Prof. Lori Bassman: Forging a Better Future<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Student researchers participate in a program that is both transformative and timely.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For nearly two decades, engineering professor Lori Bassman has led students in cutting-edge metallurgy research, with a recent focus on developing safer metal alloys. Her collaborative work with an Australian university, students and global partners may help transform the plumbing industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLegislation coming into effect around the world limits the amount of lead that can be in brass that is part of drinking water systems,\u201d says Bassman. \u201cBut there\u2019s not a really good alternative to leaded brass.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2020, Bassman and her students filed a provisional patent for a new family of copper-based alloys. These compositionally complex materials are their starting point to eliminate the use of lead in brass plumbing fittings and fixtures\u2014components found in most household water systems. While leaded brass is favored for its superior machinability and self-lubricating properties, its toxicity and increasing regulation have pushed researchers and manufacturers to seek alternatives. \u201cDrinking water passes through these fittings, and even small amounts of lead can be harmful,\u201d Bassman says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bassman and her students continue to develop promising formulations that mimic leaded brass. Working with one of the world\u2019s largest brass producers based in Europe, they are evaluating alloys that not only meet mechanical performance standards but may also cost less to produce than current commercial alternatives. Unlike many lead-free options on the market today, Bassman\u2019s designs are able to incorporate a wider range of recycled metals\u2014making them both environmentally and economically viable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During summer 2025, Bassman\u2019s student team\u2014three engineering majors and one chemistry student worked on a new class of copper-based alloys. Shifting from plumbing to mechanical engineering applications, the group investigated compositionally complex bronzes for use in bearings and bushings. These parts often rely on leaded materials for self-lubrication, but as Bassman notes, \u201cthe wear particles end up in the environment.\u201d Their latest alloys show early signs of promise and may even outperform conventional leaded bronze in some ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The work blends hands-on experimentation with advanced computational modeling. In the lab, students use arc melting and induction furnaces to fabricate alloys from pure metals. They then analyze the resulting microstructures and mechanical properties to understand how changes in composition and heat treatment affect performance. Audrey Thiessen \u201926, a chemistry major and returning team member, computationally investigated solidification shrinkage and porosity\u2014two key concerns in casting copper alloys. She used first-principles calculations to explain why the group\u2019s complex alloys exhibit less casting shrinkage than conventional alloys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The collaboration isn\u2019t confined to Claremont. Bassman\u2019s research program is based in Australia at the University of South Wales, Sydney, where students live, work and play together for the summer. When they weren\u2019t melting metal or running simulations, they were snorkeling, watching rugby, trying local cuisine and even learning to play netball. \u201cIt\u2019s a really fun city,\u201d Bassman says. \u201cWe took public transportation everywhere, and the students really got involved in the culture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since 2009, Bassman has brought more than 40 students to Australia through this program, supported by several National Science Foundation grants, the Jude and Eileen Laspa Fellowship in Applied Mechanics and the Engman Fellowship in Applied Mechanics. The program is a meaningful blend of academic research, global learning and professional development. This past summer, she worked solely with Harvey Mudd students, though two previous year\u2019s teams included students from University of California Merced, where co-principal investigator Aurora Pribram-Jones \u201909 is a professor. Pribram-Jones has been a co-mentor for the group\u2019s students for more than 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With her ongoing commitment to student mentoring and her team\u2019s potential to shape safer, smarter materials, Bassman directs a program that is both transformative and timely. \u201cNothing\u2019s going to have all of the properties of leaded brasses and bronzes,\u201d she says, \u201cbut we\u2019re getting close\u2014and for some applications, possibly even better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This professor uses music as a vehicle to guide and mentor students toward mastery in signal processing and machine learning. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n TJ Tsai has loved music, including classical piano, chamber music and jazz, for much of his life. During his PhD program, Tsai began reading works on music processing and information retrieval written by Meinard M\u00fceller, professor and chair of semantic audio processing at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany, who has been an influential mentor in Tsai\u2019s professional life. Through M\u00fceller\u2019s work, Tsai discovered he could pursue his interests in music and engineering while doing rigorous scientific research. And at Harvey Mudd, he helps students discover how to do the same. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTackling problems with music is usually very intuitive and accessible,\u201d says Tsai, associate professor of engineering and director of the Music Informational Retrieval (MIR) Lab at Harvey Mudd. \u201cStudents come in with skills and expertise in different genres and work on projects tailored to their musical interests and abilities. When students bring experience in musical traditions that I don\u2019t have, it allows our lab to do research that I could not do without their expertise.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Through the MIR Lab, Tsai uses music as a vehicle to guide and mentor students toward mastery in signal processing and machine learning. \u201cMy work brings me a lot of joy: interacting with students, solving problems and building systems,\u201d says Tsai. \u201cThe students are awesome \u2013 they\u2019re eager, curious and motivated to learn. And Harvey Mudd has given me a lot of freedom to develop new courses that uniquely reflect my own combination of interests and background.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Tsai is the creator of a two-part elective that was launched in fall 2022. The first course in the series is Digital Signal Processing: Theory and Application, and the second course is Machine Learning: Theory and Application. The complete sequence provides students with a chance to learn how to work with signals collected by devices and teach machines to recognize patterns. Tsai believes the possibilities of combining these two areas are endless. