CEM dean search public forums
October 25, 2018
Four candidates for the dean for College of Engineering and Mines position will give a public lecture as part of the selection process. Individual presentations by Bill Schnabel, Brandon Weeks, Hamid Hefazi and Ian Ferguson will focus on their vision for CEM. Each session will be one and a half hours long, with an opportunity for candidates to answers questions from the audience. The public forums will be available via livestream, and recorded.
Audience members can submit online comments on each candidate. Faculty, staff and students are strongly encouraged to attend these presentations. A reception with light hors d’oeuvres will follow the forums.
A short description and photo supplied by each candidate are below.
Bill Schnabel
Tuesday, Nov. 6, 4:30-6 p.m.
ELIF 401 (BP Design Theater)
Watch the live feed here.
Bill Schnabel moved north in 1992 seeking to experience, learn from and contribute to Alaska’s lands and people. From that point forward, his affinity for the Great Land and its citizens has never wavered. While he did move closer to his family in the Midwest on several occasions for brief periods, Alaska’s allure consistently compelled him to return to his adopted home in the North. Over the past 25 years, Bill has experienced the University of Alaska through a diversity of perspectives — as a community member, as a student, as a parent, as a faculty member, and as an administrative leader. As he wove himself over those years into the fabric of Alaska, Fairbanks and UAF in particular, his enthusiasm for our shared community has only increased. While Bill’s current challenges may be more complex compared those of his early years, in his heart Bill is still that idealistic young man driving up the Alaska Highway seeking to make a difference in a magical land.
For more of Bill's biography and CV, please see the provost's website.
Brandon Weeks
Thursday, Nov. 8, 4-5:30 p.m.
Schaible Auditorium
Watch the live feed here.
Brandon Weeks obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge (UK) in 2000. From 2000-2004 he worked as a postdoc and then a staff scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. His responsibilities included performing studies for the enhanced surveillance campaign related to the nations nuclear stockpile. He joined the faculty of chemical engineering at Texas Tech in 2004. Currently, he serves as the associate dean for research and graduate studies in the Whitacre College of Engineering.
His research interests are in nanotechnology and energetic materials, where he has secured over $3 million in external funding. His work has generated over 90 peer reviewed publications, and he has received the NSF CAREER Award and the Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award while at Texas Tech.
To review Brandon's CV, please see the provost's website.
Hamid Hefazi
Thursday, Nov. 15, 4-5:30 p.m.
Schaible Auditorium
Watch the live feed here.
Hamid Hefazi joined Florida Institute of Technology in fall 2013 as a professor of aerospace engineering and the head of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department. He served a five-year term in this position until August 2018 and is now a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering. Prior to joining Florida Tech, Hefazi served as the MAE Department chair at California State University, Long Beach for 12 years.
Hefazi received his Ph.D. degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California in 1985. He has been involved in a broad range of teaching and research activities in fluid mechanics, including geophysical fluid mechanics and computational fluid dynamics, with emphasis on the computation of transonic flows over complex geometries. His more recent research works have been on the application of CFD in turbomachinery, aerodynamic design optimization, aeroacoustics, hydrodynamics, ship design and advanced multidisciplinary design and optimization methods.
For more of Hamid's biography and CV, please see the provost's website.
NB: Ian Ferguson has withdrawn his application for consideration.
Ian Ferguson
Canceled: Tuesday, Nov. 20, 4-5:30 p.m.
Schaible Auditorium
Watch the live feed here.
Ian Ferguson was the vice provost and dean of the College of Engineering and Computing at Missouri University of Science and Technology before returning to the faculty in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. Prior to this he has been based in academia (Georgia Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, Imperial College, the University of St. Andrews and other institutions) and industry, most often in leadership roles. His research has focused on the area of wide bandgap materials and devices and developing these materials for applications in the areas of illumination, solar power, spintronics, and nuclear detection. This research was supported through competitive research grants and contracts through various government agencies and others totaling over $27 million as a lead investigator. He has authored over 490 refereed journal and conference papers, book chapters, and has edited multiple conference proceedings.
Ferguson has worked with many faculty who have an interest in entrepreneurship in other institutions in the U.S., Asia and Europe. He cofounded a business incubator, Project for innovation, Energy and Sustainability, which was named a top five green incubator in the US by Ecowatch that are “Shaping the Future of Green Business.” Ferguson is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce in addition to being a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, the Institute of Physics, and Fellow of the International Society for Optical Engineering.
To review Ferguson's CV, please see the Provost's website.
For more information about the series of presentations and candidates, visit our website or contact the Office of the Provost at 474-7096, 474-6634 or uaf.provost@alaska.edu.