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College of Engineering

Engineering in Photos: October 2025

Engineering in Photos captures the energy, creativity, and everyday moments that make our College engaging and dynamic. October 2025’s collection showcases the Baja Club’s work on their competition car in the EIH, a new class of EEs learning to assemble a circuit board, and scenes from the ACES Program where Engineering students in all departments receive peer-to-peer tutoring.

Baja Club EIH Waterjet Cutting

Two students from the Baja Club observe the waterjet cutter in operation inside the Engineering Innovation Hub.
A student uses CAD software to prepare a design for waterjet cutting at a workstation next to the machine.
A student retrieves a freshly cut metal part from the waterjet cutter after completing a fabrication step.

Students from the Baja Club regularly utilize equipment in the Engineering Innovation Hub (EIH). In these photos, Austin Murphy is operating the waterjet cutter to produce components that will be used in the fabrication of the team’s Baja buggy.

EE Build-a-Board Workshop

Instructor Mike Schafer explains the circuit board assembly process to a group of students gathered around a machine in the Engineering Innovation Hub.
A blue circuit board labeled "Build-a-Board" lies on a work surface next to a breadboard and electronic components.
A student wearing safety goggles carefully solders parts onto a circuit board while seated at a workbench.
Two students wearing safety goggles work together with a soldering iron to attach components to a small board.
A close-up of a completed circuit board plugged into a breadboard, displaying “EIH Build-a-Board” on a small screen.

First-year electrical engineering students learn the fundamentals of electronic design by fabricating their own circuit boards during Mike Schafer’s “Build-a-Board” workshop. Learn more about the Build-a-Board workshop here.

CSE Discernment Panel

Graduate students sit in a classroom listening to a panel of speakers at the front of the room during the CSE Discernment Panel event.

CSE graduate students participate in a discernment panel to help them decide among such career paths as Industry, higher education, entrepreneurship, and government service.

First-Year Engineering CEEES Department Day

Three students smile while testing a model bridge built from plastic connectors during CEEES Department Day.
Four students collaborate on building a structure using interlocking rods and connectors at a classroom table.
Four students discuss and adjust a small prototype air filtration device as part of a group activity.
Two students work together to assemble a mock air filter using cotton and tubing components.
A group of students builds a truss bridge model from plastic rods during a CEEES hands-on activity.

First-Year Engineering students collaborate to design and build their own air filters and bridges. These hands-on projects are part of the Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences Department Day, an event that helps first-year students explore whether these majors align with their interests.

Concrete Testing

Professor Yahya Kurama, in a hard hat and safety glasses, inspects concrete test equipment and wiring in Notre Dame’s Structural Systems Laboratory.
Professor Yahya Kurama uses a tool to examine a concrete beam specimen mounted in a large structural testing frame.
A wide view of the lab setup showing multiple researchers at computers, concrete testing equipment, and large-scale structural components under analysis.

Professor Yahya Kurama, Ph.D. student Ahmad Abu Abah, and postdoctoral research associate Muhammad Haroon of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences are working with researchers from the University of California, San Diego and Clemson University to develop a novel buckling-restrained braced frame structure for seismic precast concrete structures. In the photos above, they work with laboratory technician Frank Severa to test a brace specimen in the Structural Systems Laboratory (100 Cushing Hall of Engineering). The overarching goal of this project, funded by the National Science Foundation and the precast concrete industry, is to qualify the new structure as an approved seismic-resisting system by U.S. building codes.

Introduction to Design Thinking in Engineering

A student uses a screwdriver to disassemble a power drill during a design thinking activity.
Two students carefully dismantle a power drill, organizing the pieces on the table.
Two students work together to take apart a power drill, referencing their laptop as they examine its components.
A student focuses on loosening a screw from a disassembled power drill, with tools and a laptop nearby.

A helpful exercise in learning about design is reverse engineering. In the photos above, the students disassemble a drill, document each part, and reassemble the drill back to working condition. For each part, the students try to identify what it is made of, its function, and how it is attached. The students enjoy getting to work with their hands and have a sense of accomplishment when they get the drill running again.  

ACES Tutoring Program

A student tutor points to a laptop screen while helping another student during an ACES tutoring session in a study room.
Two students work side by side on engineering assignments in a classroom, one writing and the other using a laptop.
A group of engineering students spread out across a classroom, working collaboratively, while a tutor solves a problem on the chalkboard.

Engineering students in the ACES Program work on aerospace and mechanical engineering homework during a tutoring session in Fitzpatrick Hall. The ACES Program supports students across all engineering disciplines through peer-to-peer tutoring and builds community through collaborative learning. Read about ACES and how it helps our students succeed.

