Campus News: FAMU-FSU College of Engineering

The FAMU-FSU College of Engineering is the joint college of engineering of Florida A&M University and Florida State University.  In celebration of Black Philanthropy Month this August, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) and the Florida State University (FSU) College of Engineering recently acknowledged the contributions of alumna Bridgette Bell.  Since graduating with her degree in industrial engineering in 1999, Ms. Bell has dedicated herself to making a positive impact. She currently supports students through the Jerelene Bell Memorial Scholarship, which is awarded to high-performing undergraduates at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. Since 2020, Ms. Bell has served as the Chief Sustainability Officer at Genesys, where she has led sustainability initiatives and earned recognition for her efforts. Her role grants her the opportunity to give back and engage in purposeful work, putting empathy into action through Genesys' sustainability strategy. Additionally, she is a board member of Project Scientist, an organization that empowers women, and in 2025, she was honored as a TechHer Business Champion, recognizing her as a leading Black woman in the tech industry. The joint college's Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering department recently participated in the 24th International Conference on Composite Materials held in Baltimore from August 4 to 8, 2025.  A statement from FAMU-FSU on social media expressed pride in serving as a sponsor and exhibitor, as well as in having faculty and graduate students present their research on composites, advanced manufacturing, and more.  Furthermore, at the 2025 conference organized by the Florida Engineering Society and the American Council of Engineering Companies, FAMU-FSU engineering students and faculty received top honors for their significant contributions to the engineering profession.  The FAMU-FSU College of Engineering student organization earned the Alpha/Beta Chapter of the Year Award, a recognition awarded for their dedication and engagement, making them the most active chapter in their category. At FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, students entering their senior year have the chance to develop design projects tailored to their specific disciplines. Recently, it was announced that the 2025 Engineering Senior Design team at FAMU-FSU received recognition for their outstanding work over two semesters.  Eighty-nine teams of undergraduates from all departments applied their skills to create innovative and practical solutions for real-world projects. Senior Design Team 519 developed a curriculum for the mechatronics course offered at the college.  Additionally, a mechanical engineering team is working on intelligent robotic systems that adapt to individual learning patterns, potentially transforming physical therapy outcomes for stroke survivors and patients with mobility impairments.  Their goal is to investigate how humans learn complex balance tasks and how assistive robotic devices can facilitate this learning process. The innovative approach focuses on gradual independence. As patients progress through rehabilitation stages, they require less robotic assistance over time. The team aims to establish a comprehensive robotic assistance testbed that evaluates human physiological and cognitive responses during learning processes.  Engineering student, Maryam Pakdehi, recently earned the 2024-2025 FSU Graduate Student Leadership Award. Maryam's groundbreaking research harnesses machine learning to enhance flood prediction models, aiming to improve disaster preparedness and community resilience. Her work addresses critical environmental challenges, ensuring that communities are better prepared for floods, reducing health risks, and property damage in the long run. In addition to her research, Maryam founded the Civil and Environmental Engineering Graduate Student Association, demonstrating her commitment to leadership and community engagement. Bentley Systems, a software development company specializing in infrastructure, has made a $25,000 donation to the joint college's Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. This gift will improve undergraduate student experience and promote student success by upgrading computational infrastructure, modernizing teaching labs, and supporting other student-focused initiatives. Bentley Systems supports computer software and services for the design, construction, and operation of infrastructure. The company's software serves the building, plant, civil, and geospatial markets in the areas of architecture, engineering, construction (AEC), and operations.   The joint college also recently congratulated Brad Humphrey on his appointment as the leader of HNTB's Houston office. Humphrey holds a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Florida A&M University and an MEng in Civil Engineering from Florida State University. In this role, he leads a multidisciplinary team that delivers innovative transportation infrastructure solutions across the highway, transit, aviation, municipal, and intelligent mobility sectors. Before joining HNTB, Humphrey spent a decade with the Georgia Department of Transportation, where he served as district traffic operations manager and area manager.  × ×