Message from Dean Sanjay Raman
I am pleased to share with you the UMass Amherst College of Engineering 2021 Dean’s Report. As I conclude my second year as dean, I continue to be impressed by the exceptional work of our faculty, students and staff, and the shared dedication toward solving complex societal challenges to create a more just and sustainable world.
Even as we continued to grapple with the myriad challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, this past year I witnessed amazing resilience and generosity in our community. From fighting for an equitable energy transition and developing technologies to combat future pandemics to conducting trailblazing cross-disciplinary research across fields such as materials and quantum information systems, our community continues to set the standard for the inclusive and innovative future of engineering. Notably, we celebrated our first graduating class of biomedical engineering undergraduate students and began preparations for our historic 75th anniversary celebration in 2022.
I am also energized by the launch of our new strategic plan, Revolutionary Engineering: 2025 and Beyond, which lays out the steps needed to further solidify our college as a global leader in transformational engineering research for the betterment of society. A key element of this plan will be strategically engaging with industry partners on talent, workforce development, research, and innovation.
As I look back on the many accomplishments of the past year highlighted in this report, I feel immense pride in all we have achieved and invigorated by the exciting work still to come. I look forward to building upon the college’s legacy of ingenuity and inclusion to help us solidify our role as the engineering leaders of tomorrow.
ELEVATE: Toward an Equitable and Sustainable Energy System Transformation
A new program asks how we can transform the electric grid to be more sustainable and equitable.
Revolutionary Engineering: Strategic Plan 2025 and Beyond
We launched a bold plan to be a global model in transformative engineering research for the betterment of society.
Caitlyn Butler Utilizes Wastewater Monitoring to Mitigate Spread of COVID-19
Caitlyn Butler’s research team monitors the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the wastewater associated with the UMass Amherst campus.
Industry Partner Program Builds Relationships
A new program facilitates strong relationships between industry partners and the college.
Elevating Equity Values in the Transition of the Energy system (ELEVATE) is a PhD program within the Energy Transition Institute (ETI) focused on community-engaged research to ensure the transformation of the electric grid is sustainable and benefits all members of society equitably. Matthew Lackner, a professor in MIE and associate director of the UMass Wind Energy Center, is the principal investigator for the new program, which was awarded two grants totaling $6.3 million from the National Science Foundation.
Examples of Current Projects
Community Benefits from Energy Storage
Energy storage systems, such as batteries or hot water tanks, are used and owned in different ways around the world. Communities with lower access to capital can benefit from cooperative ownership to defray upfront costs, and the design of these arrangements may differ between developed and developing countries.
Electrifying Home Heating for Cost Savings and Decarbonization
Holyoke, MA is a historic mill-town with a linguistically and ethnically diverse population. Residents of Holyoke have been confronting post-industrial decline, high poverty, and high unemployment for decades. Heating is a major cost burden for low-income residents, as well as one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions.
Demographic Disparities in Financial Returns to Solar
Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology is a promising source of renewable energy. Federal and state mandates, incentives, and subsidies increase solar PV adoption and hasten the energy transition. However, these policies are designed with adoption as the main metric of success and fail to consider other benefits to solar PV adoption like the stream of financial returns over time.
The College of Engineering launched a bold new strategic plan, Revolutionary Engineering: 2025 and Beyond, which lays out the steps necessary for the College of Engineering to advance as a world leader in transformational engineering research for the betterment of society. Through strategic growth around critical areas such as research impact, industry partnerships, and diversity and inclusion, the college is moving toward the ultimate goal of placing among the top 25 public engineering colleges in the nation.
Caitlyn Butler (CEE) has spent the last fifteen months running a research team that monitors the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the wastewater associated with the UMass Amherst campus. Beyond leading the wastewater monitoring team, Butler also co-authored “Wastewater Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 on College Campuses: Initial Efforts, Lessons Learned, and Research Needs” in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
The college recently launched a new Industry Partner Program (IPP) that facilitates long-term, strategic relationships between industry partners and the College of Engineering. Through multi-tiered, annual memberships, industry partners engage with college constituents around shared research interests, recruitment and career placement, and workforce development opportunities. The program serves as part of the larger strategic plan to increase the College of Engineering’s global impact.
Undergraduate Rising Researchers
Joshua McGee ’21 (ChE), Jaydeep Radadiya ’21 (MIE), Ali Abdel-Maksoud ’21 (ECE), and Nicholas Sbalbi ’21 (ChE) were four of seventeen “Rising Researchers” honored this past year as undergraduates who “excel in research, challenge their intellect, and exercise exceptional creativity.”
