Faculty Spotlights

New Faculty Spotlight: Hamid Charkhkar

Hamid Charkhkar’s journey into engineering began with a fascination for electrical motors and circuits, leading him to pursue an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering. During his studies, he was intrigued by how electrical principles could be applied to the human body, especially the nervous system. This curiosity led him to discover neural engineering—a field that 'perfectly bridged' his interests in electrical systems and biology.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Ana G. Hernandez Reynoso

Growing up, Ana. G. Hernandez Reynoso wanted to be a medical doctor, but after spending some time with one of her cousins, who is an engineer, she realized that it was the convergence between medicine and engineering that she really enjoyed.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Brian Krupp

His love for computers started when his family purchased their very first computer. “I just really loved tinkering with it,” Brian Krupp, assistant professor of computer and data sciences, said. He was in middle school when he created his own web page in HTML and published it on Geocities so that people around the world could see it. This early interest inspired his career path.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Peng Wang

For Peng Wang, the engineering process is a journey of discovery and innovation, beginning with the critical step of identifying a problem. The problem he is addressing? Improving operational safety, process stability, efficiency, quality assurance and sustainability in manufacturing. Through creative solutions, Wang turns abstract concepts into practical prototypes, something he finds very rewarding.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Neamul H. Khansur

It started in high school when Neamul H. Khansur learned about the working principle of quartz watches—a watch powered by a battery with timekeeping regulated by a quartz crystal that vibrates at a certain frequency. Then he learned the term ‘piezoelectricity’, the phenomenon where certain materials generate an electric charge in response to applied mechanical stress, and how it affects quartz crystal.
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New Faculty Spotlight: M. Hassan Najafi

From a young age, M. Hassan Najafi wanted to know how things worked, especially when it came to technology. That curiosity naturally led him to explore the inner workings of computers—a fascination that only grew stronger as the concepts grew more complex.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Luke E. Osborn

Luke E. Osborn grew up dreaming of a career in baseball. While unsuccessful in chasing that dream at the University of Arkansas, he chose to study engineering as an undergraduate student because he liked building things and wanted to learn how they worked. That’s when he realized a new passion—designing and building robots that could help people
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New Faculty Spotlight: Chengyu Li

Chengyu Li’s journey into engineering began with curiosity about the natural world and a desire to apply mathematical and physical principles to solve real-world problems. Now, as an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Li’s doing just that.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Andrew Watkins

Andrew Watkins’s path to a career in computer and data sciences was nontraditional, studying English at Mississippi State University for his bachelor’s and master’s degree and spending his first few professional years teaching English in the United States and China.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Abhinendra Singh

With an interest in basic science that dates back to his childhood, Abhinendra Singh new he wanted to pursue a science major in college. While studying physics as an undergraduate student, Singh had a growing fascination with engineering because "it involved solving real-world problems". He saw his interest through by pursuing a PhD in mechanical engineering. After studying both physics and mechanical engineering, Singh took a postdoc where he was introduced to yet another interesting form of science—chemical engineering.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Zonghe Chua

Zonghe Chua, the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering's new assistant professor, was in middle school when he found out he liked building things that "could interact with the physical world". After gaining his bachelor's and master's he went to industry, working as an engineer designing power electronics.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Sanmukh Kuppannagari

At 6 years old, Sanmukh Kuppannagari used twigs to build bridges over water filled holes in the garden so that ants and other insects could cross. As he got older and started learning more about computers, he realized he could apply his love of engineering to computer engineering and pursued a bachelor's degree and PhD in the field.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Dianne Foreback

As a young child, Dianne Foreback often played school with her younger siblings. Her favorite subject to "teach"? Mathematics. Over the years, her love for math only grew and she decided to major in math in college. It was then that her undergraduate advisor suggested she also major in computer science.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Shuo Li

Shuo Li grew up with a deep interest in the medical field, but when it was time for college, he decided to purse a degree in software engineering, followed by a PhD in computer science. Eventually, he was able to pair his interests with his education through state of the art AI research in biomedical engineering, which he did for 15 years.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Robert Warburton

