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The piezoelectric materials that inhabit everything from our cell phones to musical greeting cards may be getting an upgrade thanks to work discussed in the journal Nature Materials released online Jan 21. Xiaoyu ‘Rayne’ Zheng, assistant professor of mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering, and a member of the Macromolecules Innovation Institute, and his team have developed methods to 3D print piezoelectric materials that can be custom-designed to convert movement, impact and stress from any direction to electrical energy. “Piezoelectric materials...

14 March, 2019

Twenty-nine members of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics were elected as Fellows for 2019 including three current Virginia Tech faculty: Wing Ng, Christopher C. Kraft Endowed Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Rakesh Kapania, Mitchell Professor of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering, and Robert Canfield, professor and assistant department head in the Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering. Others chosen for the honor this year include Virginia Tech alums Fayette Collier of the NASA Langley Research Center, who earned...

14 March, 2019

Xiaoyu ‘Rayne’ Zheng, assistant professor of mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering, has received an Office of Naval Research 2019 Young Investigator award to study rational design and additive manufacturing of 3D piezoelectrics with arbitrary anisotropy for maritime self-sensing structures. The work will be done as part of ONR’s Maritime Sensing Program. The ability to tailor energy transduction materials are critical to meet demanding operational environments where weight, robustness, and performance are equally important. The three-year, $750,000 project aims to...

14 March, 2019

In the 2017-2018 academic year, a new sponsor for mechanical engineering senior design teams arrived at Virginia Tech in the form of QL+, a non-profit dedicated to helping veterans and first responders. Teams tackled problems brought forth by challengers and made a difference in their lives. Inspired by the initial challenges, Zackory Biggers, a junior in mechanical engineering from Lovettsville, Virginia answered a call to help form a new student organization, Quality of Life Plus Student Chapter at Virginia Tech, to...

14 March, 2019

Chair and Professor of Mechanical Engineering and James Fife Endowed Chair in the College of Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, Roberto Horowitz will be the speaker for the Mechanical Engineering Leadership Distinguished Speaker Series March 18. The talk, "Modeling, Control and Estimation of Traffic Road Networks" will be held rom 10:30-11:30 a.m.  in 117A Randolph Hall....

14 March, 2019

Professor Yu Sun of the University of Toronto will be the featured speaker May 2 from 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. Yu's talk is: Medical Robotics: Manipulation of Cells and Intracellular Structures. The talk will be held in 310 Kelly Hall. Professor Sun is hosted by Associate Professor Bahareh Behkam....

14 March, 2019