Nine Faculty to Join KU School of Engineering for 2025-2026

The University of Kansas School of Engineering is welcoming nine faculty members for the 2025-2026 academic year — seven tenure-track faculty and two teaching professors.

“Whether it’s energy, cybersecurity or transportation, each of these hires bring expertise in areas critical to the future of society. Collectively, this group will enhance the student experience and strengthen the School’s research efforts,” said Mary Rezac, dean of the School of Engineering.

 About the group:

Rachel Carter, associate professor of mechanical engineering
Research focus: emerging battery technologies

Zitao Chen, assistant professor of electrical engineering & computer science
Research focus: trustworthy machine learning systems

Anthony DeFilippo, assistant professor of mechanical engineering 
Research focus: thermal, fluid and reacting systems for industrial, power and transport applications   

Xinlong Du, assistant teaching professor of civil, environmental & architectural engineering
Research focus: structural and wind engineering

Will Lindquist, assistant teaching professor of civil, environmental & architectural engineering
Research focus: structural engineering and materials

Amir Mirzendehdel, assistant professor of aerospace engineering 
Research focus: somputational design, simulation, process planning, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, machine learning

Yiling Nan, assistant professor of chemical & petroleum engineering 
Research focus: computational chemistry, molecular modeling, electrolyte design and force field development.

Van Ly Nguyen, assistant professor of electrical engineering & computer science 
Research focus: wireless communications, signal processing and machine learning

Shi’an Wang, assistant professor of civil, environmental & architectural engineering 
Research focus: control systems, optimization, data science, connected and autonomous vehicles