Central State University Grads Win Big at SAMPE Competition for Groundbreaking EV Research

Three Central State University graduates win big at Midwest SAMPE competition for their innovative research on the implications of electric vehicles.

The future is here through three recent historically Black college and university (HBCU) graduates whose innovative research landed them in first place at the Midwest Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) Student Competition.

Central State University graduates Myesha Burnette, Shawntae Thompson, and Baijing Zinnerman walked away with the highest honor in the competition after their groundbreaking research in material and process engineering led them to produce a 12-page, peer-reviewed paper that “explores the team’s investigation into carbon fiber-reinforced polymer-metal bonding and hybrid fiber-reinforced polymer-metal bonding to aluminum.”

Per the SAMPE website, the organization “provides growth and educational opportunities via conferences, exhibitions, technical forums, and publications. As the only technical society encompassing all fields of endeavor in materials and processes, SAMPE provides a unique and valuable forum for scientists, engineers, and academicians.”

The students’ research also focused on a “pivotal aspect of polymer composite bonding to metal, to achieve a bond that is both lightweight and durable.”

For two years, Thompson and Burnette conducted research led by Alessandro Rengan, Ph.D., an associate professor of Manufacturing Engineering at Central State University. Additionally, Zinnerman made significant contributions to the team, especially during the final two months of their research. With electric vehicles taking the industry by storm, their findings could not have come at a better time.

In April 2024, Thompson and Burnett walked away with a $100 check award and a free annual membership to SAMPE in exchange for the extensive research they conducted for two years.

According to a report by Edmunds, released in March 2024, during the fourth quarter of 2023, an estimated 3.3 million electric vehicles (EVs) were currently on the road in the United States, accounting for roughly 1% of all cars, up significantly from the previous year. In 2022, there were 2.4 million EVs registered.