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Dr. Yang Zhang is an Assistant Professor in the School of Engineering + Technology at Western Carolina University. Dr. Zhang received his B.S. in Safety Engineering at Dalian Jiaotong University in China. Then Dr. Zhang got his M.S. and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering at Texas Tech University. Dr. Zhang’s educational focus is concentrating on Engineering Technology instruction with innovative methods.

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Nelson A. Granda Marulanda is an Assistant Professor in the School of Engineering + Technology at Western Carolina University. Nelson has a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, a Masters in Manufacturing Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico and a Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Before becoming a professor, he worked for several years in the Eolic and Aerospace industry. Nelson’s research interest revolved around Sustainable Development looked through the lens of the triple bottom line and a system thinking approach. Nelson believes that education is the key to achieve a sustainable world.

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Andrew Ritenour is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Engineering + Technology at Western Carolina University (WCU). Prior to joining WCU in 2018, he spent a decade in industry managing and developing innovative technologies across a broad spectrum of applications: high voltage transistors for energy-efficient power conversion, radio frequency (RF) surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters for mobile phones, and flexible paper-like displays for e-readers. He holds 30 patents related to semiconductor devices and microfabrication and has published in IEEE and AIP journals and conferences. His current research interests include instrumentation for combustion science, novel methods for environmental remediation, and microelectronics including surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices. In addition to teaching in the field of electrical engineering, he coordinates the senior engineering capstone program which is a multidisciplinary, two-semester course sequence with projects sponsored by industrial partners. Within this role, he focuses on industrial outreach and the teaching and assessment of professional skills. He received his Ph.D. and S.M. degrees from MIT in 2007 and 1999, respectively, and a B.S.E.E. degree from the University of Virginia in 1997.

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Dr. Ahsan is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Engineering and Technology at Western Carolina University. Dr. Ahsan achieved his Ph.D. degree in Industrial and manufacturing Engineering from North Dakota State University in 2019. Before that he completed his Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management from the same university. His teaching and research interest includes digital design and 3D modeling, advanced manufacturing, CAD/CAM, automated systems, additive Manufacturing/3D printing, heterogeneous light weight porous structure design and manufacturing, and bio-printing.

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Dr. Sezer is an assistant professor of thermal and fluid sciences at Western Carolina University in department of engineering and technology. Dr. Sezer received his B.Sc. degree in physics engineering (2005) and M. Sc. in defence technologies (Material Science) from Istanbul Technical University (2009), and he got his Ph.D. degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from West Virginia University (2014). His research interest is in the field of computational fluid dynamics and its application in combustion, heat and mass transfer, fluid flow, wild land fires, renewable energy technologies, fire dynamics and electrochemical energy storage and conversion devices (Fuel cells and Batteries). He has developed and refined 1D and 3D dynamic solvers for species transport, heat transfer, electrochemical reactions (adsorption and desorption), impedance, polarization and electrical potential for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and sodium sulphur batteries (Na-S). He also has developed a novel model to predict the nickel coarsening in high temperature SOFCs based on electro-migration. His current research is related to computational modeling of liquid atomization, drag coefficient of complex geometries, combustion, fire dynamics and heat transfer mechanisms of 3D direct laser metal sintering.

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Chip Ferguson is the Associate Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology and Professor of Engineering and Technology at Western Carolina University.

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