Master of Engineering
(M.Eng.) Faculty & Staff
Meet our M.Eng. Faculty & Staff
The success of UConn’s M.Eng. students is driven by our faculty and staff. Our faculty are not only accomplished researchers, practitioners, and leaders at the forefront of their fields, but also passionate mentors and instructors. Pivotally, our professional staff provide dedicated student support, ensuring a seamless educational journey. This unique combination of expertise and committed service creates an effective and fulfilling learning opportunity.
Advanced Systems
George Bollas, associate professor
Director, Pratt & Whitney Institute for Advanced Systems Engineering
george.bollas@uconn.edu | Engineering Profile Page
George Bollas is an associate professor with the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, a process design expert and winner of the prestigious NSF CAREER Award and the ACS PRF DNI Award. He received BE and Ph.D. degrees from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and then worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the chemical engineering department of MIT. At UConn, he is leading efforts to develop and explore novel system representations (steady state and dynamic models) of thermal fluid systems in equation-oriented environments that allow system dynamic optimization, sensitivity and uncertainty analysis, fault detection and optimal control.
Mwamba Bowa, research assistant
Biomedical Engineering
Syam P. Nukavarapu, professor
Department head
syam.nukavarapu@uconn.edu | Engineering Profile Page
Syam Nukavarapu is a professor with the biomedical engineering department at the college of engineering. In addition, he is the current department head. He is affiliated with the materials science and engineering department and UConn Health. His research lies at the interface of biomaterials design, tissue engineering, and technology development. He is involved with the Tissue Engineering Science and Technology Laboratory (TEST Lab) and has expertise in developing novel biodegradable biomaterials/composites and scaffold systems to control cellular function for different tissue engineering applications. Specifically, the TEST Lab is developing graft systems with precise local control over stem cell behavior for bone, cartilage, and bone-cartilage interface engineering.
David Kaputa, associate professor-in-residence
david.kaputa@uconn.edu | Engineering Profile Page
David Kaputa is a biomedical engineering professor. His research area of interest focuses on saccade measurement and modeling. Saccades are studied to gain a better understanding of the human oculomotor plant and neuromuscular system. Abnormal saccades can be indicators of both neurological disorders and mild traumatic brain injury.
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Kelly Burke, associate professor
Department head
kelly.burke@uconn.edu | Engineering Profile Page
Kelly Burke is trained as a chemical engineer and polymer scientist with expertise in biomaterials. She is an associate professor and department head of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and a core member of the Polymer Program in the Institute of Materials Science. She is also a member of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the UConn Stem Cell Institute. Her research seeks to understand how biomaterials can be used to direct the behavior of the cells and extracellular matrices that form human tissues, with particular interest in the soft tissues of the gastrointestinal tract that have been damaged by disease and trauma. By designing new materials that interface with these biological environments, she aims to answer questions about how polymers can be used to affect the polarization of immune cells and fibroblasts, the success of stem cell differentiation, and the types, quality, and quantity of extracellular matrix deposited.
Julia Valla, associate professor
ioulia.valla@uconn.edu | Engineering Profile Page
Ioulia (Julia) Valla is an assistant professor in the chemical and biomolecular engineering department. She is also the director of graduate studies for UConn Engineering. She received her Ph.D. in the field of the development of new zeolites for the decomposition of sulfur compounds in naphtha and the production of environmental gasoline from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece. She has served in a leadership role with Rive Technology, Inc. on the commercialization of a novel zeolite with ordered mesoporous structure for refinery applications. Valla’s research focuses on the modification of zeolites structure and their application in catalysis, adsorption, and energy. Valla is the recipient of the European Award “RUCADI, Recovery and Utilization of Carbon Dioxide” for her study on the role of CO₂ on the reforming of natural gas for the production of methanol. Her research is sponsored by National Science Foundation, American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund, Department of Energy, and industry.
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Jeongho Kim, professor
jeongho.kim@uconn.edu | Engineering Profile Page
Jeongho Kim is a professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He has been on the faculty since 2004, first as an assistant professor, then associate professor, and currently as professor. He earned his Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Kim has received several awards, including the National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2006, and an American Society for Engineering Education Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship in 2010.