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While he was in high school, Tsai developed an interest in math competitions. Later, in college, he gravitated toward signal processing, a branch of engineering that is math heavy and very focused on practical applications with real data. Tsai went on to receive his bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University and PhD from UC Berkeley. He joined the Harvey Mudd faculty in 2016 and has imparted his love of music, applied math and engineering to Harvey Mudd students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When conducting research became challenging during the pandemic, Tsai and two students decided to learn a piano trio. Each recorded their part in isolation and built a system that combined their individual recordings, changed their tempos, and mixed them together to produce a complete performance. \u201cWe pursued our hobbies by learning a piece together,\u201d says Tsai. \u201cWe also ended up developing a technique through the project that was presented at an international conference. And the best part was when we got back together and performed the piece together, in-person.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2022, Tsai received a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation for his project, \u201cOrdered Alignment Methods for Complex, High-Dimensional Data.\u201d The grant has allowed Tsai to take a group of MIR Lab students to Germany in the summer for a collaborative workshop with M\u00fceller\u2019s graduate students. \u201cThe grant allows for this great cross-cultural and collaborative learning experience for the students,\u201d says Tsai. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Aside from teaching, mentoring students and research, Tsai is involved with the 5CIV Christian Fellowship at Harvey Mudd which provides holistic mentoring for students. He also stays busy with family life, including his two young children. Tsai\u2019s latest personal research project includes developing a virtual piano concerto accompaniment system in collaboration with M\u00fceller. \u201cMost pianists never have the opportunity to play a piano concerto with a real orchestra,\u201d says Tsai. \u201cWe\u2019re working on making it possible for amateur musicians to play music with a virtual orchestra that accompanies them in real time.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n For this professor, watching students succeed has made teaching a rewarding career choice. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For engineering professor Qimin (CHEE-min) Yang, there are so many incredible moments throughout a teacher\u2019s career, \u201cand I never get tired of experiencing all of it,\u201d says Yang. \u201cStudents start a course or project unfamiliar with concepts and undergo a transformation along the way. Seeing that progression and the \u2018aha\u2019 moment, when they\u2019ve understood a concept they were previously struggling with, is rewarding to be a part of,\u201d says Yang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yang\u2019s interest in STEM developed early in her life: she preferred the logic math provided to that of humanities and social sciences. Yang received her bachelor\u2019s degree in electrical engineering from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, and her master\u2019s degree in the same subject from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. She went on to receive her PhD in electrical engineering from Princeton University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yang modeled her career path after her PhD advisor, a mentor and great influence in her life who encouraged her to pursue academia as a teacher. In the 1990s, fiber optic lines were a catalyst behind the rise of the internet and dot-com. \u201cAt the time, there was global growth in the field of fiber optics for long haul telecommunications systems, and new devices and systems were also being applied across broader industries\u201d says Yang. And while she participated in optics research, architecture and systems prototyping during her studies, not long after she completed her PhD, Yang chose a career path of undergraduate teaching. “I have always loved interacting with students. As I age, I have grown to think of students as my children who I get to guide along a journey, and that brings a strong sense of mission.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yang joined Harvey Mudd in 2002 as a professor of engineering and, over her 21 years of service, has taught a variety of courses, including the advanced signals and systems, analog circuits, writing, engineering designs and fiber optics. As an interim Clinic director and associate Clinic director, she was instrumental in keeping the program running during the pandemic, supporting student work on dozens of simultaneous remote projects. Yang is also a member of the College\u2019s Society of Women Engineers. \u201cWe have a lot of women engineers at Harvey Mudd, in a field that has historically been largely populated by men,\u201d says Yang. \u201cIn my courses, I like to stay present as much as I can for my students who may feel intimidated by the field. I want them to feel comfortable seeing me in this role and know that they can solve circuit problems, design complex projects and do so much more.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the highlights of her experiences was a student-led solar lights project for underdeveloped countries. Yang\u2019s students developed prototypes for solar lights, considered costs, viability and sustainability, and involved younger kids and seniors in the local community as an educational collaboration, and shipped the lights to Haiti. \u201cSeeing the students make connections between their learning and its real-world impact\u2014those are such enjoyable moments,\u201d says Yang. She also treasures conversations with former students, hearing where they are in their lives now personally and professionally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And it\u2019s not just the Harvey Mudd students who have been special to Yang. \u201cI have had colleagues who have been great mentors, supporting and encouraging me throughout my career,\u201d says Yang. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Outside of teaching, Yang has enjoyed watching her three children grow and thrive: this year, each completed a milestone graduation and moved on to new adventures. Her personal interests have also ventured into the arts and history: during the pandemic, Yang took up drawing and photography and continues to pursue her interests in reading when she has time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Can biological propulsion be replicated?