The department’s DEI committees are charged with overseeing and assessing the department’s strategic plan in DEI. Learn more about our committees below and how you can get involved with ME’s DEI initiatives. Want to start a new affinity group focused on DEI issues in mechanical engineering? Contact Susan Cheng (chengs[at]umich.edu), the Manager of Diversity and Inclusion, to learn how the department can support your group!
Faculty/Staff DEI Committee & Strategic Direction Working Group
Wei Lu (Chair, Professor)
Susan Cheng (Co-chair, Manager of Diversity and Inclusion)
Angela Wegrecki (Director of Strategic Initiatives)
Serife Tol (DEI Committee, Assistant Professor)
Margaret Wooldridge (DEI Committee, Professor)
Solomon Adera (Assistant Professor)
Kira Barton (Associate Professor)
Neil Dasgupta (Associate Professor)
Yue Fan (Assistant Professor)
Miguel Funes Lora (Research Investigator)
Hugo Gonzalez Villasanti (Assistant Professor)
Matthew Jastrzembowski (Facilities Manager)
Kristi Kattapong (Global CO2 Communications Specialist)
Lauro Ojeda (Associate Research Scientist)
Ulrich Scheven (Associate Research Scientist)
Wenda Tan (Assistant Professor)
Aaron Towne (Assistant Professor)
Faculty Ally for Diversity in Graduate Education
Serife Tol (Assistant Professor)
CoE Office of Culture, Community and Equity Staff Network Liaison
Aaron Berry (Marketing Assistant Associate)
U-M Council for Disability Concerns Representative
Colin Jones (Facilities Assistant)
Student & Postdoc ME DEI Alliance
Panagiota (Penny) Kitsopoulos: co-President (she/her)
Alondra Ortiz-Ortiz: co-President (she/her)
Joy Aun: Media and Recruitment Officer
Marisa De Souza: Event Officer (she/her)
Hannah Faustyn (she/her)
Seyed Mohammadreza Heidari: Event Officer (he/him)
Allison King: Recruitment Officer via Mechanical Engineering Graduate Council (she/her)
Dylan Kovacevich: Media Officer (he/him)
Kyle Krippner
Chen Li (he/him)
Dylan Lyon: Event Officer
Jesús García Pérez: Media Officer (he/him)
Richard Rodriguez-Feliciano (he/him)
Vansh Sharma: Event Officer (he/him)
Yashasvi S Sharma: Media Officer (he/him)
Makenzie Schlessman (Advisory Staff)
Aaron Berry (Advisory Staff)
Interested in joining or supporting the ME DEI Alliance? Fill out this short interest form to receive more information about contributing to this group.
Women and Gender Minorities in Mechanical Engineering (WaGMiME)
Charlotte Andreasen (she/her): Co-President
Codie Fiedler Kawaguchi (they/them): Co-President
Safa Jabri (she/her): Communications Chair
Karina Heye-Smith: Treasurer
Lucy Spicher: Student Engagement Chair
Have questions or new ideas about DEI in the department? Sign up for DEI Office Hours to share.