Recent News & Events
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Department of Mechanical
Engineering Job
Opportunities
These projects provide the students with real-world experience that involve design
constraints, budgets, reviews, and deadlines. Through these projects our students
learn to apply and develop their critical thinking skills, recognize human and societal
needs, and design novel, sustainable engineering solutions. More Information...
We thank our 2022 Senior Design Day Sponsors for their support of our students and their innovative projects.
Explore SDSU 2022
Explore SDSU was held on campus on Saturday, April 9. ME Labs showcased during the event included the Energy FANS (Flames, Aerosols and Nanoscience) Lab (Dr. Joaquin Camacho), the Additive Manufacturing & Advanced Materials Lab (Dr. Yang Yang,) the Experimental Mechanics Lab (Dr. George Youssef), the Mechanical and Thermal Systems Instructional Lab (Hamid Nourollahi), and the Fabrication Facilities. They drew a steady stream of visitors during the day. In addition. Student clubs displayed their prototypes. The event was a resounding success. The mechanical engineering presentation by the Department Chair and senior students drew some 300 attendees. Parents and prospective students who could not attend the event are encouraged to contact the Department Office to arrange a visit or talk to the Chair.
Student Success Graduation Spring 2022
Approximately 250 students are expected to graduate with a BSME degree in academic year 2021-2022 Featured below are three of our outstanding graduates.
Amy Turnland
At SDSU, I participate in clubs, student research, and internships to gain a well-rounded view of the work it takes to create and improve medical devices. I am an aerodynamics and composites lead in the Formula SAE collegiate competition club, Aztec Racing, where I lead composite layups and simulate airflow through the proposed car design. Read More...
Jackson Cruise
A big part of my undergraduate experience at SDSU has been the student chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Attending an ASME general body meeting was one of the first things I did as a freshman, and little did I know that it would have a huge impact on me. Read More...
SDSU's Zahn Spirit of Innovation Award
Juan Rojas
Four years of work with the Aztec Electric Racing Club have led the mechanical engineering major to the driver’s seat for SDSU’s entry in an international collegiate challenge — and his selection for the university’s 2022 Zahn Spirit of Innovation Award. Innovation was a big reason behind Rojas’s involvement with the club, including two years as president, and its development of the battery-powered vehicle for this year’s competition. Read More...
Senior does Internship at Princeton's Plasma Physics Lab
Jhovanna Garcia's project is aligned with the broader efforts of the Department of Energy (DOE) mission to make nuclear fusion viable. One aspect to this realization is to ensure that a critical fusion reactor component, the divertor, can withstand the effects of continuous impurity particle bombardment. The divertor acts as a maintenance structure, which pulls in excessive heat and impurities generated by fusion reactors for chemical treatment and disposal. Its longevity is one of the determinants for sustained nuclear fusion. Read More...
Outstanding Engineering Project Award 2022
Nha Uyen
San Diego County Engineering Council awarded Nha Uyen the prestigious Outstanding Engineering Project Award for 2022. In her project on "New Frontiers in Material Characterization," Nha Uyen is focusing on uncovering fundamental mechanisms in energy dissipation in impact mitigating polymers and the phase-evolution of magnetic polymers using Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy. She is a Ph.D. student in the Engineering Mechanics Laboratory of Dr. George Youssef.
Faculty Accomplishments
-Dr. Joaquin Camacho has received NSF Career Award for proposal entitled," Progression from Soot to Nanocrystalline Carbon in Elevated Temperature Flames ", and the award amount is $508,122 ($561,990).
