Meet the college's newest faculty cohort
Get to know the researchers, scholars and thought leaders who have joined the College of Engineering’s world-class faculty for the 2023-24 academic year.
Center for Aviation Studies
D. Blake Stringer, Director (he/him/his)
Prior role: Associate Professor at Kent State University
Research interest: Electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) aircraft propulsion scalability and thermal management, and uncrewed traffic management (UTM) with funded work from the Army Research Office, the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Ohio Federal Research Network. His total research collaborations as PI or co-PI exceed $6.5 million in external funding.
Interesting facts: He is the recipient of numerous military awards and decorations that include the Bronze Star and the Army’s Senior Aviator Badge. He has one combat tour in Iraq.
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Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Rachel Getman, Professor (she/her/hers)
Prior role: Murdoch Family Endowed Professor at Clemson University
Research interest: Our group uses multi-scale modeling including density functional theory and molecular dynamics to elucidate phenomena at fluid/solid interfaces for applications in separations and catalysis.
Courses taught this academic year: Chemical Reactor Design
Favorite hobby: Working out at Orangetheory Fitness.
Interesting fact: I have six tattoos and counting.
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Blaise Kimmel, Assistant Professor (he/him/his)
Prior role: Postdoctoral research fellow at Vanderbilt University.
Research interest: Engineering immunomodulatory protein therapies for cancer and rare diseases.
Courses taught this academic year: CBE 4624 (Process Dynamics and Control)
Favorite hobby: Listening to music and creating new playlists every month.
Interesting fact: Worked as an engineering intern with Disney for two summers while I was an undergraduate student at Ohio State.
Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering
Kelsea Best, Assistant Professor (she/her/hers)
Prior role: Postdoctoral researcher, University of Maryland
Research interest: Equity implications of climate change effects and adaptations.
Courses taught this academic year: Not known at this time
Favorite hobby: Hiking
Interesting fact: I was in an improv comedy group in college.
Computer Science and Engineering
Suren Byna, Professor (he/him/his)
Prior role: Senior computer scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Research interest: Scientific data management, specifically parallel file systems, next-generation data management systems, I/O libraries, file formats, data compression strategies, data movement performance characterization and tuning, performance data visualization, efficient scientific workflows, and scientific metadata and provenance management strategies.
Courses taught this academic yea: CSE 6441 - Parallel Computing
Favorite hobby: Hiking, listening to music, watching movies
Interesting fact: Pursuing a PhD was not in my plans until I finished my master's degree.
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Mahdi Khalili, Assistant Professor (he/him/his)
Prior role: Research Scientist at Yahoo Research
Research interest: Theoretical and applied machine learning with fairness, privacy, and strategic behavior consideration.
Courses taught this academic year: A graduate seminar on trustworthy machine learning.
Favorite hobby: Traveling, hiking
Interesting fact: I am good at latte art. I am a barista at home and make lattes for everyone.
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Marco Brocanelli, Assistant Professor (he/him/his)
Prior role: Assistant professor of computer science at Wayne State University
Research interest: Sustainable and equitable autonomous systems
Courses taught this academic year: ECE 2060
Favorite hobby: Swimming
Interesting fact: Got my PhD from ECE at Ohio State in 2018; moved to Wayne State computer science where I received an NSF CAREER award (among other NSF awards); now working on equitable computing.
Engineering Education
Adam Carberry, Professor and Chair (he/him/his)
Prior role: Associate professor, Arizona State University
Research interest: My primary areas of interest within the broad discipline of engineering education include: 1) developing new classroom innovations and assessment techniques for pre-college and college students, 2) identifying new ways to empirically understand engineering student and educator experiences, 3) understanding effective faculty mentorship, and 4) evaluating large engineering research centers.
Courses taught this academic year: N/A
Favorite hobby: Golf
Interesting fact: I've played in a World Championship for ultimate frisbee.
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Bob Rhoads, Associate Professor (he/him/his)
Prior role: Director of Multidisciplinary Design Capstone (staff role), Ohio State's Department of Engineering Education
Research interest: I am currently active in curriculum development and education research focused on capstone design and student-centered learning.