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Leah Mendelson grew up in Owego, New York, down the road from where IBM was founded, surrounded by engineering companies like Lockheed Martin, whose outreach insured they were well-known at local schools. It\u2019s no wonder she went on to study mechanical engineering. But the tie to her interest in fluid mechanics? Mendelson notes her many years as a competitive swimmer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, as a fluid mechanics researcher and assistant professor in the Department of Engineering, Mendelson looks at methods for instrumentation and flow field measurement. But she also focuses on biological propulsion\u2014studying fish and trying to model some of their behavior in mechanical systems, such as underwater vehicles. While a PhD student at MIT, she studied jumping fish, like archerfish, which are able to propel themselves a distance of a couple of times their size out of the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat\u2019s cool about this behavior is that they do it from right below the surface,\u201d says Mendelson. \u201cThey don\u2019t have a running start. All that power to propel themselves, all that acceleration has to be done in a limited space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Students in Mendelson\u2019s lab work on reproducing the trends fish exhibit to have a better understanding of the physics behind the behavior and to see if it would be useful to replicate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith the rise of unmanned robotics, suddenly it doesn\u2019t seem so crazy to have something that could function in both water and air,\u201d Mendelson says. \u201cBut we need a strategy for getting between the two. So we\u2019re looking to see if replicating fish behavior might be a viable way to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mendelson\u2019s own educational experience at Olin College, a small engineering and STEM school in Massachusetts, is what inspired her to come to Harvey Mudd, a similar institution on the West Coast, to teach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI felt a lot of the skills I had when I graduated\u2014the things I knew how to do in a lab, the way I went about solving problems\u2014I had those skills because I went through a small, student-centered curriculum,\u201d Mendelson says. \u201cI benefited from having those things in my own education, and I wanted to be able to provide that same experience to other engineering students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mendelson joined Harvey Mudd in 2017 and now teaches Continuum Mechanics, an introductory solid and fluid mechanics course, and Introduction to Engineering Design (E4), a project-based class for first- and second-year students. Mendelson is also developing a course in mechanical design, which will launch in spring 2020 and will take the skills learned in her two previous classes and apply them to building mechanisms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe thing I love the most about teaching is when something finally comes together for students: some piece of a research project or assignment where they step back and see what they really accomplished,\u201d says Mendelson. \u201cMost of the time, students are so focused on achieving the end result that they don\u2019t always realize how many skills they had to draw from and how many different tools they had to utilize. That moment when they do is always a fun experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Santana lab explores microfluidic devices and synthetic tissues<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Students are designing microfluidic devices and synthetic tissues. Making a positive impact on a community is important to Steven Santana \u201906, and he\u2019s spent his educational career gathering the knowledge and skills to do just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The engineering and Spanish alumnus has a master\u2019s in education (Loyola Marymount University) and a doctorate in mechanical engineering (Cornell University). He\u2019s worked as a math teacher in Los Angeles and has designed a program for Denver Public Schools in Colorado to help all students get access to higher education opportunities and meaningful careers. As a doctoral researcher, he examined the use of microfluidics to isolate and study cancer biomarkers and designed microfluidic devices for this purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When considering the faculty position at Harvey Mudd, Santana saw it as a great opportunity to impact yet more students while creating solutions to improve human health. Santana joined the faculty as a visiting professor in 2018 and became an assistant professor in 2019. During this time, he developed a microfluidics and nanofluidics course, which looks at fluid mechanics, chemistry and physics and how these fields connect to device design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy class pulls heavily from subjects students have already covered,\u201d says Santana. \u201cI can rely on the background content they learned in the Core, and students can jump right in and apply that knowledge to fluid mechanics and microfluidic device design.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Santana also runs a microfluidics and biomaterials lab in which students design microfluidic devices and synthetic tissues. In graduate school, he used such devices to capture metastatic cancer cells, and now he\u2019s working on engineering small biomaterials to program cell behavior. To explain the research\u2019s importance, Santana uses the example of someone who has suffered a heart attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPart of their heart tissue has died, but what if you could take stem cells directly from this person and do something to the stem cells so that they could be programmed to become muscle cells? Then you can put them into this same person whose heart tissue has died, and you have a way for them to regenerate tissues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Students in Santana\u2019s lab work on the foundational science behind this question. He uses microfluidic devices to make very small tissues about the diameter of a human hair, loads them up with cells and varying chemical and mechanical signaling factors and measures the way the cells respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI love that I can do research to answer interesting questions and advance topics of human health, while at the same time work directly with talented and curious students and watch them have those great ah-ha moments,\u201d says Santana. \u201cThere are few schools that are high-caliber where you can do both of those things well, and that\u2019s why Harvey Mudd is such a compelling place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Professor Brake uses biophotonics to study tissue<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ever wonder why your hand glows red when you shine a flashlight through it? Or how this is connected to the fact it\u2019s tough to see through fog? The same physical phenomenon\u2014optical scattering\u2014is behind both. To learn more, we turn to Josh Brake, assistant professor of engineering, who is teaching students about biophotonics, the study of the science at the intersection of optics and biology that is increasingly playing a role in biomedical diagnostics and therapies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Caltech