Faculty
Department Chair
Dr. Karolos Grigoriadis
Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Endowed Professor & Department ChairDirector, Aerospace Engineering Graduate Program
Office Location MAE Department, Engr. Build. 1, 2nd fl, N225
Phone 713-743-4387
Email karolos [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Dynamic Systems and Controls—Feedback control systems analysis and design, linear and nonlinear systems theory, robust and fault-tolerant control, model reduction, filtering, system optimization
Associate Department Chair
Dr. Di Yang
Associate Department ChairAssociate Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Office Location N238 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-7260
Email diyang [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Computational fluid dynamics; large-eddy simulation and direct numerical simulation of turbulent flows; renewable wind, tidal and wave energy; environmental fluid mechanics; ocean optics; high-performance scientific computing
Professors
Dr. Haleh Ardebili
Kamel Salama Endowed Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace EngineeringAssistant Vice President of Entrepreneurship and Startup Ecosystem
Office Location N208 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-5562
Email hardebili [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Lithium Ion Batteries, Polymer Nanocomposite Electrolytes, Lithium Ion Conduction, Materials for Energy Storage, Electronics Materials
Dr. Yi-Chao Chen
Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Office Location N210 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-4533
Email chen [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Solid Mechanics
Dr. Matthew A. Franchek
Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Office Location W214 Engineering Building 2
Phone 713-743-2758
Email mfranchek [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control—Linear and nonlinear system identification, information synthesis, multivariable control theory, nonlinear control theory, controller design, diagnostics/prognostics, and targeted adaptive control
Dr. Hadi Ghasemi
Cullen Distinguished Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Office Location N214 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-6183
Email hghasemi [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Thermodynamics, Heat transfer and Nanotechnology
Dr. Yashashree Kulkarni
Bill D. Cook Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace EngineeringDirector of Research Computing
Office Location N216 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-3657
Email ykulkarni [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Computational mechanics and materials science
Dr. Dong Liu
Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Office Location N212 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-4532
Email dongliu [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Phase Change Heat Transfer, Convective Heat Transfer, Multiphase Flow, Micro/Nanofluidics
Dr. Jae-Hyun Ryou
Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Office Location N220 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-0858
Email jryou [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Materials Science and Engineering — Semiconductor materials and devices for energy/photonic/electronic applications, including flexible electronic and photonic devices, solid-state photon emitters and detectors, photovoltaic devices, piezoelectric generators and sensors, high-power transistors, flexible thin-film transistors, and bio-degradable devices
Dr. Venkat Selvamanickam
M.D. Anderson Chair Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Office Location N237 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-4044
Email selva [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Superconductor thin film tapes and wires, Epitaxial thin film growth by PVD and CVD, Single crystalline films on polycrystalline/amorphous substrates, Oxide & nitride materials, Roll-to-roll thin film coatings on flexible substrates, In-line/In-situ metrology techniques, Electromagnetic and electromechanical properties – especially at cryogenic temperatures, Control of nano-scale interfacial and bulk defects, Texture evolution and grain boundary control, Nucleation and growth kinetics in vapor phase and liquid phase growth, Microstructure control in metal additive manufacturing
Dr. Pradeep Sharma
Dean of the Cullen College of EngineeringHugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished University Professor
Office Location N227 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-4502
Email psharma [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Solid mechanics, Theoretical and computational materials science, Multifunctional materials, Flexoelectricity, Mechanics and physics of soft matter, Mechanics and physics of cells, Atomistic simulations, Homogenization, Mechanical behavior of materials, Data sciences and machine learning, Damage and failure prediction of materials
Dr. Gangbing Song
Moores Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Office Location W210 Engineering Building 2
Phone 713-743-4525
Email gsong [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Structural health monitoring and inspection, non-destructive testing, wind energy, upcycling of decommissioned wind turbine blades, structural vibration control, structural resilience, transducers, intelligent materials, signal processing, machine learning
Dr. Li Sun
Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace EngineeringDirector of Subsea Engineering Program
Office Location N224 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-4509
Email lsun4 [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Multifunctional materials design, fabrication, characterization, manipulation and manufacturing; Novel composites and devices for energy, environment and health; physics in composites; Electrochemistry; Nanomagnetics and spin transport phenomena.
