College of Engineering

New $62M engineering building represents a ‘major leap forward’ in engineering education

The Tennessee Tech University community kicked off its new $62 million engineering building on Friday, September 10th with a groundbreaking ceremony, celebrating the history, legacy and future of the university’s flagship engineering programs and showing appreciation for donors and state support. 

Tennessee Tech ranked as “Best Undergraduate Engineering Program (Doctorate)” by U.S. News & World Report

Tennessee Tech’s College of Engineering has again been ranked as one of the nation’s top engineering programs in the annual U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings, the longest-running and most widely cited assessment of U.S. colleges and universities.

National Science Foundation Awards Tennessee Tech $4.4 Million for Cybersecurity Scholarships

The Cybersecurity Education, Research and Outreach Center at Tennessee Tech University has been awarded more than $4.44 million from the National Science Foundation to provide scholarships for students completing a computer science degree with a concentration in cybersecurity.

Kumar Yelamarthi named new associate dean

Kumar Yelamarthi, Ph.D., P.E., joined the College of Engineering as its new associate dean on August 1. Yelamarthi has launched multiple engineering programs throughout his career at Central Michigan University, and his appointment comes at a pivotal time for the college as it seeks to expand access to engineering education in the state of Tennessee.

U.S Department of Energy awards Tennessee Tech $4 million for green economy proposal

Tennessee Tech has been awarded more than $4 million by the U.S. Department of Energy for its proposal to build the clean energy economy in rural areas. The project, “Rural Reimagined: Building an EV Ecosystem and Green Economy for Transforming Lives in Economically Distressed Appalachia,” is led by Pingen Chen, assistant professor of mechanical engineering.

The total cost of the project is $8 million. Tennessee Tech is the leading organization among more than 50 partners from Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia sharing the balance of the funding. 

College of Engineering external funding tops $6.18 million as university sets record for 2020-2021

Tennessee Tech University officials announced that externally funded research topped $22 million university-wide, a new high for Tech researchers, and the third consecutive year for the university above $20 million. Tech’s College of Engineering accounted for the largest funding amount at $6.18 million.

RANCS Research Group tests new Ford Fusion Hybrid for NSF research in Connected and Autonomous Vehicles

Students and faculty in the Resilient, Autonomous, Networked Control Systems (RANCS) Research Group recently conducted the first test of its new Ford Fusion Hybrid research vehicle as part of a National Science Foundation grant for testing and verifying the safety and security of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs). The $350K grant has provided for research and development of a large-scale Hardware-in-the-loop (HiL) simulation facility for CAVs, which also offers the opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience and attract industrial partners to test their systems.

Chemical Engineering professor and students research surface water and membrane fouling in water filtration

Holly Stretz, Ph.D., is the interim chair and a professor in chemical engineering and leads a large research group—including undergraduate and graduate students—studying how certain carbon-based components found in the environment behave in surface water or during water purification. 

Fluid Mechanics Research Lab provides hands-on experience for Tech students

Ahmad Vaselbehagh, assistant professor in mechanical engineering, focuses his engineering research on fundamentals of fluid mechanics and heat transfer for energy generation and storage applications. Through the use of the Fluid Mechanics Research Lab, he is able to share his research with students, who develop numerical simulations and analytical models in concert with laboratory and field experiments.

Faculty publish research in more than 120 journal articles for 2020

Designated an “R2” research institution, Tennessee Tech is home to engineering, computer science and engineering technology faculty at the top of their fields who publish their research and discoveries in prestigious, peer-reviewed journals and share their findings at conferences spanning the globe. In 2020, College of Engineering faculty shared their research contributions in more than 120 journal articles, book chapters, paper presentations and conference proceedings—even Congressional testimony.

Tennessee Tech Receives $2.3 million Investment from United States Department of Energy

Ethan Languiri, Ph.D., and the Industrial Assessment Center have received a $2.3 million dollar investment from the United States Department of Energy. Tech is one of 32 universities across the nation selected to take part in the DOE Industrial Assessment Centers program, offering no-cost energy efficiency recommendations to small and medium-sized manufacturers and water treatment facilities.

Satish Mahajan awarded Tech’s highest faculty honor

Satish Mahajan, Ph.D., professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of the Center for Energy Systems Research (CESR), has been awarded Tennessee Tech University’s highest faculty honor, the 2021 Caplenor Faculty Research Award. Mahajan’s current research is focused on electrical power systems, renewable energy, photovoltaics/nanoparticle doped devices, and sensors. During his 33-year career at Tech, Mahajan has garnered more than $6M in external research funding from the National Science Foundation, NASA, the defense department, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and EPRI, among other government and industry agencies. In the classroom, Mahajan has advised 29 master’s students and 12 Ph.D. students over his career.

