Pierre Larochelle, Ph.D.
Department Head of Mechanical Engineering
South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
Pierre Larochelle serves as Department Head and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. Previously, he served as an Associate Dean and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Florida Institute of Technology. His research focuses on the design of complex robotic mechanical systems and enabling creativity and innovation in design. He is the founding director of the RObotics and Computational Kinematics INnovation (ROCKIN) Laboratory, has over 100 publications, holds three US patents, and serves as a consultant on robotics, automation, machine design, creativity & innovation, and computer-aided design. In 2012, at NASA’s request, he created a 3-day short course on Creativity & Innovation. This course has been very well received, and he has taught it exclusively more than 35 times at NASA’s various centers and laboratories across the nation to more than 700 of NASA’s scientists and engineers. He currently serves as the Chair of the ASME Committee for Engineering Education (2024-27). He is the past chair of the U.S. Committee on the Theory of Mechanisms & Machine Science and represented the U.S. in the International Federation for the Promotion of Mechanism & Machine Science (IFToMM) (2016-24). He served as a founding Associate Editor for the ASME Journal of Autonomous Vehicles and Systems (2020-24). Moreover, he serves on the Executive Committees of ASME’s Department Heads Committee. He served on the Executive Committee of ABET’s Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) (2017-24). He serves as an ABET Accreditation Visit Team Chair and Program Evaluator (2006-). He has served as Chair of the ASME Design Engineering Division (2018-2019) and the ASME Mechanisms & Robotics Committee (2010-2014), and as an Associate Editor for the ASME Journal of Mechanisms & Robotics (2013-19), the ASME Journal of Mechanical Design (2005-11), and for Mechanics Based Design of Structures & Machines (2006-13). He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), a Senior Member of IEEE, and a member of Tau Beta Pi, Pi Tau Sigma, ASEE, and the Order of the Engineer.
Orlando M. Ayala, Ph.D.
Director of Undergraduate Research
Endowed Ray Ferrari Professor of Mechanical Engineering Technology
Old Dominion University
Orlando Ayala, a Cum Laude graduate with a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Universidad de Oriente (Venezuela) in 1995, obtained his MS in Mechanical Engineering in 2001 and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in 2005 from the University of Delaware (USA). Currently serving as the endowed Ray Ferrari Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Technology Program at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, he joined ODU in 2013. He was recently appointed as the ODU Director of Undergraduate Research. Prior to his tenure at ODU, Dr. Ayala spent three years as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Delaware. His research focuses on multiphase flow simulation, high-performance parallel computing, scientific computation, and engineering education. He has taught courses in Fluid Mechanics, Heat Transfer, Thermodynamics, Multiphase Flows, and Mechanical Engineering Labs. Dr. Ayala possesses valuable industry exposure, having worked with engineering consulting firms on diverse projects, spanning petroleum, natural gas, brewing, and newspaper industries. He has actively contributed to professional organizations like ASME, notably in the Committee of Spanish Translation of ASME Codes and the ASME Subcommittee on Piping and Pipelines in Spanish. With a prolific research background, Dr. Ayala has authored about one hundred journal and peer-reviewed conference papers, presented his work globally, and maintains an average yearly citation rate over 45.
Jonathan Cagan, Ph.D.
David and Susan Coulter Head of Mechanical Engineering
Carnegie Mellon University
Prior to serving as Head of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, Jonathan Cagan served as Interim Dean of the College of Engineering and Special Advisor to the Provost. Cagan co-founded the Integrated Innovation Institute for interdisciplinary design education at CMU, bringing engineering, design, and business together to create new products and services. Cagan's research focuses on design automation and methods, problem solving, and medical technologies. His work merges AI, machine learning, and optimization methods with cognitive- and neuro-science problem solving. A Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Cagan has been awarded the ASME Design Theory and Methodology, Design Automation, and Ruth and Joel Spira Outstanding Design Educator Awards. He is also a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. A registered Professional Engineer, Cagan received his PhD from UC Berkeley, and has been on the faculty at CMU since 1990.
Wei Chen, Ph.D.
