Dr. Wenwu Xu Serves as Facilitator at ASCENDᴿ Opportunity Advising Think Lab

Sep 28, 2026

Dr. Wenwu Xu, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at San Diego State University and director of the M3 Lab, is participating as a facilitator in the ASCENDᴿ Opportunity Advising Think Lab in the Washington, D.C., area, September 28–30, 2026. Organized by the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities (HSRU), the event includes a September 28 networking reception followed by two days of working sessions at the Virginia Tech Executive Briefing Center in Arlington, Virginia. The Think Lab brings together university faculty, advisors, program leaders, students, and defense-sector partners to explore how institutions can help undergraduate and graduate students identify, prepare for, and pursue internships, fellowships, research experiences, and STEM career opportunities. Dr. Xu will facilitate discussions on Student Preparation & Competitiveness on September 29 and Regional Research Programs on September 30. Participants will exchange advising practices, examine barriers to student participation, and identify approaches that could be shared across HSRU institutions. Dr. Xu's involvement builds on his participation in the inaugural ASCENDᴿ Research and Leadership Program, through which he leads a project on Thermal-Elastic Processing for defense-relevant interface engineering. The Think Lab connects this research engagement with his mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students.