Faculty Affairs

2025 Promotion Awardees

PROFESSOR

Kyle B. Reed is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Senior Director of Academics and Student Affairs for the College of Engineering. His research spans low-cost rehabilitation technologies, human-robot interaction, and haptics, with a focus on restoring mobility in individuals affected by stroke, limb loss, or other asymmetric impairments. He also leads education research on innovative learning methods that combine the flexibility of asynchronous videos with the benefits of live interactions. Dr. Reed has secured competitive funding from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, the Florida High Tech Corridor, and multiple clinical and industry partners. He holds 22 patents (several licensed for commercialization) and has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications. His work has received widespread media coverage. He is a Senior Member of IEEE, a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors, and was named a Core Fulbright U.S. Scholar in 2019. Prior to joining USF, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University. He earned his Ph.D. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University and a B.S. from the University of Tennessee.

Dr. Tansel Yucelen is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of South Florida, where he directs the Laboratory for Autonomy, Control, Information, and Systems (LACIS) and the Forum on Robotics and Control Engineering (FoRCE). His research focuses on autonomy, control theory, and intelligent systems with applications to aerospace systems, robotics, and cyber-physical systems. He has authored over 350 peer-reviewed publications and secured approximately $7.5 million in sponsored research funding from agencies including the National Science Foundation, Air Force Research Laboratory, NASA, DARPA, and the Army Research Laboratory. His recent work explores symbiotic control frameworks, event-triggered control architectures, and resilient distributed control of multiagent systems. Dr. Yucelen is a Senior Member of the IEEE, a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors, and an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. His awards include the University of South Florida Faculty Outstanding Research Achievement Award (2018, 2023), the AIAA Technical Contribution Award, and the Dave Ward Memorial Lecture Award for advances in adaptive control. Finally, he earned his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

Dr. Christopher L. Alexander is an associate professor in the department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of South Florida with an affiliate appointment in the Department of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering department. He directs the corrosion research laboratory which aspires to conquer corrosion while increasing the sustainability and resilience of critical infrastructure. His research group develops techniques to detect and accurately quantify corrosion damage, advances and optimizes methods to mitigate it, and works towards understanding the mechanisms that govern its initiation and progression. The knowledge gained through these efforts is used to develop damage prediction tools that can estimate the remaining service life of critical infrastructure, identify the optimal material for future infrastructural components, and aide in the design of novel materials that will be more corrosion resistant in a continually evolving climate. This research has been recognized by funding support from the NSF CAREER award, Florida Department of Transportation, Solidia Technologies, as well as the Florida High Tech Corridor. Additionally, Dr Alexander has been awarded the Susan and Wiliam Bracken Junior Faculty Fellowship and the Florida Education Fund McKnight Faculty Fellowship. Prior to his current position, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Sandia National Laboratories within the Materials Reliability Center where he studied atmospheric stress corrosion cracking as it relates to the aging and lifetime of nuclear waste interim storage containers. He holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Florida where his dissertation work was on the application of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to corrosion detection in civil infrastructure and the role of surface heterogeneity in the manifestation of frequency dispersion and constant phase elements.  

Dr. Michael Cai Wang

 

 

 

Dr. Arman Sargolzaei specializes in applying linear and nonlinear control methods, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to Networked Control Systems. His mission is to improve quality of life while addressing safety, security, and privacy challenges through multidisciplinary collaboration. He is a recipient of the prestigious NSF CAREER Award for his research on testing and verifying the security of connected and autonomous vehicles. Dr. Sargolzaei has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles on cyber-physical systems, control systems, and autonomous vehicle technologies, with an H-index of 32. His innovative research has also resulted in two active and three pending patents. In addition to his research contributions, Dr. Sargolzaei has received multiple grants and awards (more than $2.5M) during the past several years and he is an active reviewer for leading journals in his field. His work continues to bridge theory and application, driving forward the development of safe, secure, intelligent, and efficient control systems.

Instructor Promotion

Dr. Joanna Burchfield earned a BA studying Law and Political Science at Wilkes Honors College in Jupiter, Florida, and went on to earn a MA and Ph.D. in Communication at the University of South Florida (USF) where she researched Health Communication. Dr. Burchfield has over 20 years of experience in a variety of research, consulting, business, management, analyst, teaching, and course design roles. She is guided by a philosophy founded on growth mindset and systems thinking, which is imbued in her approach to teaching, research, and service at USF. Dr. Burchfield’s current research focuses on engineering communication education, student identity development, and cross-disciplinary communication. She has presented her research at international, national, and regional communication and engineering conferences, and is co-editor and author of Teaching Communication across Disciplines for Professional Development, Civic Engagement, and Beyond, a collection on cross-disciplinary communication instruction. Dr. Burchfield currently serves as Co-Faculty Lead of USF’s first Engineering Education Abroad Program, Vice-Chair of USF’s General Education Council, and Senior Personnel for CoE Funded Grants. Dr. Burchfield is also honored to serve as a Florida Master Naturalist, Cub Scout Den Leader, and Executive Coordinator of Adventure for her family.

Dr. Jeong’s research centers on control systems, with a particular focus on designing resilient, robust, optimal, and adaptive observers and controllers for linear, nonlinear, stochastic, and chaotic systems. He actively contributes to the academic community, serving on both the Curriculum Committee and Student Success Committee, and co-advises the IEEE – USF and IEEE HKN – Kappa Xi chapters. Additionally, he is the secretary for the IEEE Florida West Coast Section (FWCS).
 
Reflecting on his approach to education, Dr. Jeong shares:
"I've found teaching to be one of the most rewarding things I've ever encountered. I've learned that to be an effective teacher, I must never lose sight of the student's perspective and curiosity. The world is changing so rapidly, and I see it as my responsibility to help translate these changes for the next generation and prepare them for the future."
 
Outside of his professional life, Dr. Jeong enjoys reading classic science fiction novels, watching movies, and entertaining friends. If you’d like to get to know him better (and sample his famous Korean BBQ), be sure to join him at the next USF IEEE students' picnic!

Karim Nohra

 

 

 

 

Dr. Walter Silva is a faculty member in the Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering at the University of South Florida. His academic interests lie at the intersection of data science, decision support systems, and engineering education. With a strong foundation in industrial engineering, Dr. Silva integrates emerging technologies such as machine learning and data management into applied research and teaching.
He has extensive experience in both academia and industry, focusing on translating data-driven methods into real-world applications. At USF, he teaches courses in data analytics, systems engineering, and applied research methods, and is currently developing innovative curriculum content in data management beyond traditional SQL approaches.
Dr. Silva has contributed to various interdisciplinary research initiatives and regularly mentors students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. His work aims to foster critical thinking and practical skills that prepare students to thrive in today’s data-centric engineering environments. Dr. Silva brings a global perspective to his work, enriching the learning experience through a commitment to diversity and inclusion.

 

Michael Stokes

 

 

 

Gulfem Yucelen