Please join us for the first get together of the year for the Albuquerque AIAA section. Pizza, water and soda will be provided at the event.
Date: January 23, 2025
Time: 6:00-7:30 PM
NewSpace Launchpad Incubator Space
2420 Alamo Ave SE #104
Albuquerque, NM 87106
We welcome Dr. Mostafa Hassanalian for a very interesting talk about his work:
Unlocking Nature's Secrets: Drones, Biomimicry, and Beyond
Over millions of years, nature has evolved a wide array of processes, structures, materials, and functions that enhance efficiency. Engineers and biologists have increasingly drawn inspiration from this vast natural repository, seeking to learn from the solutions that biological systems provide. Often, nature offers the most effective answers for developing and optimizing various systems, including those used in aerospace. Natural systems present highly effective solutions to complex challenges in aerospace, such as drag reduction, locomotion, navigation, control, sensing, and design. The expanding field of biomimicry focuses on how engineers can apply these efficient, nature-inspired solutions, refined over millions of years, to modern engineering problems. Today, there is a growing demand for drones with diverse capabilities for both civilian and military applications, and significant interest in developing innovative drones that can autonomously operate in various environments and perform a wide range of missions. Over the past decade, the vast range of applications for drones has attracted considerable attention, driving the development of a variety of drones with different sizes and weights. Depending on their specific missions, drones are equipped with different types of equipment and payloads. The numerous advantages that drones offer have led to extensive research focused on optimizing and enhancing their performance.
Bio: Dr. Mostafa Hassanalian is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Dean’s Research Scholar at New Mexico Tech. He earned his Ph.D. and Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from New Mexico State University in July 2018 and December 2016, respectively. His main research interests are in the fields of autonomous systems, bioinspiration and biomimetics, and drones. Dr. Hassanalian serves as PI and Co-PI of $7.2 M projects from NSF, NASA, NIOSH-CDC, Alpha Foundation, Sceye Inc., etc. He has authored over 220 peer-reviewed journal and conference publications. Since 2021, he has been consistently recognized as one of the Top 2% of most-cited scientists worldwide, both annually and for career-long impact. In October 2021, he also received United Nation-USA SDG Advocate Award from UNA Project Rocky Mountain Region. Some segments of his group's drone research (Taxidermy Bird Drone) have garnered global media attention, reaching an audience of 6 billion people. Coverage includes features in prominent outlets such as The New York Times, National Geographic, New York Post, The Washington Post, Reuters, EuroNews, and more. He is presently advising 15 graduate students, consisting of 7 Ph.D. and 8 M.S. students. Additionally, he has successfully guided graduates in the past, including 3 Ph.D. recipient and 17 M.S. graduates. Dr. Hassanalian serves as the board member of Friends of Bosque Del Apache, faculty advisor for various student chapters at New Mexico Tech, including the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Society of Allied Weight Engineers (SAWE), Vex Robotics, NASA Minds, and Lunabotics. Additionally, he oversees the K-12 Drone Program at New Mexico Tech