Dr. Su Su Wang
Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Phone 713-743-5057
Email sswang [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Solid Mechanics, Materials Science and Engineering—Solid Mechanics, Composite Materials, Materials Science and Engineering
Associate Professors
Dr. Theocharis Baxevanis
Associate Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Office Location N232 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-9165
Email tbaxevanis [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Deformation and failure response of inelastic materials — Continuum thermodynamics; Fracture mechanics; Computational micromechanics; Localization and bifurcation
Dr. Zheng Chen
Bill D. Cook Associate Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Office Location W208 Engineering Building II
Phone 713-743-6427
Email zchen43 [at] central.uh.edu
Research Interests Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Sensors, Bio-inspired Robotics, Energy Storage System, Hydraulic Fracturing Automation
Dr. Shailendra Joshi
Kalsi Associate Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace EngineeringDirector of Graduate Admissions
Office Location N233 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-6930
Email shailendra [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Mechanics of Advanced Materials, Computational and Experimental Mechanics, Multi-scale Failure Processes
Dr. Jagannatha Rao
Cullen Associate Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace EngineeringSenior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Distance Learning
Office Location N218 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-4535
Email rao [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Mathematical Optimization Theory and Algorithms—Parametric nonlinear programming, multilevel algorithms, duality in mechanical design models, game theory
Assistant Professors
Dr. Marzia Cescon
David C. Zimmerman Assistant Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Office Location W206 Engineering Building 2
Phone 713-743-2037
Email mcescon2 [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Controls and Dynamical Systems, Information and Decision Systems, Machine Learning, Learning for Control, Modeling and System Identification, Digital Health, Internet-of-Things
Dr. Tian "Tim" Chen
Kamel Salama Endowed Assistant Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Office Location N235 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-2548
Email tianchen [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Meta-materials, Morphing Structures, Computational Design, Advanced Manufacturing and 3D Printing
Dr. Daniel Floryan
Kalsi Assistant Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Office Location N231 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-3557
Email dfloryan [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Fluid Mechanics, Dynamics and Control, Applied Mathematics, Machine Learning and Data Science, Energy and Environment
Dr. Kelly Huang
Kalsi Assistant Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Office Location N223 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-2728
Email yhuang68 [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Turbulence, Experiments, Atmospheric Flows, Environmental Fluid Dynamics
Dr. Myoungkyu Lee
Assistant Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Office Location N236 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-3536
Email leemk [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Computational fluid dynamics, Direct numerical simulation of turbulent flows, Energy system, Magnetohydrodynamic flow, Turbulent Thermal Convection, High-performance scientific computing, Scientific Machine Learning
Dr. Jingyi Luan
Assistant Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Office Location N229 Engineering Building 1
Phone 315-391-2457
Email jluan [at] Central.UH.EDU
Research Interests Biomaterials and Nanomaterials for Bio-sensing and Bio-imaging, Next-generation Molecular Diagnostics, Point-of-care and Wearable Sensor
Dr. Maksud Rahman
Assistant Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Office Location N213 Engineering Building 1
Email maksud [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Multifunctional Nanocomposites and Bio-nanocomposites, Additive Manufacturing, Bio-inspired Design, Food-water-energy Nexus Sustainability
Dr. Ben Xu
Assistant Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Office Location N206 Engineering Building 1
Email bxu12 [at] central.uh.edu
Research Interests Solar Thermal Storage, Multiphase Flow and Heat Transfer, Additive Manufacturing, Laser-Assisted Bioprinting
Dr. Bo Zhao
Assistant Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Office Location N234 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-2557
Email bzhao8 [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Thermal photonics and plasmonics; Photon-mediated heat engines and refrigerators; Electronic, photonic, and thermal circuits; Radiative properties: tunability, nonreciprocity, topology, and beyond; Enhanced radiative heat transfer; Photon chemical potential and light emission from nonequilibrium bodies
Research Professors
Dr. Olga Bannova
Research ProfessorDirector of the Space Architecture Graduate Program
Email obannova [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Planning analyses for a broad range of space vehicles, habitats and systems; inflatable hydroponics laboratory and logistic modules; special design influences and requirements for different gravity conditions in space; and habitat concepts for extreme environments on Earth.
