2025
Nov 20: The work titled "Control of Anti-/De-Icing Behavior and Surface Stability of MWCNT/Polyurethane Nanocomposite Coating" has been published in Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects.
Nov 1: The work titled "Electrical-Thermal Response of Composite Honeycomb Sandwiched Structures under Lightning Strike" has been published in Composites Structures.
Sep 13: The work titled "Composite-Based Additive Manufacturing (CBAM): Mechanical Characterization of High-throughput Thermoplastic Composites and Demonstration for Urban Air Mobility Application" has been accepted by Composites Part B: Engineering.
Sep 10: Congratulations to Samiul on erning the 2nd place (in MS catergory) of the 2025 SAMPE University Research Symposium. The commitment behind these achievements shines through!
Aug 28: Congratulations to Samiul selected as a recipient of the USU Graduate Research and Creative Opportunity (GRCO) fellow. Huge congratulations!
Jul 30: Dr. Lee is appointed as Honorary Visiting Lecturer by University of Bristol (UK) - Business School. He will spend some time in Bristol where he used to work as Postdoctoral Associate in 2017-2018. Super Excited !!
Jul 28: Dr Lee was invited for research seminar at University of Akron. Dr Lee's research seminar was focused on "USU Composites Research: Past, Present, and Future ."
Jul 1: Samiul Alam (a concurrent MS/PhD student) has successfully defended his M.S. thesis with unanimous positive feedback, and he has been also selected as one of finalists in the MS category of the 2025 SAMPE University Research Symposium (URS). Alam presented his research on “Analysis of Thrust Performance and Noise Generation of UAM Composite Propellers Fabricated using Composite-Based Additive Manufacturing (CBAM),” showcasing innovative applications of composite additive manufacturing for future mobility solutions. Double contraduations to him!
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Jun 17: The work titled "Microstructural Characterization and Porosity Analysis in Sheet Lamination and Material Extrusion-Based Additively Manufactured Thermoplastic Composites" has been published in SAMPE Journal. Additionally, this work was spotlighted as a cover paper. Congratulations to Samiul (first author)!
Jun 9: Dr. Lee will receive funding from Texas Biochemicals through MDA SBIR Phase-II project. We are excited to perform collaborative research with multidisciplinary teams.
May 19-22:
The EMAC group attended the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) 2025 and made two technical and one poster presentations. The titles of the technical presentations were:
Microstructural Characterization of Sheet Lamination-Based Additively Manufactured Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites (by Samiul Alam)
Microstructure-Based Homogenization of Elastic Properties in Additively Manufactured Thermoplastic Composites (by Dr Lee)
May 8:
The EMAC group attended the 2025 Utah Polymer (UP) Syposium and made two poster presentations. The titles of the posters were:
Multiscale Mechanics and Property Prediction of Plain-Woven Composites for Lightweight Vehicle Shells (by Tareq Hassan)
Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Thrust Performance and Noise Generation in UAM Composite Propellers Using Composite-Based Additive Manufacturing (by Samiul Alam)
May 5-7:
The EMAC group attended the ASME's 3rd Annual Aerospace Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference (SSDM 2025) and made three technical presentations. The titles of the presentations were:
Thermo-Mechanical Modeling of Pyrolytic Graphite Sheet Laminates for Space Radiator Applications (by Devin Nielsen)
Numerical Investigation on Lightning Survivability and Residual Strength of Z-Pinned and Scarf-Patched CFRP Composites (by Logan Hales)
Physics-Informed Neural Networks for Transient Heat Transfer Analysis in CFRP Composites with Thermal Barrier Coatings (by Dr Lee)
May 1: Dr. Lee received a funding from HMC/KIA. We are excited to perform collaborative research with multidisciplinary teams.
Apr 16: Dr. Lee is awarded the 2025 NASA Glenn Faculty Fellowship Program (NGFFP). He will spend the summer in the beautiful Cleveland area while working on a cutting-edge research project.