Computer science instructor provides visuals for visually impaired

April Crockett’s lesson plans in her computer science classes at Tennessee Tech have always included plenty of visual and dynamic examples. When two visually impaired computer science majors began taking her classes, though, Crockett looked to enhance her lesson plans. Now, she is creating visuals for the visually-impaired.

Ambareen Siraj, Ph.D., named 2020 Cybersecurity Person of the Year

Dr. Siraj, professor of Computer Science and founding director of the Cybersecurity Education, Research and Outreach Center (CEROC) at Tennessee Tech, was named 2020 Cybersecurity Person of the Year by, Cybersecurity Ventures.

Pedro Arce receives 2021 Outstanding Chemical Engineer Alum Award

Pedro Arce, Ph.D., was given the 2021 Outstanding Chemical Engineer Alum Award from the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University, his alma mater. The award is bestowed upon the top one percent of Purdue alumni, with only 119 out of 9,000 alumni having received the award. Dr. Arce was honored for his work in engineering education at Tennessee Tech and specifically for “his forward-thinking approach to developing an interdisciplinary model defining the ‘new’ engineer.”

Six National Merit Finalists among fall freshmen

The fall 2021 freshman class at Tennessee Tech includes six National Merit Finalists—all of whom are engineering majors.

Tennessee Tech students are driving innovation in rural communities

Mechanical engineering students and faculty at Tennessee Tech are at the forefront of exploring electric vehicles' potential to improve life in rural areas. Tennessee Tech’s Electric Vehicle Ride & Drive outreach event allowed Upper Cumberland residents to learn about the benefits of EVs, as well as how to charge and maintain them.

iMakerSpace training ground for Tech innovation and entrepreneurship

Located on the third floor of the Volpe Library, the iMakerSpace helps students reach their creative potential by providing resources and knowledge to facilitate a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship for all Tech students, faculty and staff. It is an environment supported by students from all disciplines and strives to integrate innovation and entrepreneurship into courses.

New scholarships help Tennessee Tech engineering students focus on achieving their goals

The College of Engineering at Tennessee Tech relies on scholarships as one of the tools to help its students succeed and accomplish their career dreams. Last year, the college awarded almost $2.4 million in scholarships that were primarily funded by generous alumni donors and friends of the college. At least 150 individual scholarships are available to College of Engineering students at Tech.

Student engineering organizations join together to encourage diversity in engineering

Three Tech student engineering organizations—the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Women Engineers and Women in Cybersecurity—are engaging middle and high school students throughout Tennessee to boost interest in engineering careers and increase the discipline’s diversity.

College of Engineering winners selected in 16th Annual Research and Creative Inquiry Day

Nearly 20 undergraduate and graduate students from the College of Engineering were honored April 20th during a virtual awards ceremony as Tennessee Tech celebrated its 16th Annual Research and Creative Inquiry Day. Held by Research & Economic Development, the competitive event promotes student research and creative inquiry and showcases their research abstracts, posters and papers.

Advisory Council for Engineering names student space in Ashraf Islam Engineering Building

When Tennessee Tech’s Advisory Council for Engineering (ACE) had the idea to name a room in the new Ashraf Islam Engineering Building, council members jumped at an opportunity to help future engineering students. The advisory group of alumni, industry partners and friends raised $50,000 to name a student collaboration space in the building, hoping to inspire a new generation of engineering students to give back as alumni in the future.

Alumni-owned firm Energy Land and Infrastructure looks to hire Tennessee Tech graduates

Tech alumni Thomas “Chuck” Saunders, ’96 civil engineering, and Michael Ray, `96 civil engineering, know the quality of a Tennessee Tech engineering education. The co-owners of Energy Land and Infrastructure, a professional engineering and survey firm focused on energy, civil and transportation infrastructure with 60 employees, are looking to hire more Tech engineers to grow their alumni ranks.

Advisory Council for Engineering member, Tech alum to receive Career Achievement in Government Award

Adedeji (Deji) Badiru, '79 B.S. industrial engineering, '81 M.S. mathematics and '82 M.S. industrial engineering, has been selected to receive the Career Achievement in Government Award from Career Communications Group, publisher of U.S. Black Engineer and Information Technology magazine. Badiru is dean of Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management and serves on the Advisory Council for Engineering for Tennessee Tech’s College of Engineering.

Tennessee Tech strengthens its engineering advisory council with five women in STEM

Tech celebrates five women—including three alumni—who help us make a difference in opening opportunities for women in engineering and computing. 

Civil and Environmental Engineering Ph.D. graduate’s published paper featured in PreventionWeb

Tigstu T. Dullo, a recent Civil and Environmental Engineering Ph.D. graduate, Dr. Alfred Kalyanapu, and others published a paper titled Simulation of Hurricane Harvey flood event through coupled hydrologic‐hydraulic models: Challenges and next steps, that has been highlighted by PreventionWeb, an online knowledge portal managed by the UN Office of Disaster Risk and Recovery.