DEPARTMENT HIGHLIGHTS
Bartlett receives Young Investigator Award from the Office of Naval Research
Michael Bartlett , assistant professor of mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering , has received an Office of Naval Research ( ONR ) 2021 Young Investigator award ( YIP ) to study bio-inspired wearable sensors .
Soft , wearable sensors and electronics hold the potential to enable new paradigms in situational awareness . This threeyear , $ 510,000 project aims to significantly advance fundamental knowledge of soft sensing architectures , enabling wearable platforms that mimic underwater organisms and provide real-time sensor data to a user for a better understanding of their environment .
The work will be done as part of ONR ’ s Littoral Geosciences and Optics Program .
The Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program ( ONR YIP ) is one of the nation ’ s oldest and most selective science and technology basic research programs . Its purpose is to fund early-career academic researchers whose scientific pursuits show outstanding promise for supporting the Department of Defense , while also promoting their professional development .
In addition to the ONR YIP award , Bartlett has also received a DARPA Young Faculty Award and DARPA Director ’ s Fellowship , a 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award , ICTAS Junior Faculty Award , and the Early Career Scientist Award from the Adhesion Society .
Student team takes first place in robotics competition
A project made by a Mechanical Engineering senior design team during the 2020-2021 school year recently won first place in the undergraduate division of the Student Mechanism & Robot Design Competition , which is part of the ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences .
The team created an exoskeleton for lifting and carrying heavy objects , capable of supporting 40 pounds in each hand , with the operator able to control the exoskeleton with just a few fingers . It uses one pneumatic actuator in each leg and two in each arm , making it much simpler and lower cost than alternative designs .
The team included Hunter Andrieu , Nabra Asgedom , Sarah Bresnahan , Sanghyeon Chang , Bonham Ekleberry , Sara Elnahhas , Nathan Folta , Adam Hinson , John Kuempel , Brita Lyons , Jakob Lyons , Austin Petty , Ben Wardach , and Zhao Yu , and was advised by Alan Asbeck .
44 VIRGINIA TECH MECHANICAL ENGINEERING • ANNUAL REPORT 2020-2021