Apr 11:
The EMAC group attended the 2nd USU CDMAM Technical Sympoisum and made six poster presentations. The titles of the six posters were:
Characterization of Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites Fabricated by Composites-Based Additive Manufacturing (CBAM) Technology (by Gavin Stoker)
Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Thrust Performance and Noise Generation in UAM Composite Propellers Using Composite-Based Additive Manufacturing (by Kj Segura)
Evaluation of Potential Electrical Threats to Electrified Pavement Components (by Dylan Hammond)
Numerical Investigation on Lightning-Induced Damage of Z-Pinned and Scarf Patched CFRP Composites (by Logan Hales)
Multiscale Mechanics and Property Prediction of Plain-Woven Composites for Lightweight Vehicle Shells (by Tareq Hassan)
Thermal Finite Element Modeling of Pyrolytic Graphite Sheet Composites For Space Radiator Applications (by Devin Nielsen)
Mar 7: Dr. Lee has been honored to be selected for one of the 2025 Distinguished International Associates (DIA) Awards by the UK Royal Academy of Engineering, but is unable to accept due to university contractual restrictions. This selection reflects Dr. Lee's international recognition of his contributions to AI/ML for composites.
Mar 1: The work titled "Protection Concept for Foamed Radar-Absorbing Sandwich Composites with High Conductive Film against Lightning Strike Impacts" has published in Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing.
Feb 19: Samiul present his current research at monthly SAMPE Utah Chapter. His presentation was titled "Process-dependent Microstructural Variations in Sheet Lamination (SHL)-Manufactured Fiber-reinforced Thermoplastic Composites." Great presentation!
2024
Dec 11:
Dec 1: The work titled "Performance-Tunable Thermal Barrier Coating for Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Composites via Flame Spraying" has been published in Composites Part B: Engineering.
Dec 1: The work titled "Coupled Thermal-Electrical–Mechanical Characteristics of Lightning Damage in Woven Composite Honeycomb Sandwich Structures" has been published in International Journal of Solids and Structures.
Nov 19: The work titled "Quasi-Static Indentation Characteristics of Foam-Filled Sandwich Composite Structures with Additively Manufactured CFRP And GFRP Corrugated Cores,” has been published in Journal of Sandwich Structures & Materials.
Oct 22~23: Hassan and Devin attended the 2024 American Society for Composites (ASC) to present their ongoing research. Three presentations were delivered:
A Comprehensive Study on Long-Term Durability of Protective Epoxy Coatings for Electrified Roadways (by Tareq Hassan)
Multiscale Analysis of CFRP Composites with Thermal Barrier Coating (by Devin Nielsen)
Origami and Kirigami-Inspired Sandwich Panels for UAM Primary Structural Applications (by Dr Lee)
Oct 21: The work titled "Critical Comparison of Potential Machine Learning Methods for Lightning Damage Assessment of Composite Laminates" has been published in Advanced Composite Materials.
Sep 23: Tareq and Aaron attended the 2024 NSF ASPIRE Annual Meetng and Technology Showcase at Utah State University to present their ongoing research. Two posters were presented:
Performance Evaluation of Epoxy Coatings for Electrified Roadways under Environmental and Mechanical Impacts (by Tareq)
In-Situ Monitoring and LSTM Prediction of Sealant Performance for Underground EV Charging Systems (by Aaron)
Sep 15: The work titled "Impact of Polymer Structure in Polyurethane Topcoats on Anti-Icing Properties" has been published in Applied Surface Science.
Sep 1: Dr. Lee will receive funding from DOE. We are excited to perform collaborative research with multidisciplinary teams.
Aug 31: Dr. Lee will receive funding from NSF ASPIRE. We are excited to perform collaborative research with multidisciplinary teams.
Aug 27: The collaborative work titled "Damage of Nickel-Coated Glass/Epoxy Foam-Core Composites induced by Artificial Lightning Strikes" has been published in Journal of Sandwich Structures & Materials.
Aug 1: Dr. Lee will receive funding from Texas Biochemicals through MDA SBIR Phase-I project. We are excited to perform collaborative research with multidisciplinary teams.
