#GINNing Podcast

Aerospace engineering graduate student Md Mijanur Rahman's research may focus on pilot fatigue. But trust us, the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education ain't no snooze fest. 

Connor May will serve as the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering graduation marshal at its fall commencement on Saturday, Dec. 13. But why not avoid the rush and get to know — and be impressed by — civil and environmental engineering senior now? Because he's next up on the best podcast in higher education.

Aerospace aficionado and electrical engineering junior Catherine Franco was recently named one of Auburn’s first-ever Universities Space Research Association Distinguished Undergraduates. It's a story of perseverance. It's a story of propulsion. It's the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education. 

Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy ain't the only thing the recipient of the Student of the Year award from the Governor's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities plans to conquer. He's the president of the Auburn chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers. He's had cybersecurity internships galore. And for the past year, he's served as a research and development engineer at the McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security. Yes, despite losing much of his sight, this senior in computer science and software engineering says he can now "see the larger picture, one that shows I...

Minute man aerospace engineering senior Cade May expounds on the implication of his revolutionary application of FlightStream software — and his plans for the future — on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education. 

Chemical engineering senior Addison Faggard, fundraising chair for the Auburn chapter of Engineers Without Borders, is making a difference in the world. And the people of Quesimpuco finally have the pictures to prove it.

Get to know mechanical engineering junior Tyler Wilks, the Brown-Kopel Engineering Student Achievement Center's front-desk phenom, on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education.

Auburn native, former Tim Cook Scholar and doctoral student Deena Sayegh chose to study industrial and systems engineering because she has a passion for efficiency in every workplace and believes that industrial engineering can be applied to any environment. You're welcome, Mercedes-Benz! 

Auburn engineers are making an impact in their own backyard with a stormwater project to protect and improve water quality at Hickory Dickory Park. And without the aid of Stormwater Research Facility phenom Aidan Bosman, it just wouldn't be the same. 

Listen to the civil engineering GRA discuss how a public playground has found the town and gown on new common ground on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education.

Derek Tournear was named as the inaugural director of the Space Development Agency when it was established in March 2019. He was just named inaugural director of space innovation for Auburn University. But his greatest recent distinction just may be his appearance on the best podcast in higher education. 

She's an honors software engineering student. She's a Cupola Ambassador. She's a Los Alamos intern. A McLeod Software developer. Yep, things sure are adding up for Addy Lee.

Mallory Holland, a senior in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, is Auburn's new Miss Homecoming. Find out why — and other things — on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education. 

On the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education, aerospace doctoral student Harris Putra drones on and on about the subject he knows best. 

Extra mile? Thy name is Kyle — Margelle Kyle, a Texas-hailing mechanical engineering honors student who's already wedded her passion for biomechanics with the Auburn Creed in order to meet a critical need. 

This week, the #GINNing Gang sits down Iván Nail-Ulloa, a Chile-hailing mechanical engineering postdoctoral fellow (and pal to penguins everywhere) aiming to revolutionize the way safety professionals assess injury risk on factory floors and similar industrial settings.

Pamphlet packing, college fair traveling, #GINNing gabbing. For engineering recruitment administrator Haylee Dorrill, it's all in a day's work. 

Listen to Nathan Moore, new assistant director of the National Center for Asphalt Technology's famed test track, discuss the past and future of that glorious 1.7 mile loop on this, its 25th anniversary year. 

Yes, it's absolutely safe to say it. The NIH says it. The NSF says it. Even the Francis Family Associate Professor in the Department of Materials Engineering himself admits it on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education: In the field of rapid immunodiagnostics, one name lights up the sensors more than any other... Pengyu Chen. 

Just when you think weed research has gone to pot, along comes Hailey Rhodes, a 2025 Auburn biosystems engineering graduate and brand new research engineer for the Auburn University Rural Partnership Institute.

From researching hydrogels for space transportation to using sound to boost pollination, Jean-Francois Louf is a research renaissance man. 

Listen to the Department of Chemical Engineering's latest NSF CAREER Award recipient discuss his journey from Nice the Beautiful to the Loveliest Village on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education.

Kate Shaw is trusting the process — the bioprocess. The Auburn senior took that sweet Pathway to the Plains to pursue the ever versatile bioprocess engineering degree. And, as you'll find out, that one decision has led to a lot precision. 

