People


Dr. Mostafa Hassanalian

Associate Professor (April 2022-Present, CV)

Assistant Professor (August 2018-April 2022)

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.”

Thomas Henry Huxley

Current Graduate Students

Niyem Bawana

  • PhD student in Mechanical Engineering (01/19-present)

  • Research interests: Drones, Formation Flight, Machine Learning, Aerodynamics

Michelle Sherman

  • PhD student in Electrical Engineering (08/20-present)

  • Ms. student in Mathematics (08/20-present)

  • Research interests: Space Exploration, Robotics, Bio-inspiration & biomimetics, Machine Learning, sensors

Mariah Gammill

  • Ms. student in Mechanical Engineering (08/20-present)

  • Research interests: Space Exploration, Drones, Energy Harvesting, Design

Zachary Rubin

  • Master student in Mechanical Engineering (08/20-present)

  • Research interests: Drones, Swarm Flight, Flapping Wings, CFD, Experimental Aerodynamics, Design, Bio-inspiration & biomimetics, Heated Boundary Layer

Anastasia Western

  • Master student in Mechanical Engineering (08/20-present)

  • Research interests: Robotics, Amphibious Systems, Bio-inspiration & biomimetics, Machine Learning, Design

Douglas MacNinch

  • Master student in Mechanical Engineering (08/20-present)

  • Research interests: Drones, Smart City, Intelligent Systems, Charging Stations, Design, Manufacturing

Mario Moran

  • Ms. student in Electrical Engineering (08/20-present)

  • Undergraduate degree: Electrical Engineering

  • Research interests: Cluster Swarm, Robotics, Bio-inspiration & biomimetics, Machine Learning, sensors

Summer Little

  • Ms. student in Mechanical Engineering (08/20-present)

  • Undergraduate degree: Civil Engineering

  • Research interests: Space Exploration, Autonomous Systems, Mars Structures, Atmospheric Studies

Salomon Maestas

  • Ms. student in Master of Science for Teacher (MST) (08/19-present)

  • Undergraduate degree: Material Engineering

  • Research interests: Drones, Flapping Wing, Heated Boundary Layer, Optimization, Bio-inspiration & biomimetics

Christopher Frederick

  • Master student in Mechanical Engineering (08/18-present)

  • Advised by Dr. Bakhtiyarov and co-advised by Dr. Hassanalian

  • Research interests: Thermal boundary layer, heat transfer, Thermal fluid science, Experimental design

Javad Shahmoradi

  • Master student in Mineral Engineering (08/19-present)

  • Advised by Dr. Pedram Roghanchi and co-advised by Dr. Hassanalian

  • Research interests: Drones application in mining industries

Siavash Norouzi

  • Master student in Computer Science and Engineering (08/19-present)

  • Advised by Dr. Ramyaa and by Dr. Hassanalian

  • Research interests: Computational mechanics, Machine learning

Caleb Jaquish

  • Master student in Mechanical Engineering (08/19-present)

  • Advised by Dr. Bakhtiyarov and co-advised by Dr. Hassanalian

  • Research interests: Thermal boundary layer, heat transfer, Thermal fluid science

Rebecca Sappington

  • Master student in Mechanical Engineering (08/18-present)

  • Research interests: Drones, Swarm Flight, Flight Dynamics, Optimization, Control, Aerodynamics, Design and Fabrication, Robotics

Steven Lukow

  • Master student in Mechanical Engineering (08/20-present)

  • Research interests: Drones, Space Robotics, Mechanism Design, Aerodynamics, Bioinspiration

Grace Tenorio

  • Master student in Mechanical Engineering (08/20-present)

  • Research interests: Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, heated boundary layer, renewable energy





Current Undergraduate Students

Brenden Herkenhoff

  • Undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering (01/20-present)

  • Research interests: Drones, Amphibious Systems, Bio-inspiration & biomimetics, Energy Harvesting, Design

Jarod Fisher

  • Undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering (08/19-present)

  • Research interests: Drones, Amphibious Systems, Bio-inspiration & biomimetics, Energy Harvesting, Design

Chris Dinelli

  • Undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering (08/19-present)

  • Research interests: Drones, Amphibious Systems, Bio-inspiration & biomimetics, Energy Harvesting, Design

Savannah Bradley

  • Undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering (01/19-present)

