welcome
NEW FACULTY DAVID J. GIBLIN Assistant Professor in Residence
Dr. David J. Giblin joined the Mechanical Engineering Department in fall 2013 as Assistant Professor in Residence. As a lifetime resident of Connecticut, David completed his B.S. and Ph.D. at UConn in 2002 and 2007, respectively. His research interests center on manipulation theory and control of mechanical systems. He will be teaching undergraduate courses in kinematics, dynamics, and programming as well as teaching courses in a number of other engineering disciplines at the Avery Point campus.
KENNETH GORDON Associate Professor in Residence
Dr. Kenneth Gordon joined us half-time as of fall 2013. He received his B.S. degree with honors in Engineering Science from the University of Toronto followed by his M.S. in Aeronautics from Caltech and Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT. He has worked at UTC Pratt & Whitney in a number of engineering positions including Manager of Operability and Advanced Engine Programs. Ken will be teaching mechanical engineering courses and providing our students with perspectives on advanced propulsion systems. KAMAL KUMAR
Associate Professor in Residence
Dr. Kamal Kumar joined our department in spring 2013. Dr. Kumar received his Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Case Western Reserve University working with Prof. Jackie Sung, and he has been part of his research group ever since. He will continue to maintain a part-time research affiliation with Prof. Sung’s research group. Dr. Kumar will teach courses in the thermo-fluids stem of the department.
LEILA LADANI Associate Professor
Dr. Leila Ladani joined our department in fall 2013 as our first hire under the manufacturing faculty recruitment initiative. She received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Isfahan University of Technology in Iran and her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of 6 4
Maryland. Her expertise is in the areas of fatigue and fracture mechanics as well as additive manufacturing. Prior to her academic position at the University of Alabama, she was a faculty member at Utah State University. Dr. Ladani’s involvement in the Pratt & Whitney Center of Excellence activities in the area of additive manufacturing will be instrumental to elevate our department’s research profile in this important area. MICHAEL T. PETTES
Assistant Professor
Dr. Michael T. Pettes joined the University of Connecticut in 2013. He earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University in 2001, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 2007 and 2011, respectively. Prior to graduate work, he served as an infantry officer with the 1st Marine Division of the United States Marine Corps (2/1). He received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship in 2005 and the Donald D. and Sybil B. Harrington Doctoral Fellowship at the University of Texas at Austin in 2006. His research focuses on the engineering of materials at the nanoscale and development of fundamental knowledge of transport phenomena in materials with applications for the management, conversion, and storage of thermal energy.
DAVID M. PIERCE Assistant Professor
Dr. David Pierce was hired during the last academic year and joined our faculty this summer. He received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities followed by his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in mathematics from Stanford University. After receiving his doctoral degree he joined the Institute of Biomechanics at Graz University of Technology in Austria, where he was engaged in research and teaching until his arrival at UConn. His research interests include computational mechanics, finite element methods, solid mechanics, applied mathematics, continuum (damage) mechanics, fatigue analysis, development of analysis/design tools and related computer programming software. His current research projects are in the area of cartilage biomechanics and mechanical modeling of complex structures and tissues.