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PI Brian Slaboch, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has eleven years of experience in higher education, advising 33 undergraduate students on research projects since 2015. Since 2020, he has mentored 18 undergraduate researchers at ºÚÁÏÍø, resulting in seven peer-reviewed conference publications in mechanisms and robotics with undergraduate student co-authors. Dr. Slaboch is the recipient of the 2024 Karl O. Werwath Applied Research Award, the highest honor for contribution to applied research at ºÚÁÏÍø. He has also overseen over 45 senior design projects related to robotics and automation and served as a committee member for four Master’s thesis projects at Marquette University. His research work has been supported by funding from the WSGC and Eaton Corporation. His space related research includes the design of space latching mechanisms, the design of underactuated robotic grippers, and the design of RSMs for sorting and assembly of space components.

Co-PI Kevin Hart, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has eight years of experience in higher education and three years of experience as a post-doctoral research fellow at the US Army Research Laboratory. Dr. Hart has advised 19 graduate and undergraduate students since 2016, which resulted in eight peer-reviewed publications, one patent and dozens of presentations at national conferences. Additionally, Dr. Hart has advised seven undergraduate bachelor’s theses, 15 senior design projects, and two REU students under award EEC-2045738. Dr. Hart is the recipient of the 2025 Oscar Werwath Distinguished Teacher Award, the highest honor for excellence in teaching and mentorship at ºÚÁÏÍø. Dr. Hart is an expert in the field of AM and self-healing materials and has received funding from the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center, The American Society for Composites, and the US Army HEROES program.

Mentor Nate Patterson, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has eleven years of experience in higher education. Dr. Patterson has served as a mentor for two NSF REU students, overseen five independent study student projects, two undergraduate theses, and twenty senior design projects. Dr. Patterson has received three partial-leave awards to research and develop his VWT, which he has used in Fluid Mechanics-related courses. His research projects have incorporated statistical modeling and prediction approaches, computational fluid mechanics, experimental fluid mechanics, reinforcement learning, neural networks, physics informed neural networks, and mesh-based graph neural networks.

Mentor Patrick Comiskey, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has five years of experience in higher education. He has mentored eleven undergraduate researchers resulting in multiple peer-reviewed conference publications in high-powered rocketry and one peer-reviewed journal publication in nuclear fusion, all with undergraduate student co-authors. Additionally, his research has been supported by external funding from the WSGC, where he mentored two undergraduate researchers in the 2025-2026 school year working on multiphase fluid dynamic simulations in space using ºÚÁÏÍø’s high-performance computer cluster. His space related research encompasses aerodynamic phenomena such as transonic flight and fin flutter and nuclear fusion resulting from galactic cosmic radiation.

Mentor Mikayla Moody, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, is entering her third year at ºÚÁÏÍø. During her PhD studies, she mentored seven undergraduate students and one high school student, which has led to multiple publications, abstract submissions, and poster presentations. Through the Society of Women Engineers Mentoring Network, she has mentored undergraduate students about gaining research experience and applying to graduate school. With support from the NC space grant, she researched graphene-based devices as an undergraduate at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Mentor Ruiyang Wang, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, received his PhD degree in 2021 at the University of California and joined ºÚÁÏÍø in Fall 2024. He has multiple years of experience in supervising capstone projects, independent studies, and voluntary research as both a Teaching Assistant and faculty member. His expertise includes dynamics and control, modeling and control of electromagnetic systems, robotics, structural vibrations, and vibrations of coupled flexible-rigid body systems.

Mentor Michael Hayes, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, is a third-year Assistant Professor at ºÚÁÏÍø. He mentored an undergraduate student researcher as a graduate student at Michigan State Univ., a collaboration that resulted in a presentation by the student at the AIChE’s Midwest Regional Conference. At ºÚÁÏÍø, Dr. Hayes has advised senior design and collaborated with Johnson Controls to provide students with classroom experiences that utilize industrial HVAC equipment. His research lies in thermochemical energy storage, a technology that can provide zero-carbon storage opportunities for both Earth-based and lunar environments. Dr. Hayes space-related research was funded by WSGC for the 2026-2027 academic year, where he will be mentoring an undergraduate student researcher.