Page Title

“I remember attending this STEM festival in the Petco Park stadium when I was younger and it aided in the career path I choose today. I encourage the SD community to attend the STEM festival to connect with fellow San Diegans and to allow them to find a passion they did not know they had,” said Bernice Gudino, President of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and bioengineering student.

What if there was a way to strengthen our understanding of the impact football players undergo? Or, to create elderly protective gear that alerts help upon a fall? What if we could produce a smart spacesuit material that monitors force and shields astronauts? Our engineers are creating an advanced sensing technology with a lightweight, organic material (cuttlefish bone) to 3D print and advance body protection gear with alarm systems and data collection capabilities built in.

A major gift to the Cai Li and Daniel Haiming Chang Center for Electric Drive Transportation will support research and development in electric and hybrid automotive technologies. Led by Distinguished Professor Chris Mi, the center was renamed in a Dec. 11 ceremony.

Congratulations to Dr. Junfei Xie (assistant professor, SDSU), Baoqian Wang (co-advisor, PhD student, SDSU), Ramiz Hanan, David Pierce Walker-Howell, and Leo Peralta (undergraduate students, SDSU) for winning the award in the student design competition at the 2020 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM 2020). The competition is targeted for undergraduate students.

Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, Joseph Katz has earned the AIAA San Diego Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding dedication and passion for his work. Over the past four decades of his career, he has positively influenced the fields of aerospace, aerodynamics, and mechanical engineering disciplines. From his research on fluid mechanics, combustion engines, and passenger car safety, to aviation piston engine cooling, transonic wings, and so much more, Katz has played pivotal roles in advancing the machinery and technology that we use in the modern world.

In an October 2023 Stanford University study, three San Diego State University aerospace engineering faculty members ― professors Ping Lu, Luciano Demasi, and Joseph Katz ― ranked in the top 2% of aerospace and aeronautics authors worldwide.

Christine Probett (‘85, ‘87, ‘97) has established the C&C Probett Excellence in Aerospace Endowed Fund for Senior Design Projects in honor of her late husband, Chris Probett, who also led a successful engineering career. Her gift will offer engineering students access to resources necessary to excel in the Senior Design Course, currently led by Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Joseph Katz. Fundamental for every senior to complete, the course provides students with the communication and presentation skills that give engineers a competitive edge.

Engineers at SDSU and several other universities are making it easier to customize unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, for responding to wildfires, monitoring crops or conducting safety inspections in difficult-to-reach areas.

When Joe Kiani first enrolled at San Diego State University he was typically the youngest (15) kid in the room. That was rarely a hindrance for the student who immigrated from Iran, now CEO of a medical technology company and a presidential adviser, but the same can’t be said for his original plan for his education. “I wanted to be a doctor but I realized quickly I wasn’t good at chemistry,” Kiani said in remarks Thursday morning at the President’s Lecture Series at Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union. “Fortunately I was good at physics, it came naturally to me.”