Message From the Chair
The past six months have been fruitful for the students and faculty in the Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department. Many have taken steps in their academic and professional careers that will set them on a trajectory to success, winning awards and grants and getting a taste of career opportunities that await. We also welcomed back an MAE alum who forged a career path all the way to NASA, where he is the Artemis Mission manager.
— Brian Helenbrook, Professor/Chair of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering/Paynter-Krigman Endowed Professor in Engineering Science Simulation
NASA Knight
When Artemis I sailed around the moon in November, a Golden Knight helped manage the flight. Aeronautical engineering alum Michael Sarafin ’94 is the Artemis Mission manager at NASA Headquarters and returned to his alma mater in February to share about his experiences from prelaunch to spaceship recovery. READ MORE
Field Trips
Fostering the connection between what engineering students learn in the classroom and what goes on in the real world is key to shaping critical thinking. The senior aerospace engineering design class visited electric aircraft manufacturer Beta Technologies to check out their flying prototypes and see firsthand the groundbreaking work engineers are engaged in today. READ MORE
Taking Notice
Megan Michaud ’24 may still be an undergraduate, but she has already caught the eye of NASA. The mechanical and aerospace engineering double-major received the NASA New York Space Grant Women in STEM Fellowship, which will fund her research in designing a satellite testbed and then support her as she presents at an upcoming conference. READ MORE
Prize Winner
A researcher from Clarkson’s Aerosol Instrumentation Research Lab made an impression at the recent conference of the American Association for Aerosol Research. Nagarajan Radhakrishnan PhD’25, a mechanical engineering graduate student, took home the prize for best poster, which presented the research, “Towards Minimizing Turbulence in Aircraft Inlets.” READ MORE
