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!

Dr. Zhang has secured an award for the project titled “Initiatives to Grow New Innovative Talent to Enable Fusion Energy (IGNITE Fusion Energy)” from the Department of Energy’s Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (RENEW) program! This project, led by Dr. Peng Zhang (PI) and Dr. Mohan Rao (Co-PI) from Tennessee Tech, leverages the collective strengths of five other collaborating institutions (Tennessee State University, Tuskegee University, Southern Adventist University, Missouri University of Science and Technology, and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville), the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and more than ten private fusion companies. The project is funded with a total budget of $2.25 million, from which Tennessee Tech will receive $490,151 over three years as the lead institution. See the official award announcement by DOE here.

This is our first award in nuclear engineering at Tennessee Tech. This collaboration focuses on developing workforce training initiatives and enhancing curriculum to prepare the next generation of researchers for careers in fusion engineering and technology. Read more about this project here.

On November 25, our PhD student, Sina Kazemipour, presented his research on morphing vehicle designs at the APS 77th Annual Meeting of the Division of Fluid Dynamics (DFD). Read our research here.

The FSML welcomes Nathan Spann, currently a junior undergraduate student at Tennessee Tech. Nathan’s research interests include computational fluid dynamics and optimal design. Welcome to the group, Nathan!

Our latest paper, titled “Photochromic webbing structures for monitoring UV-induced mechanical strength degradation”, authored our PhD student Sina Kazemipour, our collaborators Drs. John Ohanian and Maurizio Porfiri, and PI Dr. Peng Zhang, has been published in the journal Smart Materials and Structures. This study introduces a novel class of photochromic webbing structures that can afford noninvasive monitoring of UV-induced degradation of their mechanical strength. Experimental observations are complemented by a physics-based mathematical model that provides insights into the webbing’s sensing mechanism. Read the paper here.

Our latest paper, titled “Large deformation of trees in a strong wind”, authored by Dr. Peng Zhang, has been published in the journal Applied Mathematical Modelling. This study introduces a geometrically accurate, physics-based model for analyzing the dynamic, large deformations of trees under strong wind conditions, providing insights into how trees mitigate wind-induced damages. Read the paper here.