Engineering researchers develop expertise in helium gas-cooled superconducting power devices useful for naval applications

When Peter Cheetham first arrived at the Center for Advanced Power Systems (CAPS) as a graduate student four years ago, there was a problem that needed a solution. Researchers at the center were working on a million-dollar grant from the U.S. Office of Naval Research to design a power system for an all-electric ship—something that hadn’t yet been done. 

Juan Patino is a senior electrical engineering student from Miami. He arrived at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering through the Panama City campus after receiving his AA in electrical engineering around 2016.

The Seminole 100 list for 2020 was released yesterday and four FAMU-FSU Engineering alumni businesses are among the honorees. Three of the businesses are repeat awardees for the honor. The list recognizes the fastest-growing businesses owned or managed by Florida State University alumni, some of whom are responsible for some of the most innovative and profitable companies in America. The official ceremony will be held in February 2020 to honor graduates.

Tariq Hopkins is a third-year electrical engineering student from Jacksonville, FL. Since he was eight years old, Hopkins has been interested in cars. By tenth grade, Hopkins knew he wanted to be an automotive engineer. Now, well into his engineering training, he aims to create better sustainable-fuel vehicles—for the likes of Porche, Volvo or Bugatti.

In 2018, engineering dean J. Murray Gibson initiated the Dean’s Engineering Fellows Program, a new graduate funding area facilitated through the Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies. The initiative aims to enhance the quality and number of engineering Ph.D. students at the college.

Michael “Mischa” Steurer, Ph.D. received the prestigious Solberg Award from the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE) for his contributions to naval engineering. The award presentation was held at the ASNE Technology, Ships and Systems symposium in Washington, D.C. held in June 2019. Steurer is an electrical and computer engineering faculty member at FAMU-FSU Engineering.

Alonzo Russell is a third year electrical engineering student from Freeport, Bahamas. When he isn’t in class, he can be found halfway around the world competing in the Olympics.

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“My grandpa spent his entire career working with NASA on projects for the Apollo missions,” remembers Kyle York, a fourth-year electrical engineering student at FAMU-FSU Engineering. “My favorite story is about his work on the Lunar Rover and the obstacles they had to overcome to develop and build a system that allowed astronauts to communicate from the moon back to Earth.”

Each weekday, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering undergraduates Herbert Lopez, Ana De Leon, Paola Chavez and Austin Rodriguez collaborate at the Center for Advanced Power Systems (CAPS) research facility to create a novel medium voltage cable that aims to have reduced reactive power than the ones currently used throughout the continental U.S. If they are successful, the cable could pave the way for improved power transmission efficiency on electric grids across the nation.