Wilson-Cook Professor in Engineering Design
Professor and Chair of Mechanical Engineering
Northwestern University
Dr. Wei Chen is the Wilson-Cook Professor in Engineering Design and Chair of Department of Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern University. Directing the Integrated DEsign Automation Laboratory, her current research involves the use of statistical inference, machine learning, and uncertainty quantification techniques for design of emerging materials systems including microstructural materials, metamaterials and programmable materials. She serves as the Design Thrust lead for the NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) on Hybrid Autonomous Manufacturing, Moving from Evolution to Revolution (HAMMER), where she works on digital twin systems for concurrent materials and manufacturing process design. Dr. Chen is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAA&S). She served as the Editor-in-chief of the ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, the Chair of the ASME Design Engineering Division (DED), and the President of the International Society of Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization (ISSMO). Dr. Chen is the recipient of the 2022 Engineering Science Medal from the Society of Engineering Science (SES), ASME Pi Tau Sigma Charles Russ Richards Memorial Award (2021), ASME Design Automation Award (2015), Intelligent Optimal Design Prize (2005), ASME Pi Tau Sigma Gold Medal achievement award (1998), and the NSF Faculty Career Award (1996). She received her Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1995.
Harish Cherukuri, Ph.D.
Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science
University of North Carolina Charlotte
Harish P. Cherukuri was also a Senior Fulbright-Nehru research fellow to India in 2010-11. He obtained his PhD from the Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1994. His research interests are in computational mechanics, modeling of material removal and metal-forming processes, high-temperature behavior of super-alloys, particle-based methods, and the application of machine learning in manufacturing and materials science. At UNC Charlotte, he usually teaches courses such as Engineering Analysis, Computational Methods for Engineers, Plasticity, and Finite Element Methods.
Mebougna Drabo, Ph.D.
Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering
& Civil Engineering and Construction Management
Alabama A&M University
Dr. Mebougna L. Drabo is currently a professor of Mechanical Engineering at Alabama A&M University (AAMU). He is the chair of the Department of Mechanical & Civil Engineering and Construction Management at AAMU. He is also serving as the director of the Alabama EPSCoR Agency for the Department of Energy. He joined AAMU in 2012, leveraging his expertise in teaching and mentoring STEM students while fostering on-campus research and DOE Lab internships. Currently, he directs the DOE/NNSA's Consortium, SPINS, and is working on integrating radiation detection systems into cyber manufacturing environments. His research interests include STEM education, Additive Manufacturing, Thermoelectric Devices for Energy Harvesting, Digital Twinning Technology, Nuclear Radiation Detectors, Nuclear Security and Safety, Small Nuclear Modular Reactors (SMR), Material Characterization (X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy & Infrared Microscopy), Nanotechnology, Data Analytics and Visualization, Biofuels Applications, Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis, Heat Transfer, Energy Conservation in building, and Multi Fuel Optimization.
He has participated in engaging and mentoring many STEM students in on-campus research and internships at DOE labs. He successfully participated in developing the Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Science Center at Alabama A&M University. He also participated, as Co-Principal Investigator, in the writing of many successful grant proposals that funded the center. He is also an ABET IDEAL Scholar (Excellence in Assessment Leadership). Dr. Drabo completed the Chronicle’s Strategic-leadership Program for Department Chairs, the Organizational Change in Uncertain Times: A Leadership Program for Higher Education, and the Management Development Program. Dr. Drabo is a member of the SAE Fuels & Lubricant Council, a member of the SAE Combustion and Fuels Committee, and a full member of Sigma Xi. He served as a reviewer of several journals including: 1) Reviewer for SAE International Journal of Aerospace, 2) Reviewer for International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, 3) Reviewer for Fuel Journal, 4) Reviewer for McGraw Hill, 5) Reviewer for the Engineering Journal, and 6) Reviewer for the Honor Society of PHI KAPPA PHI.
Ahmad Fayed, Ph.D.
Department Head of Industrial and Engineering Technology
Southeastern Louisiana University
Dr. Ahmad Fayed is the Bell South Endowed Professor, Interim Department Head, and Associate Professor of Engineering Technology at Southeastern Louisiana University (SELU). Serving as the chair of the Mechanical Engineering Leadership Committee (METLC) and a member of the Committee on Engineering Education of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). With a teaching career spanning several esteemed institutions, including Purdue University Northwest (PNW) and the University of Nevada Reno (UNR), Dr. Fayed employs innovative teaching approaches recognized with multiple awards. His research interests cover Engineering Education, Additive Manufacturing, Computer Vision, Robotics, Active Vibration Control, and Optimization. Dr. Fayed holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Al-Azhar University, King Saud University, and the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), reflecting a robust academic background. Website | Research Gate | LinkedIn
Leigh McCue-Weil, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair
George Mason University
From June 2015-December 2018 Leigh McCue was the executive director of the American Society of Naval Engineers. Prior to that, from December of 2004 through May of 2015, she was an Assistant, then Associate Professor in Virginia Tech’s Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering. Her research interests are in maritime robotics, nonlinear and chaotic vessel dynamics, and computational fluid dynamics, coupled with an emphasis on fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion in engineering.
