Assimina Pelegri, PhD

Dr. Assimina (Mina) Pelegri is an Aerospace Engineer and a Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Rutgers University. She is the Executive Officer and Undergraduate Director of the Department. Her research interests lie in composite materials design, computational modeling, and experimental characterization. Her current research projects span from super hard material response on ballistic loads to modeling neuron degradation during Alzheimer’s and traumatic brain injury. Her publications are mostly composite materials characterization and modeling and fibrous tissue modeling, while currently she is expanding her capabilities in hybrid finite element - artificial intelligence algorithms. Mina immensely enjoys fun research projects, and she believes industry-academia ties are important for the development of robust educational programs and she is a firm advocate of student internship experiences. Mina volunteers at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers where she leads the Space: Habitats and Exploration Technology Group. She is an associate editor of the Journal of the Engineering and Science of Medical Diagnostics and Therapy, and past editor of Journal of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology. Mina has chaired the Technical Program and the General Conference of the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, has served on ASME Minority Leadership program and the Government Relations and Public Affairs board.

Mina's firm beliefs in mentoring and education have been recognized through the Outstanding Faculty of School Engineering and Rutgers Mentor of the Year awards. She has been invited to symposia of the National Academy of Engineering and the Frontiers of Engineering. She was inducted as Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni of Georgia Institute of Technology, and was awarded the ASME Gold Medal / Pi Tau Sigma Gold Medal. She also holds an Amelia Earhart Award from Zonta International and she is a Fulbright scholar.

Mina holds Ph.D. and MS degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a Graduate Certificate on Management of Technology from the Scheller College of Business at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, and a Diploma in Metallurgical Engineering and Solid State Physics from the National Technical University of Athens in Greece.