Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

This fall, the College of Engineering welcomes six new postdoctoral fellows through the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, a university-wide initiative. Now in its second year, the program supports talented, highly motivated scholars committed to Notre Dame’s mission—to be a powerful force for good and to advance research solutions for the challenges facing society and our […] The post 20…

Engineers and researchers at the University of Notre Dame (ND), along with leadership at South Bend company Manufacturing Technology, Inc. (MTI), have entered a partnership to create a new rail joining technology. Together, ND and MTI were awarded a $4.6 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) in the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) to work through the next three […] T…

Notre Dame Nanoscience and Technology (NDnano) has announced the awardees of the inaugural Notre Dame Nanofabrication Facility (NDNF) Support Grants. The grant program is designed to catalyze new research involving the NDNF, a world-class, 9,000 square-foot teaching and research cleanroom, by supporting faculty members who have limited experience utilizing the tools and infrastructure of the faci…

The University of Notre Dame has launched the Notre Dame Morphogenetic Bioengineering Initiative (ND-MBI), a cross-disciplinary program that links artificial intelligence and mechanistic bioengineering to better understand how cells communicate with each other to build, maintain, and repair our bodies. By creating “digital twins” that predict how cells will behave, this research aims to advance t…

Meenal Datta, the Jane Schoelch DeFlorio Collegiate Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award to advance her research on uncovering how mechanical forces disrupt the immune system. The prestigious CAREER award supports young faculty who have demonstrated their potential to serve as [……

Today’s refrigerants, which are specialized working fluids used in air conditioners, refrigerators, and heat pumps, come with a host of issues including leakage, emissions concerns, flammability, and limited reclamation of used refrigerants. However, a recent study by University of Notre Dame researchers describes a promising alternative for next-generation cooling using thermoelectric technology…

As many as 10 million people in the United States live with lymphedema, a chronic condition causing severe, painful swelling of the limbs. Secondary lymphedema occurs when a person’s lymph nodes are damaged, blocked, or impaired. Globally, the most prevalent trigger of secondary lymphedema is mosquito-borne lymphatic filariasis (LF), a neglected tropical disease caused by […] The post Notre Dame …

The University of Notre Dame announces the launch of the Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS) minor, a multidisciplinary program designed to prepare students for the rapidly expanding global space sector. A collaboration between the Colleges of Engineering, Arts & Letters, and Science, the minor will be available to undergraduates starting in fall 2026.  The five-course, […] The post Notre Dame lau…

This spring, powerful gusts and icy crosswinds transformed the skies of northwest Indiana into a high-stakes physics laboratory for Notre Dame’s Senior Aerospace Design students, putting their custom-built RC aircraft to the test. The flight tests took place on a runway owned by the South Bend Radio Control Club (SBRC). SBRC’s partnership with Notre Dame’s […] The post Cleared for Take-off: Senio…

On Tuesday, May 12, John T. McGreevy, the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost at the University of Notre Dame, announced the winners of the 2026 University faculty awards. “This year’s faculty award recipients represent the very best of Notre Dame through their outstanding achievements in teaching, scholarship, and service,” McGreevy said. “Their work strengthens our academic community […] The post …

The University of Notre Dame’s Artificial Intelligence Maritime Maneuver (AIMM) team secured a second-place finish overall at the 2026 Indiana Collegiate Challenge (ICC). The team shared first place with Indiana University, Bloomington on the course challenge, which necessitated navigating a complex series of obstacles, collecting data and returning to base.  Since the inaugural competition in [……

The Notre Dame College of Engineering is pleased to announce the spring 2026 recipients of the Staff Excellence Awards, which recognize staff members’ exemplary contributions above and beyond the scope of their standard job responsibilities.  Award recipients are honored for having a substantial positive impact on the operations of their departments, the college, and the […] The post Cheers to re…

Jing Wang, associate teaching professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, has won the 2026 Outstanding Teaching Award in the Notre Dame College of Engineering.  The award honors an engineering faculty member — selected each year by undergraduates in engineering — for excellence in teaching and overall positive influence on student formation. Wang […] The post Jing Wang na…

The Graduate School is pleased to announce its annual award winners for the 2025–2026 academic year. These awards include: the Distinguished Graduate Alumni Award; the Rev. James A. Burns, C.S.C., Awards; the Dick and Peggy Notebaert Award; the Eli J. and Helen Shaheen Graduate School Awards; and the Social Justice Award. The award winners will […] The post Four Notre Dame Engineers among 2026 Gr…

While scientists have successfully printed small patches of human tissue, scaling those tissues into full-sized organs has remained elusive. In natural organisms, every cell must be within roughly 100 to 200 micrometers—about the thickness of two human hairs—of a blood vessel to receive oxygen and nutrients. Without this intricate, life-giving network, cells starve and die. […] The post Notre Dam…

On Tuesday, March 24, University leaders, faculty members, and community partners gathered in downtown South Bend to celebrate research and innovation at the 1st Source Faculty Commercialization Award dinner. This event honors faculty researchers at the University of Notre Dame and Indiana University School of Medicine-South Bend, whose discoveries advance innovation into real-world products and …

The heart is a pump that wears out over time—that, at least, was the prevailing view. New research has shown that the heart’s aging results from changes in intercellular communications, which tell heart cells, sometimes even healthy ones, to stiffen and break down. By decoding these complex messages, a team of researchers, led by Pinar […] The post Heart-on-a-chip device identifies youth-enhancin…

To invade healthy tissues and continue growing, aggressive cancers mimic and circumvent the body’s native piping system of veins and arteries. Through this process, known as vasculogenic mimicry (VM), tumor cells form fluid-conducting channels that transport blood, oxygen, and nutrients directly to the growing tumor. This behavior enables tumor metastasis and tissue invasion, lowering patient […]…

The University of Notre Dame has earned a spot on the Top 100 U.S. Universities Granted Utility Patents in 2025, a list published annually by the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). The Top 100 U.S. Universities ranking highlights and celebrates U.S. academic institutions that play a large role in advancing innovation through the critical step of protecting their […] The post Notre Dame ranks am…

Heart disease is the leading cause of death among people with obesity, a condition affecting one in eight people worldwide. Studies show that fat around the heart can fuel inflammation, damage heart muscle cells, disrupt heart rhythm and increase the risk of heart failure, but the precise mechanisms remain unclear. To better understand how obesity […] The post 3D-bioprinted model offers new way t…