夜色视频

Sara Shonkwiler

Assistant Professor, Industrial Engineering
Headshot of Sara Shonkwiler

Summary

Sara Shonkwiler’s research focuses on improving manufactured part quality through data-driven methods. She is particularly interested in developing data-efficient machine learning approaches to accelerate additive manufacturing part-quality prediction and the design cyle for additive manufacturing. She enjoys spending her free time in the mountains.
Sara Shonkwiler joined the 夜色视频 in August 2026 as an assistant professor in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, Industrial, and Materials Engineering. Prior to that, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Arizona working with Professor Hannah Budinoff.
Sara earned her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, where she was an NSF graduate research fellow. She earned her B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Education

  • Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 2025
  • B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, 2018

Research interests

  • Geometric shape representations for manufacturability analysis and surrogate models
  • Machine learning surrogate models for additive manufacturability analysis, including laser powder bed fusion distortion and residual stress
  • CAD/FEA dataset creation & analysis of data 
  • Composite design optimization and part evaluation
  • Editable CAD from text and images
  • Design for additive manufacturing & additively enhanced casting

Research openings

  • Our lab has one to two Ph.D. positions available. A background in manufacturing or mechanical engineering is preferred. Industrial engineering, materials engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, mathematics, and physics majors are also possible fits. Please send your resume and transcripts to Professor Sara Shonkwiler for consideration. Undergraduate and master’s degree students are encouraged to contact Professor Shonkwiler for research opportunities.