Tim Vadas, associate professor
timothy.vadas@uconn.edu | Engineering Profile Page
Tim Vadas is an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering. His research primarily focuses on environmental chemistry and toxicology, particularly on the fate and transport of contaminants in the environment. He is also involved with the Innovation on Small Farms initiative, where he focuses on phytoremediation and water quality/reuse. He is also affiliated with the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute and the Institute of the Environment and Energy at UConn. He teaches courses in environmental engineering fundamentals, laboratory, ecological principles, and design, among others.
Computer Science and Engineering
Sanguthevar Rajasekaran, professor
Department head
sanguthevar.rajasekaran@uconn.edu | Engineering Profile Page
Sanguthevar Rajasekaran received his ME degree in automation from the Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore) in 1983, and his Ph.D. in computer science from Harvard University in 1988. Currently, he is the director of the Booth Engineering Center for Advanced Technologies at UConn. Before joining UConn, he served as a faculty member in the computer and information science and engineering department at the University of Florida and in the computer and information science department of the University of Pennsylvania, and from 2000-2002 was the Chief Scientist for Arcot Systems.
Joseph Johnson, associate professor-in-residence
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Helena Silva, professor
helena.silva@uconn.edu | Engineering Profile
Helena Silva’s research focuses on materials and devices for electronic logic and memory, including nanoelectronic devices, electronic and thermal transport at small scales, non-volatile memory devices, phase-change memory, thermoelectric materials and devices, and nanofabrication techniques. She holds a BS in engineering physics from the University of Lisbon (1998) and a Ph.D. in applied physics from Cornell University (2005).
Silva joined UConn in August 2006 as an assistant professor, becoming an associate professor in August 2013 and a professor in August 2021. She was a research staff member at Xerox Webster Research Center from 2005 to 2006. Lastly, she is also associated with the Connecticut Power Electronics Center of Excellence and the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute at UConn.
Liang Zhang, professor
Department head
liang.zhang@uconn.edu | Engineering Profile Page
Liang Zhang was appointed as the new head of the electrical and computer engineering department in August 2025. He has been with UConn Engineering since 2013, starting as an assistant professor in the department. Since then, he has held various positions within the department, including the director of undergraduate studies, Pratt & Whitney Associate Professor in Advanced Systems Engineering, and director of the Department of Energy Southern New England Industrial Training and Assessment Center. He also holds an affiliated position with the management and engineering for manufacturing program.
Manufacturing Engineering
Horea T. Ilies, Pratt & Whitney Professor of Digital Design and Manufacturing
School director
horea.ilies@uconn.edu | Engineering Profile
Horea Ilies is the Pratt & Whitney Professor of Digital Design and Manufacturing, school director, and a director of the Digital Design Research, Analysis, and Manufacturing (D2REAM) research center at UConn. He earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and holds MS degrees in mechanics and mechanical engineering from Michigan State University and the Technical University of Cluj, Romania.
Jiong Tang, professor
jiong.tang@uconn.edu | Engineering Profile
Jiong Tang’s principal teaching and research interests are in the general areas of system dynamics, control, sensing and automation. He received the BS and MS degrees in applied mechanics from Fudan University, China, in 1989 and 1992, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in 2001. Prior to joining UConn in 2002, he worked in GE Research Center as a research engineer.
Tang has studied a series of research subjects including smart materials, motion and vibration controls, sensing and signal processing, uncertainty propagation, design optimization, computational intelligence, and modeling and analysis of multi-physics systems and processes. Tang’s research has been supported extensively by federal agencies and industrial companies.
Materials Science and Engineering
Lesley Frame, associate professor
lesley.frame@uconn.edu | Engineering Profile
Lesley Frame is associate professor of materials science and engineering, past-UTC Professor of Innovation, and director of the Center for Materials Processing Data. Frame received her BS from the Department of Materials Science Engineering at MIT, and she received her MS and Ph.D. from University of Arizona in the same field. Upon completion of her Ph.D. she held postdoctoral positions at the Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy, and then at Cardiff University and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory as a Fulbright Scholar where she studied residual stresses using neutron diffraction.
