Peter Chen

Peter Chen is a new Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. student working under Dr. Jason Quinn at the Powerhouse Campus. Peter received his B.S. degree in Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder where he graduated magna cum laude. Currently, he is working with Dr. Quinn and National Renewable Energy Laboratory on a techno-economic analysis and life-cycle/sustainability assessment of algal biofuel processing. Peter’s experience in algae research extends back to two years as a research associate at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington, where he cultivated algae in various indoor LED-illuminated systems to simulate environmental growing conditions.

Anik Faisal

Anik Faisal will be a first-year mechanical engineering PhD student working under the direction of Dr. Chris Weinberger. Anik’s research focus will entail using atomistics to simulate the nucleation of dislocations and twins in crystals, and his interest and excellence in computational research will strengthen the mechanical engineering department’s research thrust in material science. Anik earned his BS in mechanical engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering in Technology and now looking forward to a vibrant graduate school life at CSU.

Jiefeng Sun

Jiefeng Sun is a first-year mechanical engineering PhD student working under the direction of Dr. Jianguo Zhao, and currently working on soft robots and micro-actuators. Previously, Jiefeng worked in research of anti-seismic design of polar cranes in nuclear power plants, and earned his master’s degree with honors in mechanical engineering from Dalian University Of Technology in China. He also graduated first in his class during his undergraduate studies. His current research interests focus on smart robotic material, shape morphing and control of soft robots.

Sean Walters

Sean Walters completed his undergraduate degree from Colorado State University this past spring, and is continuing his CSU education as a PhD student performing research in the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Propulsion Laboratory under the guidance of Dr. Stephen Guzik and Dr. Xinfeng Gao. Sean’s research interests include the development of high-order accuracy numerical algorithms for simulating high-speed, unsteady compressible flows, and the coupling of numerical optimization with CFD simulations. Outside of research, he enjoys searching Colorado for rare birds, working in his home garden, and playing the piano.

Shumei Yin

Shumei Yin is currently pursuing a mechanical engineering Ph.D. degree under the guidance of Dr. Xinfeng Gao in the field of computational fluid dynamics. She earned her B.E. in polymer materials from Wuhan Institute of Technology in June 2013, then joined CSU in July 2014 and received her M.S. in Mechanical Engineering where she graduated with a 4.0 GPA. Specifically, her research is focused on the algorithm development of Large Eddy Simulation (LES). LES has shown great promise and demonstrated clear superiority over Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS)-based approach for complex engineering application.