Dear Colleagues,
I would like to share an advance copy of a message from Provost Jensen that will be distributed later today. Dr. Steven Weber will soon be announced as the new Vice Provost for Undergraduate Curriculum and Education, and I am pleased to share that Dr. Naga Kandasamy will serve as interim department head of Electrical and Computer Engineering, both effective January 1, 2023.
In addition to the Provost’s remarks, I would like to share the following:
Dr. Kandasamy has a history of providing leadership in the ECE department, having served most recently as associate department head for undergraduate affairs from 2018-2022, as well as associate department head for graduate affairs from 2015 to 2018. I am grateful for his willingness to step into this important role.
Of note during Dr. Kandasamy’s time as associate department head, and along with Dr. Chris Peters, the department launched a successful high school summer student institute, with four full days of remote learning about programming and hardware microcontroller concepts.
On being appointed interim department head, Dr. Kandasamy shared, “It is my great honor to serve the ECE department as interim department head, and I am excited to work with the ECE faculty and staff to build on the department's current momentum. I am strongly committed to maintaining an environment that fosters inclusion and diversity across ECE, from faculty and staff to the student body."
Dr. Kandasamy also noted he will prioritize continued improvement in the enrollment, retention, and student experience within ECE's undergraduate degree programs; growing the research enterprise in terms of graduate student enrollment, externally funded grants, as well as scholarly activity; and creating and growing revenue generating programs at the MS level.
During Dr. Weber’s tenure as department head of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), the department saw much progress across graduate and undergraduate programs, research and innovation, and advancing organizational and cultural change, and I am grateful for his leadership and service.
Notable achievements include:
- The expansion of graduate offerings to include six MS degree programs, notably the MS in Internet of Things, MS in Machine Learning Engineering, and MS in Robotics and Automation, as well as a dramatic improvement in the recruitment and advising of new MS students thanks to the leadership of Professor John Walsh, associate department head for graduate affairs, and Jana Jacobs, MS program coordinator.
- The revision of undergraduate program curricula to improve the experience of first- and second-year students and to improve flexibility for junior and senior students.
- Maintaining a tradition of recruiting excellent faculty, with recent hires including Anup Das, Fei Lu, and Lifeng Zhou.
- A continued extensive portfolio of impactful research, from grants and publications to the graduation of doctoral students and international visibility of several faculty within their research disciplines.
- Intentional collective work to build on the department’s positive culture and deploy processes that ensure fairness and transparency, including ongoing development and refinement of processes including but not limited to faculty standing committee nomination and election, to course teaching assistant assignment.
- Dedicated staff whose daily efforts contribute to the success of the department, faculty and students
- Support of vibrant student groups like CyberDragons and the IEEE Student Chapter that offer rewarding engagements to help students feel a sense of community and belonging.
Reflecting on the last five years, Dr. Weber shared, “It has been a privilege and honor to serve as the Department Head of the Drexel ECE Department. Together with our incredible faculty, our dedicated staff, and our amazing students, we have made strides as a department on several fronts. None of these accomplishments were by me alone; they were all done as a collective effort. I have every confidence that ECE will continue its positive trajectory to even greater heights in the near future.”
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Weber and thanking him for his leadership and service, and welcoming Dr. Kandasamy to his new role.
Sincerely,
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Sharon
p.s. Brief bios for these outstanding faculty members are below.
