The faculty of the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering continue to enhance their education and mentorship of students and the reputation of our department by obtaining major research grants in areas of national importance and earning recognition from their peers as recipients of prestigious awards.
I am honored to be joining such a prestigious department comprised of incredible faculty, students and staff. I look forward to working with all the department’s stakeholders to continue guiding it along its trajectory of increasing prominence and national reputation for excellence. I would also like to thank and acknowledge my predecessor, Dr. Andreas Polycarpou, for his years of service to the department and the great strides that were achieved under his leadership.
Over the last year our faculty helped our undergraduate program achieve a No. 7 ranking and our graduate program reach No. 9, both maintaining their top ranking among public institutions by U.S. News and World Report; our department also maintains its top ranking worldwide according to the ShanghaiRanking’s global rankings in mechanical engineering at No. 3 internationally.
Our faculty — including Dr. Srikanth Saripalli, Dr. James Hubbard Jr., Dr. Dion Antao and Dr. Vinayak Krishnamurthy — are leveraging their expertise to pursue innovative and collaborative research projects to help meet new challenges and build a brighter future.
In addition to myself, the department welcomes several new faculty, including Dr. Robert Ambrose, Dr. Marcia Cooper, Dr. Rebecca Friesen, Dr. Pablo Tarazaga, Dr. Tracy Fullerton, Dr. Jeremy Kolansky, Dr. Vanessa Restrepo, Dr. James Thomas and Dr. Jonathan Weaver-Rosen. The department also extends congratulations to several faculty who have been successful in their tenure and promotion cases.
We are proud to induct Brenda Ransom Hightower ’81, senior advisor and project manager at Soloman Associates, and Dr. Jimmy Williams ’83, executive director and distinguished professor of the Engineering and Technology Innovation Management program at Carnegie Mellon University, into the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering Academy of Distinguished Graduates. We are certainly proud of all our stellar current and former students’ contributions in all corners of the world.
And, of course, our success would not be possible without the ever-generous support of our donors, whose contributions to scholarship and development funds help us continue to advance the quality and breadth of education we provide.
Sincerely,
Guillermo Aguilar
Department Head
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
James and Ada Forsyth Professor