Graduate Students

Name: Omkar Supekar Hometown: Vadodara, Gujarat, India Major: Mechanical Engineering PhD Student Advisor: Victor Bright , CU MEMS Group I was born in Vadodara, a city in the state of Gujarat in India. However, I moved around India growing up, mostly in the western and central parts of India. Growing...

Name: Timothy Morrissey Hometown: Little Falls, NY Major: Mechanical Engineering PhD Student Advisor: Christoph Keplinger , Keplinger Research Group I grew up in a small town in upstate New York. I was always drawn to traditional STEM topics and had typical interests of many technologically oriented kids: fixing bikes, working...

Name: Jaylene Martinez Hometown: Ojo Sarco, NM Major: Mechanical Engineering PhD Student Advisor: Yifu Ding, Nanostructured Polymer Lab As a young Chicana, I grew up in a small Northern New Mexico town named Ojo Sarco. I was taught to work hard with my hands and live off the land. Growing...

The National Science Foundation is honoring six current or incoming University of Colorado Boulder mechanical engineering students with Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) awards and five students with honorable mentions.

Carlye Lauff is a 5th year PhD candidate and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. She is co-advised by Dr. Mark Rentschler and Dr. Daria Kotys-Schwartz, who are the co-Directors of Design Center Colorado. Carlye’s research is in the field of Design Theory and Methodology, and her research studies...

Jason earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the United States Air Force Academy in 2007. While at the Academy, he interned at the Los Alamos National Laboratory researching deflagration properties of explosive materials. After the Academy, Jason earned an M.S. in mechanical engineering from Rice University with his research...

Micah Prendergast is 5th year PhD student in Dr. Mark Rentschler’s Advanced Medical Technologies Lab (AMTL). This research group specializes in the design and control of surgical robotic systems, including the development of novel surgical tools and devices. Micah’s research focuses on the design and development of robotic capsule endoscopes...

Yao Zhai was born in Tianjin, China. He stayed in his hometown through his bachelor degree from Tianjin University. After obtaining his Master degree from the Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Science, he decided to continue his education abroad. Yao came to CU Boulder and joined Dr. Xiaobo Yin’s...

Karl spent the first 22 years of his life in the harsh desert climate of suburban New Mexico. While enduring the unbearable climate he successfully completed his BS in Mechanical Engineering at New Mexico State University, despite spending most of his time building cars with the Baja SAE team and...

Like all true Wisconsinites, David was raised on nothing but cheese, milk, and Wisconsin football. He spent the first 18 years of his life growing up in the beautiful city of Madison, where he developed his passion for science in school, his affinity towards farmland, cornfields, and cow pastures, and...