Department of Mechanical Engineering at South Dakota State University

09/09/2026

Dear Jackrabbit Mechanical Engineering Alumni and Friends,

I hope you had a wonderful summer and are enjoying the beautiful early days of fall in the Upper Midwest. As we begin another exciting academic year at SDSU, I am excited to remind you that that is tomorrow!

I warmly invite you to take part in this special annual tradition of giving and celebration. brings together alumni, friends, and supporters who share a commitment to South Dakota State University and its students. Your generosity helps the Mechanical Engineering Department address emerging needs, pursue new opportunities, enhance the student experience, and continue building on the tremendous momentum we have created together.

This year brings many exciting milestones. Our student design teams continue to excel on national and international stages, earning remarkable distinctions and prestigious awards. Our new Healthcare Systems Engineering program is also growing steadily and attracting outstanding students. Driven by the dedication and innovation of our world-class faculty, increased external funding is helping advance our academic programs and research enterprise. As a result of this continued growth and momentum, we are proud to welcome nearly 540 students across our B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. programs this year. We are privileged to support them throughout their college journeys, preparing them for the opportunities, challenges, and successes that await them.

This tremendous growth creates exciting opportunities but also presents significant challenges. Now more than ever, we rely on the support of our extended community to provide the resources our students need to succeed, both inside and outside the classroom, and to reach their full potential. Please join us in strengthening our culture of excellence and empowering our graduates to make a meaningful impact in the communities where we live and serve. Every gift made through will directly support our students by expanding hands-on learning opportunities, fueling academic and professional growth, fostering research and innovation activities, and advancing our mission of providing a transformative and affordable education.

Please use the following link to make a gift and share it with others who may wish to join us:

https://givenow.sdstatefoundation.org/one-day-for-state/?a=5754794

After clicking the link, please select “Mechanical Engineering” from the drop-down menu so your gift will directly support our department.

Thank you for your continued support and for being an important part of our Jackrabbit community. Together, we can continue creating opportunities, supporting our students, and building an even stronger future for Mechanical Engineering at South Dakota State University. Every gift, no matter the size, makes a meaningful difference. Let’s show once again what Jackrabbits can accomplish when we come together!

Thank you for a record-breaking One Day for STATE!

08/12/2026

Congratulations to Todd Letcher on receiving a NASA SBIR grant to advance his vertical lunar regolith conveyance technology for in-situ resource extraction and utilization.

08/12/2026

Hearty congratulations to Dr. Shabbir Ahmed on receiving a $1 million, 4-year grant from NSF! He will collaborate with researchers at UCLA to develop physics-guided latent-space models for detecting occluded objects with the support of this grant.

06/05/2026

Heartiest congratulations to our student team SELENE, who earned the Best in Theme Award in the Lunar Sample Return Concept category at the 2026 NASA 2026 RASC-AL Competition. This marks the fourth consecutive year a team from the SDSU Mechanical Engineering Department has reached the RASC-AL finals and received a competition award. A remarkable achievement that reflects the dedication, talent, and passion of our students.

The SELENE team is made up of six first- and second-year students: Gavin Neu, Bryson Love, Rylie-Sky Stoll, Rachel Ziegeldorf, Alex Diersen, and Bennett Foster. The faculty advisor is Dr. Todd Letcher.

Congratulations once again!

https://rascal.nianet.org/2026-finalist-teams/

05/21/2026

Thrilled to share that our space design team, WINGMAN, won first place in the 2026 Competition. This marks the second consecutive year that an SDSU Mechanical Engineering team has captured the championship. Unlike last year, when we had only one team participating in the finals, this year three of the eight finalist teams came from our department. I could not be more proud of our brilliant students and their inspiring advisor, Todd Letcher!

A South Dakota State University team took first place at NASA’s fifth annual Gateways to Blue Skies Competition, which challenged student teams to address a

05/21/2026

Heartiest congratulations to our Formula SAE team, Wild Hare Racing, on achieving a historic 29th place finish out of 140 collegiate teams from the United States, Spain, Brazil, Italy, and Canada at the 2026 Formula SAE Competition – the best performance in team history! A big shoutout to our outstanding students, faculty advisor Douglas Peters, and everyone who supported this remarkable achievement!

Wild Hare showcased outstanding commitment by participating in every event to the best of their abilities, resulting in a notable 29th place standing among 120 teams. Their achievements are truly commendable and we are all proud of them.

04/30/2026

At this year’s Engineering Banquet, Professor Stephen Gent received the Lohr Outstanding Faculty Award, and Lecturer John VerSteeg was honored with the Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award, both presented by Provost Dennis Hedge and Dean Sanjeev Kumar. Congratulations to our outstanding faculty on their well-deserved honors!

04/21/2026

I am pleased to share that our Human Powered Vehicle (HPV) team placed 8th in this year’s ASME EFx e-HPVC Competition. Composed of sophomores and juniors, the team earned 5th place in the Design Event, 7th in the Drag Race, and 16th in the Endurance Race. Congratulations to our dedicated students and their advisor, Dr. Gregory Michna!

04/21/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Saikat Basu on receiving a 3-year grant from ARPA-H. His project, “LEGO-like assembly of perfusable ECM cubes to generate tissue-agnostic, suturable, organ-sized, viable and functional grafts”, will develop a physics-based, multiscale, multiphase computational framework to quantify and optimize nutrient transport and perfusion in liquid media.

04/16/2026

I am thrilled to share that a team of our students, including five sophomores and one freshman, earned 2nd place in the Remote Control Division at the NASA Human Exploration Rover Competition (HERC) in Huntsville, Alabama. This marked our students’ first participation in HERC, where they competed against college teams primarily composed of juniors and seniors! In addition to this achievement, the team had the opportunity to present their rover to the Director of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and other NASA VIPs. They also toured the Marchal Space Flight Center, saw the Saturn V rocket, and participated in the Artemis II Splashdown Party in downtown Huntsville. The official NASA announcement is here:

NASA’s 32nd annual Human Exploration Rover Challenge, one of the agency’s longest-standing student challenges, culminated April 10-11 with its final excursion