Department of Mechanical Engineering

FAMU-FSU professor will study superfluid helium with $1.25M grant from Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

When the temperature of matter approaches absolute zero, a different type of physics takes over. Instead of classical physics — the physics you learned about in high school — quantum physics governs its behavior. For example, helium is typically a gas, but when an isotope of helium is cooled to very low temperatures, it becomes […]

Working at high speed: Associate dean makes mark in 29-year career at FAMU-FSU College of Engineering

Farrukh Alvi thought he’d spend one year, maybe two, in Tallahassee after coming to Florida State University as a postdoctoral researcher in 1993. Now, almost 30 years later, having served as a tenured faculty member, director of the Florida Center for Advanced Aero Propulsion, associate dean for research at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and […]

FSU researchers expand understanding of vortex spread in superfluids

An international team of scientists featuring Florida State University researchers has developed a model that predicts the spread of vortices in so-called superfluids, work that provides new insight into the physics that govern turbulence in quantum fluid systems such as superfluid neutron stars. In a paper published in Physical Review Letters, the researchers created a […]

FAMU-FSU Engineering students design four-legged lunar robot for NASA’s BIG Idea Challenge

Ever watch a cockroach scurry about, with its flat armored body that slips though cracks and then flies through the air? Before you swat that pesky creature, you might want to think about the engineering feat that insect just accomplished. That’s what Jonathan Clark does; it’s kind of a thing for the FAMU-FSU College of […]

Building a better quantum bit: New qubit breakthrough could transform quantum computing

You are no doubt viewing this article on a digital device whose basic unit of information is the bit, either 0 or 1. Scientists worldwide are racing to develop a new kind of computer based on the use of quantum bits, or qubits, which can simultaneously be 0 and 1 and could one day solve […]

Low-gravity simulator design developed by FAMU-FSU College of Engineering researchers offers new avenues for space research

As humanity continues its exploration of the universe, the low-gravity environment of space presents unusual challenges for scientists and engineers. Researchers at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the Florida State University-headquartered National High Magnetic Field Laboratory have developed a new tool to help meet that challenge — a novel design for a low-gravity simulator […]

Engineering researcher gets NSF award for 3D imaging technology to advance quantum fluid research

Superfluids are one of the 20th century’s most fascinating and important discoveries. Their study is the basis of Nobel Prize-winning work, and they hold promise for better electricity transmission and may even help answer the secrets of the universe with their mysterious “quantum fluid” properties. Wei Guo, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the […]

FSU early career researchers receive prestigious NSF award

Three Florida State University faculty members have been recognized by the National Science Foundation with the prestigious CAREER Award, a grant given to promising up-and-coming researchers who are expected to become leaders in their fields. Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Awards are given to junior faculty with the potential to serve as role models in […]

FSU engineers improve performance of high-temperature superconductor wires

Florida State University researchers have discovered a novel way to improve the performance of electrical wires used as high-temperature superconductors (HTS), findings that have the potential to power a new generation of particle accelerators. Researchers used high-resolution scanning electron microscopy to understand how processing methods influence grains in bismuth-based superconducting wires (known as Bi-2212). Those […]

FSU engineering researchers visualize the motion of vortices in superfluid turbulence

Nobel laureate in physics Richard Feynman once described turbulence as “the most important unsolved problem of classical physics.” Understanding turbulence in classical fluids like water and air is difficult partly because of the challenge in identifying the vortices swirling within those fluids. Locating vortex tubes and tracking their motion could greatly simplify the modeling of […]

FSU researchers enhance quantum machine learning algorithms

A Florida State University professor’s research could help quantum computing fulfill its promise as a powerful computational tool. William Oates, the Cummins Inc. Professor in Mechanical Engineering and chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, and postdoctoral researcher Guanglei Xu found a way to automatically infer parameters used in […]

FAMU-FSU College of Engineering professor will teach robots concept of risk with Toyota grant

For Florida State University engineering professor Christian Hubicki, robots aren’t just a tool for the future. They’re a way to understand everything around us. Hubicki, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, will continue that quest thanks to a $750,000 Young Faculty Researcher grant from the Toyota Research Institute (TRI). […]