Not too long ago, chemical engineering professor Stella Nickerson was a student herself. After graduating from BYU in 2012, and receiving her PhD from Arizona State University last year, Nickerson landed her dream job here at BYU. However, she didn’t think timing would work out as perfectly as it did.

On Friday, April 28, hundreds of graduates, family members, friends, and faculty gathered together for the Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology convocation ceremonies. The convocation speaker was Ryan Holmes, director of Digital Media and Technical Operations for BYU Broadcasting, and he gave advice to the graduates on working with others and staying humble.

BYU engineering students just built a car that gets 1,700 miles per gallon. The students came in 2nd place at the Shell Eco Marathon Challenge, an international competition featuring 56 cars from schools across the United States and Canada. BYU’s supermileage vehicle was the highest performing American entry, outperformed only by Quebec’s Laval University.

Most people graduate high school and go right into college, not always knowing exactly what they want to do. That was not the case for one of the newest chemical engineering professors, Andrew Fry. Fry, who now has a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Utah, spent six or seven years working in power plants and industrial construction before he decided to go to college.

On Tuesday, April 25 the BYU chapter of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) received three recognitions from the national chapter. The chapter received a recognition as a distinguished chapter. The chapter also came in first place in a competition to see who could recruit the most members and came in third place for having the highest percentage of new members. The chapter now has around 48 members. Andy Klein, president of the national chapter of the ANS, came to BYU’s campus and presented the chapter with the awards.

Mechanical engineering professor Oliver Johnson recently received a Faculty Early Career Development Award, the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious award for junior faculty. He will receive a five-year grant to support his research in looking to better understand material structure and properties — using the math behind Google’s web-search algorithm and a social-media-based videogame.

David Weidman, BYU alum and former CEO of Celanese Corporation, a multi-billion dollar Fortune 500 technology and special materials company, answered students’ questions about how he went from an engineer to a CEO on Friday, April 14.

Two BYU mechanical engineers have developed a product that will make sleeping in a hammock much warmer. 

BYU students and professors have been able to turn research into real technology and products. And recently, BYU has ranked top five in "The Best Universities for Technology Transfer" by the Milken Institute. 

BYU engineering students have teamed with the nonprofit Engage Now Africa to create a socket for above-knee amputees that fits neatly into prosthetics made available by the International Red Cross.

Watch a video about their design.