Lessening Noise Pollution Through Metamaterials

Those working in open office spaces may someday have a little more privacy, thanks to a new wall partition in the works at Mizzou Engineering. Guoliang Huang, James C. Dowell Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE), is researching the best acoustic metamaterials and structure component to create a new, thin, sound-proof multi-functional wall for open office layouts.

Engineering Love

They say if you walk across the Engineering Shamrock between Lafferre and Switzler halls near the Francis Quadrangle, you are destined to marry an engineer. Only a legend? Not for these couples. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, we caught up with two pairs of Mizzou Engineering alumni who shared their tales of love and legacy.

CAVE to Provide Immersive Virtual Experience

Imagine studying a protein by walking through its three-dimensional structure. Or researching traffic patterns by standing alongside a virtual highway. Or safely exploring the structural integrity of a house while it’s on fire. Mizzou Engineers will soon have the capability to do these things, thanks to a CAVE opening this year in Lafferre Hall.

Fast TRACK Career

Leah Albietz is on the fast track, whether in or out of her race car. Albietz, BS ME ’20, from Wentzville, MO, went beyond just engine building. At age 13, she started drag racing and joined the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA).

Ma Named MAE Chair

Professor Hongbin “Bill” Ma has been named chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) by College of Engineering Interim Dean Noah Manring. Ma started his appointment Jan. 1.

Mizzou Team to Use AI to Grow Carbon Nanotubes in Mass Quantities

A team of Mizzou Engineers is turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to help grow and control large quantities of carbon nanotubes—tiny, cylinder-shaped molecules made of rolled sheets of carbon. Using AI is a novel approach to mass producing them, a problem that has plagued scientists for decades. Now, the National Science Foundation is backing the idea with an award funding the group’s research for three years.

New Cloaking Material Could Protect Buildings, Soldiers

Stealth technology, the idea of reducing the ability of the enemy to detect an object, has driven advances in military research for decades. Today, aircraft, naval ships and submarines, missiles and satellites are often covered with radar-absorbent material, such as paint, to hide or cloak them from radar, sonar, infrared and other detection methods. A cloak is a coating material that makes an object indistinguishable from its surroundings or undetectable by external field measurements.