Full Professor Spotlight 2023: Panadda Marayong
PANADDA MARAYONG
Recently named Associate Chair of the Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department, Professor Panadda (Nim) Marayong joined Long Beach in 2007. Marayong's main research interests lie in robotics, human-machine collaborative systems and haptics. She is the Director of the Robotics and Interactive Systems Engineering (RISE) Lab, and a co-developer of the Beach CAVE augmented-reality and virtual-reality lab, an immersive virtual environment system that facilitates interdisciplinary research in human-machine interaction in a dynamic environment. She has published over 60 journal articles, book chapters, and refereed conference papers on her work.
Marayong is one of the principal investigators on the $20 million CSULB Building Infrastructure Leading in Diversity Program (BUILD) grant from the National Institute of Health, and serves as the Director of Research Enrichment Core for the program. BUILD offers intensive, hands-on research and training for undergraduate students designed to prepare them to excel in doctoral programs, as well as health-related research careers. The program has built institutional infrastructure to broaden undergraduate research opportunities on campus, and has broadened the representation of students pursuing advanced study and research which will ultimately influence which research is prioritized and who from the next generation might decide to follow in their footsteps. It is one of only 10, NIH supported BUILD initiatives funded throughout the United States, and the impacts of this work will endure on our campus long after the grant period concludes.
Marayong has served as the chair and vice-chair of the Engineering Faculty Council in the College of Engineering, and is the faculty advisor for the Society of Women Engineers student chapter. She has also served on the Executive Board of the American Society for Engineering Education – Pacific Southwest Section since 2012, and as the Treasurer of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Chapter since 2010.
Marayong earned her PhD from Johns Hopkins, where she was part of the NSF Engineering Research Center for Computer Integrated Surgical Systems and Technology and was a member of the Haptic Exploration Laboratory under the advisement of Dr. Allison M. Okamura.
