2021 Message From the Department Head

Dear friends,

I hope everyone is doing well. Thanks to the hard work, dedication and perseverance of SIE students, faculty, staff and alumni, we have had another exceptional year, despite the pressures of the pandemic.

New Faculty, New Degree Program

For starters, two more faculty members joined SIE in 2021. Welcome to NSF CAREER awardee Alejandro Salado and Erfan Yazdandoost Hamedani -- who recently accomplished the rare feat of earning NSF funding on his first attempt. Salado is an expert in theory and formalization of systems engineering, and Yazdandoost Hamedani, who started in SIE as a research assistant professor in 2020, specializes in distributed optimization and machine learning. Three more hires are planned for 2022.

SIE is committed to molding programs that match industry needs. Teaming up with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, we now offer a joint BS degree in Software Engineering both in person and online. Sharon ONeal is the program’s inaugural director, and Juliana Lincoln is the senior academic advisor.

Faculty Research and Promotions

Faculty and students alike are doing high-profile research and receiving prestigious awards for their contributions. Congratulations to Roberto Furfaro on being named a College of Engineering da Vinci Fellow , and to Ricardo Valerdi for being selected as UArizona Distinguished Outreach Professor.  Assistant professor Mohammed Shafae, together with assistant professor Andrew Wessman in materials science and engineering, received a $745,000 award from NASA. Assistant professor Hongyue Jin was appointed as the deputy lead of crosscutting research at the Critical Materials Institute, and associate professor Jian Liu was named chair-elect of the Quality, Statistics and Reliability section of the INFORMS. Vignesh Subbian was recently named the associate director for health science data and informatics at the Center of Biomedical Informatics and Biostatistics.

Additionally, we have several new titles and promotions to report: Qiang Zhou is now an associate professor, and Bob Lepore, Sharon ONeal, Sherilyn Keaton, and Sam Peffers are now professors of practice. Larry Head also became the inaugural director of the Craig M. Berge Engineering Design Program.

Steadfast Student Enrollment, Department Rankings

On the student front, the department awarded 143 bachelor’s, 44 master’s and 8 PhD degrees in 2021. Congratulations to all the new SIE alumni! With enrollment at 335 undergraduates and 233 graduate students, the department continues to attract and retain outstanding students. 

SIE is ranked No. 16 among public universities and No. 23 overall in the 2022 Best Graduate Schools rankings by The U.S. News & World Report. In addition, our online MS in Engineering Management program and MS in Industrial Engineering program are ranked 17^th and 18^th, respectively, in the 2021 Best Online MS Programs rankings by U.S. News & World Report.

Alumni Support

We are ever grateful to the many alumni who inspire, support and help guide the department. Mike O’Brien received SIE’s 2021 Alum of the Year Award, and Rafael Quintero and Edgar Rivera-Morales, competed in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. We also applaud David Ashton, who works as a patent attorney; Andrew Kirima, now a founding contributor at Deep Tech Insider; and Michelle J. Lohmeier, who was appointed to Kaman Corporation’s board of directors.

Please take a few minutes to read more about 2021 faculty accomplishments, student successes and alumni contributions.

We hope to see you at Homecoming weekend on Nov. 5 and 6! Come see old friends, meet new ones and share what you’ve been up to. Attend SIE-specific events on Friday, Nov. 5, including our annual barbecue, student poster presentation, and alumni and friends reception. And don’t miss the tailgate and big game on Saturday, Nov. 6, when the Wildcats take on the California Golden Bears.

Kindest regards,