The University of Colorado at Boulder has appointed mechanical engineering professor Roop L. Mahajan to serve as interim dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science, pending approval by the CU Board of Regents.
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Phil DiStefano, named Mahajan to the post for the 2001-2002 academic year, while a national search is reopened for a permanent dean of the college. The appointment will be effective Sept. 7 through Aug. 31, 2002, or until a permanent dean is hired. Former engineering dean Ross Corotis stepped down at the end of July.
"I am very confident that Roop has the leadership skills to work with faculty in moving the college forward as we begin the national search for the permanent dean," said DiStefano in making the announcement. "He is recognized as one of the leading researchers and teachers on the campus, and his interdisciplinary focus is central to the campus' mission."
An outstanding and prolific researcher, Mahajan has made significant contributions in the area of thermal sciences, electronic packaging and artificial neural networks. He also has initiated leading-edge research in the deployment of microsystems, including MEMS as sensors and actuators in cardiovascular systems.
He is the founding director of the Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Packaging for Microwave, Optical and Digital Electronics (CAMPmode), which focuses on research and education in integrated microwave, optical and digital electronic systems. The industry-sponsored center was established in 1992 and draws on faculty expertise from both the departments of mechanical engineering, and electrical and computer engineering.
He also is the founding director of a new center, MicroElectronic Devices in Cardiovascular Applications (MEDICA) established in 1999. A joint research center between CU-Boulder and the CU-Health Sciences Center, the center seeks to advance the study and application of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) in cardiovascular applications.
Mahajan joined CU-Boulder as a professor in 1991 after being recruited from AT&T Bell Laboratories. He was a supervisor of thermal and computational engineering research and development there from 1979 to 1991, and he received the prestigious Bell Labs Fellow Award in 1989.
While at CU-Boulder, Majahan has attracted more than $600,000 in research funding per year, and he received the Boulder Faculty Assembly Award for Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creative Work for 1998-99. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and serves as editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Microelectronics Packaging and Manufacturing.
Mahajan earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at Cornell University in 1977. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering in India from Punjab University.