The Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering has added four new members to their faculty for the 2024-25 school year. They bring a wide array of abilities, expertise, and experience in their fields.
Krishnan Veluswamy
Assistant Professor
Veluswamy brings comprehensive experience in composite/polymer processing, including tailoring process conditions to meet the unique thermal and rheological behavior of diverse composite systems and biopolymer-based composite systems. Veluswamy specializes in polymer extrusion compounding, extruder screw design, process-structure-property relationships in composites and nanocomposites, polymer rheology studies, and composite molding techniques. Veluswamy holds nine-plus years of research experience and four-plus years of post-PhD research and teaching experience in advanced composites/polymers and its manufacturing and product development. Prior to UT, Veluswamy worked as a senior research engineer/scientist at the Composite and Polymer Engineering (CAPE) Laboratory at South Dakota Mines.
“I am excited to join the vibrant UT team as an assistant professor in advanced composite materials and manufacturing. I look forward to contributing to the vision of the university to ‘transform the student experience.’”
Tayfun Efe Ertop
Assistant Professor
Ertop arrives in Knoxville from Vanderbilt University, where he worked as a research assistant professor in the mechanical engineering department. He finished his PhD at Vanderbilt in 2023. Ertop received his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Middle East Technical University. He graduated valedictorian from his BS program. His research interests include design, sensing, and control of soft and continuum robots and their applications in surgery. Ertop aims to solve important clinical problems through engineering and innovation with his research.
“I am truly excited to be a part of the MABE Department, and I am eager to bring my vision for soft robotics to life here at UT.”
Siamak Farhad
Professor
Farhad arrives in Knoxville after spending 11 years at the University of Akron as a professor and center director in the mechanical engineering department. He earned his PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of Waterloo in 2012, during which he conducted research at the National Research Council (NRC) Canada and later contributed to the GM Electric Vehicle project as a post-doctoral fellow. Farhad has published over 100 research articles in top-tier journals and international conferences, earning numerous accolades, including the NSF Breakthrough Research Project, ASME Best Paper Award, NSERC Industrial Fellowship, and the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada award. His expertise spans academia, industry, and research centers, supported by substantial grants from NSF, DOD, DOE, and industry partners.
“I am excited to join UT, especially as the university is rapidly advancing in research and education within sustainability and manufacturing. The presence of strong faculty in these fields and the remarkable collaboration between UT and ORNL create an ideal environment for impactful work and innovation.”
Delower Hossain
Assistant Professor
Hossain joins the University of Tennessee Space Institute as an expert in ultra-high temperature ceramics and high-entropy materials. He plans to focus on developing novel materials for hypersonic applications. Hossain completed his PhD in materials science and engineering in 2021 from Penn State University, with a dissertation focused on developing entropy-based refractory ceramics for extreme engineering applications. After graduation, Hossain worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and later as a staff materials scientist at the National Energy Technology Laboratory. At UTSI, his group will focus on designing, discovering, and developing refractory ceramics for extreme engineering, energy storage, and catalysis applications.
“The cutting-edge aerospace and defense research facilities, along with the vibrant and innovative scholarly community at UTSI, greatly excite me.”
Contact
Rhiannon Potkey (865-974-0683, rpotkey@utk.edu)