Four award-winning faculty members represent three departments in the College of Engineering
Four faculty members from the University of Miami College of Engineering (UMCoE) have been granted tenure.
“To my knowledge, this is the first time in the UMCoE’s 72-year history that four faculty members have been granted tenure in a single semester,” said Jean-Pierre Bardet, dean of UMCoE. “Today, we have the highest number of faculty in the College’s history, which helps propels us to new levels of distinction. These exemplary individuals are doing exceptional work as scholars and educators in their respective fields, increasing our research, as well as our contributions to the community and society at-large.”
Alicia Jackson (BSBE ’05, MSBE ’07, PhD ’10), an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, focuses on the pathophysiology of orthopaedic soft tissues, including intervertebral disc of the spine and meniscus of the knee, in order to develop novel strategies to treat and prevent tissue degeneration. She characterizes the effects of mechanical loading, tissue structure and degeneration on tissue transport and electromechanical properties, as well as cellular viability and behavior. Jackson joined the UMCoE biomedical engineering faculty in August 2011. She received her PhD at UM in 2010 for her work on Transport and Metabolism of Glucose in Intervertebral Disc which combined both experimental and theoretical approaches. She also received her master’s and bachelor’s degrees from UM.
Ali Ghahremaninezhad, an assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, focuses on a bio-inspired approach based on programmable peptides as a new paradigm in controlling cement’s microstructure to achieve desired mechanical performance in infrastructure materials. Recently, Ghahremaninezhad received the National Science Foundation (NSF) Early Career Development award for his research project titled “Bio-Inspired Genetically Engineered Self-Healing for Cementitious Materials.” His research is at the intersection of engineering mechanics, materials science, chemistry and biochemistry. He has collaborated with chemists and biologists within and outside the University of Miami. Ghahremaninezhad received his PhD in engineering mechanics from the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas. He also received his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran.
Gang Wang, an assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, concentrates on district heating and cooling systems, heat and mass transfer analysis, solar and renewable energy applications, modeling, control, optimization, and fault detection and diagnosis of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) power systems. Wang recently received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to remedy the HVAC efficiency problems related to occupancy signals in commercial buildings. He received his PhD in architectural engineering from the University of Nebraska, as well as his PhD, master’s degree and bachelor’s degree in heating, ventilation and air conditioning from the Harbin Institute of Technology in China.
Francesco Travascio, (PhD ’09), an assistant professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering, is pursuing biomechanics, robot assisted orthopaedic surgery, musculoskeletal modeling, biomedical imaging and biotransport. With funding from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, Travascio recently led an interdisciplinary team of scientists to develop a novel, long-lasting treatment for meniscus tear repair. He received his PhD in chemical and materials engineering from University of Naples in Naples, Italy, and a PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of Miami. To date, he has published more than 80 articles in national and international journals and proceedings.
