About // Leadership // Former chairs

    Former Chairs

    Peter Kilpatrick

    2015 - 2017 // United States of America

    Peter Kilpatrick served as the McCloskey Dean of Engineering at the University of Notre Dame until 2018, when he became the new Provost at Illinois Institute of Technology. An accomplished teacher and researcher, Kilpatrick joined the University in January 2008. He came to Notre Dame from North Carolina State University (NCSU), where he had served on the faculty for 25 years and as head of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering since 1999.  He also served as the Founding Director of the North Carolina Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center (BTEC), a unique learning and training facility designed to train the next generation of Biopharmaceutical professionals and Biotechnology industry professionals.  BTEC now trains more than 500 North Carolinians each year for the biopharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.  In addition, BTEC has a unique relationship training FDA inspectors.

    Kilpatrick conducts research in colloidal and interfacial science, with an emphasis on the colloidal and molecular properties of crude oil and on biological membranes.  His specific interests are in the ways in which complex molecules aggregate in solution and the ways in which those aggregates self assemble on and adsorb to interfaces.  His work is leading to oil production and refining that is both more energy efficient and better for the environment.  He is the author of more than 90 refereed journal publications and the holder of 13 patents.

    Kilpatrick has collaborated in the launch of a unique professional MS program in technology entrepreneurship, an undergraduate engineering leadership program, and an interdisciplinary MS program in data analytics.  He and his colleagues are also launching a new Department of Bioengineering at the University of Notre Dame.

    In his time at the University of Notre Dame as Dean of Engineering, the College has grown its undergraduate enrollment by nearly 80%, has increased the size of its faculty by more than 40% and has more than doubled its external research funding to more than $50 Million per year.

    John Beynon

    2013 - 2015 // Australia

    Born on the Isle of Man, John Beynon spent much of his career at Sheffield University in the UK, where he held professorial positions in metallurgy and mechanical engineering. He also graduated from Sheffield with a Bachelor of Metallurgy degree (in physical metallurgy) followed by a PhD in the same Department. He then went to the Max Planck Institute for Ferrous Research in Düsseldorf, Germany, followed by a lectureship and senior lectureship at Leicester University before rejoining Sheffield as a Professor, and later Head, of Mechanical Engineering. Sabbaticals in the USA and Australia preceded moving to Australia as Dean of Engineering at Swinburne University of Technology in 2005. Seven years later he moved to the University of Adelaide to be Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences. He began as Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Flinders University in July 2016, retiring in July 2018. He has been President of the Australian Council of Engineering Deans for two years and was subsequently Chair of the Global Engineering Deans Council for over two years until December 2015. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining in the UK, and is a Fellow of Engineers Australia and of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE). He has been listed in Engineers Australia’s Top 100 Most Influential Engineers in Australia for 2011-2015, and in 2015 was awarded the Bessemer Gold Medal in the UK for services to the steel industry. 

    Sarah Rajala

    2011 - 2013 // United States of America

    Sarah Rajala became the Dean, James & Katherine Melsa Professor in Engineering, College of Engineering, at Iowa State University on April 1, 2013.

    Prior to her becoming dean at Iowa State University, Sarah A. Rajala was professor and dean of engineering at Mississippi State University and held the Earnest W. and Mary Ann Deavenport Jr. Endowed Chair. She received her BS degree from Michigan Technological University, and MS and PhD degrees from Rice University.

    From 1979 to 2006 Dr. Rajala was a member of the faculty at North Carolina State University and served as director of the Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Advanced Computing and Communication, associate dean for academic affairs, and associate dean for research and graduate programs. In 2006, she became the department head of electrical and computer engineering at Mississippi State University and held the James Worth Bagley Endowed Chair. During her career she conducted research on the analysis and process of images and image sequences and on engineering educational assessment. She has directed 17 master’s theses and 16 PhD dissertations, has authored and co-authored more than 100 refereed papers, and has made contributions to 13 books.

    Dr. Rajala has received numerous awards for her research and professional contributions, including the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring in 2000 and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the American Society for Engineering Education. In 2008-2009, she served as the president of the American Society for Engineering Education. She has been recognized by Michigan Technological University as the Outstanding Young Alumnus in 1986, elected to the Council of Alumnae and Academy of Outstanding Electrical Engineers 1996, and was named their Outstanding Alumnus in August 2008.

