Jonsson School Welcomes New Teaching and Research Faculty
The Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science welcomed 13 new faculty members to join The University of Texas at Dallas, one of the fastest–growing doctoral universities in the country.
The research faculty members bring expertise in areas ranging from robotics and computer vision to energy–efficient building systems. The teaching faculty members bring expertise in the rapidly expanding fields of computer science and bioengineering.
“Our new faculty continue to build programs in high demand areas designed to set the framework for the next generation of technological innovation,” said Dr. Stephanie G. Adams, dean of the Jonsson School, professor of systems engineering and holder of the Lars Magnus Ericsson Chair. “Just as important, they share a passion for teaching students the knowledge and life skills necessary to be successful.”
These faculty members are joining in the Jonsson School priority for this academic year: Mission 2021: L.A.U.N.C.H. Leveraging our Attention to Undergraduate and Graduate Student Needs, Challenges and Hopes to focus efforts toward building connections and supporting student success.
New faculty from the past two years including both tenured and tenure track faculty as well as instructional faculty recently gathered with Dean Adams and other school leadership for the Jonsson School’s first dedicated new faculty orientation as well as its new TA orientation, both to make face-to- face connections and to reinforce the goal of focusing on high–quality education for all students.
Dr. Shaheen Ahmed
Dr. Waseem Abbas
Assistant professor of systems engineering
Education: PhD and MS in electrical and computer engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology; BSc in electrical engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Pakistan
Previous position: Research assistant professor and postdoctoral scholar, Vanderbilt University
Research areas: Networked control systems; cyber-physical systems; resilience and robustness in networked systems; distributed optimization; graph machine learning and graph-theoretic methods for multiagent systems
❝I look forward to contributing to the research vision of UTD by working with students and colleagues on fundamental problems in broad areas of network science with a high societal impact. The best part of my job is student interactions. I look forward to offering my best for their excellent learning experience.❞
Dr. Rawan Alghofalli
Dr. Katherine G. Brown
Assistant professor of instruction in bioengineering
Education: PhD in biomedical engineering from The University of Texas at Dallas; MS in electrical engineering from the University of Washington; MBA from Southern Methodist University; BS in electrical engineering from Stanford University
Previous position: Research assistant, The University of Texas at Dallas
Instructional areas: Bioinstrumentation, computational methods for biomedical engineers, image processing
❝I hope to inspire curiosity and creativity in students to prepare them to change the world for the better.❞
Dr. Kevin Brenner
Dr. Shuang (Cynthia) Cui
Assistant professor of mechanical engineering
Education: PhD in mechanical engineering, University of California, San Diego; MS in thermal engineering, Wuhan University; BS in energy systems and power engineering, Wuhan University
Previous position: Researcher, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Research areas: Advanced thermal energy storage materials and systems, intelligent soft materials and devices, nanoscale heat transfer and energy conversion, grid-interactive efficient buildings
❝I am enthusiastic about establishing my research and building up educational programs focusing on training the next generation of engineers with critical thinking and strong hands-on skills. These goals will be achieved through collaboration in multiple fields, such as thermal sciences and nanosciences.❞
Dr. Yi Ding
Dr. Omar Hamdy
Assistant professor of instruction in computer science
Education: PhD and MSc in computer engineering, University of Victoria, Canada; BSc in computer engineering, Kuwait University
Previous position: Assistant professor at Helwan University; director, enterprise architect, Avaya Inc.