Michele Miller, Ph.D.
Professor and Associate Dean of Engineering
Campbell University
Michele Miller is Professor and Associate Dean of Engineering at Campbell University. Prior to joining Campbell in 2017, she was a mechanical engineering professor at Michigan Tech for 22 years. She has been an advocate for project-based curricula and has served ABET as a program evaluator and team chair. She teaches classes on manufacturing and mechanics. She has performed research in engineering education, micro-electromechanical systems, and precision machining. She received a BS degree from Duke University and MS and PhD degrees from North Carolina State University, all in mechanical engineering.
Karim H. Muci-Kuchler, Ph.D.
Professor and Mechanical Engineering Academic Program Coordinator
Texas State University
Dr. Karim Muci-Kuchler is a Professor and Mechanical Engineering Academic Program Coordinator at the Ingram School of Engineering of Texas State University. Before joining Texas State University, he was a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Experimental and Computational Mechanics Laboratory at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. He received his Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from Iowa State University in 1992. He has taught a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate engineering courses and his main interest areas include Engineering Education, Computational Mechanics, Product Design and Development, and Solid Mechanics. Dr. Muci-Kuchler is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, co-author of a book about Adaptive Meshing with Boundary Elements, and author or co-author of over 85 publications. The latter include papers related to engineering education, the boundary element method, the friction stir spot welding process, and surrogate perforating projectile wounds, among others. He is an ABET PEV, has served as session chair or co-chair at international conferences, has reviewed papers for technical journals and conference proceedings, has served as panelist for the National Science Foundation (NSF), and has done consulting for industry in Mexico and the US.
Rungun Nathan, Ph.D.
Professor and Program Chair for the Mechanical Engineering Department
Penn State Berks
Rungun Nathan, a professor and program chair for the mechanical engineering department, joined the faculty at Penn State Berks in 2007 as an assistant professor, was promoted in 2012 to associate professor and became full in 2021. He has over 25 combined years of increasing responsibilities in industry and in academia, including at the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), a telecommunications technology arm of the Indian government, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.), Bangalore, and Villanova University, PA. Nathan received his BS from the University of Mysore, a postgraduate diploma from the Indian Institute of Science, an MS from Louisiana State University, and a PhD from Drexel University. He worked in electronic packaging in C-DOT and then as a scientific assistant in the robotics laboratory at IISc. in Bangalore, India, and as a postdoc at the University of Pennsylvania in haptics and virtual reality. His research interests are in the areas of brain traumatic injury, unmanned vehicles, particularly flapping flight and Frisbees, mechatronics, robotics, MEMS, virtual reality, and haptics, as well as teaching with technology. He has ongoing research in brain traumatic injury, flapping flight, frisbee flight dynamics, lift in porous material, and wound therapy. He is an active member of APS (DFD), ASEE, ASME, and AGMA, and is a reviewer for several ASME, IEEE, ASEE, and FIE conferences and journals. He is co-editor for ASEE publication Computers in Education. He also serves as a Program Evaluator for ABET. He has served as one of the organizers for MEED since 2021.
Paul Ronney, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair of the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
University of Southern California
Prof. Ronney received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley, an MS in Aeronautics from Caltech, and a Sc.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT. He held postdoctoral appointments at the NASA Lewis Research Center and the U. S. Naval Research Laboratory and a position as Assistant Professor at Princeton University before assuming his current position at USC. He was a Payload Specialist Astronaut (Alternate) for Space Shuttle Missions STS-83 and STS-94 in 1997. Professor Ronney research areas include micro-scale combustion, turbulent combustion, internal combustion engines, microgravity combustion and fire spread. He has had experiments flown on three Space Shuttle missions. In recognition of his achievements, he is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Combustion Institute, an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors. He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award, the Engineer’s Council Distinguished Engineering Educator Achievement Award, and the Combustion Institute Distinguished Paper Award.
Yiheng Wang, Ph.D.
Professor of Engineering Physics and Engineering Chair
Lone Star College
Yiheng Wang is a Professor of Engineering and Chair of Physics and Engineering at Lone Star College–CyFair in Texas. Previously she served as Assistant Professor of Engineering at Danville Community College in Virginia from 2009 to 2014. As a faculty member at a two-year college, Yiheng teaches a broad range of first- and second-year engineering courses across six associate degree programs, all designed for transfer to four-year universities. She has a strong commitment to student mentorship and actively supports students in extracurricular activities, including student clubs, special projects, and competitions, especially, Yiheng has ten years of experience advising students in NASA-funded competitions. She holds a B.S. in Polymer Science and Engineering from South China University of Technology and a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of California, Riverside.