Jean-Michel Mongeau was awarded a Shuman Family Early Career Professorship, which he will hold until 2028. Credit: Poornima Tomy/Penn State.
Mechanical engineering early career professor: Jean-Michel Mongeau
May 11, 2026
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Jean-Michel Mongeau, associate professor of mechanical engineering, was awarded a Shuman Family Early Career Professorship, a three-year professorship that Mongeau will hold until 2028. Penn State mechanical engineering alumnus Clyde Shuman and his wife Nancy pledged $1 million to establish the professorship in 2010.
Q: What is the primary focus of your research?
Mongeau: Very broadly, we are interested in learning how animals move, primarily insects, and applying this knowledge to advance engineering. We study aerial and terrestrial locomotion — how insects fly and move on the ground. When you look at the most current technology for commercial drones, they are based on quadrotors, which is basically a type of helicopter. In nature, animals fly by flapping wings. There are many unsolved mysteries in flapping wing flight, like how it is generated and controlled. Currently, we study how flies compensate for wing damage.
For ground locomotion, we are studying how insects sense with antennae, primarily in cockroaches, to guide decisions. A cockroach antenna is more sophisticated than any sensor we’ve developed as engineers — a 3- to 4-centimeter antenna has about 40,000 mechanosensors. Recently, we used a micro-CT facility, like a CT scan at a hospital on a smaller scale, to scan the antenna and create a three-dimensional model, allowing us to simulate what kind of forces will be transmitted if the antenna hits a feature. In parallel, with collaborators, we are developing a new class of touch sensors.
Our work bridges basic science and applied work. With AI, the best chess-playing algorithms can easily beat the best chess players in the world. As a result, there is a belief among some that cognition is beginning to be solved by neural networks. But walking to the board and moving pieces around is something that a robot cannot do as well as a human toddler. Why is that? Part of our work is to understand motor control. How do animals move effectively, using their brain and body?
Q: What are some notable grants or achievements you have recently received?
Mongeau: I have been awarded an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship to understand how brains control movement, primarily in insects. I was also awarded an Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Award to investigate how insects adapt their flight maneuvers.
Q: What does it mean for you to receive the Shuman Family Early Career Professorship?
Mongeau: I am deeply grateful for this professorship, which recognizes the outstanding work my students have accomplished over the years. It will enable our lab to pursue new research directions while continuing our strong commitment to student training. By drawing inspiration from insects, we are translating fundamental scientific discoveries into novel micro-scale robotic propulsion and sensing mechanisms.
The professorship will allow us to invest in critical infrastructure and personnel to advance this research, as well as support students in disseminating their work at national and international conferences.
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