The Mason Mechanical Engineer

Stephanie Butron, a Virginia Tech alum and current Mason student, joined me for this episode of the Mason Mechanical Engineer.  She is brilliantly combining her passions for aerospace engineering and rhetoric, to dig into how what is written following engineering disasters influences public perception.  She provides some excellent guidance for prospective and new engineers on the interface of engi...

The 2026 Department of Mechanical Engineering Capstone Day was held on May 4. As usual, the students' work was incredibly impressive. I would have loved to interview every team, but time limited the interviews to the following four teams: Team VPRT Team OSCAR Patriot Motorsports Team Salus Listen on to learn more about these projects and where these students are going after graduation. More ab...

In  a recent episode , Alex Sprintson and I started chatting about the benefits of bachelor's to accelerated master's programs (BAM).  With that in mind, Rachel Cameron, Mason’s College of Engineering and Computing graduate recruitment coordinator, joined me on the podcast to talk in more detail about BAM programs.  If you have been considering getting your master's degree, listen on f...

When I learned that Mason's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Chair Alex Sprintson has a mechanical engineering degree, I had to get him on the podcast! Give it a listen to hear his perspective on multi-disciplinary collaboration and the future of student recruitment and retention (spoiler: he's not only pro-bachelor's degree, he's pro-master's degree).

Grant Miller was a student leader during his time on campus, exemplified by his work to grow Patriot Motorsports.  After graduation, he landed at RoviSys Building Technologies doing automation and controls work for new construction projects. He’s been back on campus recently to recruit and talk to seniors working on their culminating design projects.  This episode provides a snippet of the wisdom...

Lauren Hanyok, former Director of the  Capital Tech Bridge  came on the podcast to talk about her career trajectory starting as a civilian engineer at the  Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division , her  metal band , and her  cookbook . Listen on to hear how she connects the dots between work and play to make her a better engineering leader and performer.   Since the time of this recording...

Greg Opas from Oceaneering recently joined me on the podcast to talk about model-based systems engineering, digital twins, and the future of naval engineering. If you like what you hear and are interested in pursuing a career at Oceaneering, visit:  https://www.oceaneering.com/careers/ .

Mike Briscoe (Ph. D., GMU CEHD, 2024) sat down with me the other day to chat about STEM activities hosted by the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE) including the  FLEET program , a gamified approach to teaching naval ship design, and the hands-on  Promoting Electric Propulsion (PEP) competition , which has enabled speed world-record setting college teams. Mike’s attitude toward outreach is...

Philip and I particularly enjoy getting to catch up with alums doing great things, and we’d been trying to get Daniel Scott Mitchell on the show for a while.  Between stints at Form Labs, Tesla, Rivian, and now launching his own startup, Daniel’s career trajectory is inspirational.  He chatted with us to share some words of wisdom on perseverance, hard work, creativity, and making things happen. ...

In this episode, we feature Rachel Yoho from the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning. She invited Philip and I to be on her podcast, Keystone Concepts in Teaching , and in the process we were fascinated to learn more about her engineering background and how she uses the skills she developed as an engineer in her day-to-day as Assistant Director of the Stearns Center, helping faculty improve t...

In this episode I caught up with Brooke Mayer from Marquette. Water is essential for our survival. Prof. Mayer is doing high impact research on water quality and working closely with industry to make sure that research finds its way into improving access to safe, clean water. In this conversation we chat a bit about her research and also about the importance of communicating science research effec...

Phil and I recently had the opportunity to chat with Edwin Wallis from Maritime Academy Charter School in Philadelphia.  In this episode he shares some tricks of the trade for recruiting and coaching a rookie SeaGlide underwater robotics team. (Spoiler alert: they did really well!) Listen on to learn about the bright, future naval engineering workforce.  

