MAESTRO director Darren Hartl was recently interviewed for an article in the Daily Beast addressing the upcoming flights of the NASA X-59 aircraft and the topic of sonic booms in general. The full article can be found here.
Allen Davis becomes the latest Ph.D. graduate
On October 14, 2022, Allen Davis concluded his Ph.D. journey by completing his doctoral degree in Aerospace Engineering under Dr. Darren Hartl. Allen joined the MAESTRO Laboratory after completing his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Louisiana State University, and first completed a Masters of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering with a focus on damage-sensing particles for various structural systems. He has accepted a position as a Aerospace Engineer at NAVAIR (Patuxent River).
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MAESTRO student Priscilla Nizio awarded the Stanger Endowed Graduate Fellowship
Dr. Ivett Leyva (left), Priscilla Nizio (center) and Dianna Stanger (right) at the 2022 Department of Aerospace Award Ceremony.
Patrick Walgren successfully completes doctoral studies
On June 15, 2022, Patrick Walgren became the latest student to successful complete his doctoral degree in Aerospace Engineering under Dr. Darren Hartl. Patrick joined the MAESTRO Laboratory after completing his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Lehigh University. He has taken a position at the Air Force Research Laboratory as a National Research Council Postdoctoral Researcher, a prestigious position sponsored by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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Jacob L. Mingear completes his journey as a Ph.D. student
On June 13, 2022, Jacob L. Mingear became the first student within the MAESTRO Laboratory to complete all necessary requirements to earn his doctoral degree in Materials Science and Engineering, a department in which his Chair Dr. Hartl is an affiliated faculty member. Jacob joined the MAESTRO Laboratory after completing his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering at University of Florida. He has taken a position at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
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MAESTRO members complete conference crusade
In the past two weeks, four lab members went to four different conferences to spread the MAESTRO gospel and represent Texas A&M engineering to a variety of different communities. Allen Davis attended the Vertical Flight Society meeting in Dallas, Texas, where he presented his latest work on adaptive rotorcraft design. Jacob Mingear gave an invited presentation (a great honor!) about his progress towards developing liquid metal-SMA actuators at the International Conference on Shape Memory and Superelastic Technologies (SMST) in Long Beach, California. Patrick Walgren briefed the DoD about his work on aperture design in Delaware. Finally, Dr. Hartl traveled to Houston for the SIMULIA Regional User’s Meeting and updated the Abaqus finite element community on his work training the next generation of Aggie structural engineers. Great job everyone!
Jacob wows the crowd by integrating a liquid metal energy circuit with an SMA actuator.
Allen presents his work on morphing rotorcraft in Dallas (presentation not shown).
MAESTRO student Zamarripa awarded two prestigious fellowships for doctoral studies
Jessica Zamarripa ’20 has received two prestigious fellowships to help further her doctoral studies. | Image: Texas A&M Engineering Communications
Jessica Zamarripa ‘20, a graduate student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University and member of the MAESTRO Laboratory, has received two prestigious awards, the 2022 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship and the National GEM Consortium Ph.D. Engineering and Science Fellowship.
MAESTRO students help youth in Alaska learn about space
Patrick Walgren and Hannah Stroud became role models for young students in Alaska, teaching them what they can do and who they can be when they grow up. | Image: Courtesy of Patrick Walgren
Patrick Walgren and Hannah Stroud, doctoral students in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University, traveled to Alaska to spend a few days helping first- and second-graders learn about space.
Growing up there, Walgren had one of his first introductions to aerospace at the Challenger Learning Center of Alaska. Now that he’s preparing for a career as an aerospace engineer, on a whim, he reached out to the center about volunteering at the Space Academy, their aerospace-themed camp. He and Stroud were invited to join the staff as “flight directors” and help facilitate activities for the students.
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MAESTRO student creates virtual outreach opportunity for fourth graders
Collette Gillaspie organized a group of Texas A&M engineering students to reinvigorate science for a class of fourth graders. | Image: Texas A&M Engineering
When she was 10 years old, Collette Gillaspie caught her first glimpse of a future on Mars. While visiting a nature and science museum during a family road trip, Gillaspie was mesmerized by an exhibit about a Martian habitat, memorizing all the bite-sized facts the information display had to offer and letting her mind imagine what it would be like to visit the red planet. Today, she’s a doctoral student studying aerospace engineering at Texas A&M University and conducting research in the MAESTRO Lab related to habitats and getting humans to the moon and Mars sustainably.
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Hartl interviewed for Skytalks
Interview with Darren Hartl, Associate Professor at Texas A&M University
Dr. Hartl was recently interviewed by ambitious high school student Balamir Sahin for his “Skytalks” website, which has the mission of gathering a wide range of opinions and inputs regarding the field of aerospace engineering for informing young students from around the world regarding our amazing profession. Balamir asked some really wonderful questions, and Hartl did his best to give his perspective. Interested students can watch the interview with Dr. Hartl here and see similar perspectives from other aerospace professors and professionals here.