Professor Bruce L. Tai
Dr. Tai is an Associate Professor and a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) with over a decade of experience in manufacturing research. His work focuses on machining science with applications in industry, healthcare, and AI-driven innovation. Over his career, Dr. Tai has been supported by federal agencies, private companies, national laboratories, and medical education entities. He has published nearly 80 journal articles across various disciplines, holds an h-index of 29 (as of 2024). At Texas A&M, Dr. Tai has been instrumental in advancing the manufacturing curriculum, developing four courses on materials, manufacturing processes, additive and subtractive technologies, and data analytics. He is also deeply committed to mentoring undergraduate students through active engagement in manufacturing research. Dr. Tai serves as an Associate Editor and Symposium Chair in leading manufacturing forums and is widely recognized in the field. His accolades include the Blackall Machine Tool & Gage Award (ASME), the Young Manufacturing Engineer Award.
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PhD Students
Mahtab Heydari (2021 - present)
Jim C. Shih (2023 - present)
Po-Ting Lin (2024 - present)
MS-thesis Students
Danny Shektybayeva (2023-present)
Kyrstian Stoklosa (2024 - present)
Brenden Fresquez (2024 - present)
Undergraduate Researchers
Hunter Tallichet (BMEN)
Alumni (Graduate Students)
PhD Students
Bo Randolph
PhD, 2024
Dissertation: Machining characteristics of additively manufactured A205 Aluminum
Aamer Kazi (Align Technology)
PhD, 2023
Dissertation: Experimental and numerical investigation of rock drilling accelerated through cracking
Aman Nigam (Abbott)
PhD, 2023
Dissertation: Hybrid manufacturing of fiber-reinforced polymers: Process development and part quality assessment
Jay Raval (Apple)
PhD, 2022
Dissertation: Visualization and Analysis of Tool-Fluid Interactions in Through-tool MQL Drilling
Sehgnwei Chen (3M)
PhD, 2021 (co-advised with J Wang)
Yi-Tang Kao (Saint-Gobain)
PhD, 2019
Dissertation: 3D Printing Enabled Structural Composites – Fabrication, Testing, and Numerical Analysis
Danny Kim (NXP Semiconductors)
PhD, 2019
Dissertation: Investigation of an Optically Created Dead Zone by Low-one-photon Polymerization for Silicone Stereolithography
Behrouz Takabi (Altair)
PhD, 2019
Dissertation: Numerical modeling for orthogonal cutting of brittle materials
MS Students
Feimo Yang (PhD Student at Carnegie Mellon University)
MS, 2022
Thesis topic: Characterizing the separation behavior of photocurable PDMS on a hydrogel fil during vat photopolymerization: a benchmakr study
Shrivatsa Tare (Tesla)
MS, 2021
Thesis topic: Feasibility study of extrusion based additive manufacturing process for creating biomimetic microchannel network
Chin-Cheng (Jim) Shih (Nan YA Plastics Corp., returned to PhD)
MS, 2019
Thesis topic: Effects of cold plasma treatment on interlayer bonding in fused filament fabrication (FFF) process
Yasushi Mizuno (Helix Earth Technologies)
MS, 2018
Thesis topic: Projected UV-resin curing for Self-supported 3D Printing
Joshua Riefer (Electrolux)
MS, 2018
Thesis topic: An investigation in tone characteristics of 3D printed ukulele
Avinash Danda (Tesla Motor)
MS, 2017
Thesis topic: A mechanistic force model for simulating haptics of hand-held bone burring operations
Carleton Vangsness III
MS, 2017
Thesis topic: A feasibility study of laser-assisted titanium implant drilling for periprosthetic fracture repair
Mahsa Tajdari (PhD at Northwestern University)
MS, 2016
Thesis topic: Modeling of brittle and ductile material drilling using smoothed particle hydrodynamics