UCF Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

✨ Commencement spotlight ✨

When mechanical engineering master’s student Brandon Castellano crosses the commencement stage, it will be an incredible triumph of not only earning an advanced degree, but also of thriving after giving up everything he loved to reach his goals.

Castellano moved from New York to Florida in January 2025 to start his master’s degree program, leaving behind the only home he’d ever known. He says he chose to pursue his master’s degree at UCF for its distinguished reputation in mechanical engineering, adding that Orlando is in the epicenter of defense and aerospace contractors in the U.S.

As a graduate researcher for Associate Professor Like Li's Thermal Energy Storage and Decarbonization (TESD) Lab, he worked on its thermochemical energy storage system, a $3.8 million project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Technologies Office, with the task of designing, building and testing a thermochemical energy storage reactor using manganese magnesium oxide as solar fuel.

Congratulations to Brandon, and to all of our graduates who will cross the commencement stage tomorrow. Go Knights! Charge On! ✨

UCF engineering students are using their skills and expertise to assist those who have been injured in the Venezuela earthquakes through their humanitarian initiative, Bracing Venezuela.

The Biomedical Engineering Society, with support from the American Association of Venezuelan Engineers, is 3D printing orthopedic devices such as splints, neck bracers and pet immobilizers for humans and animals who were hurt in the disaster.

Discover how you can help: https://bit.ly/4yGw7cP

Professor Tuhin Das and members of his lab have developed CRAFTS, a new plug-and-play software that simplifies engineering design. ✨

The project was supported by a $3.3 million grant from the Advanced Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).

CRAFTS uses a customizable library of templates with a drag-and-drop interface that allows users to design, build and test the products of their imagination: https://bit.ly/3TwUJ7q

Aerospace engineering alum Olivia White ’16 took a chance to break into the sports business industry. Learn more about the career pivot that led her to helping the New York Knicks win an NBA championship: https://bit.ly/4h1tR9l

For 20 years, researchers at the Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research (CATER) have worked on groundbreaking projects in power generation, space propulsion and aviation that have pushed the boundaries of what’s possible in power generation, air travel and spaceflight.

Now CATER is expanding its mission and its reach as it shifts from a center within the College of Engineering and Computer Science to an official university center on July 1.

Learn more about the new iteration of CATER: https://bit.ly/44wfHWh

NASA intern. Astronaut Scholar. Goldwater Scholar. Mechanical engineering undergraduate student Keanu Brayman has humbly earned impressive accolades at UCF, creating a trajectory that will lead him to the career of his dreams: working in the space industry.

Learn more about him and his work: https://bit.ly/43XD4rK

As an alumna and now a UCF postdoctoral scholar, Rachel Hytovik ’20 ’24MSAE ’25PhD is helping to define a new frontier in air travel. As part of the team at the HyperSpace Center, she works on breakthroughs in hypersonic propulsion, a technology that, in the next 25 years, could power a flight from New York to London in less than 15 minutes.

Learn more about her work: https://bit.ly/4xvhx7j

Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering Samik Bhattacharya and aerospace engineering master’s student Dominic Polidoro ’25 are examining how wing shapes could inform mathematical models to improve the performance and stability of the U.S. military’s amphibious vehicles.

Their work is supported by a grant from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, known as DEVCOM Army Research Office.

Learn more about their research: https://bit.ly/3S9Cvs6

On most days, Joshua DeAscanis ’11 ’22MBA is focused on something many people never think about: the invisible systems that keep modern life running.

Through his role as business development manager for Siemens Energy, DeAscanis is helping transform how turbines are tested, inspected and manufactured so they can be delivered at the speed and scale global demand now requires.

Learn more about his role: https://bit.ly/44326FC

Associate Professor Dazhong Wu has been recognized by Springer Nature with a 2026 Editor of Distinction award for the Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing! The honor is given to those in the top 20% for manuscripts sent to review, recognizing their integral role in thoroughly evaluating submissions as part of the peer review process. Congratulations to Dr. Wu! 🎉