Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department at UF

06/02/2026

Congratulations to MAE Professor Subrata Roy on his selection for induction into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame!

Roy is being recognized for pioneering plasma-based technologies that have advanced health care, food safety, water treatment, transportation, and space exploration. His innovations have moved beyond the laboratory into real-world applications, leading to multiple patents, commercialized technologies, and the creation of four spinoff companies.

From low-temperature sterilization systems and food preservation technologies to innovations designed for future space missions, Roy’s work exemplifies the impact engineering can have on society.

We are proud to celebrate this well-deserved honor and the extraordinary contributions he continues to make through research, innovation, entrepreneurship, and mentorship. 🐊

Read more here:
https://news.ufl.edu/2026/05/florida-inventor-hall-of-fame/?j=2137823&sfmc_sub=210180297&l=272_HTML&u=86381122&mid=518003454&jb=3004

Subrata Roy's pioneering work developing plasma‑based technologies earns him selection into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame.

05/29/2026

The GATR Vex Robotics team has released a video playlist from VEX Worlds – Push Back, compiled by their President, Cannon Spencer!

Great work to the team for representing engineering and robotics! 💪 🐊

GATR1 34 ZIPS 19

05/23/2026

Please join us in congratulating our Interim Chair, Douglas E. Spearot, on his induction into the prestigious University of Florida Academy of Distinguished Teaching Scholars (ADTS)! 🎉

This incredible honor recognizes Dr. Spearot’s lasting impact as an educator, researcher, and mentor, as well as his dedication to student success and excellence in engineering education. We are proud to see his contributions celebrated across the UF community.

Read More https://mae.ufl.edu/2026/05/22/mae-chair-spearot-honored-as-distinguished-teaching-scholar/

05/22/2026

Congratulations to MAE's Jaeyun Moon on being selected for the prestigious NASA Glenn Faculty Fellowship!

Beginning June 1, Dr. Moon will join NASA Glenn Research Center as part of the faculty fellowship program, where he will collaborate with NASA researchers and contribute to advancing innovative aerospace and engineering research.

We are proud to see MAE faculty continuing to make an impact through partnerships that help shape the future of engineering and exploration. 🚀

05/20/2026

Big Congratulations to our Capstone Program!

During the 2026 UF awards season, the MAE Capstone Program was nominated for the UF Career Connections Center (C3) Career Influencer Award for Exemplary Experiential Learning in the Classroom. This recognition highlights both the Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering Capstone course sequences within the department’s broader program.

MAE Capstone was one of four university-wide nominees recognized at the C3 awards ceremony, marking the second consecutive year the program has received this nomination and been acknowledged at the university level.

This honor reflects the continued dedication of our faculty and instructors to providing students with meaningful, hands-on, real-world engineering experiences that bridge classroom learning with industry practice.

Dr. Matthew J. Traum accepted the nomination on behalf of the Capstone Program and shared, “It is gratifying to work alongside colleagues so dedicated to providing exceptional hands-on learning experiences for our students and to see those efforts receive university-level visibility and recognition.”

We are grateful for the educators who make this work possible and proud to see the Capstone Program recognized for its impact across UF.

Congratulations to everyone involved in MAE Capstone on this well-earned recognition!

05/20/2026

This , UF Health Cancer Institute member Yong Huang, Ph.D., shares with us how he is bringing cancer research to life by designing and fabricating 3D living tissues for cancer research, ranging from the study of cancer disease mechanisms to drug discovery.

Huang is a professor in the Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department at UF. At the UF Health Cancer Institute, he is a member of our Cancer Targeting and Therapeutics research program.

A passionate researcher and mentor, Huang focuses on advanced manufacturing, particularly how materials behave during processing and how innovative manufacturing methods can be used to tackle real-world problems in health care and energy.

Thank you, Dr. Huang for shaping the future of engineering — and inspiring the next generation of innovators!

05/13/2026

Happy World Facilities Management Day!

Some jobs are hard to explain until you see them in action.

Installing the Weil Hall clock tower faces high above campus.
Guiding a massive optical table onto the third floor of MAE-A by crane.
Loading a whisper room onto a trailer with a forklift.
Mounting alumni plaques with precision and care.
Driving the team wherever they’re needed next.

Today we’re recognizing the people behind moments like these: Operations team lead Melanie DeProspero, Facilities team members Steven Davis, Andrew Evans, Daniel Preston, and facilities student assistants Blake Halverson, Daniel Livay, and Ava Weesner.

Their work is often behind the scenes, but its impact is everywhere across UF MAE.

Thank you to our award winning team for the skill, heart, and dedication you bring to MAE every day. 🧡💙

05/06/2026

🚀 Last week, Swamp Launch hosted a rocket reveal event where they debuted their competition rockets for the season.

The team will compete in two competitions: the Nasa-hosted University Student Launch Initiative (USLI), and the International Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC). The latter is the largest rocketry competition in the world.

For USLI, the team was challenged to design a payload capable of autonomously collecting and analyzing soil samples upon rocket landing. Named "Swamp Scooper", the design was realized entirely by the team using the machining facilities in MAE-C. ⚙️

For IREC, the team is preparing to move into the 30k Multi-Stage rocket category with their rocket "Orpheus & Eurydice". Projected to fly up to 14,000 feet at speeds of Mach 1.4, this rocket is projected to be the fastest and highest-flying in UF history. It will carry a cubesat payload containing a bacteria - Bacillus subtilis - with the goal of exploring the effect of launch conditions on gene expression and metabolic processes. This is a novel interdisciplinary challenge for the team, which placed 21st out of 159 teams last year, despite only having participated in IREC three times prior. 🏆

05/03/2026

With a black cloth draped over months of work, anticipation built earlier this month as the University of Florida’s Solar Gators prepared to reveal the next evolution of their solar-powered race car.

When the cover finally dropped, applause and possibility filled the room as Flare — sleeker, larger and reengineered — marked the team’s latest step toward competing on the national stage this summer.

Read the full story at https://mae.ufl.edu/2026/04/30/uf-solar-gators-unveil-sleeker-sun-racer-to-go-the-distance/

05/02/2026

As a boy in India, Anil Rajvanshi often found himself at the train station intently observing locomotives and dreaming.

These days, the 1979 University of Florida mechanical engineering graduate has merged his fascination with the mechanical with the demands of sustainable energy. After a short teaching stint at UF after graduation, he declined lucrative job offers in the United States and returned to India with an eye on making a difference.

Read the full story at https://mae.ufl.edu/2026/04/30/from-steam-engines-to-solar-solutions-meet-uf-distinguished-engineering-alumnus-anil-rajvanshi/