PhD student, Mechanical Engineering
Faculty advisor: Frank Pfefferkorn
Mahmudul is a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering specializing in surface polishing of laser additive manufacturing. He is from Dhaka, Bangladesh, and completed his undergraduate degree at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology before earning a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Miami University.
During the summer of 2023, Mahmudul was a WARF-supported research assistant on a Research Forward project led by professor Frank Pfefferkorn that explores multi-material additive manufacturing of electrical machines. The team conducts fundamental research to inform manufacturing methods that can achieve more environmentally friendly, one-step manufacturing of electrical motors for transportation.
Mahmudul has conducted research for the team to understand the dynamics of molten metals when they are exposed to laser rays. He analyzed high-speed x-ray camera footage frame by frame to find any sudden changes and their causes in the melting process.
“Power and speed of the laser are the two parameters that can be controlled. But even if the parameters are constant, the dynamics of the molten material changes significantly if there is a protruded feature on the surface,” he explained. “These learnings were later used in creating a 3D printed motor and setting up parameters for that process.”
This 3D printed motor has been shown theoretically to be up to five times more efficient than the existing forms of motors, he added.
Mahmudul said that the image processing skills he learned working on this Research Forward project can be used in both engineering and in biological sciences, and the experience helps him with his own thesis research.
“The image processing I did helped me to understand what to expect about the surface finish when nonuniformity is involved,” Mahmudul said.
His next step is to automate the process of understanding the patterns in molten metal dynamics, using artificial intelligence to perform the analysis.
“As I plan on being an AI engineer in the manufacturing industry, I believe defect recognition with AI is a valuable tool,” he said.