UMass Student Engineers Place at AISC Student Steel Bridge Competition
A team of six College of Engineering students placed third in the Public Vote category at the 2021 American Institute of Steel Construction’s Student Steel Bridge Competition. It was the first time a UMass team competed in the national finals of the competition.
Two Doctoral Students Receive Link Foundation Fellowships
Xiaomeng Liu (ECE) received $61,000 to support his research on the Jun Yao Research Group’s pioneering “Air Generator” (or Air-Gen), which harvests electricity “out of thin air” from the atmosphere. Ganesh Pai Mangalore (MIE) was awarded $32,500 to support his work with Anuj Pradhan’s research group studying advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), whose safety benefits are largely negated when utilized by uninformed users.
Sharkus Receives Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award
Cielo Sharkus, a doctoral candidate in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department studying environmental and water resources engineering, was a recipient of the College of Engineering’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Award.
Nicholas Sbalbi Awarded a Goldwater Scholarship
Nicholas Sbalbi (ChE) was awarded a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship from the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. Sbalbi, who is also a member of the Commonwealth Honors College, plans to pursue a Ph.D. in materials science or chemical engineering after graduation.
Paul Hirsh Receives a Scanlon Student Employee of the Year Award
Paul Hirsh (MIE) was one of ten students to receive a Scanlon Student Employee of the Year Award. The award is given each year to students who demonstrate “leadership, initiative, and a unique work ethic, designating them as an asset to their department and to the university community.”
Chemical Engineering Students Win First Prize in Science as Art Competition
A student team won a first-place prize in the annual Science as Art competition at the Materials Research Society (MRS) Meeting last December. Their winning entry was a scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrograph titled “Jellyfish Janus Particles.”
Sanjay Raja Arwade (CEE) was elected as a Fellow of the Engineering Mechanics Institute (EMI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Sergio Breña (CEE) was named a 2021 PCI Fellow by the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute.
Chase Cornelison (BME) was awarded a three-year, $400,000 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Trailblazer Award.
Lixin Gao, Distinguished Professor (ECE), has been named the 2021–22 Katherine Hampson Bessell Fellow by the Harvard Radcliffe Institute.
Dimitrios Maroudas (ChE) was elected as a 2020 Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).
T. J. “Lakis” Mountziaris (ChE) has been elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Kara Peterman (CEE) received the Terry Peshia Early Career Faculty Award from the American Institute of Steel Construction.
David Pozar, professor emeritus (ECE), received the 2020 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S) Field Award for Distinguished Achievement.
John E. Tobiason (CEE) was selected as a Fellow of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP).
Omar Abdelrahman (ChE) Receives NSF CAREER Grant to Generate Pioneering Catalysts for Green Chemical Production
Omar Abdelrahman received a $500,000 CAREER grant to develop dynamic catalysts that can utilize renewable electricity to generate more environmentally sound and inexpensive chemical production. Specifically, his NSF research will attempt to transform the electrochemical oxidation of hydrocarbons into oxygenates.
Simos Gerasimidis (CEE) Receives NSF CAREER Grant to Create New Class of Reinforced Concrete Structures
Simos Gerasimidis received a $547,870 CAREER grant for his research exploiting unique mechanical properties of architected metamaterials to create a new class of reinforced concrete structures, known as “metastructures,” with mechanical properties such as strength, ductility, and energy absorption superior to those available today.
Guangyu Xu (ECE) Receives NSF CAREER Grant to Develop Devices for Next-Generation Precision Therapeutics
Guangyu Xu, the Dev and Linda Gupta Endowed Assistant Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, received a $500,000 CAREER grant to establish two lab-on-a-chip technologies that will ultimately lead to enabling tools in next-generation precision therapeutics.
Armstrong Professional Development Professorship
To encourage the development of young faculty who demonstrate substantial achievement and great promise in teaching and their area of research.
Shelly Peyton, Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering
Research expertise in novel biomaterial platforms.
Ronnie & Eugene M. Isenberg Endowed Distinguished Professorship
To enhance teaching and research between the fields of engineering and business.
Sundar Krishnamurty, Professor & Head
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Research expertise in medical device design; engineering design; design optimization and additive manufacturing.
Edward S. Price Faculty Fellow in Chemical Engineering
To recruit new faculty or retain outstanding current faculty in the Department of Chemical Engineering.
Wei Fan, Associate Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering
Research expertise in porous materials.
Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor
Colin Gleason, civil and environmental engineering
Chaitra Gopalappa, mechanical and industrial engineering
Daniel Holcomb, electrical and computer engineering
Jae-Hwang Lee, mechanical and industrial engineering
Jungwoo Lee, chemical engineering
Sarah Perry, chemical engineering
Promotion to Full Professor
Joseph Bardin, electrical and computer engineering
Song Gao, civil and environmental engineering
Carlton Ho, civil and environmental engineering
Matthew A. Lackner, mechanical and industrial eng.
