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Podcast: S8 Ep. 23
Date: August 20, 2025
Title: LU Moment: Mechanical Engineering with Dr. Yao | S8 Ep. 23
Host: John Rollins

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JOHN ROLLINS: Welcome to the LU Moment, where we showcase all the great things happening with Â鶹ӳ»­Ó°Òô, faculty, staff, students and alumni. I'm John Rollins, Associate Director of Community Relations and Public Affairs here at LU, and I want to welcome you all to this week's show. Today we'll shine a spotlight on the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Â鶹ӳ»­Ó°Òô. Associate professor, Dr. Chun-Wei Yao is here today to tell us all about it. Dr Yao, thanks for joining me today on the LU Moment.

DR. CHUN-WEI YAO: Thank you for having me, John. I'm an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Â鶹ӳ»­Ó°Òô. I received my master’s in engineering science from National Taiwan University in 2004 and my Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University in 2014. Before joining Lamar, I served as an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Georgia Southern University. I have received the NASA Artemis Educator Award in 2025, and my research focuses on the thin film characterization, surface measurements, nano micro fabrication, nano scale material properties and nano composites.

JOHN: Fantastic! Well, we're glad to have you here today on the podcast. I know there's a lot going on at the College of Engineering, so excited to chat about it. So let's go ahead and start with a general explanation of mechanical engineering, and then you can dive a little deeper into what you all do in that department here at LU.

DR. YAO: Mechanical engineering is the most popular major in the College of Engineering at Â鶹ӳ»­Ó°Òô. Our department offers undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs. While I don't have this Fall data yet. For 2024, our department had total enrollment of 421 students, with 381 undergraduate students and 40 graduate students. Based on the New Student Orientation for this fall, we are expecting around 70 incoming mechanical engineering undergraduate students out of 165 total freshmen in the College of Engineering. Nearly half of the incoming class. It's exciting to see such a strong interest in mechanical engineering.

JOHN: Okay, so you just said, basically, out of 165 of the total freshmen, 70 are going pursuing mechanical engineering? So, what would you attribute that to? How has that picked up versus the other concentrations in engineering? Why do you think mechanical engineering is on so many students mind right now as an option?

DR. YAO: Mechanical engineering is a broad discipline that includes design, manufacturing, testing, robotics and energy. Our department actively partners with industrial and community programs to enhance student learning. For example, Quanta service provides our students with industrial safety training, and students receive CNC machining training through American cutting-edge tool workforce development program. Those collaborations help bridge classroom learning with real world skills. The department has strong alumni support, which is a great resource for all students career opportunities.

JOHN: So, you've spoken some about the Department of Mechanical Engineering, but would you like to share a little bit more about what your role is in the department, or any interesting research projects that you might be working on right now?

DR. YAO: My daily schedule is often filled with teaching. I teach four courses per semester. I also stay busy conducting research experiments and working on journal publications. In addition, I serve as an undergraduate program coordinator for mechanical engineering department, which means I meet with students quite often. I help students, not only with their coursework, but also with their career development. I believe the true impact of my role lies in shaping the next generation of engineers. Regarding my research, I'm leading a research project titled mitigating thermal hotspot in 3d chip stacks using vertical Carbon Nanotube arrays. This project is supported by the Texas A&M engineering experiment station. Our team includes Dr. Jenny Zhou Chair of Mechanical Engineering, Dr Xuejun Fan Regents' Professor of Texas State University system, and Dr Stephen Jones, Vice President of Tarrant County College, the project will address the formation of a thermal hotspot in 3D semiconductor chip stacks, a major challenge in integration due to increased power density and limited heat dissipation. Through industrial and institutional collaboration, this research and prototyping will also translate into educational opportunity for students.

JOHN: Oh, I love that. So are the students involved in the research?

DR. YAO: Yes. From Â鶹ӳ»­Ó°Òô from Texas A&M University from Tarrant County College.

JOHN: So let's go ahead and bring up, I know you're excited about this. You have your award over there, so we've been looking at it. So we’ve got to bring up the LU Rocket Launch Team. You have been serving as their advisor for two years now, and last year was the first year that the team joined the National Student Rocket Launch Competition by NASA, is that correct? Tell us more about it.

DR. YAO: I started serving as an advisor for the LU Rocket Launch Team two years ago, 2024 the team was selected by NASA for the student rocket launch competition, our first time doing this national event. Within nine months, the team and students face tight deadlines and had to meet critical milestones. I stayed with students, helping with supporting students through key decisions. Last year, the team advanced to the national finals as the only team from Texas. Competing against top universities in 2025 last year, the team was selected again for the competition and a final rank of 16 out of 53 teams competing with famous universities such as MIT, Georgia Tech. I am especially proud of team members dedication and achievements,

JOHN: So, 16 out of 53 that's pretty impressive. So how long does it take for them to prepare for this? You know, I've seen them on our local news. I know we helped get them some coverage on there. Where does this preparation take place, and what all goes into a competition like that?

