Changing of the Guard — New Leadership
This year, we have a new associate dean and three departments have new chairs. Receiving the torch from strong leaders, this diverse group of leaders brings a wealth of experience to the College of Engineering.
This year Kerop Janoyan joins the college as the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, and Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Civil Engineering & Construction Engineering Management have new chairs—Perla Ayala, Sergio Mendez, & Joseph Kim, respectively.
Each of these new leaders are active in industry societies, student organizations, and interesting research. From Ayala's research into engineered tissue to Kim's many years as a field engineer and safety engineer, the group brings a wealth of experience. Mendez is a veteran of the Marine Corps and Janoyan was born overseas; all four bring not only a wealth of professional, but personal experiences as well.
"The associate deans and chairs bring critical contributions to the leadership of the college," said Dean Jinny Rhee. "That 2 out of 6 chairs are currently Hispanic/Latinx - our largest student demographic - is uncommon and is to be celebrated."
According to the university policy, department chairs normally serve no more than two 3-year terms. The periodic rotation allows the leadership development opportunity, as well as the burden, to be shared among the department faculty. This supports the long-term health of the department and the college as they benefit from experience in the role in addition to new ideas and perspectives.
As the new Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research in the College of Engineering, Janoyan will lead the school's efforts to secure new grants, state-of-the-art facilities, and leading graduate programs. His most recent appointments include the Provost and Senior Vice President at the University of La Verne, as well as the Dean of the Graduate School and the Director of Distance Learning at Clarkson University where he rose through the ranks of the professoriate and earned his tenure. He is a registered civil engineer in the State of CA as well as a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He earned his BS, MS, Engineer, and PhD from UCLA, all in Civil Engineering.
Prior to Janoyan, Praveen Shankar served for one year as interim AD. Professor Shankar is a member of the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering. Shankar helped faculty receive nearly $7 million in grant funding, and a growing team in the Graduate Student Success Center.
Shankar served after long-term AD Hamid Rahai retired. Rahai supervised over 70 MS theses and projects and PhD dissertations, and authored more than 90 papers and presentations, over seeing millions of dollars in research grants. Rahai is also the founding director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Research & Services.
Ayala is serving as the interim Chair of Biomedical Engineering this year. She joined the department in 2016 after completing her postdoctoral research fellowship in the Department of Surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, part of Harvard Medical School. Ayala's research focuses on developing therapeutic systems that promote healing, applying a multidisciplinary approach to create engineered tissues, and cohesive drug delivery platforms and more.
The department's founding chair Dr. Shadnaz Asgari leaves behind large shoes to fill. From the department-favorite end-of-year-awards to designing department swag, Asgari helped foster a strong esprit de corps amongst Biomedical Engineers on campus. She was honored with a 2023 CSULB President Outstanding Professor Award, a 2021 CSULB Distinguished Faculty Scholarly and Creative Achievement Award, and a 2020 CSU Faculty Innovation and Leadership Award for her work building the Biomedical Engineering Department and increasing representation in STEM.
Mendez joined the Chemical Engineering Department in 2009, bringing with him a wealth of experience. He completed his postdoctoral work at Cornell University, worked as a Thin Films Process Engineer at Intel in Silicon Valley, and served four years in the infantry for the US Marine Corps. He has has 25 peer-reviewed publications in the areas of polymer solutions, nano-structured materials, molecular computational modeling, and green engineering. His recent research has been in green materials, biofuels, natural soaps, and low-cost biomedical devices.
Mendez is following in the footsteps of Dr. Roger Lo, who also joined CSULB in 2009. Lo's research focuses on developing microfluidic systems, coining one of the department's signature phrases, "We do everything from potato chips to microchips." Under Lo's guidance, in 2019 the student organization AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers) won 1st place at nationals for the Chem-E Car competition, where students design and construct a car powered via chemical energy. He also led the department effort to establish the Master of Science in Chemical Engineering program.
Joining CSULB in 2009, Kim graduated with a PhD from the University of Florida, and bringing with him a wealth of experience. A registered professional engineer holding a LEED AP BD+C certification, and several years experience as a field engineer and safety engineer, Kim has real-world knowledge that is valuable to CECEM students. Kim’s research interests include advanced construction scheduling using optimization techniques, green building, building information modeling, cost estimating methods, international construction, information technology in construction operations, project delivery systems, and statistical methods for construction engineers.
Kim is taking on the role from Dr. Lisa Star, who once said that competition teams and student organizations were her, "pride and joy," underscoring her investment in students' professional development. For example, students from the American Society of Civil Engineers placed in several competitions in the 2024 Pacific Southwest Symposium at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. She's helped oversee the department's growing connect to heavy civil engineering, which includes a soon-to-launch minor. Her research focuses on geotechnical and earthquake engineering, leading graduate and undergraduate students in efforts such as advanced laboratory testing of soils.
