LSU College of Engineering

LSU Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering student Gabriel Pacheco-Ethridge has been named a 2026 Astronaut Scholar by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.

This year, ASF selected 79 students from 54 colleges and universities across the U.S. for one of the nation’s most prestigious undergraduate STEM scholarships. Astronaut Scholars receive scholarship support, mentorship, professional development, and networking opportunities with astronauts, alumni, and industry leaders.

Congratulations, Gabriel! We can’t wait to see where your work takes you.

To learn more about the ASF, visit https://www.astronautscholarship.org/about/about-us/

Ali Kazemian is helping robots take on work in places too dangerous, remote or difficult for people to reach.

The LSU Construction Management assistant professor and his team have developed a specialized haptic controller that allows operators to guide robotic fabrication and repair tasks from a distance while receiving physical feedback, such as vibrations, pressure or resistance.

It is another example of LSU researchers advancing robotic technologies for hard-to-reach environments. In a recent story, Hunter Gilbert, LSU Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering associate professor, was highlighted for work on robotic inspection technology designed to help industry see inside confined spaces without costly disassembly.

Kazemian’s work moves toward remote fabrication and repair, with potential applications in energy, defense, space, offshore systems and industrial maintenance.

Kazemian is collaborating with Gilbert and Yimin Zhu, LSU Construction Management professor, as the team works to scale up demonstrations and explore commercialization through LSU’s Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization.

Read more: https://www.lsu.edu/blog/2026/06/telerobots.php

A playground should be a place where every child can explore, play and build confidence.

Congratulations to Marybeth Lima, chair of the LSU Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering, and the team of former LSU students and Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired professionals whose work has been awarded a U.S. patent for a Three-Dimensional Tactile Map System.

The patented system creates customized physical replicas of playgrounds, allowing children who are blind or visually impaired to explore slides, stairs and other features by touch before they play. The work grew from a collaboration between LSU Biological & Agricultural Engineering and the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired.

“This work illustrates the power of collaboration among biological engineering faculty and students, professionals at the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired (LSVI), and the LSVI students who endeavor to navigate playgrounds independently.”

Congratulations to all involved on this meaningful innovation.

A tiny robotic tool could make a big difference for industrial inspections.

Researchers affiliated with LSU’s Center for Innovations in Structural Integrity Assurance (CISIA) are advancing robotic inspection technology that can help operators see inside difficult-to-reach areas of industrial equipment without costly shutdowns or disassembly.

Originally inspired by medical robotics, the small-diameter device is being adapted for real-world industrial environments, including chemical and petrochemical facilities. Field trials have already been conducted successfully at Flowserve’s Regional Pump Repair Facility in Baton Rouge.

“This technology has the potential to significantly reduce downtime and inspection costs for industry,” said Hunter Gilbert, LSU Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Associate Professor.

Read more about how LSU research is helping move this technology from the lab to the field: https://www.lsu.edu/eng/news-stories/2026/06/lsu-research-advance-robotic-inspection-technology.php

Purple and gold hospitality for pioneers in AI, Tiger Stadium style.

Last week, Dean Vicki Colvin welcomed Anthropic and Tenex to Baton Rouge for dinner at Tiger Stadium, then joined a packed Claude for Small Business Workshop at the East Baton Rouge Parish Library the next morning, where local business owners spent a morning learning to put AI to work in their companies. Every seat was taken, and more than 20 LSU Engineering students, graduates of our AI class, were there staffing the event.

Thank you to Julio Melara and the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report for making this possible and to Anthropic and Tenex for recognizing what we know: Baton Rouge is ready to lead and the @[urn:li:organization:3313480] is training the talent to make sure of it.

A great example of student engineering making a real difference.

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA) and NOLA.com recently featured Madeline Johnson’s effort to create a wheelchair-accessible shampoo bowl designed to make haircare more comfortable and accessible for children with sensory needs.

LSU Engineering students helped move the idea forward through their capstone project, bringing technical design and real-world problem solving to a need that came directly from the community.

We love seeing our students use engineering to help people.

Read more: https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/entertainment_life/madeline-johnson-wheelchair-accessible-shampoo-bowl/article_e5026a8f-ccfe-5386-ae9b-2dcd716d3720.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawSXyhdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEe2hPNfTNH2rwdA2k-98gXcBRoDAPHCJWvd804tSNNOzWr01Dx7kUrxWvlAjw_aem_z1fLRbVWRDxpFn_5bfhS-Q

LSU Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

A speech therapist had an idea for sensory-friendly haircare. LSU students helped figure it out. Madeline Johnson risked career change to support children with sensory needs by inventing a wheelchair-compatible shampoo bowl and joining Connections Speech, where she now operates a specialized salon.

Solving Louisiana’s health challenges takes more than one field, one lab or one clinic. When engineers, computer scientists, clinicians and health researchers work as one team, Louisiana wins.

LSU Engineering researchers are working with Our Lady of the Lake Health on projects that use AI, digital health, biomedical engineering and precision medicine to address real health challenges across the state.

From concussion assessment and hidden heart valve disease to childhood obesity, hypertension treatment, pancreatic cancer surgery and wearable safety monitoring, these teams are bringing experts together around one goal: improving lives.

With LSU and Our Lady of the Lake Health as Championship Health Partners and the innovation of our combined researchers, these teams are built to keep winning.

Read about several of our collaborative projects: https://www.lsu.edu/eng/news-stories/2026/06/lsu-and-our-lady-of-the-lake-advances.php

What starts with coding, robotics and AI can turn into something much bigger.

Through LSU's eXploreCS camps, middle and high school students spent part of their summer getting hands-on experience with computer science, cybersecurity, robotics, ethical hacking, video game development and more.

With support from Louisiana Economic Development, the camps also help provide partial scholarships for students with financial need.

“The goal of eXploreCS is to make computing accessible, exciting and approachable for students at an early age,” said Nash Mahmoud, Associate Professor in the LSU Division of Computer Science & Engineering.

Since the camps began, former participants have gone on to enroll at LSU, major in STEM fields and even graduate with STEM degrees.

See how eXploreCS is helping inspire Louisiana’s future technology leaders: https://www.lsu.edu/eng/news-stories/2026/06/lsu-cse-explorecs-camps-inspire-summer-learning.php

Big congratulations to Marwa Hassan!

She is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the LSU College of Engineering and a Professor in LSU Construction Management, and has been elected to the National Academy of Construction Class of 2026, one of the highest professional honors in the construction industry.

She was recognized for her leadership in sustainable infrastructure materials, life-cycle assessment, sustainable construction practices, and construction education.

We’re proud to celebrate this national honor and her continued impact on students, research, industry, and the future of construction.

Read the full story: https://www.lsu.edu/eng/news-stories/2026/06/marwa-hassan-elected-to-national-academy-of-construction.php