Two new department chairs have been appointed in the College of Engineering.

Alan Fuchs
Alan Fuchs is the new chair of the chemical and materials engineering department. He received his Ph.D. in1996 from Tufts University, after receiving his master’s degree at the University of Rochester in 1979. He completed his undergraduate work at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York in 1977.

Fuchs brings extensive experience in polymer science and engineering, membrane research and intellectual property development in intelligent polymeric fluids.

“Dr. Fuchs is an experienced faculty member of the chemical and materials engineering department who understands well the exceptional success of some departmental research areas, as well the opportunities for growth of the undergraduate and graduate programs,” Manos Maragakis, Dean of the College of Engineering said. “He brings a fine balance between the need to strengthen existing successful efforts and the vision of growing new areas with strong future potential.”

Mehdi Etezadi
Mehdi Etezadi, a faculty member of the electrical and biomedical engineering department for over 25 years, is now at the helm of the department. Etezadi received his bachelor’s, masters and doctoral degrees from New Mexico State University, where also served as an assistant professor. He worked as an engineer for the Arizona Public Service Company, and specializes in power systems analysis, planning and protection; renewable energy; electromagnetic transient simulations; large scale system modeling; neural networks and fuzzy control application to power systems.

“Dr. Etezadi has been part of the department's development, knows its strengths, understands its weaknesses and with his dedication, experience and vision can lead the department to higher levels of scholarship and productivity,” Maragakis said. “We are fortunate to have both of them in our college leadership team and I am committed to help them achieve their ambitious goals.”