Mechanical Engineering Seminar Series

The aerospace engineering profession has evolved significantly since the first controlled powered flight more than 120 years ago. While the aerospace industry continues to experience cyclical growth and change, aerospace engineering remains a critical discipline that supports economic development, technological innovation, and national interests.

This seminar examines the current state of the aerospace industry, including the role of major manufacturers and the growing markets for drones, personal air vehicles, and commercial space applications. Attendees will gain insight into the expanding responsibilities of aerospace engineers, the multidisciplinary nature of the profession, and how engineering education continues to adapt to meet the needs of a rapidly changing industry.

Dr. Anthony J. Vizzini earned a Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1986. He joined the University of Maryland faculty and later became the founding director of the Composites Research Laboratory. Throughout his career, he has led numerous sponsored research projects focused on composite materials, including delamination prevention, high-temperature composite performance, crushing mechanisms, and damage tolerance of composite sandwich structures.

Dr. Vizzini has also held several academic leadership positions, including Department Head of Aerospace Engineering at Mississippi State University, Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Western Michigan University, and Provost and Senior Vice President at Wichita State University. Following his retirement from Wichita State University in 2025, he founded Composite Materials Limitless, a consulting practice based in Huntsville, Alabama.

He is the author of more than 100 scholarly publications and has contributed to the design and manufacture of composite structures for rotorcraft, space applications, and unmanned aerial vehicles. Dr. Vizzini is a Fellow of several professional organizations and has served in leadership roles for both the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) and the American Society for Composites.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing, also known as additive manufacturing, has advanced significantly over the past several decades. One of the fastest-growing areas of research is multimaterial 3D printing, which enables materials with different properties to be strategically placed throughout a structure with high precision.

In this seminar, Dr. Qi discusses recent developments in multimaterial additive manufacturing, including the integration of direct ink writing and digital light processing technologies into a single manufacturing system. This approach enables the fabrication of complex structures incorporating functional materials such as conductive inks and liquid crystal elastomers.

The presentation also explores grayscale digital light processing techniques used to create structures with gradient material properties and examines how machine learning can support the inverse design of shape-morphing structures produced through 4D printing.

Dr. H. Jerry Qi is the Woodruff Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and serves as Site Director of the National Science Foundation Industry-University Cooperative Research Center on Science of Heterogeneous Additive Printing of 3D Materials.

He earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Tsinghua University and a Doctor of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research focuses on nonlinear mechanics of polymeric materials, shape memory polymers, light-activated polymers, and additive manufacturing technologies.

Dr. Qi is widely recognized for pioneering work in 4D printing and the integration of active materials with advanced manufacturing processes. He has received numerous honors, including the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the James R. Rice Medal from the Society of Engineering Science, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Warner T. Koiter Medal.