Jenna Marquard, mechanical and industrial engineering
Yahya Modarres-Sadeghi, mechanical and industrial eng.
Shelly Peyton, chemical engineering
Hossein Pishro-Nik, electrical and computer engineering
Ashwin Ramasubramaniam, mechanical and industrial eng.
Golbon Zakeri, mechanical and industrial engineering
Michael Zink, electrical and computer engineering
BME
- Prabhani Atukorale, Assistant Professor
- Immunoengineering; immunotherapeutics; novel nanomaterials; tumor immunology; tumor microenvironment; synthetic tumor niches
- Stacyann Bailey, Assistant Professor
- Bone extracellular matrix quality; biomechanics; osteoporosis; bone metastasis; cancer-treatment related skeletal effects; population health; fracture risk
- Martin Hunter, Lecturer
- Extensive experience in teaching and developing college courses for biomedical engineers
- Siyuan Rao, Assistant Professor
- Biotechnology and neurobiological interfaces; neural modulation; neurophysics; nanomedicine; neuroelectronics; integrated neural probes
- Qianbin Wang, Lecturer
- Neurology; biomechanics; material physics and chemistry
CEE
- Jessica Boakye, Lecturer
- Measuring societal risk of natural hazards; structural engineering and mechanics; seismic design
- Mariana Lanzarini Lopes, Assistant Professor
- Ultraviolet disinfection and biofilm prevention; light driven reactions; PFAS removal and destruction; nano-technology enabled water treatment; drinking water quality and treatment
- Zachary (Zack) Westgate, Associate Professor
- Foundation design; geotechnical aspects of offshore wind; soil mechanics
ECE
- Robert (Bob) Niffenegger, Assistant Professor
- Photonics; trapped ions QIP development; monolithic electronics and detectors; integrated photonic remote entanglement generation; trapped ion logical qubit; quantum computing
Bottom row, left to right: Jessica Boakye, Mariana Lanzarini Lopes, Zachary Westgate, Robert Niffenegger
David Irwin (ECE) is part of an interdisciplinary, multi-institutional team that has been awarded a $3 million grant, jointly administered by the National Science Foundation and VMware, to make cloud computing more low-carbon, sustainable, and “green” by addressing its huge energy output.
Govind Srimathveeravalli (MIE) has received a four-year, $1,366,330 grant from the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to pursue a revolutionary technique for tissue-engineering grafts for bladder reconstruction.
David Reckhow (CEE) was awarded a state grant for $1,072,791 from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP). The grant will facilitate sampling of public water supplies to test if the water is contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and to test selected private water wells in 84 of the 351 Massachusetts cities and towns.
Frank Sup (MIE) and Yahya Modarres Sadeghi (MIE) have been awarded a three-year, $749,043 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) National Robotics Initiative to study a pioneering “Underwater Robot Gait Training System.”
Siyuan Rao (BME) was awarded a three-year, $747,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to support her groundbreaking research on the neural circuitry mechanism of autism spectrum disorders.
Jeremy Gummeson (ECE) and doctoral student Noor Mohammed (ECE) are members of a UMass Amherst team that received a $598,720 National Science Foundation grant to continue the development of a charge-free, wearable device called “Shazam.” The device uses the skin of the human body to charge smartwatches and other wearable devices, and the grant is shared in collaboration with researchers from Northwestern University.
A team of researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, led by Jinglei Ping (MIE), has developed the thinnest and most sensitive flow sensor, which could have significant implications for medical research and applications. The team published their findings in Nature Communications.
Jungwoo Lee (ChE) leads a multidisciplinary team of researchers at the UMass Institute for Applied Life Sciences that has developed a technique to replicate bone tissue complexity and bone remodeling processes. The researchers recently published their findings in Science Advances.
S. Thai Thayumanavan (BME), and distinguished professor in the Chemistry Department, is part of a team of UMass researchers that has engineered a nanoparticle with the potential to revolutionize disease treatment, including cancer. This new research, published in Angewandte Chemie, involves a conjugate nanoparticle that can more precisely and effectively deliver treatment to the specific cells affected by cancer.
Dragana Perkovic-Martin ’08PhD led the system engineering team for the Mars Rover mission’s landing radar as the descent stage safely navigated the rover into a soft landing within the Jezero Crater on the Martian surface. Perkovic-Martin did her doctoral research in the Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory (MIRSL) and has worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) since then.
