Undergraduate Research

Undergraduate students are encouraged to become involved with research under the mentorship of our faculty members.

Find a Research Opportunity

MAE 498/499

Once an undergraduate research opportunity or independent study is secured, students can register for MAE 498/499 in order to gain credit towards a Technical Elective. Students must register for 3 credits of MAE 498/499 in order for it to count towards one of these electives. A maximum of 6 total credits are permitted from all of the courses MAE 496, MAE 498, and MAE 499 combined.

SEAS Senior Scholar Program

Current MAE Undergraduate Research Projects.

Start a project to build skills and gain real-world experience for your career. The Experiential Learning Network's Project Portal is the easiest place to get started! Once you start a project, you can also pursue an ELN Digital Badge to display your accomplishments to future employers and graduate schools.

3D Metal Printing Monitoring
11/18/21
This project will develop a new electrical method for sensing the defects incurred during 3D metal printing.
Airplane Pitch Stability Control
1/19/22
Work on an experiment that will better help control the pitch of an airplane via a joystick.
Attitude Determination of a Satellite from a Ground-Based Platform Using Signal to Noise Ratio
11/18/21
Communicate with satellites in geosynchronous orbit using radio signals to gather information about their orientation.
Design of Drone with Net Ejection Capabilities
11/18/21
Students will design a drone that carries an ejection mechanism to launch a net towards a threatening drone.
Design of Motion Base for Simulating Ship Decks mplate
11/18/21
Explore automated UAV landing on ship decks.
Design, Fabrication and Control of a High-Speed Gantry Crane
11/18/21
Design and construct a gantry crane with three degrees of freedom to permit testing of advanced control algorithms for motion control.
Developing Puzzle Video Games for Teaching System Dynamics
11/18/21
Help develop puzzle video games to be used in engineering classrooms.
Development of the CERES Navigation and Mapping Tool
11/18/21
Develop software for deep space navigation, mapping and study of asteroids, comets, and other interplanetary objects.
Experimental Investigation of Collision Statistics of Aerosols
11/18/21
Highly motivated students will assist in novel research into the statistics of aerosols in a unique flow-chamber through experiments using state-of-the-art high-speed lasers, high-speed tomography, and development of laboratory apparatus.
Experimental Validation of Finite Element Analysis (FEA)
11/18/21
Fabricate, test, and analyze real components that are subjected to external loading to see how well they compare to finite element models.
Fish Inspired Robot With Reduced Inertial Recoil
11/18/21
This project aims to develop and test a new fish-inspired robot that minimizes undesirable inertial recoil found in traditional fish swimming, while being capable of achieving high speeds and efficiency.
Graphics Warping/Blending for High-fidelity Driving Simulation
8/24/21
Seeking an Engineering student to design a new computational framework to warp and blend driving simulator screen graphics.
Millirobots and Microrobots: Small-Scale, Fast Robot Systems
11/18/21
Create your own insects, or microrobots, using a combination of different forms of engineering.
Nanosatellite Design, Testing and Fabrication
11/18/21
Seeking students from a wide spectrum of disciplines to work on subsystems of satellite being built to be flown by NASA through its CubeSat Initiative as part of the Air Force University Nanosatellite Program.
Simulation of Drone-Net Capture
11/18/21
Students will contribute to the development of a simulator for capture of threatening drones with nets.
Simulation of Space Nets to Capture Satellites
11/18/21
Students will contribute to the development of a simulator for capture of satellites with nets.
Structures for Electricity Production in Electric Vehicles
11/18/21
This project pertains to the use of structures to produce electricity. In contrast to batteries, charging does not need energy input. This results in electric vehicles not having to stop to get charged, in addition to not having to rely on batteries, which are heavy and bulky.
Wood as a Weight Sensor for Detecting People in a Wood-Frame Building
11/18/21
This project investigates the use of wood as a scale, so that people in a wood-frame building can be detected in real time (e.g., for intruder detection and energy conservation) and creating "smart" buildings.

See all projects from the project portal