From AUSME to the RFID, there's nothing artificial about Soundarya Korlapati's intelligence. Listen to the doctoral student in computer science and software engineering discuss her leading role in Auburn's new AI-powered tool transforming how researchers discover one another, form collaborations and pursue complex, cross-disciplinary challenges on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education. 

You have to hand it to Peden Jones. He really has a grasp on the mechanics of 3D printing — and he's not stingy with it. Why, when they came calling, he lent the College of Liberal Arts a helping hand without hesitation. No sir, it's not hard to put a finger on what makes this mechanical engineering graduate research assistant special. Simply put, he believes in the human touch — and the almost-human, too.

Mechanical engineering sophomore Eliana Floyd grew up watching racing with her dad. She's been into cars for as long as she can remember. So, for her, just standing in pit lane would have made the hours in the Makerspace designing, cutting and clamping panels, bleeding brakes and slapping duct tape on the frame worth it. But to actually win a race — a national championship — at Talladega? That was more electric than the car itself. 

Where would we be without clean water? Where would clean water be without Sydney Watwood? Probably not flowing through the mountainside of Parramos Grande, Guatemala, we know that.

The chemical engineering sophomore recently sat down with the #GINNing Gang to detail how Auburn's chapter of Engineers Without Borders is facilitating the philanthropic ambitions she's had since sixth grade. 

There ain't no brain drain out at Auburn's Stormwater Research Facility — more like drain brain! Just take the latest runoff warrior floccin' and rockin' out there in coagulation nation — Megan Sharpe. 

On the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education, the #GINNing Gang mixes it up with concrete crackerjack Stanton Freeman, a kudos-collecting graduate student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and husband to Morgan Freeman — that Morgan Freeman. 

The latest episode of the best podcast in higher education features a mechanical engineering doctoral student whose name over her past four years at Auburn has practically become synonymous with autonomous — GAVLAB great, Stephanie Meyer. 

We believe in a sound mind, in a sound body and a spirit that is not afraid, and in clean sports that develop these qualities. Therefore we believe in Hart — Dinehart. 

The aerospace engineering, breast-stroke swimming junior recently sat down with the #GINNing gang to discuss how she stays afloat in Auburn's academic deep end.

Saving clock towers and computational powers — that's what electrical and computer engineering assistant professor Clint Snider does. 

Assistant aerospace engineering professor and licensed pilot Nicoletta Fala is investigating the attitudes of altitude on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education. 

Truett Cathy may have put Chick-fil-A on the map. But 2016 Auburn wireless software engineering graduate Eddie Seay put Chick-fil-A on the app. 

Brazilian-born Carolina Triboni, a senior in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will lead the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s class of 2025 as graduation marshal during spring commencement on Sunday, May 11. Find out why on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education. 

Noah's Ark? How about Joah's arc? Because if you feed freshman civil engineering Auburn basketballer Joah Shay the rock behind that 3-point line, he's going to straight up make it rain.

Jonathan Pettus is the new executive director of the Auburn University Applied Research Institute (AUARI) in Huntsville. Find out why on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education.

She'll be honest — growing up in Denver, Shelby Balding had never heard of Auburn. Now, the civil engineering junior and cross-country crusader can't stop talking about it. 

This double-degreed  Auburn engineering apostle extraordinaire is just supportin' the team and livin' the dream. Her current mission field? Greater Nashville, a.k.a. Auburn North, where she's been winning the respect and confidence of her fellow men with a can-do swagger that certainly staggers. It's she, it's she... it's Kristin McGhee. 

They call Vestavia-born venture visionary Vince Visser Mr. Mister. Or at least they should. Find out why on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education. (Or just click here.)

Next up on the best podcast in higher education? CSSE sophomore Liam Heary, who hopes his sweet and salty startup Planet of Snacks has the lucky charms necessary to secure the pot of gold in Tiger Cage Student Business Idea Competition's. 

A word of advice to the Louisiana State University: Make your campus a little more walk-able, or continue losing out to the best student-centered — and pedestrian-centered — engineering education experience in America, like you did with aerospace engineering undergraduate researcher extraordinaire Mary Ferguson. 

(Just trying to help.)

Senior computer science and software engineering major Sathvik Prahadeeswaran discusses his engineering journey — past, present and future — on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education.

Be it on the bars, in the classroom, Emma Grace Boyd is on her way to a Tide-tamin', big-brainin' total score you can't ignore.

Listen to our conversation with the sophomore biosystems engineering major on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education.

