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Early in march, the US Patent Office assigned patent number US10228197 for a patent entitled “Variable Heat Rejection Device” that protects intellectual property associated with the SMA-based morphing radiator project. Inventors included Dr. Darren Hartl and his collaborators at NASA and Paragon Space Development Corporation.

[Read more…] about US patent granted for shape memory alloy morphing radiator

Only three years after returning to the Texas A&M Department of Aerospace Engineering as a tenure-track faculty member in August of 2016, Dr. Hartl has reached the 3000 citation mark (as per Google Scholar).

With an h-index of 20 and with 50 publications having over 10 citations, Dr. Hartl continues to work with his students to make an impact on the smart materials and adaptive structures community in particular. Highly cited publications from the MAESTRO Lab address such topics as shape memory alloys, active origami, and multi-functional composites. Newer papers have addressed fracture and fatigue of shape memory alloy materials as well as new topological design methods and actuator concepts.

Senior undergraduate student Jessica Zamarripa recently attended the Global Grand Challenge Summit in London, UK from September 12-18. The event convened inspirational world leaders with the next generation of engineers and change makers to build a creative collaboration environment to help solve the grand challenges facing our world. The summit focused on answering the questions of whether we can sustain 10 billion people and will AI/other transformational technologies change humanity for the better. She spent her time networking with representatives from industry and academia (including the COE of Deka Research and Development, former president of the National Academy of Engineers, President of the Namibia Society of Engineers, etc.), participated in the student collaboration lab, and attended several seminars that discussed different world issues.

Representing one of the most unique MAESTRO experiences to date, Dr. Hartl and his team were recently invited to play the exclusive Wolf Point Club, a private golf course with its own attached private airport owned by Dianna Stanger. [Read more…] about Team members invited to play “Texas’ most intriguing and secret golf course”

In what has become a tradition, MAESTRO students and affiliated researchers retreated to the Texas Gulf Coast for multiple days of technical and social activities. [Read more…] about MAESTRO researchers participate in annual Summer Retreat

This weekend members of the Maestro lab volunteered at the 2019 Physics & Engineering Festival. The festival attracts over 7,000 people and consists of 200 booths with interactive experiments including two from our lab. This was the fifth year in a roll that we have participated at the festival and we look forward to next year!

[Read more…] about Maestro lab doubles down at Physics Festival

After years of researching the mechanics of various multifunctional materials systems, with an emphasis on shape memory alloys (SMAs), Dr. Darren Hartl was recently named as an Affiliate Faculty Member of the Department of Material Science and Engineering (MSEN) at Texas A&M University.

[Read more…] about Hartl granted courtesy appointment in Department of Material Science and Engineering

Starting Tuesday, January 22, the senior graduate students of the MAESTRO Lab launched a peer teaching series known as the MAESTRO Workshop, where younger students will learn from the more experienced on topics of programming, technical writing, technical presentation, laboratory practices, and many other areas. The Workshops will be held biweekly in HRBB 702 from 8:30AM to 10:00AM, and all are welcome.

[Read more…] about Senior graduate students launch “MAESTRO Workshop”

Last week, Dr. Hartl and graduate students Pedro Leal and Patrick Walgren attended the biggest aerospace conference in the nation, the”AIAA Science and Technology Forum (AIAA SciTech 2019)”. Among the more than 2500 technical presentations held during the conference, the Maestro group was directly involved with four papers. Pedro presented his work related to morphing wings result of the collaboration with Utah State University (USU) in the low-boom supersonic aircraft development project.  Patrick, as shown below,  presented his high-fidelity simulation work regarding bending cylinders in collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). This was a great opportunity for networking with new (Lockheed, Boom, and others) and old (USU, Purdue, AFRL, and others) colleagues as well as learning about cutting edge research.

One of the difficulties encountered when teaching science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses is trying to present three-dimensional concepts using two-dimensional classroom tools. The Maestro VR Studio in the Department of Aerospace Engineering has been funded by the Texas A&M Triads for Transformation initiative to conduct research into how the STEM classroom experience can be enhanced through the use of virtual reality (VR).

[Read more…] about Immersive Visualization Laboratory receives university funding