Engineering Professor Publishes Book

Dr. Ashanthi Maxworth is an expert in electromagnetic fields, antennae design and frequency data analysis. She has recently published a book entitled One Hundred Applications of Maxwell’s Equations which is a complete introduction to the theory of electromagnetic fields, but with accessible use cases built from her extensive academic teaching and research experience. This unique book is sure to make “waves” in the engineering and physics communities. Congratulations Dr. Maxworth!

Engineering Students at NASA Internships

Mechanical Engineering Sophomore Sadie Lebsack (top) and Mechanical Engineering Senior Logan Butler (bottom) represented the University of Southern Maine in prestigious NASA internships this summer with financial support from the Maine Space Grant Consortium. Sadie was stationed at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland where she worked on the “Performance Characterization of Tactical Cryocoolers” under the supervision of Dr. Howard Tseng. Logan was stationed at Langley Research Center in Virginia where he worked on numerous projects under the supervision of Dr. Marile Colon Robles including the “Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE)” project. Congratulations to you both!

Dr. Lanba Makes Medical Donations

Dr. Lanba and University of Southern Maine engineering students spent the academic year making a 3D printed lower arm prosthetics for underserved populations. They developed novel prosthetics in the department of engineering labs which incorporate a system of low-cost electric motors and pullies activated by retrofitted wireless garage door opener signals. During May 2024, in partnership with the Portland Rotary Club and local medical staff, Dr. Lanba visited the Dominican Republic to donate and outfit recipients with the prosthetics devices. We look forward to many successful future events!

Congratulations to our Students

We are proud to announce our 2024 Outstanding Student of the Year awards to Dan Noel (Mechanical Engineering) and Maryam Niknia (Electrical Engineering). Each year we award an outstanding student in each degree program who excels in their academics and scholarship and make significant contributions to the engineering community. They were awarded in the annual College of Science, Technology and Health award banquet on April 2nd.

Engineering Students at Research Symposium

Engineering student research was on display at the University of Southern Maine’s Thinking Matters symposium in April. Students participated in oral and poster presentations on a range of topics including artificial intelligence, antenna design (pictured left), remote sensing strategies, low cost prosthetics, among others.

University of Southern Maine Hosts Maine’s Engineering Expo

The Engineering Department at the University of Southern Maine was pleased to help organize and host Maine’s annual Engineering Expo on the Gorham campus on March 2nd, 2024. The Engineering Expo saw hundreds of youths from across Maine celebrate engineering in a fun and engaging atmosphere.

University of Southern Maine students, faculty and staff pose for a group photo at the Engineering Expo held in the Costello Sports Complex on the Gorham campus.
The student chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers help students build and race mouse trap powered cars.
University of Southern Maine students explain the science and engineering behind space exploration and satellite operations under the guidance of Dr. Ashanthi Maxworth.
University of of Southern Maine students explain robotics engineering to local youths at the Engineering Expo under the guidance of Dr. Carlos Luck.

Engineering Job and Internship Fair

The engineering department was pleased to host over 20 companies to our engineering job and internship fair during the Fall semester. Our students connect with leading Maine employers for full-time positions and internships. Congratulations to all our students who participated and secured job opportunities.

Program Highlights

  • Internships/Jobs- Our location in southern Maine provides excellent opportunities for internships and job placement at local engineering firms, such as Pratt & Whitney, Texas Instruments, Bath Iron Works, IDEXX Laboratories, Lanco Assembly Systems, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, and numerous other firms in the state.
  • Hands-on Learning- The programs encourage hands-on exploration of the learning environment and incorporates this exploration in most of its courses. The percentage of courses that require an open-ended design component is greater than that of many similar programs.
  • Our programs offer small class sizes taught by experienced and dedicated faculty.
  • The department hosts several student-run extracurricular groups, such as the Engineering Student Committee (ESC), which includes IEEE, ASME student chapters, and SAMPE.
  • Accreditation- Our electrical and mechanical programs are accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). We are seeking ABET accreditation for the new industrial engineering program.