Capstone Day 2025 was held in conjunction with the Department of Mechanical Engineering's 10th Anniversary Celebration on May 5th. As icing on the cake, the festivities took place in George Mason's brand new Life Sciences and Engineering Building, which is home to numerous instructional laboratories that provide our students hands-on learning experiences. Listening to this episode will giv...

In this episode, Phil and I chat with Zach Lenkay from  Ulliman Schutte Construction  to learn about construction of water treatment facilities.  You’ve probably seen news coverage of water supplies gone wrong; in this episode we’re shining a light on water treatment done right.  Zach shares with us his excitement for enabling access to sustainable clean water and the future opportunities for stud...

It’s always a great day when we can spotlight a former student on the podcast.  For today’s episode we are joined by alum Mohammad Khogiani, who seems to be loving his time at  MTSI . To make it all the more special, he brought with him Senior Principal Engineer Nick Francis. Collectively we had a lively conversation about the past, present, and future of the aerospace industry, from the F-15 to a...

I am so honored to chat in this episode with Farrell Davis, a scientist, engineer, entrepreneur, and fisherman. Listen on to learn a bit about his background and what's led him to his position as a Fisheries Technologist at Coonamessett Farm Foundation , as well as the work he's doing to improve commercial fishing safety and ergonomics funded by the Northeast Center's Ideas That Work incubator .

On the day of Mason’s career fair, Phil and I caught up with a favorite alum Dhiambi Otete as she was back on campus recruiting for the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division.  In our chat we covered everything from job hunting, to life after D1 sports, to how to make the perfect pizza (hint: no pineapple).  Listen in for this exceptional role model’s words of wisdom.

Philip Wilkerson and I had the opportunity to chat with CAPT Brad Baker, USN (Ret.) about his Navy career, his transition to the private sector at Energetics Technology Center, and building the naval engineering workforce during his service at the United States Naval Academy. Did he train additive manufacturing's Rickover? Listen in to find out! If you’re interested in learning more, the artic...

Angela Moran joined us last week to talk about naval STEM outreach, and we could not contain our enthusiasm, jumping right into conversation before we even got to introductions! Her story is so inspirational, it is no surprise she's been dubbed the ' Mother of USNA STEM Outreach .'

For this episode, RJ Santucci invited me to visit him at the  Naval Research Laboratory . Before embarking on a lab tour, we chatted about materials science as an enabler for “stuff you do work with” – whether it’s “sailing from one place to another…or bringing electricity to people.” Listen on to learn more! For information on the Pathways Internship Program that RJ mentioned, visit:  https://www...

Tristan Wolfe, from the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, joins us for this episode to talk about biologically inspired design (owls!), plasma flow, and pathways to knowledge from internships into a career of lifelong learning.  For more information on the programs he describes, check out:  https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Warfare-Centers/NSWC-Philadelphia/Partnerships/STEM-Prog...

Philip Wilkerson, Tim Diggins, and I checked in with each other to reflect on the 2023-2024 academic year, and discuss how both the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Career Services are gearing up to support our students this coming academic year. If you're looking for more information on the DEEP program that Philip Wilkerson mentions, details are here: https://careers.gmu.edu/deep-emp...

In this episode I interview members of four capstone design teams, plus one sponsor, during capstone day 2024. Learn all about the amazing design-build activities of our students to get a glimpse into a day in the life as a Mason Mechanical Engineer. To read about these projects, check out: https://mechanical.gmu.edu/hands/senior-design-capstone , and the interview with Maureen Foley mentioned in...

In this episode of the Mason Mechanical Engineer, Jacqueline Johanas shares insights from leveraging her mechanical engineering background in her career pathway with the US Patent and Trademark Office. To apply for the jobs she describes, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/ .

While the scientists developing cures for disease get much of the publicity, behind the scenes, teams of critical facilities engineers keep the biosafety labs those scientists work in operational. In this conversation with Cecelia Wright Brown and Brian Vickery from the National Institutes of Health, we learn more about the engineering involved in this type of critical facilities engineering.