where he earned his PhD in electrical engineering, Brake worked on developing new tools to see deep into scattering media, like biological tissue, and on applying these tools to biomedical challenges in the life sciences and neuroscience. This work can help generate more accurate, more complete and less-expensive optical images of tissue samples. The investigation of ways to extract information from scattered light in tissue coupled with work on computational microscopy make up the focus of his new lab, which will be equipped with lasers, cameras, microscopes, computers and spatial light modulators to enable Mudd students to get involved in the development of next-generation optical microscopes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With student researchers, he\u2019ll work on developing methods to noninvasively focus light deep inside tissue, thus creating new tools and measurement schemes to make sensitive measurements of key biological markers, such as blood flow. Such measurements can help determine which parts of the brain are being activated, how fast blood is traveling or when certain neurovascular events occur, for example. By using scattered light to \u201ctease out information deep inside tissue,\u201d he explains, we have the potential to make functional MRI-like imaging cheaper and more accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brake will introduce students to methods such as wavefront shaping (a class of techniques used to reclaim scattered light), optical phase conjugation, and Fourier ptychographic microscopy, a microscopy technique which enables wide field-of-view, high-resolution imaging that was developed in his PhD lab at Caltech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brake\u2019s enthusiasm for research and the potential of biophotonics to improve people\u2019s lives extends to his teaching. For his first class, he taught Microprocessor-based Systems: Design and Applications (E155 or \u201cMicroPs,\u201d as it is affectionately called by students), an advanced technical elective where students apply their digital design skills using programmable logic and microcontrollers. The final assignment requires students to use a microcontroller and a field-programmable gate array along with a piece of new hardware they haven\u2019t used before to build a device that is \u201cfun or useful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI love working one-on-one with students and am passionate about seeing each of my students thrive as individuals,\u201d says Brake, who especially enjoys helping students build and debug hardware. \u201cAs someone who has gone through the struggle and experienced the joy of learning new and complex concepts many times myself, I want to help guide students as they pursue their own journeys of learning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Find out what\u2014and who\u2014is new in the HMC shop<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you walk down to the basement in Galileo and navigate through the halls that echo with clacking and whirring, you\u2019ll find the HMC machine shop, a center for creativity and learning on campus where students bring their ideas and designs to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the middle of the shop floor, Drew Price, machine shop manager, moves expertly between a mill and his desk. After being hired by the Department of Engineering in fall 2019, Price pulled the desk out of a closet-like space to a spot where it is easily seen, allowing him to be available for whatever need may arise. He calls it \u201cgetting rid of the curtain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Price is enthusiastic about carrying on the tradition of the shop being a space that welcomes learning and creativity. He succeeds Paul Stovall, who retired after working in the shop for nine years, Mike Wheeler (16 years) and Ed Stubblefield (27 years). Like past managers, Price instructs students on design techniques, oversees projects in the machine shop and ensures that students and faculty members learn the correct techniques to safely use the equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt surprised me how the position at Mudd aligned with what I had been doing and what I enjoy doing,\u201d says Price, who grew up with a knack for cars and making things and a desire to design race cars. Taking on the job at HMC seemed like the next logical step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While a student at Northwestern University, he founded and served as head engineer and frame and suspension captain of the Formula SAE Northwestern Racing team. Through his involvement with the team, Price was introduced to the student machine shop and learned to use computer numerical control (CNC) machining and other equipment that is similar to that available in the shop at Mudd. He also was a student shop trainer, a position mirroring the HMC shop proctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat background was the basis for everything else I have learned in my career,\u201d Price says. \u201cI am passionate about that mix between the academic and the practical applications.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After graduating from Northwestern (B.S., mechanical engineering), Price managed a car repair shop to maintain the machining techniques he had learned. He then worked for the Pilot Group, a company that did contract design work building custom equipment. This exposed him to new methods of manufacturing and machinery, and he was able to work on a variety of projects, from aerospace hardware to farm equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think it\u2019s really important to have a good fundamental background that will enable lifelong learning,\u201d Price says. \u201cI\u2019m lucky to do as a career what I did then. I\u2019ve just shifted to an instructional setting.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Price says there is no \u201ctypical\u201d day in the machine shop. A range of student projects and faculty requests keep his days interesting. Last semester, he worked with Ziyad Dur\u00f3n \u201981, Jude and Eileen Laspa Professor of Engineering, to build new components for the load cells Dur\u00f3n uses in the safety analysis for hydroelectric dams. Price also helped Steven Santana \u201906, assistant professor of engineering, build assembly tooling for his research lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe best part of my day is the people I work with,\u201d Price says, adding that HMC students\u2019 keen interest in learning is an added bonus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of Price\u2019s goals is to make the shop feel open and welcoming. In addition to placing himself in the center of the action, he\u2019s added a table and a whiteboard where users can talk through ideas before putting them into action. He\u2019s looking into additional services the shop could offer as well as resources for shop users who may want to work on open-ended projects, such as those for a Clinic project or art course. \u201cThis will mean that our amazing shop proctors and users will be able to think of the available tools more creatively to make their designs