Auburn Engineering faculty named to 2024 promotion, tenure list
Published: Apr 8, 2024 1:00 PM
By Kat Bader
Auburn University Provost Vini Nathan announced the names of faculty awarded promotion, tenure or both for 2024. The following Auburn Engineering faculty received promotions or tenure:
Mark L. Adams, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, has been promoted to professor. His research interests include sensors and transducers, optics, RF devices and MEMS. He is both the founder and managing member for Systems Visions LLC, a veteran-owned small business focused on research, development, engineering, consulting and training specializing in custom solutions for commercial and defense applications. Adams earned a doctorate in electrical engineering from the California Institute of Technology.
Vinamra Agrawal, assistant professor of aerospace engineering, was promoted to associate professor with tenure. His research interests include mechanics of composites and heterogeneous materials, energy harvesting through ferroic and multiferroic materials, damage materials and smart composites and engineered metamaterials. Agrawal is a recent recipient of an NSF CAREER award to study nanocrystalline alloys. Agrawal earned a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology.
Adil Bashir, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, has been awarded tenure. His research interests include MRI, multinuclear-MRS, bioenergetics, RF coil and metabolism. He recently took part in a $5.3 million NIH study working to identify actionable targets for schizophrenia interventions. Bashir received his doctorate in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Benjamin Bowers, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, was promoted to associate professor with tenure. His research interests include sustainable design, pavement materials, infrastructure resilience, integration of reclaimed materials into pavement and cold recycling. In 2023, Bowers was one of two professors awarded the Resilient Roads Roundtable’s Innovators and Influencers Award. Also in 2023, he was awarded a $1.25 million Federal Aviation Administration (FFA) grant toward assessing the resilience of asphalt on airfield pavements. Bowers earned a doctorate in civil engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Imon Chakraborty, assistant professor of aerospace engineering, was promoted to associate professor with tenure. His research interests include integrated vehicle and subsystems sizing and performance, analysis, vehicle flight dynamics and control and pilot-friendliness aspects of general aviation vehicles. In 2023, Chakraborty was elected an Associate Fellow by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Chakraborty earned a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Siyuan Dai, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, was promoted to associate professor with tenure. His research interests include light matter interactions, nano-optics, nanophotonics, nano and low dimensional materials and optical spectroscopy. Dai is a recipient of an NSF CAREER award to research innovative material response modification. Dai earned a doctorate in physics from the University of California, San Diego.
Allan David, associate professor of chemical engineering, has been promoted to professor. His research interests include “smart” materials, nanomedicine, cancer, vaccine delivery and ocular drug delivery. In 2022, David was named as the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s acting associate dean for research. David assists with the college’s strategic planning, budget development, facilities oversight and administration. Prior to joining the Auburn faculty in 2012, he worked as an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Michigan. David earned his doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Maryland.
Mark Hoffman, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, was promoted to associate professor with tenure. His research interests include internal combustion engines, low temperature combustion, alternative fuels, heat transfer and thermal barrier coatings. Hoffman earned a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan.
Jia (Peter) Liu, assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering, was promoted to associate professor with tenure. His research interests include intelligence-assisted quality control for advanced manufacturing, heterogeneous sensor data-based machine learning and robotics enhanced smart systems in Industry 4.0. In 2023, Liu earned an NSF CAREER award for AM fatigue life prediction through deep learning. Liu earned a doctorate in industrial and systems engineering from Virginia Tech.
Russel Mailen, assistant professor of aerospace engineering, was promoted to associate professor with tenure. His research interests include polymers and composites, additive manufacturing, finite element analysis, lattice structures and smart materials and structures. Mailen was one among eight Auburn University faculty members awarded the university’s Research and Scholarship Connections Travel Grant to Taiwan in 2023. Mailen earned a doctorate in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University.
Raquel Moraes Puchalski, assistant research professor of civil engineering, has been promoted to associate research professor. She received her doctorate in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Anh Nguyen, assistant professor of computer science and software engineering, was promoted to associate professor with tenure. His research interests include deep learning, computer vision, generative modeling, visualization and artificial general intelligence. He earned an NSF CAREER award to explore new means of improving artificial intelligence. Nguyen earned a doctorate in computer science from the University of Wyoming.
Tae-Sik Oh, assistant professor of chemical engineering, was promoted to associate professor with tenure. His research interests include heterogeneous catalysis, CO2 capture and utilization, membrane reactors, electrochemical cells and filtration membranes. Oh earned a doctorate in materials science from the California Institute of Technology.
Gregory Purdy, assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering, was promoted to associate professor with tenure. His research interests include advanced manufacturing, cyber-physical security for manufacturing, digital manufacturing, genetic manufacturing systems and synthetic biology process modeling. Purdy earned a doctorate in industrial and systems engineering from Virginia Tech.
Nicholas Tsolas, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, was promoted to associate professor with tenure. His research interests include developing sustainable energy technologies with decreased net environmental impact, experimental techniques, including laser-based optical diagnostic methods, low-temperature combustion and plasma-assisted combustion, conventional and alternative fuels and internal combustion engines, gas turbines and propulsion systems. In 2023, he earned an NSF CAREER Award for low-temperature plasma research. Tsolas earned a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Pennsylvania State University.
Yang Zhou, assistant professor of computer science and software engineering, was promoted to associate professor with tenure. His research interests include big data algorithms and systems, data mining, machine learning, parallel and distributed computing and databases. Zhou earned a doctorate in computer science from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Several lecturers in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering also received promotion to senior lecturer. Those faculty members include: Richard Garnett, industrial and system engineering; Rodrigo Sardinas, computer science and software engineering; and Daniel Geiger, electrical and computer engineering.
Media Contact: , cmontgomery@auburn.edu, 334.844.3668
Auburn University Provost Vini Nathan recently announced the names of faculty awarded promotion, tenure or both for 2024, including 19 faculty in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.