Marshall Jones ’72MS, ’74PhD (ME) was selected as an honorary member of the Board of Governors of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Jones is a General Electric engineer who holds more than 65 U.S. patents and is recognized as one of the foremost authorities in the field of laser material processing. ASME selected Jones for his “pioneering use of high-powered lasers for industrial materials processing; and for contributions to STEM education, including lifelong mentoring of young people, particularly underrepresented minorities.”
Outstanding Alumni Awards
Distinguished Alumni Award
Visionary leaders in their field, recipients of this honor have reached exceptional levels of professional and personal achievement. This award recognizes distinguished leadership, service, teaching, innovation, and other exemplary accomplishments that positively impact society and the engineering profession.
Victor Bahl ’97 PhD, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Jeffrey Elkins ’86, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Robert W. Ivester ’91, ’93 MS, ’96 PhD, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Edward H. Kalajian ’69 MS, ’71 PhD, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Christine Seymour ’95 PhD, Chemical Engineering
Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Emerging leaders in the early stages of their careers, recipients of this honor are no more than ten years out from receiving their UMass Engineering PhD or no more than fifteen years out from receiving their UMass Engineering undergraduate degree. This award recognizes outstanding professional and personal achievements, and highlights the recipient’s ambitions and potential to positively impact UMass, the Commonwealth, the nation and the world.
Kokui Francisca Adesokan ’09, Chemical Engineering
Jacob Lauzier ’07, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Christine Roy ’04, ’05 MS, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Banafsheh Seyed-Aghazadeh ’15 PhD, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Akshaya Shanmugam ’12 MS, ’15 PhD, Electrical and Computer Engineering
92% of those who reported
had a position 6 months out
from graduation
Median Starting Salaries
BY Program
| ChE | $67,600 |
| CEE | $62,450 |
| CompE | $77,000 |
| EE | $78,500 |
| IE | $71,700 |
| ME | $70,000 |
Experiential Learning
80% of students in the Class of 2020 participated in an internship, co-op, research, or other experiences*.
* other experiences include study abroad, engineering projects through clubs or volunteerism, etc.
The Dean’s Advisory Council is comprised of accomplished alumni and friends from industry, government, and academia who are dedicated to excellence in engineering education, research and innovation and share a commitment to building strategic academic-industry partnerships. Its members serve as ambassadors for UMass Engineering and provide invaluable insight, contacts, and support to help the Dean set priorities and garner the necessary resources to move the College forward. The council meets biannually, in the spring and fall.
Members
Kokui Adesokan ’09 ChE
Associate Director, CIPT Leader, GTF Program, Pratt & Whitney
John Armstrong ’03 Hon
Vice President for Science and Technology (retired), IBM
Rena Bizios ’68 ChE
Lutcher Brown Endowed Chair, Prof. of Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas at San Antonio
Ruth Bonsignore ’83 CEE
Founder, Flink Consulting, LLC
Julie DelVecchio Savage ’79, ’85MS, ’90PhD IE/OR
Director, National Security Engineering Center, The MITRE Corporation
Stephen Gordon ’89MS ECE
Founder, CTO, Vice President of Engineering (retired), Immedia Semiconductor
Robert Gorman ’63 ME*
Co-founder & CEO (retired), Applied Physical Sciences, Inc.
Gillian Gregory ’82MS, ’86PhD CEE
Vice President, GEI Consultants, Inc.
Divi Gupta ’00, ’06MS ECE
Vice President & General Mgr., Ultrasonic Fingerprint Business Unit, TDK USA Corporation
Marshall Jones ’72MS, ’74PhD ME
Principal Engineer (retired), GE Global Research
Barun Kar ’95PhD ECE
Senior Vice President of Engineering, Palo Alto Networks
Kelly Kennedy ’15 ECE**
Specialist, Aftermarket Strategy and Analytics, Collins Aerospace
Raymond Laplante ’87 ChE
Council Vice Chair
Dir. of Polyolefin Technology, Westlake Chemical Corp.
Renee Harbers Liddell ’85 IE
Founder and CEO, Harbers Family Foundation
Kenneth Lloyd ’73 MIE
Vice President of Manufacturing, Electro Switch Business Trust
Adam Miller ’93 CEE
Owner, Summit Design + Build, LLC
Edward Price ’90 ChE
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, PCI Synthesis
Jonathan Roskill ’85 EE
CEO, Acumatica, Inc.
Akshaya Shanmugam ’12MS, ’15PhD ECE
Sr. Clinical Development Engineer, Intuitive
Tamara Sobers ’12MS, ’17PhD ECE
Wireless Communications Engineer and Group Leader,
The MITRE Corporation
Edwin (Ned) Thomas ’69 ME
Council Chair
Ernst Dell Butcher Professor of Engineering, Rice University
*= retired from board in fall 2021
**= Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion subcommittee only