Masoud Mahjouri-Samani, Godbold Associate Professor in electrical and computer engineering, is involved in many things. Space things. Manufacturing things. Laser things. Important things. Things, things, things. 

Talk about net worth! Yes, mechanically minded tennis talent (and Lady Tiger legacy) Julie Bedard goes hard — on the court, in the classroom, in life in dang general. In other words, Advantage Auburn. 

Auburn Creed? More like Auburn Speed. 

Check out the #GINNing gang's conversation with Samantha Korac, vehicle dynamics and controls engineer for Auburn's Autonomous Tiger Racing team, who recently helped steer the GAVLAB's gears around the Las Vegas Motor Speedway at up to 170 driver-less miles per hour. Listen below, or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts by searching #GINNing.

This senior wants nothing more than to use her communication skills and knack for logistics to help people and overcome the world's greatest challenges. Which is to say, when it comes to selling the strengths and benefits of industrial and systems engineering, nobody's struttin' like Madison Dutton.

From the woods of Columbiana to the Costa da Caparica, junior Anna Carter is living the dream, Birdsonging her away around this great material world of ours one extra engineering mile at a time. 

Brendon Allen has some exoskeletons in his closet, and the National Science Foundation (NSF) wants to find out more about them.

The assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering was recently tapped for a five-year $588,408 NSF CAREER Award aimed at increasing access to rehabilitation for individuals with movement disorders through a deep learning control framework for home-based hybrid exoskeletons.

Assistant computer science professor by day, computational biologist by day, medical doctor by day — Haynes Heaton does it all. Great news for Auburn. Bad news for leukemia. 

The legacy of leadership with the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering's Office of Advancement continues. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back Jon Wilson. 

Bradley Johnson didn't just want the paper — he wanted Auburn Engineering. Listen to our conversation with the premiere ambassador for one of the highest-ranked online master's of engineering programs in the country on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education. 

He may work in Wilmore. But materials engineering program chair Bart Prorok does his thinking outside the box. 

Nintendo? More like GINNtendo. Because senior Caitlinn White, a chemical engineering undergraduate researcher in Auburn's acclaimed Nuclear Power Generation Systems minor who's focusing on developing virtual reality simulations of nuclear concepts, is definitely playing with power. 

As a child, Avry Prewitt’s world was filled with construction — Lego towers, pillow forts and elaborate Minecraft creations. That early passion for building grew into a planet-saving purpose. Learn all about the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering's latest wastewater wunderkind — and the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering's latest graduation marshal — on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education. 

He’s fresh off a win at the 2024 SEC Machining competition in Starkville, working through several pitch competitions en route to Tiger Cage, majoring in industrial and systems engineering, minoring in business engineering technology, and working for the weekend at Auburn Engineering's renowned Interdisciplinary Center for Advanced Manufacturing Systems. In other words, the Moose is loose. 

Listen to the #GINNing gang's conversation with senior Johnathan Deery on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education. 

STEM advocating influencer extraordinaire Ruha Tacey may have hit the social media stratosphere. But she hasn't forgotten her roots. 

Learn about the 2012 chemical engineering graduate's Auburn journey and plans for the future on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education. 

From high kicks to high efficiency, from the dance line to the supply line, Nyah Dedeaux does it all. 

Listen to the industrial and systems engineering senior discuss her Auburn journey on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education. 

We've always said "never let a good tomato go to waste." Unless, of course, Bipasyana Dhungana could use it to change the world. 

Listen to our conversation with the biosystems engineering graduate student and ASABE all-star on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education. 

From the mountains of Nevada to the doors of Wiggins Hall, Avery Wells will fight our country's battle with his degree — mechanical.

The latest episode of the best podcast in higher education explores the drive and determination of mechanical engineering sophomore Jenna Sapong, who knows a little bit about keeping goals.

Word to your moms — Ben Bauldree came to drop bombs. Check out the explosive interview with the Auburn aerospace engineering alumnus and pickle pro on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education. 

Where there's a Wills, there's a way. And an adjustable cup holders for chairs. And a magic cable machine attachment. And, from the sounds of it, an unbelievably bright future. The other thing this Crook has stolen is our hearts. 

Listen to industrial and systems engineering senior Wills Crook discuss his Auburn-born aspirations on the latest episode of the award-winning #GINNing Podcast.

Is there some sort of hocus pocus behind Phedra Peter's fervid focus? Is it just that the industrial and systems engineering junior and student leader superstar believes work — hard work? Find out on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education.

