The space economy is on track to be valued at a trillion dollars by the end of 2030, according to Piyush Mehta, Wayne and Kathy Richards Faculty Fellow and assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at WVU. Yet space assets – equipment that is placed in space such as navigation, weather and communication satellites that serve our society daily – are threatened by space debris.

Integrating renewable energy with the power grid continues to be a big challenge for the electrical grid infrastructure in the United States. While the solution isn’t simple, it’s not impossible either, and researchers from WVU have been competitively awarded $7.5 million from the United States Department of Energy to help solve a critical part of the problem.

Statler College alum Gbolahan "Bugzy" Idowu graduated from WVU with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and a bachelor’s degree in petroleum and natural gas engineering. Fast forward to 2022, Idowu is now working at Tesla in Reno, Nevada, as a manufacturing equipment engineer.

In celebration of Black History Month, we feature mechanical and aerospace engineering major and Lane Innovation Hub team member, Dre' Hodges. Hodges was inspired to choose engineering because of his parents and other leading Black engineers like Lonnie Jonson, Walter Braithwaite and Katherine Johnson. Learn more about Hodges’ engineering path how he continues to make a difference in the Statler College.

Dear friends and colleagues,

I hope you are enjoying the start of spring! This issue of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering newsletter highlights the success of Piyush Mehta, assistant professor, who earned the prestigious NSF CAREER award. In addition, you will read about some of our recent research awards in our areas of strength, including: aerospace systems, materials science and robotics.

You will find that our department is engaged in a wide variety of exciting projects from a diverse set of sponsors. Please visit our recently revamped website https://mae.statler.wvu.edu/ to learn more.

Best Regards,

MAILING ADDRESS:
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering | West Virginia University
1306 Evansdale Drive | P.O. Box 6106 | Morgantown, WV 26506-6106
PHONE: 304.293.3111 | EMAIL: Statler-MAE-research@mail.wvu.edu

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