Success Story: NIW Approved for Mechanical Engineering Researcher Advancing Predictive Additive Manufacturing
Client’s Testimonial:
“Thank you very much for your support throughout the entire procedure! I really appreciate your guidance and professionalism at every step; it made the process much smoother. It was a great pleasure working with you.”
On March 21st, 2026, we received another EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) approval for a Postdoctoral Associate in the Field of Mechanical Engineering (Approval Notice).
General Field: Mechanical Engineering
Position at the Time of Case Filing: Postdoctoral Associate
Country of Origin: Turkey
State of Residence at the Time of Filing: Virginia
Approval Notice Date: March 21st, 2026
Processing Time: 8 months, 23 days (Premium Processing Upgrade Requested)
Case Summary:
We are pleased to share the approval of an I-140 National Interest Waiver petition for a researcher in mechanical engineering whose work addresses a critical challenge in advanced manufacturing: how to make high-performance components more reliable and repeatable under real-world process uncertainty. The client’s proposed endeavor was to continue research combining uncertainty quantification frameworks, machine learning algorithms, and targeted experiments. The petition also showed that, at the time of filing, the client was continuing this work in a postdoctoral research role in the United States.
The strength of this case came from the combination of the client’s established research record and the clear national importance of the proposed endeavor. The petition showed that the client’s work in predictive additive manufacturing, uncertainty quantification, and data-driven modeling directly supports practical needs in advanced manufacturing, including improving the reliability, repeatability, and performance of high-value components used in strategically important industries.
In support of the petition, we documented:
- 4 peer-reviewed journal articles, including 3 first-authored papers
- 1 first-authored peer-reviewed conference article
- 4 first-authored abstracts
- 62 citations
- At least 5 completed peer reviews
- Evidence of major funding support from the French National Research Agency and the German Research Foundation
The petition presented the client’s publications, citation record, peer-review activity, and research experience as evidence of sustained scholarly contribution and independent recognition in the field. The citation history demonstrated that other researchers had relied on the client’s work, while peer-review activity further supported the client’s recognized technical expertise. The petition also contextualized the client’s publication impact by highlighting that several works had achieved strong citation performance within their publication years, reinforcing the significance of the client’s contributions to mechanical engineering and advanced manufacturing research.
The petition included 2 recommendation letters that reinforced the originality of the client’s work, its importance to advanced manufacturing, and her strong positioning to continue contributing in this area. One recommender noted:
“Evidently, [Client] is an asset to both mechanical engineering research and the industries that benefit from high-performance materials.”
By tying the client’s publication record, citation history, funding support, peer recognition, and ongoing research plans to a clearly defined manufacturing-focused endeavor, we demonstrated that waiving the labor certification requirement would benefit the United States. We are proud to have supported this client in achieving NIW approval and look forward to her continued contributions to predictive manufacturing research.