Faculty Focus: Dan Negrut

Dan Negrut is the Bernard A. and Frances M. Weideman Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Technical Lead of the Simulation Based Engineering Lab (SBEL). The SBEL investigates modeling approaches and develops software solutions that enable fast computers to accurately predict how complex mechanical systems change in time. Example applications include vehicles operating on soft deformable terrain, ensembles of millions of elements in the flow of granular material, and the VIPER rover operating on the Moon. The lab has ongoing projects with NASA, US Army, DOT, and DOE.

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Mechanical Engineering Research – Dan Negrut

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IN TECHNICAL TERMS

What one project are you most excited about working on right now?

We recently finished working on a VIPER project for NASA. VIPER is a rover, and it will go to the moon next year. It’s fun to know that a contraption will roam around on the moon and you played a small part in that. We’re also working on the ARTEMIS NASA project, which will create a permanent human base on the moon. We are looking into how to design construction equipment that can work on the moon in low gravity and harsh conditions – to build “roads”, launching pads, protective artifacts, etc.

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What do you think the impact will be on tech and society?

We have a lot of ongoing outreach activities in our lab – two camps for high-school students, and one camp for students from California State University in LA, which is a college serving underprivileged students from the LA area. It is very special to know that in one small way what we do might help these students get a better shot at a successful and meaningful career, and thus a more rewarding and fulfilling life.

Read about the ProCSI camp >>