Michael Frush — assistant professor in the School of Architecture
Michael Frush is a registered architect and educator joining OSU as an assistant professor
of architecture. He comes to OSU from Atlanta, where he both practiced and taught
part-time.
James Piccone — assistant professor in the School of Architecture
James Piccone is an architect and educator whose research focuses on how design standards,
communication mediums and digital cultures have shaped contemporary and historical
understandings of architecture. He previously taught architecture at Santa Monica
College and the Southern California Institute of Architecture and has practiced with
GRO Architects, Curtis + Ginsberg Architects, Patterns, and Doug Aitken Workshop.
His creative work currently speculates on how imaging and computational techniques
can be leveraged in the design process to reveal new aesthetic and material territories
for future decarbonized residential housing.
K.J. Jafarzadegan — assistant professor in the School of Biosystems and Agricultural
Engineering
Dr. K.J. Jafarzadegan’s appointment includes research and extension on characterization,
modeling and management of hydrological extremes. His research focuses on enhancing
the predictive capabilities of models used for simulating hydrological extremes, developing
flood and drought forecasting tools, modeling coupled human-hydrological systems,
and quantifying the hazard, vulnerability, and risk across various scales.
In collaboration with the Oklahoma Water Resources Center, Jafarzadegan’s extension
program aims to enhance the resilience of local communities to droughts and floods
by raising awareness, developing advanced user-friendly tools and devising hazard
mitigation strategies.
Dr. K.J. Jafarzadegan
Praveen Meduri — assistant professor in the School of Chemical Engineering
Dr. Praveen Meduri was a research engineer at Advanced Energy Materials before starting
as an assistant professor at OSU. Previously, he was an associate professor in the
Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Hyderabad and had been there since 2014. He
worked as an independent researcher at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Pennsylvania
State University prior to joining IIT Hyderabad.
His research spans across the areas of (nano)materials and electrochemistry with a
focus on: photocatalysis and electrocatalysis pertaining to water splitting; CO2 conversion to value added chemicals; and water purification, energy storage working
on different types of metal-ion batteries and agriculture with interests in sustainable
ammonia production and efficient fertilizer use.
Gabriel Perez — assistant professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Dr. Gabriel Perez’s research spans hydroclimate extremes, process-based modeling of
hydrologic processes, extreme event statistics, hydro-geomorphological analysis and
flood risk management. His expertise includes high-performance computing, hydroclimate
impact assessment, flood frequency analysis, remote sensing, machine learning, groundwater
modeling and hyporheic exchange modeling.
Before joining OSU, Perez worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Oak Ridge National
Laboratory & Climate Change Science Institute. Prior to that, he was a postdoctoral
researcher at Vanderbilt University.
Dr. Gabriel Perez
Hritom Das — assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Dr. Hritom Das was a visiting assistant professor with the Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering at the University of South Alabama. In addition, he was a
postdoctoral research associate with the Department of Electrical Engineering and
Computer Science at the University of Tennessee. Das’ research interests include neuromorphic
computing, emerging memory, low-power VLSI circuit design and data privacy for edge
devices.
Syed Jehangir — assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Dr. Syed Jehangir’s research interests span various aspects of antenna theory and
design, including phased array antennas, uniform and artificial graded-index dielectric
lens antennas, material characterization of conventional and artificial materials,
dual-polarized UWB antennas, MIMO and wearable antennas.
Shahriar Shahabuddin – Assistant Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer
Engineering
Dr. Shahriar Shahabuddin has accumulated 15 years of experience in digital VLSI design
and signal processing through his roles in academia and industries across Europe and
America. During spring 2015, he was with Computer Systems Laboratory at Cornell University
as a visiting scholar. From 2017 to 2020, he held positions as an SoC specialist and
senior DSP engineer at Nokia, Finland, and Nokia, Dallas, respectively. He also served
as an assistant professor of instruction at the University of Texas-Arlington during
2023 and 2024. Shahabuddin’s research interests include VLSI signal processing, machine
learning accelerators and 6G security.
Jahan Bayat — associate professor of practice in the Division of Engineering Technology,
MET/MERO
Dr. Jahan Bayat has over 20 years of teaching experience in thermal science, fluid
science, solid mechanics and mechanical design. He has experience in doing research
in academia and publishing papers in engineering magazines and international journals.