  • Research interests: Drones, Piloting, Bio-inspiration & biomimetics, Anti-Predator Systems, Navigation

Micaela Olivas

  • Undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering (01/19-present)

  • Research interests: UAVs, Space Exploration, Design, Spherical Drones

Austin Maxwell

  • Undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering (08/18-present)

  • Research interests: Robotics, Rovers, Space Exploration, Design, Manufacturing

Cole Dunning

  • Undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering (08/19-present)

  • Research interests: Bio-inspiration & biomimetics, Robotics, Rovers, Space Exploration, Design, Manufacturing

Rodrigo Cervantes

  • Undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering (08/19-present)

  • Research interests: Bio-inspiration & biomimetics, Robotics, Rovers, Space Exploration, Design, Manufacturing

Joseph Martinez-Ponce

  • B.SC in Mechanical Engineering (08/19-05/20)

  • Research interests: Bio-inspiration & biomimetics, Robotics, Drones, Flapping Wing, Heated Boundary Layer

  • Current Position: General Engineer at Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center

Megan Richardson

  • Undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering (08/20-present)

  • Research interests: Bio-inspiration & biomimetics, Robotics, Aquatic Systems, Design, Manufacturing

Michael Ward

  • Undergraduate student in Mechanical Engineering (08/18-present)

  • Research interests: Robotics, Rovers, Space Exploration, Design, Manufacturing

Sarah Trujillo

  • Undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering (09/20-present)

  • Research interests: Bio-inspiration & biomimetics, Robotics, Rovers, Space Exploration, Design, Manufacturing

Trent Bjorkman

  • Undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering (09/20-present)

  • Research interests: Bio-inspiration & biomimetics, Robotics, Space Systems, Design, Manufacturing

Sara Lanctot

  • Undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering (08/20-present)

  • Research interests: Planetary exploration, Drones, Morphing structures, Aerodynamics, Design and fabrication, Robotics



Visiting Students

Nicole Zint

  • Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (05/20-Present)

  • Imperial College London , London, UK

  • Research interests: Drones, Flapping wing, Heated Boundary Layer

  • Thesis Title: Butterfly Drone- merging fashion with engineering


Victoria Pellerito

  • NSF-REU undergraduate student (06/19-01/20)

  • Lawrence Technological University, Michigan, USA

  • Research interests: Drones, Heated Boundary Layer, Space Exploration

Ian Templeton

  • NSF-REU undergraduate student (06/19-08/19)

  • The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ, USA

  • Research interests: Drones, Charging Stations, Design

Alumni

Gabriel Acosta

  • Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (08/18-08/20)

  • Research interests: Drones, Space Exploration, Heated Boundary Layer

  • Thesis Title: Power management and energy harvesting mechanism for Venus-based drone: Challenges and solutions

  • Current Position: Torc Robotics

Amir Mirzaeinia

  • PhD candidate in Computer Science and Engineering (01/19-08/2020)

  • Volunteer researcher (Hired for Summer 2019)

  • Research interests: Drones applications, Smart cities, Swarming drones, Machine learning

Sina Mohammadi

  • PhD student in Biotechnology (01/19-08/19)

  • Academic Advisor

  • Research interests: Drones, Heated Boundary Layer, Hydro-kinetic Turbines, Renewable Energy

  • Current Position: PhD student at Chapman University

Nathan Guido

  • Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (09/18-01/2020)

  • Research interests: Solar Drones, Design and Fabrication, Thermal-Fluid Science

  • Current Position: General Engineer at Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center

Adam Christopher Hamm

  • Undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering (08/18-07/19)

  • Research interests: Robotics, Rovers, Space Exploration, Design, Manufacturing

Christopher Mooty

  • Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (09/18-01/2020)

  • Research interests: Spherical Drone, Design, Manufacturing

Ryan Morelli

  • Undergraduate student in General Science (09/18-08/19)

  • Research interests: Drones, Smart City, Monitoring, Design and Manufacturing

Julian Bojorquez

  • Bachelor of Science in General Science (09/18-08/19)

  • Research interests: Drones, Design and Manufacturing, Anti-predator Systems

Quincy Bradfield

  • Undergrad student in Electrical Engineering (08/19-01/20)

  • Research interests: Drones, Energy Harvesting, Bio-inspiration & biomimetics, Navigation, Space Exploration