Go ahead and call her Miss Mercedes. Because this Jersey-born mechanical engineering senior and Design and Manufacturing Lab devotee has logged more internship hours in Vance, Alabama than LinkedIn can count. Haley Bhend? More like Haley Benz. 

Parker Lewis couldn't lose. And neither can Parker Thompson. From touring Würzburg to securing the World Wide Web, this cybersecurity engineering grad student has synchronized his Swatch for success. 

Second lieutenant in the Air Force. Three-time Space Camp alum. Third-generation Auburn grad. Second-generation Auburn Engineering grad. ChemE grad student. Graduate Research Assistant. Future astronaut. Future president of Mars. (Don't worry — Handel can handle it.) 

When it comes to diabetes, America is unfortunately rolling in the deep. Enter 2013 Auburn mechanical engineering grad Mark Norton, co-founder of Adele. After all, be it glucose levels or insulin levels, who better to help people take portable, personal control of their diabetic deets than a man who worked for a sweet little company called Apple? 

All right Tiger Fans — let's get it up for a podcast. Senior Ben Timm is one of the leaders down in the Design and Manufacturing Lab in Wiggins Hall. He’s the guy in charge of teaching folks how to machine safely. He chose mechanical engineering because he loved working with his hands. But for the next year, he'll be better known for working with his voice. Are you ready?

From Sand Mountain to American Water, from commencement stages to the NYT business pages, 1981 industrial engineering graduate Susan Story's legacy of leadership is as dynamic as they come. 

Someone has to manage that beautiful, 1.7-mile oval over at the National Center for Asphalt Technology. And DOTs across the fruited, asphalted plains better be thanking their lucky, trucky stars — that someone is Jason Nelson. 

From the Loveliest Village of the Plain comes Mari Miles Dempsey, a senior chemical engineering honors student concentrating in biomedical engineering, and currently researching the effect of acoustics in the growth and further development of physarum polycephalum in the Nature Inspired Fluids and Elasticity Lab at Auburn University. In other words, it's slime time. 

Learn the origin story of an Auburn Engineering ChemE commando on the latest episode of the #GINNing Podcast. Ladies and gentlemen, JaVaris Branford. 

Learn about Auburn's latest College of Engineering grad marshal, Ben Steber. This engineer may not have borders. But he's definitely about to have a banner.

Hey Office of Naval Research, why don't you give assistant electrical and computer engineering professor Matthew Kirchner $307,000, and in return he'll figure out which control sequences and flight conditions make it possible for trained pilots to land in the event of engine failure. Sound good? OK, let's make a deal.

No one engineers like Gaston,
Polymers like Gaston,
Does confidential research work like Gaston,
As a grad student, yes, she's intimidating,
My what a gal, Gaston...

Cupola Engineering Ambassadors. American Society of Civil Engineers. 100+ Women Strong. Society of Women Engineers. Undergraduate research. Chick-fil-A. 

Rising civil engineering senior Evelyn Chavez does it all. 

Plucked from the plastic producing province of El Salvador,  Lucila Carias, protege of Auburn polymer pundit Maria Auad, and a bio-resin backing GRA in the Department of Chemical Engineering, is researching ways to 3D print — yep — houses. 

Which upcoming bioprocesses engineering senior is grabbing undergraduate research by the horns in order to harness the power of pectin for skincare applications? Which student leader overachiever is ready to make a believer out of Unilever? Yep, it's Jada Neal. She's the real deal.

Meagan Blosser, outgoing president of Auburn University's Top-20 Design, Build, Fly team, doesn't care how you pronounce her name, because this new Auburn aerospace engineering alumna definitely knows how to... go with the flow.

Listen to Blosser describe how she's spreading her wings on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education.

The name's Beretta — Stefano Beretta. 

Learn the origin story of this world-class structural integrity scholar who recently joined Auburn's National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence to assist on several projects focused on developing defect-sensitive predictive fatigue models for AM materials. Topics discussed include additive manufacturing, salary cuts, salami and James Bond. 

From Albuquerque to Auburn, Los Almosin', Lipke Labbin' ChemE commando Nicole Habbit has found the Loveliest Village a hard habit to break.

Great name. Fresh ideas. Yep, enjoy this conversation with biosystems engineering doctoral student Wellington Arthur on long-term nutrient utilization and evaluation of pathogenic bacteria in a pilot-scale wastewater treatment system for hydroponic irrigation — and lettuce. 

