Eleven new faculty join Nebraska Engineering

The College of Engineering has added 11 faculty for the 2024-25 academic year, increasing total faculty hires to 68 over the past six years.

Among the new faculty are four in civil and environmental engineering, three each in mechanical and materials engineering and the School of Computing, and one in the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction. Two of the new faculty also have appointments to the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility.

Tareq Daher, assistant professor of practice in civil and environmental engineering

The director of the college’s Engineering and Computing Education Core (ECEC), Daher earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and has a master’s and Ph.D. in educational studies, with an emphasis on instructional technology, from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Daher and ECEC work with engineering faculty to integrate innovative instructional strategies and technologies in their classrooms, and design and deliver professional development programs for the faculty.

Liang He, associate professor in the School of Computing

Formerly an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Colorado Denver, his research focuses on cyber-physical systems (CPS) and internet-of-things (IoT), with applications to batteries, vehicles and industrial control systems.

Yunping Liang, assistant professor in the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction 

Previously an assistant professor at Concordia University (Montreal, Quebec), Liang brings expertise in construction and infrastructure systems engineering to the Durham School. Liang’s research interests bring together civil engineering, operations research, and public policy.

Andrew Loken, research assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering (Midwest Roadside Safety Facility)

A Nebraska Engineering alum, Loken has vast experience in roadway design and structural engineering, especially as it relates to bridge railings and decking. While a graduate student in MwRSF, he was twice chosen as a Dwight D. Eisenhower Transportation Fellow by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Mohammad Razavi, assistant professor of mechanical and materials engineering

Razavi joins the college after nearly five years as a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital’s Department of Radiation Oncology. Razavi’s research includes lymphatics in organ transplants, computational modeling of coronary artery disease, and vascular and lymphatic biomechanics.

Tamal Roy, research assistant professor of mechanical and materials engineering

Formerly a postdoctoral research associate at both ETH Zurich in Switzerland and at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Roy’s research interests include multidisciplinary fields of thermofluidics and energy, including thermal management of electronics and batteries, surface science and engineering, wetting and spreading dynamics, and photothermal energy conversion.

Nikhil Satyala, assistant professor of practice in the School of Computing

Previously an associate professor and chair at Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology (in Boston, Massachusetts), Satyala has expertise that includes programming, robotics and automation, and thermoelectric systems research.

Jianxin (Jason) Sun, research assistant professor in the School of Computing

Sun, who recently earned his doctorate from the School of Computing, is a design software engineer with expertise in computer vision, scientific data, computer graphics and 3D learning.

Rachael Wagner, assistant professor of practice in mechanical and materials engineering

Another Nebraska Engineering alum (bachelor and master of mechanical engineering and Ph.D. in biomedical engineering), Wagner has extensive experience in robotics. Her expertise helped Shane Farritor and Virtual Incision prepare a miniaturized surgical robot that was successfully tested aboard the International Space Station. 

Tewodros Yosef, research assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering (Midwest Roadside Safety Facility)

A former postdoctoral research associate and graduate research assistant at MwRSF, Yosef earned a doctorate in civil engineering at Nebraska. Yosef’s expertise includes structural impact and crashworthiness, computational geomechanics, and the development, evaluation and crash testing of timber-based roadside safety structures.

Li Zhao, research assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering

Since 2013, Zhao has been part of the College of Engineering as a graduate student (civil engineering and Nebraska Transportation Center), as a postdoctoral research associate in the Mid-America Transportation Center and as a research engineer in NTC. Zhao’s research includes traffic safety and mobility, human factor and driver behavior, and emerging transportation technologies.