really come to life,\u201d Price says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He looks forward to helping students and faculty achieve their goals and creating an environment that encourages collaboration, something that will be a prominent feature of the new makerspace in the Scott A. McGregor Computer Science Center, slated for completion in early 2021. The machine shop will be repositioned so that it is adjacent to the makerspace, a multidisciplinary hub. Price is excited for this new configuration because the floor plan will allow students and faculty to pass easily between the two spaces for prototyping and manufacturing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the meantime, Price is focused on the spring 2020 semester and working with students in Introduction to Engineering Design and Manufacturing (E4) as they learn machine fundamentals and start designing class projects. He also plans to hold training sessions with shop proctors to teach them advanced techniques in wood working, welding, workholding devices and setup, SolidWorks and CNC machining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI value the students\u2019 openness and enthusiasm,\u201d Price says as he surveys the activity around the machine shop. \u201cEveryone is here to learn.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Failed experiments provide a lesson in perseverance<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n When Albert Dato devised a method of turning alcohol into graphene, he was thoroughly disappointed. The black powder his experiments rendered was not at all what he was hoping for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOriginally, I was throwing vodka into a machine because I was trying to grow diamonds,\u201d says Dato, Iris and Howard Critchell Assistant Professor ofEngineering. \u201cWhen my experiments failed, I was turning vodka into graphite.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The machine he used for this experiment, a microwave plasma reactor, uses ionized gas to break apart the ethanol in vodka, a process he originally hoped would produce a diamond, one of the two stable forms of carbon. Instead he produced single layers of graphite, the other stable form of carbon, aka pencil lead, aka not as exciting as diamonds. But it turns out that graphene, which is a single layer of graphite, is perhaps an even better result than diamonds, for reasons that are scientific, environmental and economic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graphene is the strongest material ever measured. It also conducts heat and electricity well. It\u2019s a material that could potentially be used in any number of applications. And, up to the point of Dato\u2019s discovery, graphene was incredibly difficult to produce as it had to first be mined as graphite, then separated from impurities, then broken down into a single layer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt the time of my first experiments, I was disappointed because it\u2019s really tough to grow diamonds when you\u2019re forming graphitic materials. But once I realized what I had, I put the diamond research aside,\u201d Dato says. \u201cI realized we can make graphene easier than with breaking down graphite, and that, because of its properties, we could make something useful with it to address problems in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having made his own big discovery after many failed experiments, Dato encourages his students to persevere. \u201cThe way I run my lab is to give students a goal and then let them figure it out,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s how I learned, and it helped me grow as a scientist. I love to teach, and I love the process of scientific discovery. It\u2019s even better when your student experiences it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Students in Dato\u2019s energy and nanomaterials lab at Harvey Mudd College agree. Chance Bisquera \u201919 says he was having a tough time academically when the opportunity to participate in a materials engineering research project in Dato\u2019s lab became available. \u201cThat was a turning point for me as a struggling Mudder,\u201d he says. \u201cI was looking for an extracurricular activity that I enjoyed and that allowed me to apply what I learned in the classroom to a project that can have an impact on society. My time spent thus far in lab has provided me with a renewed sense of confidence, helped me improve as a critical thinker and scientific explorer and has taught me some of the basic research skills that I will need should I choose to attend graduate school in the near future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t trade one HMC student for three grad students,\u201d Dato says. \u201cThey\u2019re really passionate about what they do. Students in the Dato Lab are excited about taking ownership of their projects.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI remind myself of \u2018Bubba\u2019 from the movie Forrest Gump<\/em> when I talk about the potential applications for graphene,\u201d Dato says, referring to the character Benjamin Buford \u201cBubba\u201d Blue, who spent his time thinking and talking about all the ways one can cook shrimp. \u201cCar parts, airplane parts \u2026\u201d Dato says, laughing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed, there are a lot of ways graphene could be used in practical applications. However, using his current technique, Dato is only able to produce tens of milligrams of graphene per hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe barrier to all the applications is being able to produce a lot of high quality graphene,\u201d Dato says. \u201cIt\u2019s still cheaper to mine graphite for use in pencils. But the mined graphite is full of other things. The lab<\/span> stuff we make in our lab is pure carbon. So that\u2019s the prime advantage; it\u2019s much higher-quality graphene. The goal is to improve the production to make kilograms versus milligrams.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After students modeled what happens inside the microwave plasma reactor, where ionized gas breaks apart ethanol to produce graphene, the next step was to build a new plasma box that\u2019s cheaper and smaller than existing models, but they had to figure out how. Results came after a lot of trial and error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo many designs, so much frustration and failure,\u201d Dato says, adding that as it\u2019s all part of the process. \u201cI failed so many times. Me figuring out how to make graphene out of ethanol was a failure because I failed to grow diamonds. You fail, you learn, you move on.\u201d After several semesters of work by several students, a late-night text from one of them delivered good news. \u201cHarry Fetsch \u201920 sent me a video of the ignited plasma in a chamber,\u201d Dato says. \u201cHe figured it out!