Spencer Folk Defends Dissertation

News / January 29, 2026

Folk defended his doctoral dissertation, “Real Time Local Wind Inference for Robust Autonomous Navigation,” completed under the guidance of Vijay Kumar, Nemirovsky Family Dean and Professor, and Mark Yim, Asa Whitney Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

Gregory Campbell Defends Dissertation

News / July 30, 2025

Campbell defended his doctoral dissertation, “Elastomeric Strain Limitation for Design of Soft Pneumatic Actuators” under the guidance of Mark Yim, Asa Whitney Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

Brian Acosta Defends Dissertation

News / May 12, 2025

Acosta defended his doctoral dissertation, “Real-Time Perception and Mixed-Integer Footstep Control for Underactuated Bipedal Walking on Rough Terrain” under the guidance of Michael Posa, Assistant Professor.

Will Yang Defends Doctoral Dissertation

News / September 19, 2024

William Yang has successfully defended his doctoral dissertation, “Controlling Contact Transitions for Dynamic Robots,” under the guidance of Michael Posa, Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics. Yang’s research addresses critical challenges in the field of dynamic robotics, focusing on improving the control of contact interactions between robots and their...

Tom Celenza Defends Doctoral Dissertation

News / August 27, 2024

Tom Celenza has successfully defended his doctoral dissertation, “Enhancing Photophoretic Levitation using Three-dimensional Structures for Flight in the Mesosphere and on Mars,” under the guidance of Igor Bargatin, Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM). Celenza’s research opens new frontiers in atmospheric observation, focusing on environments that have long...

Walker Gosrich Defends Doctoral Dissertation

News / July 30, 2024

Walker Gosrich has successfully defended his doctoral dissertation, titled “Multi-Robot Coordination and Cooperation via Graph-Based Computation,” while under the advisory of Mark Yim, Asa Whitney Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Vijay Kumar, Professor and Nemirovsky Family Dean. His research aims to advance multi-robot coordination and cooperation, focusing on resource allocation problems in...

Ryan Black Defends Doctoral Dissertation

News / July 8, 2024

Ryan Black has successfully defended his doctoral dissertation titled “Computational Fluid-Structure Interaction Modeling of the Cardiovascular System” under the mentorship of Assistant Professor George I. Park. His research aims to advance patient-specific computational modeling in cardiovascular clinical research, potentially improving disease study, medical device design, predictive surgery, and clinical decision-making. The...

Jessica Weakly Defends Doctoral Dissertation

News / July 1, 2024

On June 17, Jessica Weakly presented her doctoral dissertation, “Bistable Structures Enable Passive Transitions in Mobile Robots,” under the advisory of Gabel Family Term Assistant Professor Cynthia Sung. Weakly’s time as a PhD student in MEAM has been one of growth, challenges, and triumphs. “My endurance was helped by having friends in...

Imran Hayat Defends Doctoral Dissertation

News / April 25, 2024

Imran Hayat has successfully defended his doctoral dissertation titled “Implementation and Performance of Wall Models for Large Eddy Simulation of Non-equilibrium Turbulent Boundary Layers” under the mentorship of Assistant Professor George I. Park. Hayat’s research delves into wall-bounded turbulent flows, which are crucial for understanding engineering applications in aircraft, turbomachinery, and...

Sage Fulco Defends Doctoral Dissertation

News / April 17, 2024

In a culmination of years of interdisciplinary research, Sage Fulco, a PhD student in MEAM, successfully defended his doctoral dissertation titled “Controlling Fracture Behavior Through Architecture.” Fulco’s thesis explores the potential of fine-scale architectures in enhancing the fracture resistance of materials. Fulco’s journey through academia has been marked by a...