Before teaching, he worked for seven years as a senior engineer in the field and a
nuclear reactor design component at national laboratory INL managed by the Department
of Energy.
Dr. Jahan Bayat
Muhammad Jujuly — teaching assistant professor in the Division of Engineering Technology,
FPSET
Dr. Muhammad Jujuly is a professional engineer with over 10 years of experience in
process safety, energy and manufacturing industries. Prior to joining the OSU FPSET
program, Jujuly taught a petroleum and energy engineering program in Canada. His teaching
and research interests are fire and explosion modeling, natural gas transmission pipeline,
machine and equipment design, probabilistic risk models and consequence analysis.
Dr. Muhammad Jujuly
Ruiqing (Ryan) Shen — Teaching Assistant Professor in the Division of Engineering
Technology, FPSET
Driven by a vision to safeguard people, communities and the environment, Dr. Ruiqing
Shen’s research focuses on developing eco-friendly fire-safe materials, designing
cost-effective engineering safety and health strategies, advancing the manufacturing
of polymeric materials, integrating new technologies into chemical process safety,
enhancing fire safety of energy storage systems, and improving occupational health
and safety.
To date, Shen has published over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and contributed
to two book chapters in these fields. His research endeavors have been supported by
prominent organizations such as NSF, OSHA and MSHA. Prior to his return to OSU he
served as an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
at Marshall University.
Dr. Ruiqing (Ryan) Shen
Yafeng Wang — assistant professor in the Division of Engineering Technology, MERO
Before joining OSU, Dr. Yafeng Wang gained industrial experience at Caterpillar, NVIDIA
and Brooks Automation. His industrial work primarily focused on mathematical and simulation
modeling, autonomous control systems and industrial AI model development.
Currently, his research centers on AI-enhanced computer vision, autonomous robotic
systems and controls, with a primary focus on autonomous aerial vehicle control for
renewable energy facility inspection. By integrating AI-driven robotic vision with
advanced control systems, Wang aims to deliver cost-effective, industry-level solutions
and impactful research for the renewable energy sector.
Dr. Yafeng Wang
Paul Elliott — research assistant professor in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering
Dr. Paul Elliott’s areas of research include low-stress ceramic to metal bonding,
metal 3D printing and low temperature casting, non-toxic amalgams and metal matrix
composites, and vehicle and motor design for high powered rocketry. His work with
NASA includes the design and construction of a rover experiment platform for the detection
of methane over large distances on the Martian surface, and the construction of an
experimental package that flew on a sounding rocket to an altitude of 41 miles.
Before coming to OSU, he was an assistant professor at the State University of New
York where he was selected as the Instructor of the Year in 2020 and a visiting assistant
professor at the University of North Florida.
Sicheng Kevin Li — assistant professor in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Dr. Sicheng Li specializes in rotorcraft aeromechanics and is widely recognized for
his groundbreaking work on the UCD-QuietFly model — a physics-based method that stands
as the first of its kind for simulating broadband noise on multi-rotor aircraft. His
research outcomes have been adopted by leading players in the eVTOL/UAM industry and
academia. Li has received the Acoustics Best Paper Award from the Vertical Flight
Society and is currently serving on the VFS Acoustics Technical Committee.
His current research activities include computational aerodynamics, vortex/wake interaction,
bio-inspired aircraft design, indoor/outdoor aeroacoustics experiment and transformative
air/watercraft design.
Dr. Sicheng Kevin Li
Hemanth Manjunatha — assistant professor in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering
Dr. Hemanth Manjunatha specializes in neuro-physiological computing and machine learning
for human-robot interaction and human-swarm interaction. Manjunatha’s current research
involves the development of technologies for ensuring the safety and reliability of
deep neural network-based learning architectures in the field of autonomy, with a
strong emphasis on safety and formal assurances during training and real-time operation
of autonomous systems.
He is also involved in the NASA University Leadership Initiative, actively exploring
foundational innovations that empower deep neural networks to exhibit robustness and
adaptability in unforeseen situations within autonomous aviation.