Aug 1: The collaborative work titled "Effects of Periodic Sequential Arrangement of Subscale Miura-Foldcore under Quasi-Static Compression" has been published in Journal of Composite Material. Congratulation to Chase on publishing your first journal paper.
Jul 11: The work titled "Damage Of Nickel-Coated Glass/Epoxy Foam-Core Composites Induced by Artificial Lightning Strikes" has been accepted by Journal of Sandwich Structures and Materials.
Jul 1: The work titled "Comparative Analysis of Water-induced Response in 3D-Printed SCF/ABS Composites under Controlled Diffusion" has been published in SAMPE Journal. Congratulation to Samiul on publishing your first journal paper.
May 22: Samiul attended the 2024 Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) at Long Beach, CA to present his research. He kills three birds with one stone including:
Poster: Understanding Water Diffusion Characteristics in Civil-Grade Epoxy Materials: A Comprehensive Study Through Microscopic Observation and Numerical Analysis
Proceeding: Comparative Analysis of Water-induced Response in 3D-Printed SCF/ABS Composites under Controlled Diffusion
Journal: his conference proceeding is accepted for SAMPE journal publication
Apr 5: Congratulations to Devin selected as a recipient of the 2024 NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunity (NSTGRO24). Huge congratulations!
Apr 1: Dr. Lee will receive funding from Hyundai NGV. We are excited to perform collaborative research with multidisciplinary teams.
Mar 16: The collaborative work titled "Understanding Lightning Damage Formation in a Carbon-Epoxy Pultruded Rod Stitched Efficient Unitized Structure (PRSEUS) Composite" has been published in Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials.
Feb 16: Chase and Ethan attended the 2024 Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research (UCUR) at Utah Valley University to present their ongoing research. Two posters were presented:
Exploring the Quasi-Static Compression Characteristics of Origami-Inspired Foldcore Sandwich Composite (by Chase)
Impact Resistance of 3D Printed Sandwich Structures (by Ethan)
Feb 1: The collaborative work titled "Experimental Investigation on Flexural Behavior and Energy Absorption of Lightweight Sandwich Panels with Aluminum Honeycomb Core Embedded by Thin-Ply Carbon-Glass Fibers/Epoxy Face Sheets" has been published in Structures.
Jan 15~17: Dr Lee was invited to attend the 2023 BrainLink X-Lay Day held at Pyeongchang, South Korea Tokyo, Japan. This research symposium was hosted by Korea Aerospace University funded through Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies (KOFST). Dr Lee was one of 6 invited international scholars. Thanks for the suppoert!
He delivered presentation titled
Origami and Kirigami-inspired Sandwich Panels for UAM Primary Structural Applications
2023
Dec 15: The collaborative work titled "Modeling of Rapid Frontal Polymerization of Carbon Fiber and Dicyclopentadiene Woven Composites with Stochastic Material Uncertainty" has been published in Composite Structures.
Dec 5: The collaborative work titled "Experimental and Modelling of Damage to Carbon Fibre Reinforced Composites under Simulated Lightning Swept Stroke” has been published in Coatings.
Dec 1: The collaborative work titled "Experimental and Numerical Study of Low-Velocity Impact Damage in Sandwich Panel with UHMWPE Composite Facings" has been published by International Journal of Solids and Structures.
Dec 1: The collaborative work titled "Bending Performance and Failure Mechanisms of Hybrid and Regular Sandwich Composite Structures with 3D Printed Corrugated Cores" has been published in Composite Structures.
Nov 27: Congratulations to Chase for receiving Undergraduate Researcher of the Year award by USU Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE). Excellent achievement!
Nov 1: The collaborative work titled "On Quantifying Uncertainty In Lightning Strike Damage of Composite Laminates: A Hybrid Stochastic Framework of Coupled Transient Thermal-Electrical Simulations" has been published in Aerospace Science and Technology.
Oct 10: Dr. Lee received funding from Korean Aerospace University & Gyeongsang National University. We are excited to perform collaborative research with a multidisciplinary team.