GCSP Seniors Group Photo

Six GCSP seniors standing on either side of a sculpture, all wearing matching navy GCSP shirts and smiling for a group photo in a well-lit hallway.

Senior members of the Grand Challenges Scholars Program (GCSP) came together this fall for a group photo in Stinson-Remick Hall of Engineering. GCSP is an initiative for students driven to help solve some of humanity’s greatest challenges. Rooted in the National Academy of Engineering’s vision for a more sustainable, secure, healthy, and joyful world, the program empowers students to address one of the 14 Grand Challenges through a personalized path that includes research, interdisciplinary learning, entrepreneurship, global experience, and community engagement.

EE Scavenger Hunt

A large group of electrical engineering students and faculty pose for a photo in front of the Golden Dome at Notre Dame, surrounded by fall trees with colorful leaves.

EE students and faculty gathered for a group photo in front of the Golden Dome. Following the photo, students took part in a campus-wide scavenger hunt, tracking down and identifying engineering-related landmarks.

First-Year Engineering Project Demo Day

A group of first-year engineering students gathers on a sidewalk as one student mounts a blue sensor housing to a metal post during testing.
A student focuses on adjusting wiring inside a blue sensor housing while a teammate observes and holds a phone.
Two students examine and discuss the wiring of a blue sensor housing at their lab bench, with design components laid out nearby.
Two students sit at a table smiling while working together on a small blue device next to a laptop displaying CAD software.
Two students collaborate at a lab table, inspecting a wired sensor prototype with tools and components spread out.
Three students stand near the McKenna Hall sign while one attaches a blue air quality sensor housing during outdoor testing.

First-Year Engineering students showcased their prototypes during Project Demo Day, testing their initial designs for a housing that protects an air quality sensor as part of EG10117 Engineering Design. This hands-on project challenges students to address a real-world problem while applying key CAD and Excel skills throughout the engineering design process.

First-Year Engineering EE Department Day

A student reaches toward a circuit device on a table as classmates observe during a hands-on activity in an engineering building.
Two students smile as they collaborate at a desk, one assembling a small circuit and the other reviewing a handout.
A group of students watches a small, tethered balloon-like drone hover indoors during an Electrical Engineering demo.
Two students examine a breadboard circuit together at a lab table, focused on wiring and component placement.
EE department chair Greg Snider gestures while speaking to a classroom of first-year students seated at round tables.
Students gather around a tabletop setup featuring wires and circuit components as one student interacts with the device.

During Electrical Engineering Department Day, first-year students dive into hands-on activities by creating electric circuits with microcontrollers. The event offers students a chance to experience the field firsthand and see if electrical engineering sparks their interest.

SWE Leadership Group Photo

A group of 25 women from the SWE leadership team pose together on a staircase, dressed in professional attire, smiling for a formal group photo.

The leadership team for the Notre Dame chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), a student organization dedicated to supporting women in engineering and their advocates, gathered for their annual group photo. As one of the largest and most active student groups on campus, SWE fosters mentorship, outreach, professional development, and community.

College of Engineering Staff Watercolor Workshop

A variety of watercolor paintbrushes arranged in ceramic mugs and glass jars on a table.
College of Engineering staff seated around a table, focused on painting fall-themed watercolor designs.
A small group of staff members painting leaves and pumpkins with watercolors during the creative workshop.

College of Engineering staff participated in the Fall into Inspiration: Take a Creative Break workshop, where they explored watercolor painting and enjoyed a relaxing outlet for creativity.

(Photos by John Slaughter, Engineering and Science Computing)

Tingyu Cheng – Tackling E-waste with Biodegradable Electronics

Tingyu Cheng holds a small biodegradable electronic component between his fingers, with a focused expression in a lab setting.
Close-up of a translucent, biodegradable circuit board with small embedded electronic components.
A close-up of BIOGEM, a soft, flexible biodegradable electronic device made of translucent material, shown coiled and held in a person’s hand.
Cheng’s DissolvPCB dissolving in water

Tingyu Cheng, assistant professor of computer science and engineering, is developing dissolvable and biodegradable electronics using materials that can be safely recycled, dissolved in water, or even eaten. His lab’s innovative work aims to reduce e-waste and reimagine how we build and dispose of electronic devices. Read the full story here.

This photo collection was produced by the Notre Dame Engineering Communications and Marketing team. Photos by Wes Evard, Notre Dame Engineering unless otherwise credited.