When he started college, Robert Warburton didn't know much about engineering. Knowing he liked math, he took a chemistry course during his first quarter and fell in love with it. This brought him to a decision—to study chemistry or chemical engineering. The now assistant professor, chose the engineering route because of its combination of both chemistry and math.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Laura Bruckman

Laura Bruckman always new she wanted to be a scientist. With a background as a chemist, she received a bachelor's in chemistry with a specialization in biochemistry and went on to study analytical chemistry in graduate school, building two different instruments and learning data science. In 2011, she came to CWRU as a postdoc and from there advanced to become an assistant then associate research faculty member. Now, she joins the university as an associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Bridget Hegarty

Bridget Hegarty's inspiration to pursue engineering happened at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's camp for high school students. After that summer, she knew she would apply to colleges with a strong engineering program, landing her at Cornell where she received her bachelor's and Yale for her master's and PhD.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Steve Majerus

From a young age, Steve Majerus loved taking things apart and tinkering with his dad's tools, ultimately drawing him to engineering. Majerus formalized those interests right here at Case Western Reserve University where he received a bachelor's, master's and PhD in electrical engineering.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Changyong "Chase" Cao

Changyong "Chase" Cao joined Case Western Reserve University in November of 2021. Since his arrival, he's already made great research strides with a focus on smart technology, like inexpensive wearable tech and breath controlled smart home technology.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Chris Pulliam

Growing up, Chris Pulliam loved taking things apart to understand how they worked. With that in mind, he pursued an education in biomedical engineering right here at Case Western Reserve University where he received his bachelor's, master's and PhD in the field.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Elias Ali

Ali has had an interest in civil engineering since he was in high school. Now, he hold a bachelor's, two master's and a PhD in the field. He joins the university from The University of Alabama in Huntsville with more than five years of professional experience as a structural engineer.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Melinda Lake-Speers

After shadowing her father, a mechanical engineer, as part of a class in eighth grade, Melinda Lake-Speers was inspired to sign up for an introductory engineering and design course in high school. “After that, I found out I liked the whole [engineering] process,” she said. “From brainstorming to making CAD drawings to building a final prototype.”
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New Faculty Spotlight: Brian Taylor

With his face pressed against the glass of the airport window, a young Brian Taylor asked his father who was responsible for building airplanes. When his father told him it was the job of aeronautical engineers, he knew that was the career for him. Now, Taylor, who is a triple alumnus of the Case School of Engineering Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, has assumed the role of assistant professor in the department.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Yu Yin

Before enrolling in engineering school, Yu Yin was a law student. After taking what she considers a “fortuitous” introductory course on electronic and information engineering, she pivoted and transferred her major to engineering in her second year of undergraduate school.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Jing Ma

From a young age, Jing Ma was fascinated with engineering, and more specifically—artificial intelligence (AI). Beyond the obvious advancements, Ma is particularly interested in the “principles of human cognition and the interplay between human thought processes and AI systems,” which inspires her research.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Alexis E. Block

It started when her freshman biology class was required to do a research project and compete in the regional fair. With a competitive nature, Alexis E. Block was motivated to work hard, resulting in wins at the regional, state and international fairs.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Hyoung Suk Suh

Hyoung Suk Suh had a dream to work at a place that could provide him with a dynamic and intellectual environment to push his research forward, spark new ideas and forge valuable collaborations—and that’s why he pursued a career as a professor.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Abhinav Acharya

Growing up around coal mines, Abhinav Acharya was always “in awe” of the different types of engineers required to work together in order to resolve day-to-day operational issues. It was these moments that made him realize that to accomplish large, pressing projects, engineers had to do it in partnership with one another.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Hyeji Im

While traveling to the United State as an exchange student, Hyeji Im discovered a passion that would guide her life. “The engineering mechanisms enabling airplanes to transport hundreds of people through the sky fascinated me, sparking a desire for deeper understanding,” Im, assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, said.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Cemantha Morgan Lane Johnson

With a passion for teaching and a knack for science, Cemantha Morgan Lane Johnson knew early on that her dream career would encompass both. Inspired by family members who made careers in education, she took the first step and became an undergraduate teaching assistant at The Ohio State University while studying biomedical engineering.
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