Dr. Joaquin Camacho, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, was awarded the NSF CAREER Award of $508,122 for his proposal entitled, "Progression from soot to nanocrystalline carbon in elevated temperature flames". The CAREER Award is a prestigious research grant for early career faculty who demonstrate promising fundamental discoveries and have the potential to enhance education and outreach in the field. The focus for this project is the formation of carbon nanoparticles in flames. This problem is typically concerned with the soot formation for conventional flame applications but, in Prof. Camacho's lab, early evidence was obtained to show that the carbon particles are much more interesting at temperatures hotter than normal flames. Panel b. in the figure shows Raman spectra to show an evolution in the spectrum shape of the carbon nanoparticles with increasing flame temperature. Graphical representations and Transmission Electron Microscopy results of conventional soot and the more interesting nanocrystalline carbon are also shown. Fundamental processes leading to the graphite-like nanocrystals will be studied as well potential applications of this nanomaterial. The project also includes outreach efforts for energy engineering education for Imperial Valley High School students, research lab internships for community college students and academic career training for first generation engineering students.
Dr. Elisa Torresani receives NSF ERI Grant for: additive Manufacturing-spark plasma sintering (aMSPS) Technology for Processing High-Temperature Alloys
Dr. Elisa Torresani, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, was awarded an NSF ERI grant of $197,643
for her project on spark plasma sintering, a well-known manufacturing technology,
in which pressurizing and rapid heating are simultaneously applied to achieve particle-to-solid
consolidation with a low level of defects even for high-temperature metals. However,
spark plasma sintering has been historically limited to simple-shaped components (i.e.,
in cylindrical forms). Read more...
Dr. Eugene Olvesky The National Academy of Engineering Sciences of Serbia Elected Dr. Eugene Olvesky, Distinguished Professor and Dean of the College of Engineering, as a Foreign Member on March 30, 2022.
Dr. George Youssef, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has been named one of the six Inaugural Presidential
Research Faculty Fellows.
At SDSU Dr. Youssef directs the Experimental Mechanics Laboratory. The lab studies,
among other things, non-traditional materials, such as plastics, and composites. Read More...
Dr. Youssef is a recipient of the SDSU Alumni Association Award for Outstanding Faculty Contributions
to the University for 2021-2022. The award recognizes Dr. Youssef's excellence in
both scholarship and
teaching.
Dr. Yang Yang, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, received the 2022 SME Sandra L. Bouckley
Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award
Since 1980, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) Outstanding Young Manufacturing
Engineer Award has recognized manufacturing engineers, age 35 or younger, who have
made exceptional contributions and accomplishments in the manufacturing industry.
Cerion Company Awards $100,000 to Power Technology Lab
Cerion Company awards $100,000 to Power Technology Lab for work on Sintering of Carbide Powders. Dr. Eugene Olvesky, Dean of College of Engineering and Dr. Elisa Torresani, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, are co PI's on the project. Read More...
- A publication co-authored by Professor Dr. Yang Yang and graduate student Brandon Bethers was featured as Inside front cover in Advanced Science. The article highlights wearable thermoelectric devices to harvest the waste energy from human body for health monitoring. The project is a collaborative work with The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Wuhan University.
- JDP Student Qingqing He received the NSF Student Travel Award for the 2022 ASME International Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference (MSEC 2022) and the 50th NAMRI/SME North American Manufacturing Research Conference (NAMRC 50).
- Dr. Yang organized the ACS Spring Symposium on the topic of 3D Printing-enabled Polymeric Composites and Hybrid Systems', https://pmsedivision.org/meetings/
Mechanical Engineering Advisory Board Members New Addition

Student Organizations Updates
Aztec Baja Racing
With competition only 5 weeks away, we are working hard to finish our new 4 wheel drive car. Despite the challenges we’ve encountered we continue to push forward and are committed to perform the best we can in competition. Thanks for all the faculty support and encouragement. This year we will be going to Tennessee, New York and Arizona. See you in the track!
Aztec Electric Racing |
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AER recently partnered up with Tesla over these past few months and they have agreed to sponsor AER team with battery technology. In addition to that, they were able to discuss vehicle design with Tesla for professional insight. Furthermore, we are currently working with AEM EV to collaborate and integrate their electric vehicle ecosystem in our vehicle to exceed current performance capabilities. ![]() |
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