Reid Berdanier was awarded the Bryant Early Career Professorship, making him the eighth current early career professor in mechanical engineering. Credit: Kate Myers/Penn State.
Mechanical engineering awarded eighth early career professorship
May 11, 2026
By Tucker Leighty-Phillips
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Reid Berdanier, associate professor of mechanical engineering, has been awarded the Bryant Early Career Professorship, a three-year professorship that Berdanier will hold until 2028. Berdanier’s award makes him the eighth current faculty member to hold a named early-career professorship in mechanical engineering. The recipients are leading researchers in healthcare, transportation systems, renewable energy storage and more, according to Mary Frecker, head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
“These awards allow us to shine a light on the achievements of some of our best and brightest faculty, and they show us the University’s appreciation for their hard work, dedication and groundbreaking research, which helps us retain the best faculty,” Frecker said.
These early-career professorship are intended to recognize outstanding work by faculty members at the beginning of their careers, as well as provide additional support. The professorships are designed to rotate every three years to new recipients, typically at the assistant professor level, allowing college and University leadership the opportunity to recruit and retain rising academic stars. Each professorship is individually named for a notable alumnus or former faculty who either directly endowed the professorship or had it endowed in their name. For example, Kenneth K. Kuo, distinguished professor of mechanical engineering who died in 2016, endowed two early-career professorships in 2010, the Kenneth Kuan-Yun Kuo Early Career Professorship and the Kenneth K. and Olivia J Kuo Early Career Professorship.
Seven of the eight early career professors in mechanical engineering. Front Row L-R: Xiang Yang, Amrita Basak, Herschel Pangborn. Back Row L-R: Jean-Michel Mongeau, Sameul Grauer, Margaret Byron, Bladimir Ramos-Alvarado. Not pictured: Reid Berdanier. Credit: May Crews/Penn State .
The early-career professors of mechanical engineering include:
- Reid Berdanier, Bryant Early Career Professor
- Margaret Byron, Tretheway Early Career Professor
- Amrita Basak, Shuman Family Early Career Professor
- Bladimir Ramos-Alvarado, Kenneth Kuan-Yun Kuo Early Career Professor
- Herschel Pangborn, Shuman Family Early Career Professor
- Xiang Yang, Kenneth K. & Olivia J Kuo Early Career Professor
- Samuel Grauer, Kenneth Kuan-Yun Kuo Early Career Professor
- Jean-Michel Mongeau, Shuman Family Early Career Professor
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