Instructional areas: Digital circuit analysis and computer architecture designs, algorithm analysis and data structures, biometric security and digital forensics
❝My plan is to get students ready for the marketplace by building a strong academic foundation and using my extensive industrial experience to make what they study tangible to the industrial world. My key success is when my contribution makes a difference in the students❜ academic achievements and careers after they graduate.❞
Dr. Sourav Dutta
Dr. Gu Eon Kang
Assistant professor of bioengineering
Education: PhD in movement science, University of Michigan, MS in mechanical engineering and bioengineering, University of Michigan, BS in mechanical engineering, Korea University
Previous position: T32 research fellow, Baylor College of Medicine, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery
Research areas: Biomechanics, mobility research, frailty, diabetic foot, fall prevention, gait, posture, wearable sensors, motion analysis, computational modeling, finite element analysis, physical activity, physiological monitoring
❝I aim to train students to take challenges willingly, learn from failure and prepare for the next chapter of their lives. I also hope my research projects will improve patient mobility in specific populations.❞
Dr. Yongsheng Gao
Dr. Kyle McCall
Assistant professor of materials science and engineering
Education: MS and PhD in applied physics, Northwestern University; BS in physics and mathematics, University of Notre Dame
Previous position: Postdoctoral research fellow, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Research areas: Materials chemistry, semiconductors for optoelectronics applications, halide perovskites, renewable energy conversion, light emission, radiation detection
❝The combined practice of materials science, chemistry and physics enables structure-property relationships to be established and tested through the creation of novel materials by design. I aim to equip Jonsson School students with the interdisciplinary skills needed to meet the challenges of our time with sustainable energy materials.❞
Dr. Daniel Gibney
Priya Narayanasami
Assistant professor of instruction, computer science
Education: MS in computer science, The University of Texas at Dallas; MSc in computer science, Avinashilingam Deemed University, India; BSc in computer technology, PSG College of Technology, India
Previous position: Adjunct faculty at UT Dallas
Instructional areas: Software engineering, computer science for nonmajors, programming fundamentals for nonmajors, introduction to programming, object-oriented programming with Python
❝I encourage students to develop time management and communication skills by assigning appropriate work items every week. I keep fine-tuning my quality of teaching every semester, and I want to be a good mentor for women studying STEM.❞
Dr. Brian Kim
Dr. Jalal Omer
Associate professor of instruction, computer science
Education: PhD in computer science, University of Houston; MS in computer science, The University of Texas at Arlington; BS in computer science, Yarmouk University, Jordan
Previous position: Faculty member at The East Central University, Oklahoma; adjunct instructor of computer science at University of North Texas at Dallas
Instructional areas: Database systems, programming language paradigms
❝We are planning to prepare our students by providing them with the skills they need and the ability to learn and research so that they can adapt and flourish as socially responsible, engaged and innovative citizens.❞
Dr. Juyoung Leem
Dr. Christian Rivera
Assistant professor of instruction, bioengineering
Education: PhD in biomedical engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology in a joint program with Emory University and Peking University; BS in biomedical engineering, Purdue University
Previous position: Lecturer, postdoc in biomedical engineering and engineering education, University of Michigan
Instructional areas: Bioengineering statics, biomechanics, fluids and mass transport, engineering design
❝I aim to provide students with exciting design experiences that prepare them for their future careers.❞
Dr. Bingzhe Li
Srimathi Srinivasan
Assistant professor of instruction, computer science
Education: MS in computer science, The University of Texas at Dallas; BS in electronics and communication, Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, India
Previous position: Adjunct instructor at UT Dallas; software professional in telecommunications, networking and information technology; hardware engineer
Instructional areas: Software engineering and programming fundamentals
❝I try to give students my industrial experience. I talk to them how the tech field is going to help them secure good jobs. I teach them with passion, accepting that they will learn from failure as well as success. I teach them to be good citizens.❞
Dr. You Li
Dr. Joshua Summers
Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering
Education: PhD in mechanical engineering, Arizona State University; MS and BS in mechanical engineering, University of Missouri
Previous position: Professor of mechanical engineering, director of graduate studies at Clemson University
Research areas: Collaborative design, knowledge management, design enabler development with the overall objective of improving design through collaboration and computation
❝I like helping people realize their best. When my students walk across the stage at graduation or are hooded, that communicates that we accomplished and completed something, that they are now prepared to tackle the world. As a new department head at UT Dallas, I look forward to helping open doors and letting Jonsson School students, faculty and staff members know about many opportunities to experience success.❞
Xinchen Ni
Dr. Yu Xiang
Assistant professor of computer science
Education: PhD in electrical and computer engineering, University of Michigan; MS in computer science, Fudan University; BS in computer science, Fudan University
Previous position: Senior research scientist at NVIDIA
Research areas: Robotics and computer vision
❝I plan to work on the fundamental challenges in intelligent robotics. I wish to build a ❛robot brain❜ that can enable robots to perform tasks for humans in human environments autonomously such as making a coffee and bringing it to your office. I will encourage students at the Jonsson School to participate in intelligent robotics research.❞
Hossein Pedram
Dr. Yi Zhao
Assistant professor of instruction, computer science
Education: PhD and MS in computer science, The University of Texas at Dallas; BS in computer science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
Previous position: Vice president of standards and industry development, Futurewei Technologies
Instructional areas: Computer architecture, data structure and algorithms
❝I aim to provide students not only with computer science knowledge, but also a window to explore the outside world on technology and industry development. I love teaching! My career started with teaching computer science at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China. After working in industry for decades, I am happy to return as an instructor at UT Dallas, my alma mater.❞