The University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science is proud to recognize the outstanding faculty members who have earned promotions this year. These achievements reflect their exceptional accomplishments as well as their impact on our community and the broader field.
Assistant Professor With Term to Associate Professor Without Term
Liheng Cai
Materials Science and Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering
B.S., Lanzhou University, 2006; Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2012; postdoctoral fellow, Harvard University, 2013-2017
Research areas: Polymers and soft matter, advanced (bio)manufacturing, bioengineering
Yangfeng Ji
Computer Science
Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2016; postdoctoral researcher, Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington, 2016-2018
Research areas: Natural language processing, machine learning
Rachel A. Letteri
Chemical Engineering
B.S., University of Notre Dame, 2010; M.S., University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2012; Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2016; postdoctoral researcher, Texas A&M University, 2016-2018
Research areas: Polymer synthesis and characterization, biomaterials, peptide binding and assembly, therapeutic peptide delivery
Jundong Li
Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science
B.E., Zhejiang University, 2012; M.S., University of Alberta, 2014; Ph.D., Arizona State University, 2019
Research areas: Artificial intelligence, data mining, machine learning, natural language processing
Ji Ma
Materials Science and Engineering
B.S., Texas A&M University, 2008; Ph.D., Texas A&M University, 2012
Research areas: Additive manufacturing, tailored materials, multifunctional materials, orthopedic implants
Julianne Quinn
Civil and Environmental Engineering, Systems and Information Engineering
B.S., Columbia University, 2011; Ph.D., Cornell University, 2017
Research areas: Water resources management, stochastic hydrology, uncertainty analysis, multi-objective control, risk analysis
Ashish Venkat
Computer Science
Ph.D., University of California San Diego
Research areas: Computer architecture, computer security, compilers
Associate Professor Without Term to Professor Without Term
Bryan Berger
Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering
B.S., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1999; Ph.D., University of Delaware, 2006; postdoctoral researcher, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 2006-2009
Research areas: Synthetic biology, biotechnology, biomineralization, biosensors, biomanufacturing, biofilms, biosurfactants, structural biology
James T. Burns
Materials Science and Engineering
B.S., U.S. Air Force Academy, 2002; M.S., University of Virginia, 2006; Ph.D., University of Virginia, 2010
Research areas: Fracture mechanics, hydrogen embrittlement, additive manufacturing, physical metallurgy, corrosion
Gary Koenig
Chemical Engineering
B.S., The Ohio State University, 2004; Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2009; postdoctoral researcher, Argonne National Laboratory, 2009-2011
Research areas: Batteries and energy storage, materials microstructure control and characterization, reaction engineering, particle engineering and characterization, colloid and surface science
Garrick Louis
Engineering and Society, Systems and Information Engineering
B.S., Howard University, 1983; M.S., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1985; Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University, 1996; postdoctoral researcher, Green Design Institute, Carnegie Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, 1996-1997
Research areas: Sustainability and human needs, social equity in engineering education, social equity in engineering, capacity factor analysis
Baoxing Xu
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Ph.D., Columbia University, 2012; Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow, Beckman Institute, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 2012-2014
Research areas: Engineering mechanics, engineering design for biomedical devices, thermal transport of mechanically deformed materials, nanomanufacturing for wearable electronics, soft-hard integration mechanics
Assistant Professor, General Faculty to Associate Professor, General Faculty
Panagiotis Apostolellis
Computer Science
B.S., Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece, 1996; M.S., University of Sussex, 1998; M.S., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2015; Ph.D., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2017
Research areas: Human-computer interaction, informal learning with technology, user experience design, computational thinking, audience interaction, 3D user interfaces, computer science education
Lindsay Ivey Burden
Civil and Environmental Engineering
B.S., University of Louisville, 2005; M.S., University of Louisville, 2006; Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2012
Research areas: Risk and decision analysis, sustainable infrastructure systems, environmental engineering, infrastructure engineering/transportation studies
J. Robert Hott
Computer Science
B.S., College of William and Mary, 2005; M.S., College of William and Mary, 2007; Ph.D., University of Virginia, 2018
Research areas: Computer science education, social network analysis, computer science in humanities, evolving networks, data visualization
Benjamin Joseph Laugelli
Engineering and Society
B.S., James Madison University, 1996; M.A., University of Virginia, 2009; Ph.D., University of Virginia, 2014
Research areas: Science, technology and society; engineering education; Frankenstein and science fiction; engineering ethics; sustainable design values; LEGO Group and corporate social responsibility
Meiqin Li
Applied Mathematics
Ph.D., Texas A&M University, 2017
Research areas: STEM education, numerical computation, optimization, nonlinear analysis, data science
N. Rich Nguyen
Computer Science
B.S., University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2007; M.S., University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2009; Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2016
Research areas: Biological image analysis, machine learning, computer science education innovation