Courses taught this academic year: Multidisciplinary Design Capstone
Favorite hobby: Go for walks on the beach with my wife.
Interesting fact: I grew up on a farm in Ashland, Ohio with five older sisters and am a first generation college graduate.
Integrated Systems Engineering
Taejoon Park, Research Associate Professor (he/him/his)
Prior role: Senior Research Associate-Engineer
Research interest: Constitutive modeling of metal alloys and polymer composites.
Courses taught this academic year: Not yet known.
Favorite hobby: Watching movies
Interesting fact: I have two sons.
Knowlton School - Architecture
Rachely Rotem, Associate Professor (she/her/hers)
Prior role: Co-Founder MODU
Research interest: Redrawing borders between architecture and the environment.
Courses taught this academic year: Seminar-Indoor Urbanism
Favorite hobby: Volleyball
Interesting fact: Futurist in the moment.
Knowlton School - City and Regional Planning
Ricardo Cardoso, Assistant Professor (he/him/his)
Prior role: Assistant Professor of Social Sciences
Research interest: Transnational urbanism, the urban effects of oil economies and the politics of development and change in African cities.
Courses taught this academic year: I don't know yet (starting in Jan 2024).
Favorite hobby: Cooking and psychogeographical wanderings.
Interesting fact: My greatest achievement was to be part of a basketball team who won the Portuguese national championship for ages 15/16.
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Manuel Santana Palacios, Assistant Professor (he/him/his)
Prior role: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of City and Regional Planning, UNC-Chapel Hill
Research interest: I am interested in studying the connections between urban infrastructure, public transit systems, and land use through the lenses of environmental, spatial, and climate justice.
Courses taught this academic year: TBD
Favorite hobby: Cycling
Materials Science and Engineering
Kaveh Ahadi, Assistant Professor (he/him/his)
Prior role: Assistant Professor in the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering and Physics at North Carolina State University
Research interest: Complex oxides, topological matter, and emergent phenomena at epitaxial interfaces.
Interesting fact: At Ohio State, he will use molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to grow, explore, and manipulate thin films and heterostructures of quantum materials.
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Yanzhou Ji, Assistant Professor (he/him/his)
Prior role: Assistant Research Professor, Penn State University
Research interest: I am primarily interested in developing and applying theoretical and computational approaches to understand, predict and manipulate microstructure evolution in materials.
Courses taught this academic year: MATSCEN 6737: Diffusion and Interface Kinetics
Favorite hobby: Running, cooking, watching soccer games.
Interesting fact: I like making and eating noodles. I think materials design is similar to cooking in many ways.
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Salva Salmani-Rezaie, Assistant Professor (she/her/hers)
Prior role: Kavli postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University
Research interest: Atomic-scale understanding of quantum and topological phenomena.
Courses taught this academic year: Co-teaching materials for energy technology and electronic, optical and magnetic properties lab.
Favorite hobby: Hiking, biking and baking.
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Jesse Little, Professor and Director, Aerospace Research Center (he/him/his)
Prior role: Professor, Associate Head for Graduate Studies, Co-Director Arizona Research Center for Hypersonics, Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Arizona
Research interest: Experimental aerodynamics
Courses you taught this academic year: N/A
Favorite hobby: Hiking and gardening
Interesting fact: Returning to my alma mater (BS/MS/PhD) after spending 13 years in Tucson, Arizona.
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Nathan Webb, Research Assistant Professor (he/him/his)
Prior role: Research scientist
Research interest: My research interests are in the field of aerospace engineering and include plasma-based flow control, UAS fluid dynamics and acoustics, hypersonic flows and flow control, high-speed air-breathing propulsion, optical flow diagnostics, and unsteady flows.
Courses taught this academic year: N/A
Favorite hobby: Gardening
Interesting fact: I have completed multiple marathons.
compiled by Meggie Biss, College of Engineering Communications | biss.11@osu.edu
