School of Engineering Faculty Highlights

The faculty within the School of Engineering have excelled in teaching, research, student mentorship, and professional engagement over the past year. 

Saurav Basnet received the prestigious 2024 Presidential Honor of Excellence for student advising and was awarded a Launch 2024 grant. His project, “RoboRuggles: Design of a Combat Robot,” earned the Best Presentation award at the 2024 IEEE 15th Annual Ubiquitous Computing, Electronics & Mobile Communication Conference (UEMCON). The IEEE WUROV team, mentored by Professor Basnet, achieved third place in Mass Robotics. He also actively participated in the MATE 2024 ROV and NHRL Battle BOT competitions and published an impressive 11 peer-reviewed IEEE conference papers. 

Haifa El-Sadi received an honorable mention award in the 2024 Airport Operation and Maintenance design challenge, showcasing her expertise in the field. 

Uri Feldman contributed to engineering education research with three publications presented at the 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, focusing on robot temperament assessment in biomedical engineering, identity-conscious career exploration for BME students, and equipping first-year engineering students with AI literacy. 

Kapil Gangwar demonstrated leadership in Inclusive Excellence through active participation in Inclusive Excellence conferences and workshops, contributions to the Faculty Senate, and dedicated student accessibility efforts. His commitment to High-Value Learning is evident in the development of three new course syllabi, integration of the KEEN entrepreneurial mindset into teaching (including published KEEN cards), enhancements to hands-on learning with a new lab, and pedagogical improvements emphasizing active learning. Professor Gangwar fostered a Transformative Student Experience by mentoring capstone projects, leading the SME Chapter (receiving the SME Distinguished Faculty Advisor Award), advising numerous students, and organizing outreach activities. He also focused on Next-Generation Partnerships through research collaborations (including grant proposals and publications), participation in KEEN workshops, judging at WPI, and securing Launch and Spark grants. 

Jayshri Kulkarni was elected as a Vice-Chair for the IEEE MTT/APS Chapter Boston, with her term commencing in January 2025. 

Xiaobin Le published a significant contribution to the field with his book, "Simulation-Based Mechanical Design," released by Springer Nature in 2024. 

James McCusker was honored with the Student's Choice Award for Excellence in Teaching in Electromechanical Engineering, recognizing his impact on students. 

Hariharan Naganathan had a productive year in research, publishing in three international conferences and three journals. He also mentored a PhD student and two Master's students on their thesis projects. 

Masoud Olia had abstracts accepted for poster presentations at the ASME Congress 2024, focusing on enhancing engineering dynamics education through dynamic simulations and a 3D phase-field approach to simulate brittle fracture of single crystal silicon. 

Afshin Pourmokhtarian received the Douglas C. Elder Endowed Fund. He actively presented and co-presented at eight national and international conferences, published in two journals, and has three additional papers under review in high-impact journals. His expertise is further recognized by invitations to serve as a Ph.D. committee member at Syracuse University and as a consultant for NYC DEP. 

Serdar Tumkor and his students presented their research on the dynamic shock analysis of a multifunctional PocketQube frame at the SmallSat Education Conference. He also advised students who participated in the 2024 Cast in Steel Competition, with the team receiving special awards. 

John Voccio published a peer-reviewed journal article in the Journal of Electrostatics and began managing graduate theses and projects, expanding his mentorship role. 

Ying Wang published a peer-reviewed paper in Plos One and successfully secured externally funded corporate sponsorship, demonstrating her research and networking abilities. 

Nasser Yari secured a grant for the second consecutive year through the AISC (American Institute of Steel Construction) to support educational field trips for students.