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About Naga Kandasamy
Naga Kandasamy is professor of electrical and computer engineering. He teaches and conducts research in the general area of computer science and engineering, with specific interests in computer architecture; parallel processing; high-performance computing; and unconventional computing techniques such as neuromorphic computing. He is the author of over 100 technical papers, several patents, and a book on High-Performance Deformable Image Registration Algorithms for Many-core Processors, published by Morgan Kaufmann in 2013. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Army Research Office, the Office of Naval Research, and Industry grants. He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER award and several best paper awards, and is a senior member of the IEEE. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
About Steven Weber
Steven Weber is professor of electrical and computer engineering. In addition to serving for the last five years as ECE department head (2017-2022), his other major service roles include founding director of the Isaac L. Auerbach Cybersecurity Institute, and assistant/associate department head. He has also served as Faculty Fellow in the Pennoni Honors College Teagle Foundation Program on Civic Foundations, Faculty Fellow in the Center for the Advancement of STEM Teaching and Learning Excellence (CASTLE), and continues to serve as co-point of contact with the FAA ASSURE program, founder and faculty mentor to the Drexel CyberDragons, and point of contact for the NSA Center of Academic Excellence program. His research interests include mathematical modeling of wireless and wired computer and communication networks and cybersecurity. Dr. Weber has served as PI or Co-PI on more than 47 distinct awards for more than $18M in external funding, published 43 journal papers and 101 conference papers and a monograph, which have collectively acquired more than 6,000 citations, presented 72 invited talks, and supervised to completion 10 Ph.D. students. He holds a master’s and Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin, and a bachelor’s degree from Marquette University, all in electrical and computer engineering.
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From the Provost: Announcing Steven Weber as Vice Provost for Undergraduate Curriculum and Education
Dear Colleagues,
I am pleased to announce that Steven Weber, PhD, has been appointed Vice Provost for Undergraduate Curriculum and Education, effective January 1, 2023. An internationally known expert in mathematical modeling of computer and communication networks, Dr. Weber is professor and department head of electrical and computer engineering with 19 years of service to Drexel University.
As vice provost, Dr. Weber will collaborate with academic leaders and stakeholders across the University to develop a cohesive strategy for academic programs that positions Drexel on the cutting edge of undergraduate education. This appointment represents a reenvisioning of this vice provost role, with an increased focus on supporting curricular enhancement and innovation and developing infrastructure to support interdisciplinary collaboration. The Vice Provost for Undergraduate Curriculum and Education will support the Provost’s and University’s academic priorities while setting the vision for a distinctive learning experience for Drexel undergraduates.
Over the past decade, Dr. Weber has held progressive leadership roles within his department, beginning as assistant department head in 2011 and serving as department head since 2017. The founding director of Drexel’s Isaac L. Auerbach Cybersecurity Institute, he contributed to the launch of four M.S. degrees in the department and led the development of an interdisciplinary graduate minor. As department head, Dr. Weber has sought to bring issues of diversity, equity and inclusion to the fore, leading discussions as well as a faculty-supported department statement on diversity.
In recent years, Dr. Weber has emerged as an institutional leader in promoting teaching and curricular excellence, serving as co-chair and a subcommittee chair of the Strategic Plan’s Program and Curricular Innovation implementation team — consisting of nearly 50 faculty and professional staff — as well as lead author of the subcommittee’s July 2022 recommendations report. In 2021, he participated in the Teaching and Learning Center’s inaugural Institute for Inclusive and Equitable Teaching and the TLC’s flagship program, the Drexel Teaching Academy, while also serving as a Faculty Fellow for the Center for the Advancement of STEM Teaching and Learning Excellence (CASTLE).
With wide-ranging research interests including wireless communications, cybersecurity, privacy and risk analysis, Dr. Weber has been Principal or Co-Principal Investigator on 47 grants exceeding $18M in external funding, including five federal grants focused on education and pedagogy. The funding agencies have included the National Science Foundation, the National Security Agency, the Department of Education and the Office of Naval Research. Dr. Weber has served as an educational consultant for Rowan University, Stevens Institute of Technology and Rider University and was honored as this year’s Pennoni Honors College Outstanding Faculty Member.
As Dr. Weber steps down as department head in January to assume the vice provost role, Nagarajan Kandasamy, PhD, has been appointed interim department head of electrical and computer engineering. I would like to sincerely thank Senior Vice Provost Ros Remer and Faculty Senate Academic Affairs Committee Chair Rena Cumby for co-chairing this search as well as the search committee for their time and dedication to the search. Please join me in welcoming and supporting Steve in his new role!
Sincerely,
Paul E. Jensen
Executive Vice President
Nina Henderson Provost
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