Mechanical engineering doctoral student awarded elite fellowship
First-year doctoral student Aaron Puente earned a highly competitive U.S. Department of Energy fellowship supporting research at the intersection of advanced manufacturing, materials science and computational science.
Aaron Puente
Texas A&M University mechanical engineering doctoral student Aaron Puente has been selected for the highly competitive U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Computational Science Graduate Fellowship, a national program that supports graduate students conducting research at the intersection of advanced computing and scientific discovery.
Puente, who is in his first year of doctoral study in the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering, said receiving the fellowship was a defining moment early in his graduate career.
“I was absolutely thrilled and incredibly honored,” Puente said. “It immediately felt like a turning point for my graduate career.”
Originally from Weslaco, Texas, Puente earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley before joining Texas A&M in Fall 2025 to pursue a Ph.D. under the guidance of Dr. Mohsen Taheri Andani.
His research focuses on the intersection of advanced manufacturing and computational modeling, particularly on the additive manufacturing of metals for use in extreme environments. He uses computational tools and data-driven methods to better understand how processing conditions influence material defects and performance.
“My research focuses on treating additive manufacturing as a sequence prediction problem to optimize material performance and reliability,” he said.
Puente said the work has applications in energy, aerospace and defense, where advanced alloys and refractory metals are critical for extreme operating conditions.
“Controlling defects and customizing microstructures during 3D printing directly supports national energy and security priorities by modernizing domestic manufacturing,” he said.
The fellowship will allow Puente to expand his interdisciplinary training across engineering, applied mathematics and computing while also providing access to DOE national laboratories for a required research practicum.
“The fellowship acts as a powerful catalyst,” he said. “It enabled me to build an interdisciplinary academic plan and become a well-rounded computational scientist.”
Puente is currently interning at Oak Ridge National Laboratory through the GEM Fellowship program.
Looking ahead, he hopes to lead high-performance computing efforts that address challenges in energy, defense and advanced manufacturing.
“My long-term goal is to lead high-performance computing initiatives that solve pressing national challenges,” he said. “I aim to merge physics-informed machine learning with advanced materials processing to support critical infrastructure needs.”
