Mechanical Engineering- University of Michigan

🌟ME Summer Student Highlight: Ashton Clark🌟

Ashton, an incoming senior in ME, spent his summer as an intern in the Space Vehicles Mockup Facility in Houston, Texas, under NASA’s Missions Systems Division! His work has focused on updating vehicle mockups to meet astronaut training needs for missions such as Artemis and the International Space Station.

"My work focused primarily on modifying the Orion capsule mockup to accommodate Artemis 3 mission training in a time-sensitive environment," Ashton said.

Living & learning at the University of Michigan 〽️💙

As a student in U-M Mechanical Engineering, you'll find yourself involved in an incredible community beyond our department! The University, city of Ann Arbor, and state of Michigan have so much to offer.

During your time in ME, you'll have the opportunity to find like-minded people, enjoy sports and the arts, experience some of the best Michigan has to offer, and access a community of peers and professionals who will support you personally and professionally throughout your journey.

👉🔗 Check out our recent blog on life in Ann Arbor: https://bit.ly/46gUdNW

🌟ME Summer Student Highlight: Archer Gandhi🌟

Archer is an incoming senior in mechanical engineering! This summer, she interned at Firestorm, a San Diego, California-based startup.

"My work is mostly focused on structures, design for additive manufacturing, and mechanical hardware integration," she said. "I’m working under another U-M ME alum, which has been a great experience!"

Tuhin Bagi, a Michigan Mechanical Engineering PhD student, is one of 16 graduate students selected for the Critical Minerals Research Lab 2026 cohort.

The Critical Minerals Research Lab is a virtual, interdisciplinary hub created by Resources for the Future, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan nonprofit organization. The lab brings together students from diverse backgrounds to identify and explore research topics related to the growing importance of critical minerals.

Bagi’s research centers on electric vehicle adoption and critical mineral sourcing. As a member of the EMBERLab, led by U-M Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Sita Syal, he is developing a model to understand the core impacts of the transition to electric vehicles.

👉🔗 Learn more: https://bit.ly/3U5QKPE

🌟ME Summer Student Highlight: Saima Jamal🌟

Michigan Mechanical Engineering PhD student Saima Jamal spent her summer as an intern at the NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia! During her internship, she focused on modeling and control work on a Lunar Cableway Platform.

"While I've been privileged to work at a few centers through my early academic career, Langley has been a dream come true!" Saima said. "This internship would not have been possible without courses taught by Professor Brent Gillespie, Lecturer Jeffrey Koller, and my advisor, Assistant Professor Daniel Bruder. I've even been given the opportunity to work on a mini side project building a soft-robotics gripper demo, which ties nicely into my PhD as I work through how we can make more lightweight, low-mass, capable robots for space!"

Saima also had the opportunity to present her research at the NASA Langley Student Poster Symposium!

🌟ME Summer Student Highlight🌟

As we get ready to kick off the 2026-27 academic year, we're highlighting some of the amazing experiences our ME students had this summer. First up is Mario Calvo (BSE ME, '28)!

This summer, Mario took part in the Engineering in Madrid program offered by International Programs in Engineering - University of Michigan. During his time abroad, he studied Dynamics with Vibration (ME240) and Sustainable Development in Madrid (a humanities elective).

"While in Madrid, I genuinely enjoyed being able to see the beauty that Spain has to offer, whether that was eating authentic Spanish tapas in the evening, walking down the famous Gran Via, or taking in the breathtaking art of the Museo Del Prado," he said. "There really was so much to see in Madrid."

Efforts to understand snake venom, its purpose, and its dangers span thousands of years. Though researchers have studied the many individual aspects of the envenomation process, few have taken a holistic approach to understanding the interacting physics phenomena that govern snake envenomation.

Talia Moore, a University of Michigan assistant professor of mechanical engineering and robotics, has spent the last six years developing a robotic system to bridge that gap: Bite-Bot.

Using a swing arm, 3D-printed titanium fangs, and non-toxic venom mimics, Bite-Bot is a robo-physical model that facilitates the study of various methods of snake envenomation and their evolution over time. The model, described in a paper recently published in Integrative and Comparative Biology, can independently vary bite force and speed, as well as fang characteristics, venom viscosity and pressure, and the duration of venom pressurization.

"We're really motivated by understanding more about the biomechanical drivers of evolution and adaptation across snakes," Moore said. "Really understanding what physical interactions cause snakes to diversify and specialize."

👉🔗 Learn more: https://me.engin.umich.edu/news-events/news/bite-bot-a-robo-physical-model-for-studying-snake-envenomation/

Two Michigan Mechanical Engineering postdoctoral research fellows, Yujing Yang and Marvin Poul, have been selected for the Michigan Institute for Data and AI in Society (MIDAS) 2026 cohort of Postdoctoral Affiliates.

The 2026 cohort includes 10 postdoctoral researchers from across U-M who will receive support for their career development and their development and use of AI and data science methodologies in domain research.

👉🔗 Learn more: https://bit.ly/4cr3qXs

📸 A few more pictures from the SURE Student Showcase, which took place last Wednesday, July 29!

The Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering (SURE) program gives undergraduate students the opportunity to work with leading faculty members on graduate-level research projects. Near the end of the summer, students present their work alongside their peers at the SURE Student Showcase.

Congratulations to all the students who participated this year!

👉🔗 Learn more about SURE: https://sure.engin.umich.edu/