J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering

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J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering

This is the official page of the J. Mike Walker '66 Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A& We also pride ourselves on our research.

Thank you for your interest in the department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University. Mechanical Engineering is one of 15 departments in the College of Engineering (the biggest college on the Texas A&M campus). Through the curriculum, our department strives to prepare our undergraduate and graduate students for careers in traditional Mechanical Engineering fields as well as careers in c

ross-disciplined areas in research, academia and industry. Our faculty’s research expertise includes; Thermal and Fluid Sciences, Materials and Manufacturing, Mechanics and Systems and Controls. The best way to learn more about Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M is to schedule a visit. We hope to see you soon! If you are interested in supporting the department, visit tx.ag/SupportMEEN to learn more.

08/20/2026

Transforming trash into high-performance treasure ♻️ 🗑️

Researchers from Texas A&M University, Virginia Tech & Caltech have developed a way to turn hard-to-recycle PVC plastic waste into premium, energy-saving lubricants — a breakthrough that could cut plastic waste while boosting industrial efficiency.

Dr. Ali Erdemir, University Distinguished Professor and Halliburton Chair in the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering, led the tribology research efforts behind the study “Upcycling of polyvinyl chloride into polyalphaolefin lubricants.” The work was recently published in Nature, one of the world’s most prestigious multidisciplinary scientific journals.

Read more: tx.ag/RecycledPVC

08/14/2026

Texas A&M to build first national self-driving laboratory for metals 🔬

A team of researchers including four Mechanical Engineering faculty have received a $24.9M grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop an Autonomous Robotic Metallurgist Materials Innovation Platform at Texas A&M. At this national user facility, robots and artificial intelligence will take on the repetitive labor of alloy discovery, freeing scientists to focus on discovery itself.

Mechanical engineering faculty Dr. Minghui Zheng and Dr. Enrique Lavernia serve as co-principal investigators; Dr. Julie M. Schoenung and Dr. Douglas Allaire as senior personnel. Dr. Mohsen Taheri Andani, assistant professor and Morris E. Foster Faculty Fellow, serves as the Deputy Director for Ex*****on.

Read more: tx.ag/armMIP

07/16/2026

Meet new Former Student Brandt Japhet '26! As a student with a passion for Combustion Propulsion and energetics, he was an undergraduate researcher in the Fluid Mixing in Extreme Conditions Laboratory (FMECL) with Dr. Jacob McFarland and conducted research on multiphase detonations and hypersonic droplet breakup.

Brandt was a 2024 Texas Research Alliance (TRA) for Clean Energy scholar. Last year, he presented his work at the AIAA SciTech Forum in Orlando, Florida, and a poster at the 40th International Symposium on Combustion in Milan, Italy The Combustion Institute

He interned at BakerRisk as a Blast Intern, where he worked with an engineering team to run large-scale combustion tests, and Sandia National Laboratories where he worked on thermal electrics for the Nuclear Deterrence Division U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Outside of classes and internships, he served and mentored low-income youth in the Bryan-College Station area through educational, emotional, and spiritual development.

"Studying mechanical engineering at Texas A&M has allowed me to develop my engineering skills while providing amazing opportunities to grow. It has allowed me to sample a wide range of engineering niches and discover where my true interests lie. At the same time, I’ve been able to build an amazing community of classmates to learn with and professors to learn from."

He is heading to Purdue University Mechanical Engineering this fall for graduate school and received the Ingersoll-Rand Fellowship. Congratulations on your exciting new chapter, Brandt!

07/15/2026

First-year Ph.D. student Aaron Puente has received the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Computational Science Graduate Fellowship -- a prestigious and nationally competitive fellowship which supports graduate research in computational science tied to energy, defense, and advanced manufacturing.

This fellowship also provides access to Department of Energy national laboratories, expanding training and professional networks at a national level. Aaron's research focuses on treating additive manufacturing as a sequence prediction problem to optimize material performance and reliability.

“Controlling defects and customizing microstructures during 3D printing directly supports national energy and security priorities by modernizing domestic manufacturing," he said. "This fellowship acts as a powerful catalyst. It enabled me to build an interdisciplinary academic plan and become a well-rounded computational scientist.”

He advised by MEEN faculty, Dr. Mohsen Taheri Andani. Congratulations, Aaron!

Read more 👉 tx.ag/PuenteDoEFellowship

07/10/2026

📣 SAVE THE DATE 📣

🏫 Mechanical Engineering Industry Day
📆 April 29, 2027
📍 Texas A&M University

The J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering invites you to save the date for our second annual Mechanical Engineering Industry Day in Spring 2027!

Reconnect with fellow Aggies, faculty, students, and industry leaders while exploring opportunities for research collaboration, innovation, workforce development, recruitment, and strategic partnerships. 👥 💼 Mark your calendar and plan to join us on campus. Additional event details and registration information will be shared in the coming months.

Industry Day is a part of MEEN Connect, our industry engagement initiative, and provides a forum to strengthen partnerships between industry, faculty, and students. 🤝

Questions? Contact Taylor Northcut at [email protected].

07/09/2026

Mechanical engineering professor Dr. Debjyoti Banerjee was recognized with the ASME (The American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Heat Transfer Memorial Award for advancing heat transfer research and translating scientific discoveries into patented technologies and startup companies. 🏆

This recognition, one of the highest honors presented by ASME, recognizes both Dr. Banerjee's scientific contributions and the real-world application of his work, including patents, startups, and industry partnerships. His research addresses challenges in energy systems, thermal management, and clean water technologies.

Congratulations, Dr. Banerjee!

Read more: tx.ag/BanerjeeASMEaward

07/02/2026

Mechanical engineering professor Dr. Iman Borazjani has been selected for the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. During the 2026–2027 academic year, he will conduct and collaborate on research at the University of São Paulo in Brazil to advance computational and machine learning tools for precision medicine.

His research will focus on improving image-based computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to support faster, more personalized medical diagnoses and treatments.

🔗 : tx.ag/USScholar26

06/24/2026

Say hello to the 2026 RAD LAB Engineering Interns! 👋 🚀 👨‍💻 The Robotics and Automation Design (RAD) Lab's annual Summer Internship Program kicked off this month! Undergraduate students from across the nation spend the summer working in the RAD Lab where they dive into hands-on robotics research, work alongside research engineers, and bring creative ideas to life.

Together, these interns are shaping the future of robotics, one summer at a time! 🦾

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University College of Engineering

06/20/2026

Thank you to all who joined us for the Texas A&M University Capstone Design Conference, held June 1-3! A biennial forum for faculty, staff, students, and industry representatives, the Capstone Conference advances engineering Senior Capstone Design courses through interactive panel sessions, poster presentations, workshops, and industry demonstrations.

We are grateful to every participant and sponsor whose engagement helps strengthen our Mechanical Engineering capstone experiences and prepares the next generation of engineering leaders!

06/18/2026

Shoutout to associate professor Dr. Ya Wang and doctoral students, Rishi Jangale '23 and Derek Pravecek '24 who are featured on the brand new Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) website!

Address

3132 TAMU
College Station, TX
77843

Website

http://engineering.tamu.edu/mechanical

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