Sep 29: Dr Lee was delivered a research talk at the 2023 Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association (KSEA) - Utah chapter meeting. His research seminar was titled
Advanced Aerospace Composite Applications for Extreme Environments
Sep 18: The GNU-USU collaborative work was presented at the 2023 American Society for Composites (ASC) Technical Conference on Sep. 17-20 in Greater Boston, MA. The presentation is titled
Design of Broadband Radar Absorbing Corrugated Hybrid Core Sandwich Nickel-Coated Glass/PEEK Thermoplastic Composite
Aug 31: Dr Lee was virtually attended the International Conference on for Aircraft Core Technology (ICACT), hosted by Research Center for Aircraft Core Technology and held in Aug. 31, 2023 at Jinju, South Korea. Dr Lee also awarded ICACT Travel Award. Thanks for the award!
His research seminar was titled
Controlled Hydrothermal Aging of Additively Manufactured Short Carbon Fiber/Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Composites
Aug 23: The collaborative work was presented by Mr. Ravindra Singh Chahar (Indian Institute of Technology – Kanpur) at the International Conferences on Structural Integrity (ICONS) 2023, Aug. 23 – 25, Mamallapuram, India. Mr. Chahar delivered presentation titled
Sensitivity Analysis of Matrix Decomposition in Composite Laminates under Lightning Strike through Multi-Physical Finite Element Simulations
Aug 15: The collaborative work titled "Multiscale Damage Modelling of Notched and Un-Notched 3D Woven Composites with Randomly Distributed Manufacturing Defects" has been published in Composite Structures.
Aug 10: The collaborative work was presented by Dr. Kalyan Raj Kota (Texas A&M University) at the 3rd International Conference on Mechanics of Advanced Materials and Structures (ICMAMS), Aug. 9 – 10, College Station, TX. Dr. Kota delivered presentation titled
Effects of Layup and Impact Orientation on Hypervelocity Impact Response of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites
Jun 15: Dr Lee attended the 2023 US-Japan Symposium on Composite Materials held at Tokyo, Japan. This symposium was funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) international travel award. Thanks for the award!
He delivered presentation titled
Multiscale Bulk and Frontal Polymerization Modeling of Carbon Fiber/Polydicyclopentadiene Woven Composites and Its Experimental Validation
Jun 8: Dr Lee has been selected as a recipient of 2023 Hanwha Non-tenured Faculty Award. This award program is designed to construct Hanwha's overseas R&D network and to expand a range of research and development relevant to advanced materials. Dr Lee received an award from Hanwha Advanced Materials (HWAM) for his research in aerospace composite materials. This is a tremendous honor and wish long-term collaboration with HWAM. Thanks for the award!
Jun 5: Dr Lee was invited for research seminar by Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology (UNIST). Dr Lee's research seminar was titled
Understanding Lightning Damage in Fiber-Reinforced Composites using Micromechanics Approach
Jun 1: Dr Lee was invited for research seminar by Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) Jeonbuk. Dr Lee's research seminar was titled
Foldcore Sandwich Structures with Tunable Hypervelocity Impact Resistance at Normal and Oblique Impact
May 17: Dr Lee was invited for research seminar by Research Institute for Green Energy Convergence Technology(RIGET) of Gyeongsang National University. Dr Lee's research seminar was titled
Modeling of Frontal Polymerization of Carbon Fiber and Dicyclopentadiene Woven Composites with Stochastic Material Uncertainty
May 1: The collaborative work titled "Microscale Modelling of Lightning Strike Damage in Fibre-Reinforced Composites" has been published in Journal of Composite Materials. This is an international team effort with Queens University Belfast, UK.
Feb 27: Dr Lee received NSF international travel grant to attend 2023 US-Japan Symposium on Composite Materials (June 14-15, 2023). Thanks for NSF's support.
Jan 25: The collaborative work titled "Developing Test Methods for Compression after Lightning Strikes" has been published in Applied Composite Material . This is an international team effort with UWE Bristol, University of Bristol, Queens University Belfast, and Cardiff University.
