Mohammad “Fuad” Hassan, a Ph.D. student at Georgia Southern University’s Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Computing, has been awarded the 2026 Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE) Elmer E. Klaus Fellowship, according to an April 7 announcement.
The $5,000 fellowship will support Hassan’s work on developing self-adjusting sealing technologies for supercritical carbon dioxide turbomachinery. This innovation aims to improve the efficiency and reliability of clean energy power plants.
The STLE Elmer E. Klaus Fellowship is a nationally competitive award presented by one of the world’s leading professional societies in tribology, lubrication engineering, and sealing science. The award brings attention to Georgia Southern’s growing reputation in advanced energy systems research.
“This fellowship reflects the high quality of Hassan’s research and the strong momentum of our tribology program,” said Sevki Cesmeci, associate professor of mechanical engineering and director of the university’s Thermo-Fluidic Systems Laboratory. “Our group is actively engaged in federally funded projects related to supercritical CO₂ power cycles and advanced sealing technologies in collaboration with national laboratories. Recognition from STLE confirms that our students are contributing to research areas that are strategically important for future U.S. energy systems.”
Hassan designs elastohydrodynamic sealing technologies for machinery that uses supercritical carbon dioxide to generate electricity, creating seals that can automatically adjust themselves to prevent leaks using advanced computer modeling techniques under Cesmeci’s mentorship.
“I am grateful to my peers and especially to my supervisor, Dr. Sevki Cesmeci,” said Hassan. “This achievement would not have been possible without his guidance, encouragement and inspiration.”
Jack McKenna, immediate past president of STLE and chair of its Presidential Council, said selection was highly competitive: “Members of the Presidential Council had the difficult task of selecting one recipient from many well-qualified applicants,” said McKenna. “The Selection Committee was impressed with [Hassan’s] application and current research activities.”
Hassan will be formally recognized at the 80th STLE Annual Meeting in May in New Orleans.
