Dear Colleagues:

I am delighted to report that M. Ravi Shankar, the John A. Swanson Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, has accepted the position as the next DEO of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, effective August 16, 2023.

Ravi’s research program is broadly in the areas of manufacturing and materials engineering with a particular focus on bulk nanomaterials, nanomanufacturing, 3D printing, microrobotics and adaptive metamaterials. Current research efforts in the Shankar Research Group are focused on harnessing actuation from order-disorder transitions in liquid crystal elastomers, exploitation of instabilities to power soft robots and developing advanced manufacturing techniques to integrate active materials in freeform geometries. He has been supported by the NSF, Navy, Air Force, DARPA, Manufacturing Innovation Institutes, the State of PA, philanthropic foundations, and Industry partners.

Ravi holds a bachelor of technology from the Indian Institute of Technology as well as an MS and PhD in industrial engineering, both from Purdue University.

Please join me in congratulating Ravi and welcoming him to campus when he arrives in August. I would also like to thank Geb Thomas for his dedication and vision as ISE DEO for the last five years.

I look forwarding to following Ravi’s successes as DEO as well as learning of his collaborations with colleagues throughout the college and across campus.

With best regards,

Harriet

Harriet B. Nembhard
Dean, College of Engineering
Roy J. Carver Professor of Engineering