Dr. Akira Miyase
Research Professor
Office Location W222-D3 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-4537
Email amiyase [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Solid Mechanics, Materials Science and Engineering—Solid Mechanics, Composite Materials, Materials Science and Engineering
Research Associate Professors
Dr. Salavat Aglyamov
Research Associate Professor
Email saglyamov [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Elastography; Biomechanics of soft tissues; Biomedical imaging; Ultrasound; OCT; Viscoelasticity; Photoacoustics; Contrast agents; Microbubbles; Nanoparticles; Laser tissue interaction
Dr. Yingjie Tang
Research Associate Professor
Office Location Room 204, Engineering Building 1
Email ytang23 [at] central.uh.edu
Research Interests Multi-physics modeling on fluid mechanics, heat transfer, thermodynamic power cycle, fluid-structure interaction, corrosion/erosion, system-level analysis led design and optimization, and numerical modeling through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEA)
Instructional Faculty
Dr. Christiana Chang
Instructional Associate Professor
Office Location N254 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-5265
Email cchang2 [at] uh.edu
Dr. Xuemei Chen
Instructional Associate Professor
Office Location W226 Engineering Building 2
Phone 713-743-4852
Email xchen46 [at] central.uh.edu
Dr. Farah Hammami Ep Kammoun
Instructional Associate Professor
Office Location 207 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-9067
Email fhammami [at] uh.edu
Dr. Holley Love
Instructional Associate Professor
Office Location N219 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-9045
Email hclove [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Mechanical Circulatory Support, Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer in Biomedical Applications, Bioreactors, and Numerical Modelling
Lecturers
Dr. Alireza M. Nejad
Lecturer
Phone (713) 743-4500
Email amnejad [at] central.uh.edu
Research Interests Heat and Mass transfer, Computational Mechanics, Fluid-Structure Interaction
Adjunct Faculty
Dr. Aladin M. Boriek
Adjunct FacultyProfessor of Medicine and Integrative Physiology and Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine
Adjunct Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Rice University
Research Interests Respiratory muscle mechanics, mechanical signal transduction, muscular dystrophy
Emeritus Faculty
Dr. Richard B. Bannerot
Professor Emeritus
Office Location N231 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-4511
Email rbb [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Thermal sciences and engineering education
Dr. Charles Dalton
Professor Emeritus
Office Location N218 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-4517
Email dalton [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Fluid Mechanics—Computational fluid dynamics applied to flow past bluff bodies.
Dr. Stanley Kleis
Professor Emeritus
Office Location N210 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-4536
Email kleis [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Fluid Mechanics—Turbulent shear flows and fluid mechanics, solid-liquid two phase flows, mass transfer in micro gravity, stratified flows
Dr. John Lienhard
M.D. Anderson Professor of Technology and Culture, Emeritus
Office Location N220 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-4518
Email jhl [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Cultural History and Public Radio. (Formerly Thermal Sciences, thermodynamics and Boiling.)
Dr. Ralph Metcalfe
Professor Emeritus
Office Location N208 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-4521
Email metcalfe [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Fluid Mechanics
Dr. Andrea Prosperetti
Professor Emeritus
Office Location N214 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-5864
Email aprosperetti [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Multiphase flow, scientific computing, fluid dynamics, applied mathematics, bubble dynamics
Dr. Nagaraja Shamsundar
Professor Emeritus
Office Location N236 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-4532
Email shamsundar [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Thermal sciences—Design of energy systems, thermodynamic properties
Dr. Lewis T. Wheeler
Professor Emeritus
Office Location N222 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-4519
Email lwheeler [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Continuum Mechanics—Mathematical Elasticity Theory, Lattice Dynamics and Structure
Dr. Ken W. White
Professor Emeritus
Office Location N212 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-4526
Email kwwhite [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Materials Science and Engineering—Ceramic Microstructure development, Mechanical behavior of ceramics and thin films. Electrical-mechanical coupling in ferroelectric thin films.
Dr. Larry Witte
Professor Emeritus
Office Location W438 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-4501
Email witte [at] uh.edu
Research Interests Thermal Sciences—Forced and natural convection; boiling heat transfer; sliding bubble heat transfer