Professor Dawn Tilbury will transition from her role as associate dean for research (ADR) to a two-year appointment as chair of the College’s Steering Committee on Advanced Manufacturing. As the College develops initiatives to support our strategic-planning effort, Dawn’s leadership experience and scholarly focus will provide excellent guidance in this growth-potential area.
Under Dawn’s leadership, the College’s annual research expenditures have grown to in excess of $250 million in FY16, an all-time high. Dawn chaired the steering committee for a CoE initiative in robotics. Ultimately, this effort resulted in the recent Regental schematic-design approval for a $75 million North Campus robotics building. In collaboration with the Office of Advancement, her team is securing significant financial support for this facility and related research. Dawn has led successful program transitions, including facilitating this fall’s Lurie Nanofabrication Facility (LNF) leadership change and overseeing the restructuring of the Electron Microbeam Analysis Laboratory (EMAL)–now the Michigan Center for Materials Characterization (MC2). She headed a taskforce that assessed CoE machine shop needs and capabilities. Dawn has championed proposal development for several center-scale research concepts.
Dawn, who joined the Mechanical Engineering faculty in 1995, has a joint appointment in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. She will continue to lead her own research lab, as well as play a key role in the newly formed Robotics Group.
Professor Steve Ceccio will assume the ADR position. In 2015, Steve was appointed as the ABS Professor of Marine and Offshore Design Performance, and since 2011, he has been the chair of the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (NAME). He has a joint appointment in Mechanical Engineering. From 2010-2015, he served as director of the Naval Engineering Education Center (NEEC). For five years prior, he served as U-M associate vice president for research. Since joining the NAME faculty in 1990, Steve has provided insight to several University, College and NAME department committees. Steve co-authored Mitigation of Hydrodynamic Resistance: Methods to Reduce Hydrodynamic Drag. He is a fellow of ASME and the American Physical Society. In 2014, in recognition of his expertise in fluids engineering, Steve received the Freeman Scholar Award from ASME. Steve has positioned NAME for continued progress, including advocating facilities enhancements. He helped to secure a recent major gift for the interior renovation and a new computer lab in the Marine Hydrodynamics Lab in West Hall. His wise counsel regarding the College’s strategic-planning process will continue to serve us well in his new role, as we aim to align academic priorities with our new mission.
Professor Jing Sun will become chair of NAME. In 2015, Jing was appointed as the Michael G. Parsons Collegiate Professor of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. In addition, she holds joint appointments with both the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering departments. She has served the University in various roles, including as an elected member of the College’s Executive Committee from 2011 to 2015. Jing joined the NAME faculty in 2003. Previously, she worked for ten years at the Ford Research Laboratories as a technical leader. Jing has co-authored a textbook, Robust Adaptive Control, and published more than 200 journal and conference papers. She holds 39 U.S. patents, is an IEEE fellow and received the 2003 IEEE Control System Technology Award. Jing’s academic and external experience will be instrumental in guiding the next phase of NAME success.
