SLU School of Science and Engineering

🌟 SSE Researcher Spotlight 🌟

Marvin Meyers, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry, was awarded a 5-year National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 grant for over $2M for his project titled “Optimization of Orally Efficacious Pyrazolopyrimidines for Treating Cryptosporidiosis” with collaborators from SLU’s School of Medicine and the University of Vermont. This project will deliver a preclinical drug candidate for cryptosporidiosis, a leading cause of life-threatening diarrhea and malnutrition in young children in low- and middle-income countries and an often-untreatable cause of chronic diarrhea in immunocompromised children and adults in the United States.

Congratulations on this important work, Dr. Meyer!

We're celebrating a big win for our students this summer! 🏁

Parks Racing, the Formula SAE team, debuted SLU's first-ever fully electric race car at Michigan International Speedway — a proud return to competition after 6 years away.

What makes us especially proud: this achievement came from just 12 dedicated students, compared to the 80+ it typically takes at larger programs. We were also delighted to have Dean Triplett attend competition for the first time ever, cheering our students on.

This is exactly the kind of hands-on, real-world learning we champion at SSE, and we can't wait to see the team return in 2027 with PR6.

Incoming students: want an experience like this? Learn more about joining Parks Racing and becoming part of our next chapter. Email [email protected] to connect!

SLU's Oliver L. Parks Department of Aviation Science is at AirVenture 2026 in Oshkosh, WI! We've already had a blast connecting with alums, prospective students, and industry partners so far! Stop by Booth 38 during exhibit hours this week to connect with our team and learn more about our programs.

Join us tomorrow, 7/22, from 5:30–7:30pm for our Alumni and Industry Event — a great opportunity to mingle with alumni, current students, faculty, and staff while hearing the latest updates from the department as we head into our 100th year of aviation education.

We hope to see you there!

🎉 SSE recognizes our newest STAR!

Congratulations to Madi Babaiasl, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of SLU Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, on being named a 2026 Campus KEEN Rising Star at Saint Louis University!

Each year, the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) recognizes the faculty member who best embodies the entrepreneurial mindset in engineering education. Out of the entire national network, only 19 faculty members earned this honor in 2026, and Dr. Babaiasl is one of them.

She'll be celebrated at the 2027 KEEN National Conference, as well as by all of us on campus!

Well-deserved recognition for the impact Dr. Babaiasl is making on SLU engineering students. Congratulations! 👏

🚀 Big ROCKET news from the Saint Louis University Rocket Propulsion Lab (SLURPL)!

This summer, SLURPL successfully launched Altair Northstar, their second-generation hybrid rocket engine, at the 2026 International Rocket Engineering Competition — officially making SLU one of just 8 universities in the world with hybrid rocket capability.

We're incredibly proud of this team and the dedication it took to get a hybrid engine off the ground. Congratulations to everyone in SLURPL on this achievement!

A special thank you to our faculty advisors and supporters who made this possible: Dr. Sanjay Jayaram, Dr. Steven Buckner, and Dr. Paul Jelliss, as well as Push Plastic, Meyer Contracting, Meyer Electric, and Onshape.

Heading to EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh? ✈️ Join Saint Louis University's aviation alumni and industry gathering on Wednesday, July 22!

Connect with fellow alumni and industry pros, reconnect with old classmates, enjoy complimentary hors d'oeuvres, and get the latest updates from the Oliver L. Parks Department of Aviation Science — all while kicking off 100 years of aviation education at SLU.

Learn more and register: https://loom.ly/YrD3LBc

Saint Louis University remembers Gregory Comer, Ph.D. (1962-2026)

Comer joined the University in 1993 as a physics professor, and played a key role in shaping the undergraduate physics program, mentoring students and advancing research in astrophysics and gravitational theory throughout his career. He was known for his dedication to students, his ability to make complex ideas accessible and his passion for discovery.

Read more: https://loom.ly/0vT2uFk

The 2026 Air Race Classic is officially underway! Three SLU pilots — Jocelyn Ciotti, Sydney Nimerick, and Bella Castro — are competing in the all-women, daylight-only air race that dates back nearly 100 years. They're currently en route on day one of the competition, where they'll be flying 2,500 miles across nine states. Listen to their full interview with KMOX this morning: https://loom.ly/EvJzGpM

Check their progress on the race course here -- Team 42 The Billiken Blues: https://loom.ly/2SCcdw8

SLU is heading to the skies! We're cheering on three incredible student pilots as they compete in the 2026 Air Race Classic from June 23–26.
Jocelyn Ciotti, Sydney Nimerick, and Bella Castro from the Oliver L. Parks Department of Aviation Science will race across a 2,500-mile course, making stops in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, and Wisconsin before finishing in Mount Vernon, Illinois.

Follow their journey and track the race live: slu.edu/news/2026/june/air-race-classic.php