Department of Mechanical Engineering

#GINNing Podcast: Honey, have you Heard?

Austin Phillips | 07/03/26

There’s a buzz around town about Dylan Heard, a rising senior in mechanical engineering. Heard has spent many hours of his time as an undergraduate student working with the Auburn University Bee Center making that honey, and come next year after graduation he’s going to be making that money.

NCAME Research Engineer Mikyle Paul, right, and Hunter Ryan with the center's VRC Gen IV Cold Spray System.

NCAME partners with high-performance metal powder producer to evaluate cold spray for repair of critical components

Joe McAdory | 06/23/26

A team of researchers at the National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence, in partnership with 6K Additive, a U.S.-based manufacturer of premium metal powders and alloy additions, is investigating how various cold spray feedstock materials perform under demanding conditions.

Ada Pratico, a rising senior in mechanical engineering, is the 2026 Richard A. Groenendyke Scholarship award winner.

Rising senior in mechanical engineering selected as 2026 Groenendyke Scholarship recipient

Joe McAdory | 06/11/26

Ada Pratico is involved in the college's Makerspace, served on Auburn's Engineers Without Borders Bolivia team and completed a co-op rotation at Rheem's water heater division in Montgomery.

Research Park expansion map showing new boundaries that increase park size to 240 acres

Auburn University Board of Trustees approves 77-acre Research Park expansion to accommodate future program growth

06/10/26

Auburn University trustees approved a 77-acre expansion of The Park, supporting advanced manufacturing research, industry partnerships and future program growth.

Auburn soccer player Fizz Hutton performs a body feint while wearing motion-capture sensors in the Auburn University Biomechanical Engineering Lab, where researchers analyzed the biomechanics behind the soccer move made famous by Lionel Messi.

AUBE Lab, soccer player analyze the biomechanics of the body feint

06/03/26

Graduate students working in the Auburn University Biomechanical Engineering Lab, with the help of Auburn senior defensive midfielder Fizz Hutton, recently decided to analyze a masterpiece of anatomical misdirection engineered by the most valuable leg in the world.

Lockheed Martin representatives met with NCAME researchers on campus this spring.

NCAME partners with Lockheed Martin to develop components for future aircraft

Joe McAdory | 05/28/26

Researchers in the National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence are partnering with Lockheed Martin on the development of a flight intended component for the company’s Vectis aircraft platform, scheduled to fly in 2027.

Chen appointed materials engineering program chair

Joe McAdory | 05/26/26

Pengyu Chen, the Francis Family Professor and Ginn Faculty Achievement Fellow in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, will assume the role of materials engineering program chair on July 1.

#GINNing Podcast: The Holy Grail of Catalysis

Austin Phillips | 05/08/26

Move over Dmitri Mendeleev and make room for Konstantin Klyukin, an assistant professor of materials and mechanical engineering. While the new Russian research machine may be in search of the holy grail of catalysis, it’s gonna have to wait 20 minutes for this next podcast.

Auburn at the 2026 VEX World Championships.

Auburn team wins largest student robotics competition in the world

05/04/26

Aubie2, a team representing the Auburn Robotics Club, recently won the 2026 VEX Robotics World Championships in St. Louis, a competition Guinness World Records identifies as the largest robotics competition on the planet.

#GINNing Podcast: NCAME to SpaceX

05/01/26

SpaceX loves Auburn Engineering graduates. SpaceX needs more Auburn Engineering graduates. Enter Nick Raciti. The honors mechanical engineering graduate will take his diploma and head to the West Coast upon graduation as the second #GINNing guest in a row to work with the space giant. Listen to this #GINNing episode below, or you can find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts by searching #GINNing.

Ben Timm, a mechanical engineering senior, serves as Auburn’s mic-man, leading cheers and energizing crowds at Jordan-Hare Stadium and Neville Arena.

Auburn Family’s support creates extraordinary student experience

04/28/26

Auburn Engineering senior Ben Timm brings energy to campus as Auburn’s mic-man, balancing mechanical engineering studies with leading crowds at major athletic events.

Ryan McGill, ’20 computer engineering, and Jennifer Matis, ’20 mechanical engineering, appeared on Fox’s “The 1% Club,” a puzzle-based game show hosted by Joel McHale.

Auburn engineering graduates appear on FOX game show

Dustin Duncan | 04/28/26

Auburn Engineering graduates Ryan McGill and Jennifer Matis appeared on Fox’s “The 1% Club,” competing in a national puzzle-based game show filmed in Atlanta.

