Faculty Spotlights

Growing up, Zach J. Patterson had a number of engineering role models in his life, most notably, his grandfather. Paired with an interest in math and science, pursuing a career in engineering made complete sense.

For Datta, engineering transformed his curiosity into innovation, showing him how designing solutions could actually change the world. His favorite part of being an engineer? The moment when a theoretical concept becomes a working prototype. That’s the moment that can make a real difference in people's lives.

Sam Root’s interest in knowledge of polymers started in high school. His father worked in the flexographic printing industry and after school, Root would head to the plant to do quality control.

Xiaotian Han is passionate about leveraging cutting-edge AI techniques to solve complex problems, pushing the boundaries of what technology can achieve. 

Hamid Charkhkar’s journey into engineering began with a fascination for electrical motors and circuits, leading him to pursue an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering.

Growing up, Ana. G. Hernandez Reynoso wanted to be a medical doctor, but after spending some time with one of her cousins, who is an engineer, she realized that it was the convergence between medicine and engineering that she really enjoyed.

It started in high school when Neamul Khansur learned about the working principle of quartz watches—a watch powered by a battery with timekeeping regulated by a quartz crystal that vibrates at a certain frequency.

Luke Osborn grew up dreaming of a career in baseball. While unsuccessful in chasing that dream, he chose to study engineering as an undergraduate student because he liked building things and wanted to learn how they worked.

Andrew Watkins’s path to a career in computer and data sciences was nontraditional, studying English at Mississippi State University for his bachelor’s and master’s degree and spending his first few professional years teaching English in the United States and China. 

For Peng Wang, the engineering process is a journey of discovery and innovation, beginning with the critical step of identifying a problem.