Marisa Kelley.  Just graduated materials engineering major. Knows who Madonna is. And Tom Petty. In other words, basically a genius. 

(You're welcome, Florida.)

With yet another internship locked up at Lockheed, Jersey born aerospace aficionado Ava Grelli is going places — and Boeing places. So buckle up and get your ears on because this rocket retriever overachiever is racing toward space at a breakneck space. 

Four years ago, Jack Branham was torn.

"While I was going through college selection, I wasn't planning on being an engineer. I wanted to be a music major," said Branham, a graduating senior and researcher in mechanical engineering from Montgomery. "But I had as much passion for engineering as I had for music.  Auburn has a great music program, but it's also a great engineering school. Ultimately, I made the decision to switch to engineering."

Judging by his most recent accolade, it was the right one.

Listen to Branham breakdown his Auburn journey a...

Turner Friday is hitting the road this summer... for two and a half months. The industrial and systems engineering sophomore is raising money for those with disabilities through a cross-country bike ride sure to make memories — and make a difference. And you can help.

Hear him discuss his Auburn Engineering journey — and his upcoming journey from San Francisco to Miami — on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education below, or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts by searching #GINNing.

Things are really heating up for Thomas Lester. The fourth-generation Auburn Man and sophomore in industrial and systems engineering recently sat down with the #GINNing gang to discuss how his early morning caffeine cravings spawned an entrepreneurial empire in the making. 

Mechanical engineering junior and Auburn swimming sensation Mason Mathias can follow that black line like nobody's business. In the pool, in the classroom, the Lad from Leeds is constantly in the lead. We're talking trainin', we're talkin' brainin'... we're talkin' Mason Mathias. 

Meet biosystems engineering sophomore Bella Nonales, a dean's list dynamo with a chance of making history as the drummiest major in the history of the Auburn University Marching Band. Not bad for someone who just celebrated her 5th birthday. 

The man, the myth, the unincorporated legend. Ladies and gentlemen — senior mechanical engineering lecturer, undergraduate program officer, student advisor and director of the Design and Manufacturing Lab, Jordan Roberts. 

On the latest episode of the award-winning #GINNing Podcast, meet biosystems engineering sophomore Maddie Spoor, an Auburn Engineering double legacy who's getting the earliest jump possible on undergraduate research in order to blaze her own trail. 

Cassandra Porter. Cassie Porter. Cass Porter. She goes by many names. And she has even more pursuits. She's a former professional ballerina. A current fossil hunter. And a day-jobbing assistant professor of chemical engineering. Curious? Well then join us as we pass through the walls of mystery surrounding this LinkedIn-less membrane maestro. 

What to expect on the 251st episode of the best podcast in all of higher education? How about the origin story of geotechnical juggernaut Brian Anderson, a full-scale infrastructure inspiration who's girding the loins of this nation's foundations. 

When it comes to hacking, Emily Kimbrell ain't slacking. Listen to this former aspiring cinematographer turned white hat wunderkind (and undergraduate software engineering research fellow) discuss how Auburn is routing her career — and the largest hackathon in Alabama.

From polymers to public administration, Olivia Cook is inspiring the nation. Listen to the 2014 polymer and fiber engineering graduate (with graduate degrees from Auburn in public policy and public administration) discuss how she's using lessons learned at Auburn to help change the world on the 250th episode of the best podcast in all of higher education. 

From the decathlon to biomechanics startups, mechanical engineering graduate student and track and field standout David Edmondson is clearing the bar — and then some. 

Girls go to college to get more knowledge. And, in Kanak Parmar's case, to get us to Jupiter a little less stupider. (You're welcome, Deep Space Network.)

Parabolic telescopes... diamond-turning lathes...  few folks have taken advantage of Auburn Engineering's next-level makerspace like aerospace engineering senior Cyrus Lloyd. 

When it comes to subjects like heat transfer, let's just say computer science and software engineering freshman Cameron Tilly's 90+ mile per hour fastball already has him a little ahead of the game. 

Learn why the top pitching prospect chose Auburn Engineering over Major League Baseball — for now — on the latest episode of the best podcast in higher education. 

Associate professor and associate chair in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering. Director of Computer Science and Software Engineering Undergraduate Programs. Director of Global Programs, Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. How does Dean Hendrix do it? Find out on the latest episode of the best podcast in all of higher education.