Frame spent five years in industry at Thermatool Corp. leading product development projects, the materials characterization lab, customer technical training seminars, and process improvement efforts for the tube and pipe industry. Her current research is focused on materials processing-structure-property relationships and failure analysis related to metals manufacturing processes, residual stress formation, corrosion, and transient materials properties. She is actively involved in ASM International, she is a past president of the Heat Treating Society, and she is the vice president for the International Federation for Heat Treatment and Surface Engineering (IFHTSE).
Avinash Dongare, professor
Interim department head
dongare@uconn.edu | Engineering Profile
Avinash Dongare is a professor and department head in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He also holds joint appointments in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Physics. Dongare is also associated with UConn’s Institute of Materials Science.
Mechanical Engineering
Horea T. Ilies, Pratt & Whitney Professor of Digital Design and Manufacturing
School director
horea.ilies@uconn.edu | Engineering Profile
Horea Ilies is the Pratt & Whitney Professor of Digital Design and Manufacturing, school director, and a director of the Digital Design Research, Analysis, and Manufacturing (D2REAM) research center at UConn. He earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and holds MS degrees in mechanics and mechanical engineering from Michigan State University and the Technical University of Cluj, Romania.
Julian A. Norato, associate professor
julian.norato@uconn.edu | Engineering Profile
Julian Norato joined the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Manufacturing Engineering in 2014. He holds M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering with specialization in computational science and engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Prior to joining the department, he was responsible for the Product Optimization group at Caterpillar, where he and his team researched numerical methods and developed computational tools for structural and multidisciplinary optimization. He started and led the development of Caterpillar’s in-house topology optimization code, as well as the development of a method and tool for optimization of welding sequences to reduce weld-induced distortion, for which he and his collaborators received Caterpillar’s Move the Mountain Award.
UConn M.Eng. Core Course Faculty
Marko Dodig
Warren Osterndorf
David Tonn
Abhay Trivedi
Master of Engineering Staff
Nora Sutton, director
In late 2022, Nora Sutton assumed the role of director for the Center for Advanced Engineering Education at UConn Engineering, where she leads all aspects of programming aimed at providing industry and working professionals with relevant, innovative, and cutting-edge educational opportunities to adapt to emerging technologies. Under Sutton’s leadership, industry partnerships, program offerings, and enrollment have reached unprecedented levels of success. Sutton’s journey with UConn began in 2014 as a development officer for the college, where she cultivated her expertise in building strategic partnerships that significantly contributed to fundraising achievements. Before dedicating her time to raising her sons, who share her passion for UConn as recent alumni and a current student, Sutton gained valuable experience in project management and corporate real estate. She takes immense pride in showcasing the college of engineering’s achievements and is always enthusiastic about collaborating and forging new partnerships, particularly in the realm of workforce development practices.
Shaina Martin, finance and program coordinator
Since Fall 2024, Martin has served as the finance and program coordinator at the Center for Advanced Engineering Education, after joining the team as a program assistant in July 2023. In her current role, she combines her administrative expertise with financial oversight to enhance program efficiency and student support. She graduated from UConn in 2019 with a BA in psychology and has valuable experience from her previous administrative position in a local manufacturing company. As a proud UConn alumna and local resident, Martin feels at home on the Storrs campus and is an enthusiastic supporter of the sports teams.
Lisa Reinhardt, business development officer
Reinhardt’s commitment to community service has always been central to her career. With nearly two decades of service at the YMCA of Greater Hartford, she has consistently prioritized building meaningful connections to propel strategic endeavors forward. In May 2022, Reinhardt transitioned her passion for fostering relationships to the University of Connecticut Center for Advanced Engineering Education, where she now serves as the business development officer.
In her current role, Reindhardt collaborates closely with faculty members across the seven departments of the college of engineering, as well as program staff, to provide vital support to both students and industry partners. Beyond her professional duties, Lisa is a member of the Women in Manufacturing CT Chapter and proudly serves as a manufacturing ambassador for the state of Connecticut.