Balakumar Balachandran Accepts Acting Chair Position

Effective August 31, Dr. Balakumar Balachandran, professor and mechanical engineering associate chair, will serve as the acting chair while the search for a new chair is conducted. The search for a new chair began in June and is expected to continue until next year.

Balachandran joined UMD as faculty member in 1993, and he was exceptionally effective in his former position as director of graduate studies (2006-2010). During his tenure, Balachandran was instrumental in increasing diversity within the department’s graduate student population. The number of students recruited from highly ranked undergraduate programs, fellowship holders, and Ph.D. graduates placed in tenure-track positions also rose to unprecedented levels during Balachandran’s time as director.

Currently, Balachandran directs both the Vibrations and the Dynamics and Control Laboratories, and he will teach ENME361: Vibration, Controls, and Optimization I for the Fall 2010 semester. He has authored and co-authored numerous publications, and serves in editorial capacities with a number of major engineering journals. Balachandran is also a Fellow of AIAA and ASME, where he has chaired various committees in his areas of expertise.

Balachandran received his B. Tech (Naval Architecture) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India, and his M.S. (Aerospace Engineering) and Ph.D. (Engineering Mechanics) from Virginia Tech.

Please join the department in welcoming Dr. Balachandran as the Acting Department Chair.

Published August 11, 2010