UC welcomes 10 new engineering faculty this fall
Faculty join the College of Engineering and Applied Science in five departments
The University of Cincinnati welcomed 10 new faculty members to the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the start of the 2024-2025 academic year.
Meet the new faculty
Muhammad Asghar, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor Educator, Department of Engineering and Computing Education
Research/Teaching Interests: Engineering education research, systematic review, undergraduate education, mental health, curriculum design, design thinking, spatial ability
Hrishikesh Bhide, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor Educator, Department of Computer Science
Research/Teaching Interests: Cybersecurity, blockchain, game-based learning, data structures and algorithms
Ryan Clark, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor Educator, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics
Research/Teaching Interests: Fluids, heat transfer, thermodynamics, numerical methods
Jacob Cress, Ph.D., PE
Associate Professor Educator, Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
Research/Teaching Interests: Pedagogical innovation, engineering curriculum, engineer formation, professional skills, communication skills, capstone design, engineering technology.
Tommaso Giovannelli, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering (Industrial & Systems Engineering)
Research/Teaching Interests: Operations research, data science, healthcare management, transportation systems, nonlinear optimization, machine learning optimization methods, stochastic optimization, bilevel and multi-objective optimization, simulation-based optimization, derivative-free and black-box optimization
Nicolas Haddad, Ph.D.
Associate Professor Educator, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Research/Teaching Interests: Digital and analog electronics, signal processing, embedded systems, programming languages, renewable energy
Micheal Kattoura, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor Educator, Department of Engineering and Computing Education
Teaching/Research Interests: First-year engineering, engineering education, solid mechanics, strength of material, stress analysis, mechanisms, machine design, fatigue, mechanical testing, material characterization, failure analysis, and surface treatments.
Mark Pinto, Ph.D.
Associate Professor Research, Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering (P&G Accelerator)
Research/Teaching Interests: Product and process systems modeling, development of lumped and distributed parameter system models of products and processes using conservation laws and transport phenomena
Ashraf Samarah, Ph.D.
Associate Professor Educator, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Joint Co-op Institute
Research/Teaching Interests: Digital control systems, synthetic aperture radar, sensor networks, digital signal processing, and renewable energy, devoted to motivating students and interdisciplinary cooperation for sustainable solutions
Yingyan Zeng, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering (Industrial & Systems Engineering)
Research/Teaching Interests: Data quality, multi-modal data generation and sampling, data sharing, human-AI interaction, manufacturing industrial internet, computer service in Internet of Things
Featured image at top shows eight of the ten new CEAS faculty. Photos/Corrie Mayer/CEAS Marketing
Related Stories
'Truly spectacular': College of Medicine baccalaureate programs celebrate a year of momentum under new leadership
September 8, 2026
A year into his role, Kevin Haworth, PhD, reflects on the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine's largest-ever incoming baccalaureate class, first anatomy certificate graduates and a landmark philanthropic gift.
'Father of the Pentium' returns to his professional launching pad
September 8, 2026
When you consider the sheer breadth of the Pentium chip’s usage and impact, it’s fair to wonder if any University of Cincinnati alumnus has made a greater difference than the iconic microprocessor’s principal creator, Vinod Dham, CEAS ’77, who received the William Howard Taft Medal of Notable Achievement in 2026 – the UC Alumni Association's highest honor.
Cancer Center expert urges lung cancer screenings as too few at-risk patients get tested
September 4, 2026
The University of Cincinnati Cancer Center's Robert Van Haren, MD, spoke with Local 12 about the need for more awareness and discussions around lung cancer screenings.