Momentum - The Magazine for Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering Vol. 1 No. 3 | Page 22

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ME committee list for AY 2016-2017

The Mechanical Engineering
Department has updated its
departmental committee listing.
The committees are listed below
by name only and committee rank
if applicable.
Awards Committee: Alex
Leonessa (chair), Warren Hardy,
Mary Kasarda, Doug Nelson, and
Michael von Spakovsky
Assessment Committee: John
Kennedy (chair), Clint Dancey
(ex-officio), Mary Kasarda (consultant), Doug Nelson, Robin Ott, Rui
Qiao, and Steve Southward.

Course Unit Committee (ad
hoc): Clint Dancey (chair), Bahareh
Behkam, Tom Diller, Mary Kasarda,
Alex Leonessa, Brian Vick, and Bob
West.
Distinguished Speaker Series:
Mark Paul (chair), Reza Mirzaeifar,
Rui Qiao, and Rayne Zheng.
Diversity Committee: Azim
Eskandarian (chair), Jiangtao
Cheng, Clint Dancey, Mary Kasarda
(ME rep to COE Diversity Committee), Alex Leonessa, Corina Sandu,
Heather Whedbee, Al Wicks, and
Melissa Williams.
FAR Evaluation Committee:
Ricardo Burdisso (chair), Tom
Diller, Tomo Furukawa, Rolf Mueller, Amrinder Nain, Chris Williams,
Azim Eskandarian (ex-officio).
Graduate Admission Committee:
Corina Sandu (chair), all Thrust
Area Coordinator members (see
below), and supporting members
Annette Ben-Tzvi, and Cathy Hill.
Graduate Committee: Corina
Sandu (chair), Pinhas Ben-Tzvi,
Jan Helge Bøhn, Ricardo Burdisso,
Alireza Haghighat, Al Kornhauser,
Rolf Mueller, Michael von Spa-

kovsky, and non-voting members
Annette Ben-Tzvi, and Cathy Hill.

Honorifics Committee: Wing Ng
(chair), Mehdi Ahmadian, Srinath
Ekkad, Chris Fuller, Andy Kurdila,
Roop Mahajan, Walter O'Brien,
Rob Parker, Ranga Pitchumani,
Shashank Priya, and Danesh Tafti
Lab Review Committee: Clint
Dancey (chair), Al Kornhauser,
Andy Kurdila, Walter O'Br ien,
Steve Southward, and Al Wicks

Tarazaga, Bob West, and Lei Zuo.
Thrust Area Coordinators:
- Bio, Micro, and Nano Systems
(BMNS) Rolf Mueller and Bahareh
Behkam (alternate)
- Design, Materials, and Manufacturing (DMM) Mehdi Ahmadian
and Chris Williams (alt)
- Energy Engineering and Science
(EES) Michael von Spakovsky and
Rui Qiao (alt)

Mentoring Committee: Tom Diller (chair) and Francine Battaglia

- Nuclear Engineering and
Science (NES) Ali Haghighat

Qualifying Exam: Al Kornhauser and Annette Ben-Tzvi (staff
support)

- Robotics, Autonomous, and
Dynamical Systems (RADS) Saied
Taheri and Pinhas Ben-Tzvi (alt)

Promotion & Tenure Committee
(2016-2017): Ricardo Burdisso
(chair), Tom Diller, Srinath Ekkad,
Scott Huxtable, Rolf Mueller, Rob
Parker, Corina Sandu, Danesh Tafti,
and Michael von Spakovsky.

Undergraduate Committee: Clint
Dancey (chair), Jan Helge Bøhn,
Mike Ellis, Al Kornhauser, Andy
Kurdila, Walter O'Brien, Linda Vick
and non-voting members Sarah
Deisher, and Heather Whedbee

Strategic Planning Committee:
Michael von Spakovsky (chair),
Mehdi Ahmadian, Bahareh Behkam, Clint Dancey, Azim Eskandarian, Ali Haghighat, Alex Leonessa,
Mark Paul, Corina Sandu, Pablo

Undergraduate Sub-Committee - Senior Design: Clint Dancey
(chair), Tom Diller, Kevin Kochersberger, Alex Leonessa, Doug
Nelson, Walter O'Brien, Robin Ott,
Bob West, and Chris Williams.

P&T Committee
The results of the departmental election and appointments
of the Promotion and Tenure
Committee for 2016-2017 are as
follows:
Elected (or re-elected) this
year:
Prof. Ricardo Burdisso (Committee Chair)
Associate Prof. Scott Huxtable
Prof. Danesh Tafti
Prof. Tom Diller

Continuing service:
Associate Prof. Rolf Mueller
Prof. Robert Parker
Prof. Michael von Spakovsky
Appointed this year:

Prof. Srinath Ekkad
Prof. Corina Sandu
One member has been added
to the composition of the committee to minimize or eliminate
the chances of tie votes.