#GINNing Podcast: Formula for SpaceX

Austin Phillips | 04/24/26

While it may be appropriate for Matt Cobb to drive or fly across the stage this weekend, the senior in mechanical engineering will walk to get his diploma in Auburn Arena before shooting off to Texas. Following commencement ceremonies, Cobb will finish what he started with the Auburn Formula SAE team as it travels to the national competition before he blasts off to his new position with SpaceX.

The annual research symposium drew nearly 500 students and postdoctoral researchers, who presented their work before faculty and peers.

Engineering well represented at Auburn Research Symposium

Joe McAdory | 04/02/26

The annual research symposium drew nearly 500 students and postdoctoral researchers, who presented their work before faculty and peers.

A rendering of a 3D-printed aerospike rocket engine, a prime example of the complex designs and large-scale components NCAME can qualify with its new AMCM M-4K system. [Image courtesy of AMCM/EOS]

Large-scale advanced systems supporting NCAME qualification efforts toward Army AM adoption

Jeremy D Henderson | 04/01/26

The U.S. government is expecting big things out of Auburn's National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence — literally.

$Chanho Lee, assistant professor in mechanical engineering, holds a newly designed and fabricated refractory multi-principal element alloy sample prepared for a mechanical property test.$

NSF backs Auburn-led research into rewriting rules of metallic materials

Jeremy D Henderson | 03/30/26

Structured metals can be really strong at high temperature — a good thing. Or they can be somewhat pliable at room temperature — also a good thing. But they can't be both. That's just how the game is played... for now.

#GINNing Podcast: The Reliability of Cheney Curls

Jeremy D Henderson | 03/14/26

Let's just say that when it comes to reliability problem-solving and data analysis — and extra-curricular leadership — this mechanical engineering senior curls a lot of weight.

#GINNing Podcast: Stick We Did

Jeremy D Henderson | 03/06/26

Mechanical engineering honors senior Dalton Robinson sat down with the #GINNing gang to discuss his Auburn journey, his future plans and Auburn's chances at once again sticking it to Princeton and the rest of the also-rans at the American Society of Naval Engineers' annual Promoting Electric Propulsion Competition.

The print head of the CF3D Enterprise Cell recently installed at the Auburn University Applied Research Institute uses integrated UV curing to instantly solidify continuous carbon fibers into high-performance components.

Auburn Applied Research Institute to host Huntsville tech tour, showcase next-generation 3D carbon fiber composites printing

Jeremy D Henderson | 02/26/26

Luke Boyer, lead principal research engineer for the Auburn University Applied Research Institute (AUARI), was pretty sure the institute’s latest acquisition would attract the right attention from the right folks in Huntsville. He was right.

From left, David Bevly, Laurence Rilett and Shiwen Mao are leading a $1.9 million Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration–funded project at Auburn University to test RFID-enabled smart tire technology aimed at improving highway safety.

AUTRI receives $1.9 million to study smart tire technology for highway safety

Dustin Duncan | 02/23/26

Auburn University’s Transportation Research Institute receives $1.9 million from FMCSA to test RFID-enabled smart tire technology aimed at preventing commercial truck blowouts and improving highway safety.

A rendering of the entrance to the Analytical, Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Laboratory and expanded makerspace, featuring a new terraced entrance off the Ginn Concourse.

Auburn to construct world-class engineering lab, expand nation’s largest student-run makerspace

Jeremy D Henderson | 02/13/26

The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering will begin construction this spring on a world-class laboratory designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration, creativity and industry-relevant research in advanced manufacturing that will also expand the Design and Innovation Center, commonly known as the makerspace.

Two Auburn engineers advance to Feb. 27 Tiger Cage semifinals

Joe McAdory | 02/13/26

Ethan Page, a recent graduate in mechanical engineering, and Joseph Rusk, a junior in electrical and computer engineering, are among 11 remaining teams in the annual student business pitch competition

Siyuan Dai (pictured) leads an Auburn materials engineering team whose breakthrough nanophotonics research was recently published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications.

Tiny Steps, Big Discovery: Auburn materials engineers make high-profile breakthrough in nanophotonics

Jeremy D Henderson | 02/05/26

Researchers in Auburn's Materials Research and Education Center are revolutionizing the discipline of nanophotonics one small step at a time — literally.

#GINNing Podcast: Hailing Haley

Jeremy D Henderson | 01/30/26

From solid fuel rockets to medical sockets, mechanical engineering GTA Haley Duncan Evans is designing her future one interdisciplinary project at a time.