    David Garza Salazar​

    2010 - 2011 // Mexico

    Hasan Mandal (Prof.Dr.) received his BSc in Metallurgy from Middle East Technical University (Turkey) in 1987 and PhD in Ceramic Materials from University of Newcastle (UK) in 1992. He worked as a postdoctoral research associate during the periods of 1992-1996 and 1997-1998 at Newcastle and Karlsruhe Universities, respectively. In 1996, he joined the department of Ceramic Engineering at Anadolu University. He became the Head of Department (1999), Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Anadolu University (2004), Chairperson of Turkish Engineering Deans Council (2006), Chairperson of Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC-2009) and Vice Rector of Anadolu University (2010). He has co-authored over a hundred publications, three patents about science and technologies on Si3N4 based ceramics including phase relationships, structure-property relations and applications, specifically on cutting tools. There have been over 750 cites to his publications and his h factor is 15. He has also contributed in the field of education and university-industry relations. Because of these achievements, he was honored by twenty awards including TUBITAK Science Award and European Ceramic Society, Stuijts Award. As a scientific expert, he served in several positions including the Turkish Scientific and Research Council, National Boron Institute, Eskisehir Technological Development Park, Ceramic Research Center Co. Prof. Dr. Mandal is a Council and Permanent Executive Committee members of European Ceramic Society (ECerS), Council Member of International Ceramic Federation (ICF) and Consulting Member of World Innovation Foundation (WIF). He is currently the President of European Ceramic Society (ECerS) and the First Vice President of International Federation of Engineering Education Societies (IFEES). 

    Hasan Mandal

    2009 - 2010 // Turkey

    Hasan Mandal (Prof.Dr.) received his BSc in Metallurgy from Middle East Technical University (Turkey) in 1987 and PhD in Ceramic Materials from University of Newcastle (UK) in 1992. He worked as a postdoctoral research associate during the periods of 1992-1996 and 1997-1998 at Newcastle and Karlsruhe Universities, respectively. In 1996, he joined the department of Ceramic Engineering at Anadolu University. He became the Head of Department (1999), Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Anadolu University (2004), Chairperson of Turkish Engineering Deans Council (2006), Chairperson of Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC-2009) and Vice Rector of Anadolu University (2010). He has co-authored over a hundred publications, three patents about science and technologies on Si3N4 based ceramics including phase relationships, structure-property relations and applications, specifically on cutting tools. There have been over 750 cites to his publications and his h factor is 15. He has also contributed in the field of education and university-industry relations. Because of these achievements, he was honored by twenty awards including TUBITAK Science Award and European Ceramic Society, Stuijts Award. As a scientific expert, he served in several positions including the Turkish Scientific and Research Council, National Boron Institute, Eskisehir Technological Development Park, Ceramic Research Center Co. Prof. Dr. Mandal is a Council and Permanent Executive Committee members of European Ceramic Society (ECerS), Council Member of International Ceramic Federation (ICF) and Consulting Member of World Innovation Foundation (WIF). He was President of European Ceramic Society (ECerS) and was the First Vice President of International Federation of Engineering Education Societies (IFEES). 

    Cristina Amon

    2008 - 2009 // Canada

    Cristina Amon has been the Dean of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and Alumni Professor of Bioengineering in Mechanical & Industrial Engineering since 2006. She received her Mechanical Engineering diploma from Simón Bolívar University, and her MS and ScD degrees in 1988 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Prior to her leadership at the University of Toronto, she was the Raymond J. Lane Distinguished Professor and Director of the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems at Carnegie Mellon University.

    A pioneer in the development of Computational Fluid Dynamics for formulating and solving thermal design problems subject to multidisciplinary competing constraints, she conducts research in nanoscale thermal transport in semiconductors, energy systems and bioengineered devices.

    Dean Amon serves on the BoD of MKS Instruments Inc., a leading global provider for advanced manufacturing of semiconductor devices, energy generation and electro-optical products. She is chair of the research committee of NCDEAS (National Council of Deans of Engineering and Applied Science), past chair of the Global Engineering Deans Council, and serves on advisory boards for several institutions including Stanford, UCLA, UIUC and Waterloo.

    Cristina Amon has received numerous professional and leadership awards, including the ASME Gustus Larson Memorial Award, ASEE Westinghouse Medal, ASME Heat Transfer Memorial Award, and the Society of Women Engineers’ Achievement Award. In 2012 she was recognized as one of Canada’s most Influential Women. She was inducted to four academies: Canadian Academy of Engineering, Spanish Royal Academy, Royal Society of Canada and the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. She is an elected fellow of all major professional societies in her field and has authored over 350 refereed articles in education and research literature.