Padnos College of Engineering at GVSU

Grand Valley nursing students will benefit from the talents and expertise of a group of PCE students! Six senior engineering students are working on an automated medication dispensing unit that will transform healthcare education at GVSU by immersing students in authentic clinical practice experiences. Click the link the in the first comment to learn more about these students and their excellent work.

We're excited to share that Nicholas Baine, PhD, PE, has been named to the James R. Sebastian Endowed Chair in Engineering Cooperative Education and Educational Development! This reimagined position will focus on preparing students for today’s workforce while strengthening partnerships across the region.

Baine who serves as an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, will begin in the role in the fall semester and will provide vision, mentorship, and assessment to strengthen and evolve PCE’s cooperative education program to best serve the needs of students and the broader community. Additionally, he'll will provide strategic guidance and expertise to PCE’s education, research, and professional development opportunities.

You can read the full announcement and more on the impact James R. Sebastian has had on GVSU Engineering at the link in the first comment. Congratulations Nick!

A great night celebrating with the dozens of new Padnos College of Engineering graduates! Congratulations to everyone who got their degrees Friday night and remember you are all Lakers for a Lifetime! GVSU Alumni

As this year's commencement approaches, two 2019 PCE grads are preparing for the public launch of their startup business, fulfilling a promise they made on their graduation day. Meet Casey McKellar and Robin Petersen and learn how about how the lessons they learned in their engineering classes helped them get to this point at the link in the first comment.

More than 100 students in EGR 185 took part in the annual Freshman Robotics Competition this weekend. The students teamed up to design and build robots and program a microcontroller to make the robots perform in a line-following race, a hill climb and a tug of war, in what is always a fun and exciting end to the semester!

Project Day is always one of the best days of the year! Dozens of student projects were on display at the Shape Corp. Innovation Design Center and it was exciting to see the innovation and excellence that PCE students have put into their work.

A great week at the Shape Corp. Innovation Design Center as we hosted the 2026 Cast In Steel competition! 58 teams from 18 states, France and Mexico were on hand for the competition, in which teams design, cast and test a fully functional metal tool or weapon.

This year's challenge was a Horseman's Axe and the GVSU team spent months creating their entry. GVSU finished second in the report category and also got special mention for using AI in their video. The event was also part of a production for a television series that is in development.

Congratulations to all the team members and their faculty advisor, Abishek Balsamy-Kamaraj!

Congratulations to all the PCE students who were honored at this year's Student Awards Convocation. The list of winners includes Annika Mattson, who received the Glenn A. Niemeyer Award which recognizes well-rounded individuals who demonstrate excellence in both the classroom and extra-curricular activities that serve to enrich their lives and the lives of others. PCE also had eight winners in the Excellence-In-A-Discipline category, those winners were:

Maya Rhodes, Biomedical Engineering
Lucas Williams, Computer Engineering
Laura Goenner, Electrical Engineering
Cody Lampen, Interdisciplinary Engineering
Rosanna Damuth, Mechanical Engineering
Lexi Schliewe, Occupational Safety and Health Management
Leah Thomason, Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering
Madelyn Burrell, Engineering, M.S.E.

Congratulations to all of the PCE students and their faculty mentors who are taking part in Student Scholars Day! Student Scholars Day celebrates research the scholarly process and showcases faculty-mentored student work.
In this photo, Yunju Lee, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, talks about the Student Scholars Day research entitled “Design and Validation of an Instrumented Lab-Scale Composting Test Bed to Quantify the Effect of Forced Aeration."

Congratulations to PCE's Sanjivan Manoharan, who has been named a 2026 Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year! The award is presented annually by the Michigan Association of State Universities to recognize outstanding contributions and dedication to the education of undergraduate students by faculty members from Michigan’s 15 public universities. Sanjivan was honored for his rigorous and compassionate teaching, his purposeful scholarship, and his unmistakable commitment to students. He'll be recognized at an awards ceremony later this week, and you can read more about the award here:

https://www.gvsu.edu/gvnext/2026/engineering-faculty-member-recognized-as-one-of-michigans-distinguished-professors-of-the-year.htm