Sept. 8, 2020
The college welcomes nine new faculty members this fall
The MSU College of Engineering has welcomed nine new faculty members this fall, adding to the diverse engineering and scientific talent available in the college. The college currently has 243 tenure-system faculty educators.
One new assistant professor uses digital manufacturing to construct models of intercellular signaling in disease.
One can track his academic pedigree to physicists Marie Curie and Paul Dirac.
One creates miniaturized electronic and robotic devices for ubiquitous healthcare.
Another designs advanced materials and manufacturing methods for energy storage and conversion devices, while yet another works in the broad areas of machine and reinforcement learning, optimization and signal processing.
Meet MSU Engineering’s newest academic experts:
Biomedical Engineering and IQ
Jinxing Li
Assistant Professor (Joined September 2020)
Jinxing Li focuses on creating miniaturized electronic and robotic devices for ubiquitous healthcare. He enjoys exploring the intersections of traditionally different fields. The broad themes of his research include: medical robotics, wearable and implantable biosensors, and neuroengineering tools.
EDUCATION: PhD, nanoengineering, University of California San Diego; MS, electrical engineering, Fudan University; BS, electrical engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
PREVIOUS APPOINTMENT: Postdoctoral scholar, chemical engineering, Stanford University
Biomedical Engineering and Pharmacology & Toxicology
Brian Johnson
Assistant Professor (Joined August 2020)
Brian Johnson has extensive interdisciplinary training in biology and engineering. His research employs digital manufacturing (CNC machining and 3D printing) to construct models of intercellular signaling in development and disease. These models are used to explore intercellular signaling interactions, uncover mechanisms of toxicity, reveal new pharmacological targets and inform personalized cancer treatments in at-risk human populations. He is also co-founder and chief scientific officer at Onexio Biosystems, a company which is commercializing technology developed from his research.
EDUCATION: Postdoctoral research, biomedical engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison; PhD, molecular and environmental toxicology, University of Wisconsin-Madison; BS, biology, Michigan Technological University
PREVIOUS APPOINTMENT: Assistant scientist, University of Wisconsin at Madison
Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (CHEMS)
Chengcheng Fang
Assistant Professor (Joined August 2020)
Chengcheng Fang’s research focuses on developing multi-scale quantitative characterization tools, and designing advanced materials and manufacturing methods for energy storage and conversion devices. Her doctoral research identified the main culprit behind lithium metal battery failure by inventing a new analytical tool named Titration Gas Chromatography and coupling with cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) techniques.
EDUCATION: Ph.D., materials science and engineering, University of California San Diego; M.Phil, innovative technologies leadership, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; B.E., materials science and engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
PREVIOUS APPOINTMENT: Postdoctoral scholar, Department of NanoEngineering, University of California San Diego
Jose Mendoza-Cortes
Assistant Professor (Joined August 2020)
Jose Mendoza-Cortes has worked on materials by design for porous materials using topological concepts in combination with atomistic simulations and experiments. The first example was published in Science magazine and was awarded the 2007 AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize, which is AAAS's oldest and most prestigious award. His recent research about designing new materials for energy conversion was in national media and the U.S. Department of Energy highlights. He is developing new multiscale methods for materials design and is investigating the fundamental degradation of lithium batteries and their further improvement. Because of graduate and post-graduate studies advisers, his academic great grandparents are Marie Curie and Paul Dirac. He is a 2020 Scialog Fellow.
EDUCATION: Postdoctoral fellowship, University of California, Berkeley & Berkeley National Lab; staff scientist, California Institute of Technology & Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis; PhD and MS, materials science, California Institute of Technology; BS, physical chemistry, Tec de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico; University of California, Los Angeles, 2006-2008
PREVIOUS APPOINTMENT: Assistant professor, Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at the Florida A&M University – Florida State University Joint College of Engineering
Computer Science and Engineering
Borzoo Bonakdarpour
Associate Professor (Joined August 2020)
Borzoo Bonakdarpour is interested in the intersection of automated formal methods with cybersecurity and privacy, distributed computing, and cyber-physical systems. His research projects include software model checking for information-flow security and runtime monitoring of low-level blockchain fundations.
EDUCATION: PhD and MS, computer science, Michigan State University; MS, BS, computer engineering, University of Esfahan, Iran
PREVIOUS APPOINTMENT: Assistant professor, computer science, Iowa State University
Huacheng Zeng
Assistant Professor (Joined August 2020)
The research of Huacheng Zeng is focused on computer networking and sensing systems. He comes to MSU from the University of Louisville and previously was a senior system engineer at Marvell Semiconductor. He is a senior member of IEEE and a recipient of NSF CAREER Award.
EDUCATION: PhD, computer engineering, Virginia Tech; MS and BS, electrical engineering, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
PREVIOUS APPOINTMENT: Assistant professor, electrical and computer engineering, University of Louisville
Computer Science and Engineering and
Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior
Emily Dolson
Assistant Professor (August 2020)
Emily Dolson is interested in the intersection of computer science, ecology, and evolutionary biology. She uses principles from biology to solve computational problems and principles from computer science to solve biological problems.
EDUCATION: PhD, computer science and engineering, and ecology, evolutionary biology & behavior, Michigan State University
PREVIOUS APPOINTMENT: A former postdoctoral fellow at Cleveland Clinic, she was recruited by the Dean’s Faculty Pathway Program to support high-potential early career faculty.
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Matt Woongkul Lee
Assistant Professor (Joined August 2020)
Matt Woongkul Lee research interests include high-performance motor drive, power electronics, electric machines, and distributed energy resources. His previous work includes advanced motor drive technology using wide bandgap devices and integration.
EDUCATION: PhD and MS, electrical and computer engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison; BS, electrical and electronic engineering, Yonsei University Seoul, South Korea;
PREVIOUS APPOINTMENT: Postdoctoral research associate, Wisconsin Electric Machines and Power Electronics Consortium, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Dionysios Kalogerias
Assistant Professor (Joined August 2020)
The research focus of Dionysios Kalogerias is within the broad areas of machine and reinforcement learning, optimization, signal processing, sequential decisions, and risk, as well as relevant and timely applications in autonomous networked systems, wireless communications, security and privacy, and system trustworthiness.
EDUCATION: PhD, electrical and computer engineering, Rutgers University; MS, signal processing and communications; University of Patras, Greece; BS and ME, computer engineering and informatics, University of Patras, Greece
PREVIOUS APPOINTMENT: Postdoctoral researcher, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering
