Office of the Dean
Dean, School of Engineering
848-445-2214
Thomas Farris was appointed dean of the School of Engineering in 2009. Prior to joining Rutgers, he was an assistant professor at Purdue University School of Aeronautics and Astronautics and was appointed School Head in 1998. He received a B.S.M.E. from Rice University in 1982, a M.S. degree in Applied Mechanics and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 1984 and 1986 respectively.
Susan Kilduff, MPA
Associate Dean, Administration and Planning
848-445-3569
Susan Kilduff’s career in higher education administration includes 20 years’ experience in university budget and business management. She is responsible for providing guidance and support for strategic and facilities planning and business operations for the School of Engineering. Prior to her career at Rutgers University, she served as associate dean for finance and administration for the College of Arts and Sciences and as associate budget director for Seton Hall University. She earned B.A. and M.A. degrees from Hofstra University and a master’s in public administration from Seton Hall University.
Henrik Pedersen, Ph.D.
Associate Dean, Academic Programs
848-445-4795
Henrik Pedersen joined the Rutgers faculty in 1978 and in 2011 completed nine years as chair of the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering. He currently serves as the education director of the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center on Structured Organic Particulate Systems. Pedersen’s research interests are in the area of biotechnology and biochemical engineering. In particular, he has developed innovative systems using plant cell culture for propagating elite plant cultivars and for synthesis of valuable plant metabolites. He received a B.S. in 1974 from the University of Rochester and a Ph.D. in 1978 from Yale University.
Diane Reed
Director, Communications and Marketing
848-445-7359
Ilene J. Rosen, Ed.D.
Associate Dean, Student Services
848-445-4756
Ilene Rosen has been an educational administrator serving students in higher education for 30 years. She earned her doctoral degree in educational psychology from Rutgers University Graduate School of Education in 1997. She also serves as the director of several programs including the NJ Educational Opportunity Fund Program at Rutgers School of Engineering, the NJ Governor’s School of Engineering & Technology, and the Northern NJ Junior Sciences Symposium. Rosen has been recognized as the Educator of the Year in Higher Education by the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.
Peng Song, Ph.D.
Associate Dean, Undergraduate Education
848-445-2212
Peng Song provides oversight to the undergraduate programs in the School of Engineering. He directs the staff in Undergraduate Education and works closely with the departments on curricular, enrollment, student support and advising issues for all undergraduates. Song joined the faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Rutgers in 2004. His research interests are in the area of robotics and dynamics. He received a B.S. degree in 1993 from the University of Science and Technology of China, and a M.S. in 1998 and a Ph.D. in 2002 from the University of Pennsylvania.
Department Chairs
Helen M. Buettner, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair
Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
848-445-2228
Helen M. Buettner joined Rutgers Engineering in 1990 and became chair of the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering in 2018. She has contributed as an educator, researcher, and program leader, advancing initiatives supporting new teaching methods and diversity in engineering. Her research and scholarship efforts include nerve regeneration, growth cone guidance, acupuncture mechanisms, and modeling of biological processes. Buettner most recently served as a member of Rutgers University president Robert Barchi’s Instructional Technology Committee and worked with the Rutgers Learning Centers, supporting the Learning Assistant Program and developing developing new teaching methods for engineering education. In 2017, she was a senior faculty fellow for Rutgers-New Brunswick Undergraduate Academic Affairs, fostering collaboration across schools and departments. She will continue to lead the Reilly-Douglass Engineering Living-Learning Community, an innovative residential and experiential opportunity for first-year women in engineering centered on professional development and academic enhancement. Now in its seventh year, Buettner has been actively associated with the Reilly-Douglass LLC since its inception and was instrumental in the planning and implementation prior to the launch of the program. Buettner holds bachelor’s degrees in metallurgical engineering and chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree and doctoral degree in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. She also received a master’s degree in social work from Rutgers University.
Alberto M. Cuitiño, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
848-445-4210
Alberto Cuitiño is currently the Rutgers Site Leader of the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Structured Organic Particulate Systems. He received a civil engineering diploma from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1986, a M.S. degree in applied mathematics and a Ph.D. degree in solid mechanics from Brown University in 1992 and 1994, respectively. His research interests include material modeling and simulations, dislocation mechanics, fracture in metal single crystals, granular materials, mechanical behavior of solid foams, and folding patterns in thin films. Cuitiño was the editor of Mechanics a publication of the American Academy of Mechanics, continues to be the subject editor for Applied Mechanics of Latin American Applied Research, and is part of the editorial board of the International Journal of Plasticity.
Nenad Gucunski, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
848-445-0261
Nenad Gucunski joined the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in 1991 and became chair in 2007. He is the program director for Infrastructure Condition Monitoring Program at the Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation. Gucunski is an internationally recognized expert in nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of transportation infrastructure and an elected member of the Nondestructive Testing (NDT) Academia International. In addition to his extensive work in the development and application of various seismic, ultrasonic, and electromagnetic NDE techniques, he has conducted research in the areas of geotechnical engineering and dynamic soil-structure interaction. He earned his B.S.E. in 1979 at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, his M.S. in 1983, and his Ph.D. in 1991 at the University of Michigan.
Mohsen A. Jafari, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
848-445-3627
Mohsen A. Jafari received his Ph.D. and M.S.C. degrees from Syracuse University, where he taught before joining the School of Engineering faculty as an assistant professor of industrial engineering in 1987. Promoted to full professor in 2001, he currently serves as program director of the Information Management Group (IMG) of the University's Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) and also oversees the CAIT Transportation Safety Resource Center, or TSRC. He is the architect of the TSRC Plan4Safety, a web-based crash data analysis tool that provides multiple layers of analysis and modeling.
Professor and Chair
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
848-445-2317
Richard L. Lehman joined the Rutgers faculty in 1982 after seven years in the fiberglass and industrial chemical industries. His academic interests center on the glass transition and the processing and properties of inorganic and organic glasses, particularly the mechanical, optical, and chemical behavior of commercially important systems. His current research is focused on the mechanical and chemical properties of polymer blends, with principal attention towards immiscible blends, the behavior of multiphase composite interfaces, and applicability of these systems in structural and biomedical applications. He is also active in developing manufacturing technologies for commercial soda lime silicate glasses, particularly in the area of recycled raw materials. He received a B.S. in 1972, a M.S. in 1975, and a Ph.D. in 1976, all in ceramics and materials engineering from Rutgers University.
Narayan B. Mandayam, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor and Chair
Associate Director of Winlab
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
732-932-6857
Narayan B. Mandayam joined the faculty of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in September 1996. In 2001, he became an associate professor before being promoted to full professor in 2003. He currently serves as chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as well as the associate director of the Wireless Information Network Laboratory (WINLAB). Mandayam received a B.Tech (Hons.) degree in 1989 from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, and an M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in 1991 and 1994 from Rice University, Houston, TX—all in electrical engineering. He was a visiting faculty fellow in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University in 2002 and a visiting faculty at the Indian Institute of Science in 2003. His research interests include smart city design and Internet of Things (IoT), with a focus on techniques for resource allocation and communications. He is the co-author of Principles of Cognitive Radio (2012) and Wireless Networks: Multiuser Detection in Cross-Layer Design (2005).
David I. Shreiber, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair
Department of Biomedical Engineering
848-445-6873
David I. Shreiber joined the faculty of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Rutgers in 2002 and was appointed chair in 2017. David received a B.S. degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Cornell in 1991, an M.S.E. in bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1993, and a Ph.D. in bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1998. Dr. Shreiber came to Rutgers after post doctoral studies in chemical engineering and materials science at the University of Minnesota, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2009 and to Professor in 2014. His interdisciplinary research program spans a variety of fields including biomaterials, biomechanics, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. Specific areas of focus include brain and spinal cord injury biomechanics, neural tissue engineering, acupuncture, and electroporation.