Meet MechSE’s Outstanding Young Alumni for 2018

Dr. Andrew Hamilton and Kathryn Svoboda received MechSE’s Outstanding Young Alumni Award for 2018. This honor is given to alumni of the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering who have achieved great things early in their careers.

Hamilton received his MS and PhD in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from the University of Illinois, graduating in 2011. Throughout his education, Hamilton studied bio materials. At Illinois, he researched the manufacturing of bio-inspired synthetic vascular systems and their application to self-healing in structural polymers. In his post-doctoral research at Aalborg University in Denmark, Hamilton investigated the mechanical impact of nano-scale reinforcement on cellular polymers for use in composite sandwich panels. He entered academia first by lecturing for the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Queens University in Belfast and currently is an associate professor of Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton. There, Hamilton is continuing his research on the mechanical properties and capabilities of biological material systems; specifically, he is working on bio-inspired materials, cellular and porous materials, sandwich structures, self-healing materials, and biomaterials.

Svoboda earned her BS in mechanical engineering from Illinois in 2011, while attending she was an active member of Pi Tau Sigma, an Engineering Learning Assistant (ELA), and served as captain of the Baja SAE team. As an undergraduate, she had internships in special projects at Oceaneering and in engine systems at Electro-Motive Diesel. After graduation, Svoboda worked as a testing engineer for Microlution, a Chicago-based and University of Illinois-bred business specializing in high-performance CNC micro-machining centers. Now she has returned to Electro-Motive Diesel as an Engine Development Engineer where she improves the reliability and performance of 2- and 4- stroke engines up to 4.5MW for marine, power generation, and locomotive applications. In her off hours, Svoboda is the Head Referee for Illinois’ FIRST Tech Challenge, leading referees at over a dozen of the high school robotics competitions and managing the entire Illinois referee contingent.