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
How the University of Cincinnati co-op program is shaping the future of work at SXSW
March 17, 2026
The University of Cincinnati served as a 2026 Workplace Track sponsor at the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) Innovation Conference March 12-18 in Austin, Texas, showcasing how co-op is redesigning the future of work.
Recent advances may speed time to endometriosis diagnosis
March 16, 2026
The average time to clinical diagnosis of endometriosis is nine years. Definitive diagnosis of the disease is difficult, and until recently, has relied on laparoscopic surgery. Now, as Medscape recently reported, novel clinical recommendations, advanced diagnostic tools and research into inflammation and immune responses, are bringing promise that women with endometriosis will find relief sooner and without surgery, according to experts, including Katie Burns, PhD, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine associate professor.
Position-specific helmets may not improve protection
March 16, 2026
Local 12 highlighted a new study by biomedical engineering researchers that looked at how well new football helmets protected players from impacts that can cause concussions.