{"id":1595,"date":"2020-07-24T22:03:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T22:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nau.edu\/aspirations\/?p=1595"},"modified":"2023-04-11T18:46:36","modified_gmt":"2023-04-11T18:46:36","slug":"international-mechanical-engineering-phd-student","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/international-mechanical-engineering-phd-student\/","title":{"rendered":"Mechanical Engineering PhD combines interests in research and engineering at NAU"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mechanical Engineering PhD student Glen D\u2019Silva\u2019s goal is success in academia, allowing him to combine his interests in research and education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glen D\u2019Silva has always enjoyed tinkering and figuring out how things work. When he was eight years old, he created an electromagnet by wrapping a coil around a nail. To his delight, his graduate research at Northern Arizona University brought him back to the world of magnetism and energy as he studies magnetic shape memory alloys. He also found a new interest\u2014educating others. He now aspires to combine his two interests, research and education, and go into academia. \u201cI really see myself wanting to become a teacher or lecturer. So, academia is where I look to go,\u201d Glen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glen is working on his PhD in Mechanical Engineering<\/a> in Dr. Constantin Ciocanel\u2019s<\/a> Multifunctional Materials and Adaptive Systems Laboratory<\/a>. Glen came to NAU from Mumbai, India, to complete a master\u2019s degree in Mechanical Engineering<\/a>. He chose NAU because he was offered a good financial package, and he appreciated the beautiful Flagstaff scenery. It helped that he had a friend who was also a student here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Glen didn\u2019t plan on pursuing a PhD, but his experience at NAU changed his mind. \u201cWhen I came here, I thought I would probably get my master’s degree, go back home, and find a job. I never thought that I’d want to stay here,\u201d Glen said. \u201cBut all the support that I received from NAU has been mind-blowing, whether it\u2019s been towards my personal development, career development, or even funding\u2014all these three\u2014I’ve been really happy and satisfied. That’s why I didn’t even have to think twice that I wanted to stay here for my PhD.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I came here, I thought I would probably get my master’s degree, go back home, and find a job. I never thought that I’d want to stay here. But all the support that I received from NAU has been mind-blowing, whether it\u2019s been towards my personal development, career development, or even funding\u2014all these three\u2014I’ve been really happy and satisfied. That’s why I didn’t even have to think twice that I wanted to stay here for my PhD.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Glen researches the power harvesting capability of NiMnGa (Nickel-Manganese-Gallium) magnetic shape memory alloys (MSMAs). \u201cThey are a group of smart materials. If you subject it to a magnetic field it\u2019s a material that elongates, then if you squeeze it, it’ll go back to its original shape\u2014it remembers its shape,\u201d Glen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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His research is focused on optimizing the power and efficiency of the NiMnGa-based energy harvesters, and then modeling the behavior of the material. \u201cWhen the MSMA changes its shape it also changes its magnetization, and this property can be used to harvest energy which is otherwise dissipated in our surroundings, like the moving branch of a tree,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of his graduate program, Glen teaches one section of a machine design course and is involved in all aspects of the class, from grading examinations to building demonstration kits. Glen and Dr. Ciocanel, a Mechanical Engineering Professor and Department Chair, developed these demonstration kits to help students complete their assignments and understand mechanical processes. These classroom experiences helped Glen gain an appreciation of teaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s satisfying to know when someone understands what you’re trying to explain to them. So, my motive is to explain concepts to them in the easiest way that they can understand,\u201d Glen said. \u201cBecause if they remember that, they’ll never forget the basic concepts. And then they can build on that.\u201d Throughout his master\u2019s degree and now in his PhD, Ciocanel and Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Associate Chair of Graduate Studies Dr. Heidi Feigenbaum<\/a> have been Glen\u2019s advisors and mentors. They have helped him become a better scientist and teacher. \u201cI think the biggest thing I learned while I was with them is endurance,\u201d he said. \u201cYou need to keep going. Failures come from time to time, but you keep going and keep plowing through, and you’ll get there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cultural connections<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Flagstaff provided a culture shock for Glen. \u201cI’m not used to people being so friendly in India. At least from where I come from in Mumbai, it’s a city, and it’s a fast city. People don’t have time for you,\u201d Glen said. \u201cBut when I came to Flagstaff, I was like, wow, people randomly smile at you. People are so friendly. They care about you. Now, I cherish that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since starting at NAU, Glen has been involved with and is currently the President of the Indian Association of Northern Arizona<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe primary goal of this club is spreading Indian culture to the NAU community,\u201d Glen said. \u201cOur main focus is having events, just fun events, for people to know how Indians dress, the different languages, the music, the dance, and food, of course.\u201d He explained the international community\u2014especially the Indian community\u2014is small, allowing for groups to get to know other cultures. \u201cHere at NAU, it has really helped me go out and mingle with people of different cultures, and also explore my leadership skills,\u201d Glen said. \u201cI think NAU is really focused on developing international culture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mechanical Engineering PhD student Glen D\u2019Silva\u2019s goal is academia, allowing him to combine his interests in research and education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":316,"featured_media":1597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,2],"tags":[62,64,66,63,65],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/316"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1595"}],"version-history":[{"count":45,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5694,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595\/revisions\/5694"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}