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In thinking about the many uses for graphene, Dato has focused on one area of research on its potential as part of composite materials that are stronger but more lightweight than existing products\u2014think car or aircraft panels that can withstand more impact to improve safety and also weigh less, to improve fuel economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To develop a composite, Dato and students are experimenting with mixing graphene and epoxy. \u201cWe think it will outperform any other composite that\u2019s been published so far,\u201d Dato says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Nicole Subler \u201916 was at Harvey Mudd (she\u2019s now an engineer at Bolt Threads), she spent 10 weeks in the lab developing an epoxy\/graphene composite specimen and then creating molds to reproduce it. Jacob Knego \u201918 took the project from there, working to perfect the process of making the specimens. The results of their tests have indeed shown that graphene improves the strength, stiffness and ductility of the epoxy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year, Kevin Nakahara \u201920 and Nathan Sunbury \u201921 continue the next phase of the research, which is to determine why the graphene has the effect it does on the epoxy structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe most interesting part of the research isseeing how such a simple step in adding nanofillers can have such a profound effect on the performance of the specimens,\u201d Nakahara says. \u201cNot only can you see the enhancement in the data but you get a sense of this during the testing process, which in itself is exciting due to the suspense created when we are breaking the specimens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Students in the Dato Lab are also investigating how graphene might be used as a medium for 3-D printing. \u201cIn particular, we are trying to determine if the inclusion of a certain carbon nanoparticle improves any of the material properties (ultimate tensile strength, ductility, elastic modulus, strain at break, toughness) of specimens printed from standard 3-D printing resin,\u201d says Bisquera, who is beginning his second semester on the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bisquera says working in the Dato Lab is challenging, academically fulfilling and fun. He\u2019s also inspired to think about his future as an engineer. \u201cI can see my research potentially having an impact on society,\u201d he says. \u201cAs an engineer who greatly enjoys prototyping, design and building, I have always been fascinated by 3-D printers for their ability to transform a digital design into a physical reality. Ultimately, I can see the work done in this project as having an impact on the quality and durability of 3-D printed designs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Dato, working at Harvey Mudd is fundamentally about his love of teaching, his passion for graphene research and his desire to, along with his students, tackle engineering\u2019s grand challenges. By combining all three ideas, he hopes to form a collaboration between his students and an industry partner to learn if they can make current graphene composite applications better. \u201cIf we make cars and aircraft lighter, you have better fuel efficiency, less emission\u2014the goal in the Dato Lab is always to make something to help the environment,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the diamonds? \u201cDiamonds can wait,\u201d Dato says. \u201cLet\u2019s focus on this material that can make the world a better place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Distinguished teacher welcomed as visiting professor at Princeton<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Nancy Lape, associate professor of engineering at Harvey Mudd College, has been awarded the William R. Kenan, Jr. Visiting Professorship for Distinguished Teaching at Princeton University. The award is given to individuals \u201cwho have set standards for exceptional scholarship and distinguished teaching.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Selected for demonstrated excellence in teaching and for her capacity to bring new ideas in undergraduate teaching to the campus, Lape will spend her 2018\u20132019 sabbatical year at Princeton. She\u2019ll teach an undergraduate course and engage in other activities aimed at improving teaching at Princeton, such as workshops for faculty and graduate students, demonstration lectures and classroom visits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe William R. Kenan, Jr. Visiting Professorship for Distinguished Teaching is an exciting opportunity to teach and learn from other professors in another rich research environment,\u201d says Lape, who adds that she\u2019s also looking forward to exploring Princeton\u2019s teaching and learning centers and hearing more about the university\u2019s work on its sequence of integrated science, mathematics and engineering freshman courses and how this might inform potential revisions to Harvey Mudd\u2019s Core Curriculum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lape joined the Department of Engineering at Harvey Mudd College in 2005 and serves as the director of the Patton and Claire Lewis Fellowship in Engineering Professional Practice. Her research focuses on energy-efficient composite gas separation membranes and chemical transport across human skin. She received a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota. In 2009, she received a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lape is interested in finding innovative approaches to engineering education. With fellow Harvey Mudd faculty Rachel Levy and Darryl Yong, she conducted a four-year controlled study of flipped classroom instruction<\/a> at Harvey Mudd. Their work, which provides evidence-based recommendations to STEM educators, was publicized widely, including in the Los Angeles Times<\/em> and in Slate<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Lape also co-authored an award-winning paper that describes the redesign of the College\u2019s Engineering Systems course from the lecture model to a model that includes active learning (flipped classroom) tutorials and hands-on practicums. The paper \u201cIntegrating Theory and Hands-On Practice Using Underwater Robotics in a Multidisciplinary Introductory Engineering Course,\u201d won second place in the First-Year Programs Division and first place for presentation in the same division at the 2017 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition. Lape and Department of Engineering colleagues Lori Bassman, Christopher Clark, Albert Dato, Angela Lee, Matthew Spencer and Erik Spjut, and Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness Laura Palucki Blake, collaborated on the paper, which includes results that show major increases in student learning and increased positive attitudes toward engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lape is a member of HMC\u2019s Faculty Executive Committee (FEC), the FEC subcommittee on diversity, inclusion and equity, and the Core Review Planning Team, which helped lead an external review of the College\u2019s Core Curriculum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The William R. Kenan, Jr. Visiting Professorship for Distinguished Teaching was established as part of the Princeton\u2019s 250th anniversary celebration in 1996. Lape\u2019s colleague, Chris Clark, professor of engineering and