2022
Nov 3: MSCIM Lab delivered three presentation at 2022 ASME's International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE) held at Columbus, OH. Dr Lee also served a session chair of "Dynamic Failure of Materials & Structures".
Directionally Controlled Impact-Debris Propagation of Origami-Inspired Composite Panels (by Mr. Mortensen)
Exploring Alternative Methods for Simulating Lightning Mechanical Damage Effects on Carbon/ Epoxy Laminates (by Dr. Lee)
Size Effects on Quasi-Static Compression Response of Foldcore Sandwich Composites (by Mr. Mortensen)
Nov 2: Dr Lee delivered presentation at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC).
Oct 17: The collaborative work titled "Multiple Discharges Before Leader Inception In Long Air Gaps Under Positive Switching Impulses" has been published in High Voltage.
Oct 4: Dr Lee attended the 36th International Conference on Lightning Protection (ICLP 2022) virtually held in Oct 2-7.
Observation of Isolated Heating Segments ahead of the Discharge Channel under Positive and Negative Lightning Impulses (by Dr. Zhao)
Oct 15: The collaborative work titled "Identifying Fibre Orientations for Fracture Process Zone Characterisation in Scaled Centre-Notched Quasi-Isotropic Carbon/Epoxy Laminates with a Convolutional Neural Network" has been published in Engineering Fracture Mechanics.
Sep 19-21: MSCIM Lab delivered three presentations at the 37th American Society for Composites (ASC) Annual Technical Conference held at University of Arizona. Dr Lee also served a session chair of "Micromechanics of Composites." Three presentations were delivered
Predicting Stochastic Lightning Mechanical Damage Effects on Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer Matrix Composites (by Dr. Lee)
Hyper-Velocity Impact Performance of Foldcore Sandwich Composites (by Mr. Hoch)
Design of Composite Double-Slab Radar Absorbing Structures Using Forward, Inverse, and Tandem Neural Networks (by Mr. Nielsen)
Aug 23: Congratulations to Chase for receiving Undergraduate Conference Travel Award by USU Office of Research. He will attend the ASME IMECE 2022 Conference on October 30-November 3 in Columbus, OH.
Aug 19: Dr. Lee received funding from Gyeongsang National University. We are excited to perform collaborative research with a multidisciplinary team.
Aug 16: Congratulations to Devin and Nathan for receiving Undergraduate Conference Travel Award by USU Office of Research. They will attend 2022 American Society for Composites (ASC) 37th Annual Technical Conference on September 19-21, 2022 in Tucson, AZ.
Jul 5: Dr Lee served a session chair of the Workshop on Applications of Composites in Extreme Environments & CFRTP-SMC hosted by the University of the West of England at Bristol (UWE Bristol) and delivered presentation titled "Exploring Alternative Methods for Simulating Lightning Mechanical Damage Effects on Carbon/Epoxy Laminates."
Jun 27: Darren (co-advised by Dr. Xiaodong Xu from UWE Bristol) delivered his first presentation at the 20th European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM20) titled "Numerical Investigation of Compression-After-Lightning Strike Characteristics of Carbon/Epoxy Laminates."
Jun 23: The collaborative work titled "Schlieren Techniques for Observations of Long Positive Sparks: Review and Application" has been published in High Voltage.
Apr 20: Dr Lee is invited for presentation at the UDMC Utah University Defense Manufacturing Research Symposium.
Apr 14: Congratulation Dylan being one of Three Undergraduate Poster Winners for the 2022 USU College of Engineering Poster Competition.
Apr 11: Nathan and Dylan attend the 2022 USU College of Engineering Undergraduate Poster Competition to present their works.
Mar 11: Dr Lee was invited for research seminar by the Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering of University of Texas at El Paso. Dr Lee's research seminar was focused on "Stochastic, Multiphysics, Multiscale Modeling of Lightning Interactions with Aerospace Composite Structures."
Mar 7~9: A series of hypervelocity impact (HVI) tests were performed on novel foldcore sandwich composites (FSCs) manufactured by Nathan. This project is collaborative work between USU and TAMU.