DR. YAO: We have a lab and a space on campus, and students use nine months work on the project. Most of the time they stay on campus. We utilize the Science Technology Building and the labs from mechanical engineering departments, but for the testing, we have to travel across Texas. Sometimes students even need to go to other states. We don't really have the field that we can test a rocket nearby. We have a close one is in Houston. So most of the time my team members travel to Houston to test the model, and if weather does not allow, they will find it somewhere else. And even in Oklahoma, they have to drive probably four or five hours to Oklahoma and come back to Texas.

JOHN: That's something you don't think about. Just to go test it. You got to have the right the field and the space and all the all the proper things put in place, right?

DR. YAO: Yeah. Sometimes you may get a result you want, sometimes you will face the challenge and come back to rethink the process, redesign and put everything together and try one more time. Yeah, at least we need a student's dedication to the project, getting the hands on skills, for sure, the real life skills in that case.

JOHN: So we've also, you know, I saw this on our LU News site as well, and I remember when we covered it. We've also recently had two LU students, Jonah Watts and Anna Morphin, who have accepted positions at Blue Origin. This is a leading aerospace manufacturer and space flight services company founded by Amazon's Jeff Bezos. This is an amazing success for Â鶹ӳ»­Ó°Òô. So could you speak to that? And maybe like the importance of Lamar being on this grander scale with these students out there now.

DR. YAO: Jonah and Anna, they are very good students. They are true leaders. And for our program, we cover in lots of different areas, but aerospace engineering is what they want to do. We have a group of students they really want to focus on aerospace engineering. We do have courses relative to that. So based on my role I try to tell the students how to approach these career paths, and especially I believe Anna worked with NASA several times, and one time I remember Anna showed me different offers for the internship, one from company, one from NASA, but it depends on the future path she wants to do. I suggest, and I probably want to work with NASA for internship, and that will help end up a career. I believe that help a lot for both of students. Get the offer from the Blue Orange,

JOHN: It's great for Lamar, for sure, kind of putting us on the map in many different ways. So thank you for helping with that. You also received the NASA Artemis Educator Award this year after being nominated by your own students, which is awesome. So that had to make you feel special, right?

DR. YAO: I'm honored to receive that.

JOHN: Yes, how awesome is that? Tell us about what it is, what that award means.

DR. YAO: It’s really my honor to receive this NASA Artemis Educator Award, which was nominated by my students, and this award recognizes the time dedication and commitment to being an exceptional educator. And NASA even sent me the flag that was followed on a historical Artemis one mission. And I'm incredibly grateful for my students’ strong support and opportunity to work with those students.

JOHN: Also, you did inform me as well. You serve as the advisor for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics student chapter at LU. This is open any major, is that right?

DR. YAO: Yes, we welcome all Lamar students to join regardless of the major. It's a great way to build a community and explore aerospace interesting together, and you will meet probably most of our rocket students there and share experience and properties prepare for your future career.

JOHN: Nice way to interact and kind of network with students and some with similar interests too, as well. Start building that network early while you're still at college, right?

DR. YAO: Local AIAA, nearby to Houston, they also have several events where students are welcome to join those events to connect with aerospace engineering area people.

JOHN: And Houston's not too far, so it's a nice place to make those connections early right at the beginning of your career. So anything else you want to mention about the department that we could share on the show?

DR. YAO: I would like to take this opportunity to thank our president, Dr Taylor, Provost, Dr Welch and Associate Provost Dr Ashley Dockens for their direct support. I'm also grateful to U.S. Senator John Cornyn for sending letters of encouragement to our team. This means last tours. I want to thank our industrial partners, companies, students and their parents for their continued support. Most important, I want to thank my wife and daughter for their strong support throughout this journey, my students and I are ready and looking forward to participating this year's NASA Student Rocket Launch Competition. If you are interested in financial support in earth, please feel free to contact me.

JOHN: Okay, so if someone is interested in supporting the rocket launch competition financially, how would they get in touch with you?

DR. YAO: They can email me. I can open the email very quickly, and that email is on the lamar.edu website. Look up Dr. Yao, and you will find it.

JOHN: So, Dr Yao, let me ask you this really quickly before we wrap up, how can folks also keep up with the College of Engineering, any of the programs or initiatives that fall under your specific department, as well?

DR. YAO: Follow us on Â鶹ӳ»­Ó°Òô College of Engineering on LinkedIn and the Facebook, and you also can find more information on lamar.edu.

JOHN: Alright, fantastic. Well, Dr. Yao, thanks again for joining me on the podcast, and thanks for all you do to shape the next generation of engineers like you said, that's what y'all are doing.

DR. YAO: Thank you for having me, John, yes, it's been a pleasure. All right, folks, that's a wrap on another episode. As always, make sure to search LU Moment, wherever you get your podcast to keep up with the events, activities, programs and people right here at Â鶹ӳ»­Ó°Òô, don't forget to follow us on our socials. That's Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Also don't forget to share the podcast episodes when you see them posted. This is John Rollins, your host. Thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.