associate department chair, held the William R. Kenan, Jr. Visiting Professorship for Distinguished Teaching before joining Harvey Mudd College in 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An expert in mechanical vibration, Professor Cha shares research and collaborates with students<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Before he became an engineering professor at Harvey Mudd, Philip Cha worked as a Senior Research Engineer at the Ford Motor Company Research Laboratory\u2019s chassis systems department, where, among other things, he constructed mathematical models to simulate the behavior of anti-lock brakes. \u201cI liked what I did, but this is so much more fun and gratifying,\u201d Cha says of teaching. \u201cWhen a student gets excited about a subject, it\u2019s really fulfilling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Mudd, Cha studies mechanical vibration. One of his research interests lies in seeking ways to minimize and suppress vibration on a structure to improve its lifespan and safety. His work with students, however, is all about expanding knowledge and developing novel ways to analyze vibration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cha, C.F. Bran & Company Fellow, is currently collaborating with a graduate student and his advisor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, studying vibration suppression. \u201cThe advisor was a student of mine when I taught at Tsinghua University in Beijing during my sabbatical from 2004 to 2005,\u201d Cha says. \u201cIt\u2019s so exciting to have a student become a professor with students of his own. I love to think back about what he was like as a student and to see him now as a teacher.\u201d They\u2019ve had some exciting results in their research collaboration, which Cha happily demonstrates through a computer animation of vibration of a harmonically excited plate. By enforcing nodes at various locations, they are able to mitigate vibration in specific regions of the plate. They published a paper on their research last year and have just submitted another one for review based on an extension of their previous work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his lectures at Harvey Mudd for his upper-level technical electives, Cha likes to share many of his research findings with his students. \u201cI expose them to as much of my research as I can. I want them to be excited about mechanical vibration and structural dynamics,\u201d he says. When something sparks a student\u2019s interest, Cha asks if they want to collaborate on research in that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One such collaboration has been studying eigenvalue perturbation theory with Austin Shin \u201918. \u201cMany engineering problems involve a system of differential equations, which depend on many parameters in the system, such as different masses, spring stiffnesses and damping coefficients,\u201d says Shin. \u201cSolving an eigenvalue problem associated with the system reveals interesting characteristics about the dynamics of the system, but it can take a significant amount of time and computing power to do so, and if any of the parameters are changed, the entire problem must be solved again.\u201d Cha and Shin are developing an efficient method that can quickly approximate the new system\u2019s eigenvalues and eigenvectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe use the eigenvalue perturbation method, which provides us with closed-form expressions containing simple matrix multiplication, and matrix multiplication can be done exceptionally quickly with software,\u201d Shin says. \u201cWorking with Prof. Cha is great practice in doing research and being a part of academia. He has high expectations for the results and the work that you present and write. He\u2019s very understanding and knows that as students, we can be very busy at times. And he\u2019s great at communicating, easy to contact and believes in your ability to perform and deliver, which I find most helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This pilot and professor donates flights to help conservationists<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n When engineering professor David Money Harris\u2019s family wants hamburgers for dinner, they like to go to one of two favorite California locations, the Beachside Cafe in Santa Barbara or Landings in Carlsbad. Both locations are quite a long drive away from Claremont, which is why they fly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the 20 years that Harris has held his pilot\u2019s license, he\u2019s flown for many reasons, in addition to a quest for good burgers\u2014business travel, family vacations, bypassing Los Angeles traffic. Harris has also flown for another reason: volunteer work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fifteen years ago, Harris flew for AngelFlight, doing nonemergency medical transportation for people in need. \u201cI took some kids and adults who lived in remote areas for cancer treatments in L.A.,\u201d Harris says. \u201cI also got to ferry an injured Iraq War vet to visit his family.\u201d Recently Harris has resumed his practice of donating flights for a good cause, this time via LightHawk, a non-profit organization that supplies pilots, planes and flight time for conservation projects that benefit from the perspective of aerial views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After seeing LightHawk\u2019s advertisement in aviation magazines for many years, Harris met a representative from the organization at an event last year and signed up. Donating his time and the expenses of flying his plane, an A36 Bonanza, Harris flies passengers involved with various conservation organizations on missions related to their projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLightHawk keeps a mission board, and I sign up for flights based on my availability, location and the suitability of my aircraft for the task,\u201d Harris says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His first mission, in June, was to assist the Heal the Bay organization by taking the California Fish and Game Commissioner to see how marine-protected areas off the coast of Palos Verdes and Catalina have contributed to the revitalization of the ecosystems there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In October, Harris flew members of the Bay Foundation from Santa Monica Bay to Point Conception to examine marine-protected areas that do and do not allow fishing. Though similar to his previous flight, this one required extra precaution. \u201cThe trip was far enough off-shore that we had to wear life jackets,\u201d Harris says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most recently, in December, Harris flew with the Surfrider Foundation to observe the impact of a king tide event, a regular occurrence that can help provide an idea of what a permanent rise in sea level might look like. \u201cI carried a foundation official, a Carlsbad city councilwoman (who was a former pro surfer) and two KPBS reporters,\u201d Harris says. \u201cThe 6.9-foot tides were up against the sea cliffs along most of the route between San Onofre and the Mexican border, with just a bit of the largest sand beaches showing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not only does working with LightHawk allow Harris to fly for a good cause, it also has potential for being exciting and unusual.