Vu Tran, a manufacturing engineer at Martin Manufacturing in northern Kentucky, has packed a lot into the past few years. In December 2025, he graduated from Northern Kentucky University (NKU), where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechatronics engineering technology. As a sophomore, Tran joined the NKU student chapter of SME, then became president of the group and won SME’s 2024 F. Brian Holmes Directors Scholarship. He also joined NKU’s Formula SAE Baja Offroad Buggy Racing Team, subsequently becoming vice president of the organization and captain of the design team.
Capping off his NKU accomplishments, Tran filed a patent with the U.S. Patent Office in his senior year for a mind-controlled, non-invasive, affordable 3D-printed prosthetic hand and arm system that he co-invented with another student under the mentorship of two NKU professors. The project uses a brain-computer interface cap to translate EEG brain waves into code that operates the bionic hand.
“It's amazing and it helps people with upper amputation,” says Tran. “They can do basic stuff like pick up things, and that's very cool to me.”
Tran says his scholarship provided him with great support and more confidence, and allowed him to fully focus on research for the prosthetic arm project. “It significantly changed my career path, from a mechatronic engineering student to a patent filer to a manufacturing job,” he notes.
The project received funding from the National Institutes of Health during Tran’s junior year and attracted attention from a local TV station, which visited the lab to interview Tran and his collaborators.
These days, in his position at Martin Manufacturing, Tran produces American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)-compliant layouts, optimizes hydraulic and pneumatic systems, and designs custom automation solutions for Martin Trunnion Tables — specialized CNC work-holding devices that maximize mass production for multi-axis machining by enabling the rotation and tilting of workpieces, which enhances precision and efficiency in manufacturing processes.
Having started working at Martin Manufacturing as an intern when he was a sophomore at NKU, Tran was hired full-time by the company after graduation. He also worked for four months in a student co-op engineering capacity at KraussMaffei in Kentucky.
In 2024, Tran won first prize in NKU’s Celebrating Student Research competition as well as the IEEE Cincinnati Scholarship. He also co‑authored a paper that won third prize at the 9th International Conference on Control, Automation and Diagnosis in Barcelona, and authored a 2024 IEEE paper on an omnidirectional mobile robot.
Regarding his long-term goals, Tran referred back to his prosthetic hand project and its ability to change people’s lives. “I remember during the TV interview, we talked about soldiers going to the battlefield and losing their arms. So that product can help them do a lot of things. It's one of the philosophies I want to pursue in the future in my career.”