Feb 15: The collaborative work titled "Stochastic Lightning Damage Prediction of Carbon/Epoxy Composites with Material Uncertainties" has been published in Composite Structures.
Jan 15: The collaborative work titled "Thickness Threshold Study of Polyaniline-Based Lightning Strike Protection Coating For Carbon/Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites" has been published in Composite Structures.
2021
Dec 8: Congratulations to Devin and Chase for winning the USU College of Engineering (CoE) Engineering Undergraduate Research Program (EURP) Cohort-17 (Fall 2021).
Nov 15: The collaborative work titled "Thermal Barrier Coating for Carbon Fiber Reinforced Composite Materials" has been published in Composites Part B: Engineering.
Nov 1: The collaborative work titled "Lightning Arc Channel Effects on Surface Damage Development on A PRSEUS Panel: An Experimental Study" has been published in Composites Part B: Engineering.
Oct 20: Dr Lee was invited for an online research seminar by the Engineering, Modelling, and Simulation Group (EMSG) of University of West England, Bristol. Dr Lee's research seminar was focused on "Multiphysics, Multiscale, Stochastic Modeling of Lightning Interactions with Aerospace Composites."
Sep 20: Dr Lee attended the 36th American Society for Composites (ASC) Annual Technical Conference held in Sep. 20-22. Devin delivered his first presentation at national conference titled
Artificial Neural Network (ANN)-Based Predictive Tool for Estimating Lightning Damage in Composites
May 1: The collaborative work titled "Lightning Mechanical Damage Prediction in Carbon/Epoxy Laminates using Equivalent Air Blast Overpressure" has been published in Composites Part B: Engineering.
Apr 23: Congratulations to Nathan for winning the USU College of Engineering (CoE) Engineering Undergraduate Research Program (EURP) Cohort-16 (Spring 2021).
Apr 12: The collaborative work titled "Artificial Neural Network (ANN)-Based Residual Strength Prediction of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Composites (CFRCs) After Impact" has been published in Applied Composite Materials.
Mar 1: Dr. Lee received subcontract from Montana Stat University. We are excited to perform collaborative research with a multidisciplinary team.
Jan 1: The collaborative work titled "In-plane Compression Response of Woven CFRP Composite after Low-Velocity Impact: Modelling and Experiment" has been published in Thin-Walled Structures.
Jan 1: The collaborative work titled "Coupled Thermal Electrical and Mechanical Lightning Damage Predictions to Epoxy/Carbon Composites During Arc Channel Shape Expansion" has been published in Composite Structures.
2020
Oct 15: The collaborative work titled "Shock Wave Propagation in Long Laboratory Sparks under Negative Switching Impulses" has been published in Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics.
Sep 14: Dr Lee attended the American Society for Composites (ASC) 35th Annual Technical Conference virtually held in Sep. 14-17. Tyler Lott, co-adivsed by Dr. Som Dutta (MAE), delivered presentation:
Optimal Design of Nanocomposites using Artificial Neural Network
Sep 6: Dr Lee attended the 2020 IEEE International Conference on High Voltage Engineering and Application (ICHVE 2020) conference held in Sep 6-10. Two presentations were delivered:
Experimental Study on Flashover Performance of Hot Sticks Under Switching Impulses (by Dr. Zhao)
A New Method to Evaluate Length Ratio of Positive and Negative Leaders in Breakdown Process of Composite Insulators (by Mr. Liu)
Jul 1: Dr. Lee received subcontract from Montana Stat University. We were excited to perform collaborative research with a multidisciplinary team.
Feb 1: Dr. Lee received funding from Hankook Fiber Group. We are excited to participate in industrial research.
2019
Sep 15: The collaborative work titled "Numerical Estimations of Lightning-Induced Mechanical Damage in Carbon/Epoxy Composites Under Shock Wave Overpressure and Equivalent Air Blast Overpressure" has been published in Composite Structures.
Aug 1: Dr. Lee joined the Utah State University (USU) Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) as an Assistant Professor.