Nine newly appointed faculty members join the Penn State College of Engineering at University Park. Credit: Penn State.
College of Engineering appoints nine new faculty across research, teaching roles
Feb 17, 2026
By Jocelyn Bilker
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State College of Engineering has strengthened its research and instructional community with the addition of nine new faculty members who joined between Sept. 1, 2025, and Feb. 1. Several of the appointees previously served as postdoctoral scholars at Penn State and have transitioned into faculty roles, reflecting the college’s continued investment in cultivating and retaining top talent.
“These appointments highlight both the depth of talent within our college and the strength of our faculty recruitment efforts,” said Tonya L. Peeples, the Harold and Inge Marcus Dean of Engineering. “We are proud to welcome these scholars into faculty roles and look forward to the impact they will make through research, teaching and mentorship.”
The assistant research professors who joined the college are:
S.H. Chu, civil and environmental engineering, joining the Rajabipour Research Group led by Farshad Rajabipour
Yu Zhang, Larson Transportation Institute, joining the Shen Group led by Chaopeng Shen
Muhammad Rizwan Akram, electrical engineering, joining the Werner Research Group led by Douglas Werner
Nandhakumar Ponnusamy, nuclear engineering, joining the Pan Research Group led by Dipanjan Pan
Xiaoxiao Sun, biomedical engineering, joining the Hayes Research Group led by Daniel Hayes
Venkatakrishnan Iyer, aerospace engineering, joining the Johnson Research Group led by Eric Johnson
The assistant teaching professor who joined the college is:
Sruthi Ramadurai, mechanical engineering, joining the Berdanier Research Group led by Catherine Berdanier
The following faculty members were formerly postdoctoral scholars at Penn State and have transitioned into assistant research professor roles:
Arkaprovo Das, assistant research professor of electrical engineering
Xu Han, assistant research professor of biomedical engineering
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