Engineering Senior Earns 2nd Place in National Research Competition

Engineering senior Matt Udell took home second place this September in a national research competition.

Udell ('25, Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Management) presented his paper, “Composite Deltoid Material Selection for Optimizing T-joint Tensile Strength,” at the 2024 Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE®) University Research Symposium in San Diego.

He was one of only five undergraduate students invited to present at CAMX, the Composites and Advanced Materials Expo—North America’s largest composites and materials event.

SAMPE selects student members to present their technical research results at CAMX each year. Categories include senior undergraduates, master’s, and doctoral candidates, with top papers in each group winning cash prizes.

"It was incredible to be around so many people passionate about the composites industry, and an excellent opportunity to network with great people and companies who are infectiously passionate about pushing the industry forward," Udell said. "The conference was also a ton of fun; I’d encourage any Gonzaga student to not miss out on attending an engineering chapter conference- especially a SAMPE conference!"