College leadership updates

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The Ohio State College of Engineering has welcomed four new leaders to its executive team, including new heads of architecture, electrical and computer engineering, administrative affairs and faculty recruitment.

Hoang named new Architecture Section head

Prof. Phu Hoang

Phu Hoang has been named the next section head of Architecture at the Knowlton School.

Hoang, AIA, FAAR, is a licensed architect and founding director of the interdisciplinary architecture and design practice MODU. MODU has designed for numerous cultural institutions, including the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, Art Basel Miami Beach, Design Museum Holon, and Creative Time. Hoang is a fellow and trustee of the American Academy in Rome and President of the Society of Fellows of the American Academy in Rome.

Hoang is the author with MODU co-director Rachely Rotem of Field Guide to Indoor Urbanism. The upcoming book examines three cities—New York, Rome, and Tokyo—and considers examples of indoor urbanism accompanied by MODU’s designs for climate adaptation. With Rotem, Hoang was awarded the Founders’ Rome Prize in Architecture (2017), the Emerging Voices prize (2019) from the Architectural League of New York, and the U.S.-Japan Creative Artists fellowship (2018) from the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as research grants from the New York State Council on the Arts (2021, 2012) and the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation (2013).

Before joining the Knowlton School, Hoang taught at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University and the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. [Read more]



Balasubramaniam tapped to lead Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Shanker Balasubramaniam

Shanker Balasubramaniam was selected to be the new chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, effective August 1, 2022.

Professor Balasubramaniam comes to Ohio State from Michigan State University, where he was a university distinguished professor—an honor accorded to about 2% of tenure system MSU faculty members—in electrical and computer engineering. He also was an associate chair for research and previously served as associate chair of MSU’s Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering from 2015-2018.

Balasubramaniam is recognized internationally for his innovative scholarship in computational science as applied to Maxwell’s equations, which describe the world of electromagnetics. He has developed algorithms for solving Maxwell’s equations across multiple scales, with applications to large-scale scattering, antenna design, optics, electromagnetic compatibility, coupled fullwave-circuit analysis, molecular dynamics, surface plasmons, micro-bubbles and quantum dots. The accuracy, stability and low computational complexity of these algorithms have enabled resolution of some unsolved problems in these areas. He has authored or co-authored more than 450 journal and conference papers, and has presented a number of invited talks.

A fellow of IEEE, Balasubramaniam was an associate editor for IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters (AWPL) and IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, and a topical editor for The Journal of the Optical Society of America: A. [Read more]



Hernandez helps grow faculty ranks and inclusive excellence

Marcela Hernandez portrait

Marcela Hernandez has been appointed to the new position of assistant dean for faculty affairs and recruitment in the College of Engineering. She is charged with leading and providing strategic oversight of engineering faculty recruitment efforts, onboarding and retention.

A molecular biologist and biochemist by training, Hernandez previously served as administrative director in The Ohio State University’s Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. Prior to that, she was the graduate and STEM diversity director with the College of Arts & Sciences. She has designed and implemented programs to recruit, retain and support STEM trainees of all levels, including a special focus on those with underrepresented backgrounds.

Hernandez represents the College of Engineering in various internal and external faculty-related initiatives. In partnership with Ohio State Offices of Human Resources, Academic Affairs, and Diversity and Inclusion, among others, she will develop and execute strategies to establish pipelines of diverse candidates and assess the progress and success of recruitment efforts. Additionally, she leads the College of Engineering’s development and implementation of training to support faculty search committees and hiring processes, including onboarding. [Read more]



Srivastava appointed chief administrative officer

Bobby Srivastava (headshot)

Bobby Srivastava was named chief administrative officer for the College of Engineering. In this role, he is responsible for ensuring financial sustainability and strength during the upcoming period of expansion and growth in faculty, students and research. He leads development and implementation of the $300 million annual college budget and long-term projections and forecasts for college-wide strategic initiatives. He also serves as principal advisor to Dean Ayanna Howard and college leadership on all financial and resource allocation matters.

In addition, Srivastava also serves on several university committees. He is a member of the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) and the Engineering Directors Group, composed of financial leaders in colleges of engineering across the U.S.

Srivastava has served in progressive leadership roles within the College of Engineering, previously serving as the assistant dean for research, supporting the college’s $140 million research enterprise; director of research operations; and business manager for the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Prior to joining the College of Engineering in 2012, Srivastava worked for KIPP, a national network of 270 charter schools focused on closing the achievement gap. [Read more]

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