Department of Mechanical Engineering

ME welcomes new faculty members

 

In August 2008, three new faculty members will join the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Baskar Ganapathysubramanian and Song Zhang will hold full appointments with mechanical engineering, and Tim Bigelow will hold a joint appointment between electrical and computer engineering and mechanical engineering and has been hired as part of the college’s biosciences and engineering cluster area.

Timothy Bigelow, Assistant Professor
Bigelow finished his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering at Colorado State University, and he completed his graduate and postdoctorate work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. With his joint appointment, Bigelow plans to collaborate between his two appointment departments, as well as with faculty in veterinary medicine, biology, and animal science.

His research interests focus on improving the diagnostic and therapeutic effectiveness of medical ultrasound. Specifically, he focuses on quantifying the physical properties of tissue using backscattered ultrasound signals; applying the interaction between high-intensity focused ultrasound and bubbles to treat specific medical problems, such as cancer and infections; and exploring ultrasound-induced bioeffects for both ultrasound safety and ultrasound therapy applications.

As a biosciences and engineering cluster hire, Bigelow will contribute to merging engineering disciplines with life sciences to address the increasing challenges of treating an aging population and developing the tools for addressing new diseases and other health threats.

Baskar Ganapathysubramanian, William March Scholar in Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor
Ganapathysubramanian received his undergraduate education in mechanical engineering from theIndian Institute of Technology in Madras. He completed his graduate education at Cornell University in mechanical engineering with minors in material science and physics.

He works in the broad area of computational mechanics, and his primary area of research can be described as applied mathematics fused with parallel and high-performance computing concepts. These concepts are coupled with realistic physical modeling toward the analysis, control, and design of complex systems. Ganapathysubramanian’s specific interests are in understanding how uncertainty propagates through and affects complex systems, as well as developing computational strategies for materials by design.

Song Zhang, Assistant Professor
Zhang’s education began at the University of Science and Technology of China, located in Hefei, China, where he received his undergraduate degree in precision machinery and precision instrumentation. He completed his graduate work in mechanical engineering at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York, and has been performing post-doctorate research at Harvard since 2005.

His research is in real-time 3-D optical metrology, machine and computer vision, virtual reality, human-computer interaction, nondestructive evaluation, and biometrics. His goal as a faculty member is to facilitate students as they learn how to perform independent research in research labs or institutions, start their own business related to 3-D, or become outstanding engineers in industry. 

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