS/ME ’20, MS/ME ’22). 🔗 bit.ly/3Z7VFiQ