Team
“No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it.” - H.E. Luccock -
Faculty
Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering (MANE)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
Erik Jonsson Engineering Center, Troy, NY 12180
📧 akins@rpi.edu
Dr. Semih Akin is a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). He earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University in 2022, where he also worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow before joining RPI. He is the recipient of Purdue’s College of Engineering Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award and Lambert Teaching Fellowship in recognition of his contributions to both research and teaching. Dr. Akin’s cross-disciplinary research focuses on surface engineering, advanced multi-scale manufacturing, and smart manufacturing with applications in 3D-printed electronics, smart structures, physical unclonable functions (PUFs), electronic textiles, and energy devices.
Ph.D. Students
PhD Student
Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering (MANE)
Research Interests: Additive Manufacturing, Cold spray, Smart structures,
Numerical modeling, Manufacturing for space
📧 rahmas5@rpi.edu
PhD Student
Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering (MANE)
Research Interests: Directed energy deposition, Cold spray, Energy devices,
Data-driven modeling, Smart manufacturing
📧 jeonj4@rpi.edu
PhD Student
Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering (MANE)
Research Interests: Computational fluid dynamics, Machine learning,
Data-driven modeling, Smart manufacturing
📧 zohorf@rpi.edu
MS Students
Master of Eng. Student
Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering (MANE)
Research Interests: Aerosol jet printing, Additive manufacturing
📧 goldsk@rpi.edu
Master of Eng. Student
Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering (MANE)
Research Interests: Space manufacturing, Aerosol jet printing, 3D-Printing
📧 woytol@rpi.edu
Master of Eng. Student
Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering (MANE)
Research Interests: 3D printed electronics, Rapid prototyping, Additive manufacturing
📧raoana@rpi.edu
Undergraduate Students
BS Student
Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering (MANE)
Research Interests: Additive manufacturing, Aerosol jet printing, Electronic textiles
📧wonga9@rpi.edu
Now intern at Apple
BS Student
Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering (MANE)
Research Interests: 3D printing, Aerosol Jet Printing, Smart structures
📧dykad@rpi.edu
BS Student
Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering (MANE)
Research Interests: 3D printing, Smart structures
📧raghad@rpi.edu
Past Members
- Nicholas D. Walker, M. Eng Student (2025-2026) — Now at Lockheed Martin
- Jules Philips, M. Eng Student (2025-2026) — Now at Lawrance Livermore National Laboratory
- Faydia Thompson, M. Eng Student (2024-2025) — Now at Sikorsky
- Grace Richard, Undergraduate Research Student (2025-2026) — Now at UC Berkeley
- Hongfei Liu, Undergraduate Research Student (Spring 2024) — Now at Carnegie Mellon University
- Hongru Liu, Undergraduate Research Student (Spring 2024) — Now at Carnegie Mellon University
- Travis Johnson, Undergraduate Research Student (Fall 2024) — Now at Ohio State University
- Zhi Cheng Guan, Undergraduate Research Student (Spring 2024) — Now at Wabtec Corporation
- Brandon Villanueva, Undergraduate Research Student (Spring–Summer 2024)