Congratulations to our senior lab member, Sina Kazemipour, on successfully passing his Comprehensive Exam and Dissertation Proposal! Sina’s dissertation research focuses on designing aerodynamically efficient vehicles and elucidating the flow physics underlying their energy-saving mechanisms. Congratulations, Sina, on reaching this important milestone and becoming a Ph.D. candidate!

We are pleased to welcome Russell to the FSML as an undergraduate researcher! Russell’s research interests include computational fluid dynamics and fluid-structure interaction. We look forward to working with him as he explores these exciting research areas and develops his skills in computational and experimental mechanics. Welcome aboard, Russell!

We are excited to share that our PhD student, Kritik, is participating in the inaugural Fusion Innovation Bootcamp (FIB), held June 15-26, 2026, at Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee. As part of the IGNITE Fusion Energy program, this two-week bootcamp brings together students with researchers and professionals from the fusion community through lectures, panel discussions, hands-on activities, mentorship, and team-based innovation challenges. Participants also develop startup ideas addressing real-world needs in the fusion industry and present them in a pitch competition. PI Zhang is also contributing to the bootcamp as a faculty mentor, supporting students through mentoring and technical discussions. Congratulations to Kritik on this exciting opportunity to broaden his experience in fusion energy, innovation, and entrepreneurship!

The FSML participated in the 78th Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics (APS DFD), held November 23–25, 2025, in Houston, Texas. Our Ph.D. student Branson Blaylock presented a poster on an adaptive morphing design for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, demonstrating how actively controlled shape morphing can reduce aerodynamic drag through wind tunnel experiments. Our Ph.D. student Sina Kazemipour delivered an oral presentation on morphing vehicle platoons, introducing a computational optimization framework that enables vehicles to collectively adapt their shapes to enhance aerodynamic efficiency and reduce energy consumption.

Our latest paper, titled “A low-cost morphing vehicle design for enhanced aerodynamic performance”, authored by our PhD student Sina Kazemipour and Dr. Peng Zhang, has been published in Journal of Fluids and Structures. This study introduces a novel a low-cost, noninvasive morphing vehicle design toward improved aerodynamic efficiency and reduced emissions. The proposed design is guided by an optimization framework to enable continuous morphing across a range of vehicle driving speeds. Read the paper here.

We are delighted to welcome two new PhD students, Branson Blaylock and Kritik Niraula, to the FSML!

Branson, a direct PhD student, is already a familiar face in our lab. He has been involved in several research projects since his junior year. He will continue his work on flow control devices and machine learning-informed structural health monitoring.

Kritik recently earned his M.S. degree from the Tribhuvan University and is beginning his Ph.D. journey with us. His research will focus on the aerodynamics of animal flight and machine learning-guided control strategies.

We are thrilled to have Branson and Kritik on board and look forward to working with them on exciting projects in the years ahead!

PI Dr. Peng Zhang, along with collaborators Drs. Joy Fan, Mohan Rao, and Arnold Lumsdaine, presented our IGNITE Fusion Energy project during a poster session at the IEEE 2025 Symposium on Fusion Engineering (SOFE), held June 23–26 in Boston, MA. We were delighted to connect and exchange ideas with fusion engineers, researchers, and educators from around the world. We look forward to future collaborations toward enhancing fusion education and expanding the fusion workforce. Thank you to everyone who stopped by our poster to discuss this exciting initiative!

Our own student, Branson Blaylock, won this year’s Innovation Award in the Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME) at Tennessee Tech. The Innovation Award is given to undergraduate students who disseminate, commercialize or publish intellectual property created in the course of their research, creative activity, or experiential learning. As one of College of Engineering’s Eminence Awards, the Innovation Award was granted to only one ME student this year. Congratulations, Branson!

The FSML welcomes Emily Smyth, currently a sophomore undergraduate student at Tennessee Tech. Emily’s research interests include aerospace engineering and wind tunnel testing. Welcome, Emily!