\u201cI almost carried an endangered wolf across the country to a breeding program last year,\u201d Harris says, \u201cbut the wolf is very sensitive and wouldn\u2019t have done well if I got delayed by bad weather, so my plane wasn\u2019t the right one for the task.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having flown marine-related flights so far, Harris, an avid hiker, looks forward to the chance to be involved with land conservation efforts as well. \u201cI write hiking guidebooks,\u201d he says, \u201cso I have a strong personal interest in the health of our mountains and deserts.\u201d Given his close proximity to several mountain ranges and deserts in Southern California, there\u2019s a good possibility Harris will get that chance. In the meantime, he can always take the family out for burgers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How do we ensure HMC students become standout professionals? Here are some insights from the 2017 Engineering Faculty Retreat<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n How does a College improve upon an engineering program that is routinely ranked No. 1 or 2 in the nation? By employing one of the field\u2019s time-honored methods: continuous improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During a Department of Engineering faculty retreat in January 2017, emeriti professors and current faculty members participated in a discussion about the development of HMC\u2019s engineering program and where it stands now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In devising the program, engineering department Chair Liz Orwin \u201995 sought to gather diverse perspectives on HMC\u2019s engineering program in order to inform discussions about the curriculum as the department evolves to meet student and industry needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Providing insight were engineering faculty leaders from the earliest years to the present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The panel considered several questions, including: What has the general engineering curriculum meant for our identity as a program? What are the biggest changes you\u2019ve seen? Is there something you wish we\u2019d done, or something you would have changed in retrospect? How should the liberal arts context and the changes to the Colleges Core Curriculum inform our thought process?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re talking a lot about our curriculum,\u201d says Orwin. \u201cWhat do we want to change, innovate? We want to make sure we don\u2019t lose what makes us special. I thought this panel would be a way to get many perspectives to help us think about our curriculum over time and moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Discussions revealed that some things are relatively conserved. The idea of general engineering and educating generalists is one thing everyone agrees on. That\u2019s the department\u2019s niche: generalists who are able to see the big picture and are able to make necessary connections to solve complex problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Molinder commented, and all agreed, that the biggest change that has impacted the program is the dramatic increase in computing power and the development of computer science, something that affects all engineering fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Monson said, \u201cOur general engineering\/design\/systems way of thinking has contributed strongly to the perception that the Harvey Mudd engineer can take on anything and do it well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Participants also shared ideas about how to have a more intentional connection between technical work and humanities, social sciences and the arts\/liberal context of education\/impact on society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The desire for the department\u2019s connection to industry remains. The Clinic Program, an innovation of the engineering department in 1963, is strong and is an important way for engineering faculty to maintain ties with industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a recent survey of engineering alumni and students, two areas of improvement that were identified were software proficiency and professional skills. Discussions are underway about where to add software courses into the curriculum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s part of the reason for this panel,\u201d says Orwin. \u201cWe are asking questions like, has software engineering risen to the level of an engineering science, or is it something that should be included throughout all of our courses. And what do we give up if we add it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regarding professional skills, panelists discussed how the department could be more intentional about helping students improve in this area. The recent addition of leadership development expert and entrepreneur Werner Zorman, the first to hold the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Chair in Leadership, is one step toward helping students become standout professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re continually informed by what\u2019s going on in the outside world,\u201d says Orwin. \u201cWe want to graduate students who can hit the ground running, whether they go to grad school or into industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nProf. TJ Tsai: At the Intersection of Music, Signal Processing and Machine Learning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"TJ](\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2023\/02\/faculty-tsai.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nProf. Qimin Yang: “It’s the ‘Aha’ Moment for Me” <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nProf. Leah Mendelson: Fish Out of Water<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nProf. Steven Santana \u201906: Improving the Human Condition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nTeachable Moment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Prof. Josh Brake: He’s Lighting the Way<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nDrew Price: Crafting Collaboration<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nProf. Albert Dato: Better Than Diamonds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMining Confidence<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Graphene Is a Guy\u2019s Best Friend<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Multifaceted Potential<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Prof. Nancy Lape: Innovative Engineering Educator<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nProf. Philip Cha: Exciting Vibrations, Inspiring Students<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nProf. David Money Harris: Aerial Altruism<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Curricular Innovation and Our General Engineering Program<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>\n
Prof. Matthew Spencer: The Aggressive Dabbler<\/h2>\n\n\n\n